The NCAA News - News Features

Struggle continues to define e-mail, faxes in recruiting

This is the fifth of seven articles on legislation that has been submitted for the 91st annual NCAA Convention January 11-15, 1997, in Nashville, Tennessee. The article reviews proposals in the recruiting grouping.

Should electronic mail and facsimiles to recruits be considered telephone calls?

Divisions I and II members will continue to wrestle with new communication technology in two proposals at the 1997 Convention.

Last year, Division I members adopted an NCAA Council-sponsored proposal to define e-mail and faxes as general correspondence, rather than telephone contact. Supporters argued successfully that such communication is more cost-effective in providing information to recruits, but less intrusive than the telephone.

This year, however, the Big Ten Conference is asking Division I members to again define e-mail and faxes as telephone calls.

Big Ten schools note that the new legislation permits coaches to contact prospects during their junior year in high school -- contact that would be impermissible if e-mail and faxes are regarded as telephone calls.

The sponsors also are concerned about the difficulty of monitoring use of e-mail as it becomes more common in recruiting, and they question the assertion that such communication is not intrusive on prospects' time.

The Ivy Group -- which cosponsored last year's proposal -- is suggesting a compromise. It is sponsoring an amendment-to-amendment that would continue to classify e-mail and faxes as general correspondence, but would prohibit coaches from sending them before July 1 following the prospect's junior year in high school.

Meanwhile, Division II currently regards e-mail and faxes as telephone calls. Several schools, however, are asking the division to adopt the definition that was approved last year by Division I.

Telephone limits

Telephone use is the focus of four other proposals in this year's recruiting grouping.

The Council is sponsoring a proposal that would permit Divisions I and II football coaches to call a prospect in May of the prospect's junior year in high school, while eliminating currently permissible calls during the August after the junior year.

The proposal was recommended by the NCAA Recruiting Committee, in response to a recommendation from football coaches. The proposal seeks to give coaches more time to evaluate prospects and to permit an earlier reading of a prospect's level of interest in an institution.

Three membership proposals seek other changes in Division I telephone-contact time periods, and all have attracted opposition from the Recruiting Committee.

One proposal would change the first permissible dates for telephone contact from July 1 following the junior year to August 1 in basketball and from August 15 to August 1 in football, thus standardizing dates in the two sports. It also would permit unlimited calls to basketball prospects during a contact period, which is the portion of the proposal that prompted the Recruiting Committee's objection.

The other proposals would:

* Permit unlimited calls to basketball prospects during what is now a dead period 48 hours before and 48 hours after the initial signing date for the National Letter of Intent. Such calls currently are permitted in football.

* Permit one call to an ice hockey prospect from a foreign country during July following that prospect's sophomore year in high school. The proposal's sponsors are looking for help in competing with Canadian junior leagues for international players.

Official visits

Several proposals deal with aspects of legislation governing prospects' official visits to Division I institutions.

The Council is sponsoring a proposal to eliminate legislation that establishes specific academic criteria that must be met by prospects in sports with an early signing period, in order for that prospect to receive an official visit prior to the signing period.

The proposal acknowledges the roadblock that prospects who have not achieved "recruited" status currently face in requesting waivers of the criteria, and also would relieve the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse of the task of certifying the fulfillment of those criteria.

Other proposals involving official visits would:

* Permit coaches to accompany out-of-state prospects in an automobile to or from an official visit, provided the transportation occurs within 100 miles of an institution's main campus. The proposal also specifies that such contact would be included in the official visit's 48-hour period.

* Permit an institution that does not use all of its official visits for football in one year to carry over ("bank") as many as six of those visits for use the following year.

* Permit the national service academies to provide additional official visits in basketball. The proposal would increase the permissible number of visits to 15 -- 12 of which could be provided before the initial National Letter of Intent signing date.

* Permit prospects in sports other than football and basketball who are attending an admissions office "open house" to receive a meal during the event, and also to have contact with coaches during that event, without requiring that the visit be counted as official.

Other proposals

Permissible contact, correspondence and benefits, as well as coaching and instruction of prospects, are the subject of other recruiting proposals.

* A Division I ice hockey proposal would revise legislation to state that "not more than" three of the seven currently permissible recruiting opportunities may be in-person, off-campus contacts. The revision would permit institutions to engage in more than the currently permitted four evaluations, provided it makes correspondingly fewer contacts.

* A Divisions I and II proposal would permit an institution to mail a student-athlete handbook to a prospect who either has signed a National Letter of Intent or has been accepted for enrollment at that institution.

* A Council proposal recommended by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee would exempt institutions hosting National Student-Athlete Day activities from limitations on providing entertainment to a prospect during that day.

* Three proposals address coaching and instruction of prospects or prospects' employment at a camp or clinic: A proposal to prohibit Division I women's volleyball coaches from coaching or participating in a local sports club that includes prospects; a proposal to permit golf and tennis coaches at Divisions I and II institutions to give private instruction to prospects under specified conditions; and a Division II proposal to permit a prospect who has signed a National Letter of Intent or received an institution's written offer of admission and/or financial aid to be employed at an institution's sports camp or clinic.

Summary

Following is a summary of each of the proposals in the recruiting grouping, including sponsors, committee positions (if any) and the business session in which a proposal will be considered.

No. 99: In Divisions I and II football, permit one telephone call to a prospect (or the prospect's relatives or legal guardians) during the month of May of the prospect's junior year in high school; further, to preclude any additional telephone calls until September 1 at the beginning of the prospect's senior year in high school. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Recruiting Committee. Divisions I-A, I-AA and II business sessions.

No. 100: In Division I basketball and football, establish August 1 following a prospect's junior year in high school as the first date on which the prospect may be contacted by telephone and, in Division I basketball, permit unlimited calls to a prospect during a contact period. Sponsored by eight Division I members. Recruiting Committee position: Oppose. Divisions I, I-A and I-AA business sessions.

No. 101: In Division I basketball, permit institutional staff members to make unlimited telephone calls to prospects during the period 48 hours prior to and 48 hours after the initial signing date for the National Letter of Intent. Sponsored by nine Division I members. Recruiting Committee position: Oppose. Division I business session.

No. 102: In Division I ice hockey, permit one telephone call to a prospect from a foreign country during the month of July following the prospect's sophomore year in high school. Sponsored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Recruiting Committee position: Oppose. Division I business session.

No. 103: In Division I ice hockey, specify that an institution has seven recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations) during the academic year and that not more than three of the seven recruiting opportunities may be in-person, off-campus contacts. Sponsored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division I business session.

No. 104: Permit in-person, off-campus delivery of a National Letter of Intent during a home visit. Sponsored by 13 Division I members. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division I business session.

No. 105: Reinstate the definition of facsimiles or other electronically transmitted correspondence as telephone calls in Division I. Sponsored by the Big Ten Conference. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division I business session (July 1, 1997, effective date sought).

No. 105-1: Amend No. 105 to maintain electronic mail and facsimiles as general correspondence, but specify that such correspondence may not be sent until July 1 following the prospect's junior year in high school. Sponsored by the Ivy Group. Division I business session.

No. 106: In Division II, specify that facsimiles and electronic mail communications are subject to restrictions on general correspondence, rather than the restrictions applicable to telephone calls. Sponsored by the Pacific West Conference and four Division II members. Recruiting Committee position: Oppose. Division II business session (immediate effective date sought).

No. 107: Permit an institution to send a prospect a student-athlete handbook once the prospect either has signed a National Letter of Intent or been accepted for enrollment at that institution. Sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Divisions I and II business sessions.

No. 108: Eliminate the specific academic credentials set forth in NCAA Bylaw 13.7.1.2.4 that a student-athlete must achieve to receive an official visit prior to the early signing period for the National Letter of Intent. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Academic Requirements Committee and Special Committee to Oversee Implementation of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. Division I business session.

No. 109: In Division I, permit coaching staff members to accompany prospects to or from an official visit only when automobile transportation is used and to specify that if such transportation is used, the 48-hour period of the visit shall begin when the coach first makes contact with the prospect or his or her parents. Sponsored by the Southern Conference and 13 other Division I members. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division I business session.

No. 110: In Division I, permit an institution to "bank" a maximum of six unused official visits annually in the sport of football, and specify that the unused visits may be used only during the subsequent academic year. Sponsored by 14 Division I-A members. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Divisions I-A and I-AA business sessions.

No. 111: For the national service academies, permit 15 official visits in the sport of basketball, 12 of which may be provided prior to the initial National Letter of Intent signing date. Sponsored by 11 Division I members. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division I business session.

No. 112: In sports other than football and men's and women's basketball, permit a prospect during an unofficial visit to receive a meal as part of an "open-house" admissions department event and to have on-campus contacts with coaching staff members during the event. Sponsored by the Council and the Northeast, Metro Atlantic Athletic and Mid-Continent Conferences. Division I business session.

No. 113: Exempt National Student-Athlete Day activities held on an institution's campus from the limitations on providing entertainment to a prospect. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee. Divisions I, II and III business sessions.

No. 114: Preclude a member of an institution's women's volleyball coaching staff from involvement as a participant or in coaching activities in the sport of volleyball for a local sports club or organization that includes prospects. Sponsored by the Pacific-10 Conference. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division I business session.

No. 115: In Divisions I and II, permit an institution's golf and tennis coaches to give private golf or tennis instruction to prospects as specified. Sponsored by nine Division I members. Recruiting Committee position: Oppose. Division I business session.

No. 116: Permit the employment of any prospect at an institution's sports camp or clinic, provided the prospect has signed a National Letter of Intent or an institution's written offer of admission and/or financial aid. Sponsored by the Northeast-10 Conference. Recruiting Committee position: Support. Division II business session.

Next week: Proposals in the playing-and-practice-seasons and personnel groupings.