DALLAS -- Are changes needed in the Division II recruiting environment?

Delegates at the NCAA Convention geared their discussion of the issue toward preventing recent scandals at the Division I level from seeping into the Division II environment.

"Almost always, the unfortunate truth is Division I rules trickle down to Division II,'' said Jill Willson, a member of the Division II Management Council and the athletics director at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. "Do we always want to be a reactive division? Or do we want to step out there and possibly think about some changes we could make in the Division II recruiting process that will improve not only the experience of the student-athletes but also our student-athletes as hosts?''

Willson was joined on the panel by Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Athletics Director Roberta Page and Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members Nicole DeBlois and Jared Eichelberger.

DeBlois and Eichelberger spoke on their personal experiences of going through the recruiting process. Both feel the process benefits the student-athlete as long as it is organized and as long as the prospective student-athletes meet professors.

Eichelberger began his intercollegiate baseball career at a Division I school. When he hosted a recruit, he was given an allotment of money to entertain the prospective student-athlete, but he didn't have to provide receipts. His only responsibility was to make sure the recruit was on time to make morning appointments.

"At Shippensburg, we sit down with the coach and we put the Manual out and we recite all the things (hosts) are allowed to do and not allowed to do with recruits,'' Page said. "Our kids at Shippensburg are nervous to be hosts, because of what they've heard through the media about things that have happened.''

Some ideas that came from the delegates included having vouchers for restaurants or movie theaters. But by the end of the session, many of the delegates believed allotting money to hosts and having receipts turned in is the best way to handle recruiting visits.

Other thoughts were to do due diligence before invoking rules, because institutions shouldn't have rules they can't enforce; educate coaches on what is expected on recruiting trips and in turn have the coach instruct the hosts; and create a culture of what behavior is expected in the recruiting process. There also was some sentiment that a global philosophy may not work, and it may be better for each institution to look at where trouble spots can occur.