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Division I interpretations
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In-Person Meeting No. 1
December 12, 2006
Acting for the Division I Management Council, the Legislative Review/Interpretations Subcommittee issued the following interpretations:
Recruiting/Printed Recruiting Materials
1. Institutional Note Cards — Application of NCAA Proposal No. 06-39. Institutional note cards that are to be sent to prospective student-athletes must be blank on the inside (that is, one side of card that is 8 ½ inches by 11 inches or smaller when opened in full) when produced and that, when sent to prospects, only handwritten information (for example, words, illustrations) may be included. [References: NCAA Bylaw 13.4.1.1 (printed recruiting materials) and Proposal No. 06-39.]
Recruiting/Recruiting Person Days — Basketball
2. Counting Recruiting Person Days when Evaluating Consecutive-Day Tournaments — Basketball. During the permissible evaluation period, any visit to a prospective student-athlete’s educational institution on consecutive days to observe a tournament or tier of a tournament counts as one recruiting person day for each day the coach attends the tournament; however, the observation of the tournament counts as a single evaluation for each prospect participating, regardless of the number of days the coach engages in evaluation activities at the tournament. [References: Bylaws 13.1.5.1.3 (visits during evaluation period — basketball), 13.1.5.1.3.1 (tournament exception) and a staff interpretation, (reference: 1/25/06, item 1), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Contact/Four-Year College Prospects
3. Hearing Opportunity when Written Permission to Contact Four-Year College Prospect is Delayed. If an institution delays a response to a student-athlete’s request for permission to contact any other four-year institution or indicates that permission will be granted at a later date (for example, at the end of the term), the institution must inform the student-athlete in writing within a reasonable time after the initial request that he or she, on request, will be provided a hearing. [References: Bylaws 13.1.1.3 (four-year college prospects) and 13.1.1.3.1 (hearing opportunity); and a staff interpretation (reference: 2/22/06, item c), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Contact/Practice or Competition Site
4. Contact with a Prospective Student-Athlete During a Tournament or on an Extended Road Trip. It is permissible for an institution’s coach to contact a prospective student-athlete who is competing in a tournament that is not conducted on consecutive days, and who subsequently will return to compete in the remainder of the tournament, provided the prospective student-athlete has been released by the appropriate institutional authority and the contact occurs on a day in which there is no further competition. Further, in the case of an extended road trip, the committee determined that a member institution’s coach is permitted to contact a prospective student-athlete at the end of a competition and before the beginning of travel to the team’s next competition provided the prospective student-athlete has been released by the appropriate institutional authority and departs the dressing and meeting facility. [References: Bylaws 13.02.2 (competition site) and 13.1.7.2 (practice or competition site); and a staff interpretation (reference: 5/3/06, item a), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Electronic Communications
5. Preparation of Electronic Communications. Electronically transmitted correspondence (for example, electronic mail, instant messenger, facsimiles, pages, text messaging) must be prepared by a coach who counts toward the numerical limitations on head or assistant coaches. It is permissible for an individual other than a coach to send correspondence; however, such an individual may neither prepare correspondence that will be sent to prospects or respond to correspondence from a prospect. [References: Bylaws 11.7.1.2 (recruiting coordination functions); 11.7.4 (limitations on number — off-campus recruiting); 13.4.1.1 (printed recruiting materials) and 13.4.1.2 (electronic transmissions), and a staff interpretation, (reference: 5/10/06, item 1), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Telephone Calls
6. Athletics Department Staff Members Receiving or Returning Telephone Calls to Prospective Student-Athletes. It is not permissible for athletics department staff members (other than the head or one of the countable assistant coaches or other specific staff members pursuant to legislated exceptions) to make telephone calls to or receive telephone calls from prospective student-athletes (or the prospective student athlete’s parents, legal guardians, or coaches). [References: Bylaws 11.7.1.2 (recruiting coordination functions); 13.1.3.4.1 (permissible callers — institutional staff members — general rule); 13.1.3.4.1.1 (exceptions); and a staff interpretation, (reference: 7/19/06, item 1a), which has been archived.]
Amateurism/Promotional Activities
7. Fund-raising Activity Involving Promotional Item Bearing Name, Picture or Likeness of a Student-Athlete. A fund-raising activity (for example, auction, raffle) involving items that include the name, picture or likeness of a student-athlete must be treated in the same manner as a sale. For example, at a fund-raising event, it is not permissible for an institution to raffle a jersey with a name of a student-athlete affixed to it, even if other student-athletes sign the jersey. However, if a jersey does not bear the affixed name of an individual student-athlete and is signed by multiple student-athletes, it is permissible for the jersey to be raffled, subject to the legislative requirements for conducting such promotions. [References: Bylaw 12.5.1.1 (institutional, charitable, educational or nonprofit promotions); and a staff interpretation (reference: 7/19/06, item 1d), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Camps and Clinics/Attendance Restriction
8. Attendance Restriction at Institutional Camps/Clinics. Attendance at institutional camps/clinics may be limited by grade level or gender or both. [References: Bylaw 13.12.1.2 (attendance restriction); and a staff interpretation (reference: 5/24/06, item 1), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Tryouts/Competition Against Prospects
9. Individual Sport Competition Involving an Institution’s Varsity Team and an Outside Team that Includes High School Prospective Student-Athletes. In individual sports, it is permissible for an institution’s varsity team and an outside team that includes high school prospective student-athletes to participate in the same event, provided:
(a) The event either involves no team scoring, or the event uses team scoring such that the institution’s varsity team and the outside team are in separate scoring categories; and
(b) The institution’s varsity team members do not directly compete (e.g., in the same heat, flight, pairing) against high school prospects who are representing an outside team. [References: Bylaw 13.11.1.2 (competition against prospects); and a staff interpretation (reference: 7/19/06, item 1b), which has been archived.]
Financial Aid/Terms and Conditions/Equal Amounts of Aid
10. Equal Amounts of Aid not Required for Academic Year that Includes Final Semester/Quarter Exception. In situations in which a student-athlete will be enrolled in less than a full-time program of studies and thus eligible for competition pursuant to the final semester/quarter exception during the second semester or third quarter of an academic year, the institution is not required to award the student-athlete’s athletically related financial aid in equal amounts for each term of the academic year. [References: Bylaws 14.1.8.2.1.3 (final semester/quarter); 15.3.3.1 (one-year period) and 15.3.3.2 (regular academic year versus summer term); and a staff interpretation (reference: 7/19/06, item 1c), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Letter of Intent Programs
11. Issuing Conference and Institutional Letters of Intent during the Early National Letter of Intent Signing Period. An institution (including those institutions that do not subscribe to the National Letter of Intent program) may permit a prospective student-athlete to sign an institutional or conference letter of intent during the early signing period of the National Letter of Intent in those sports that have early signing periods; however, at the end of the early signing period, an institution may not permit a prospect to sign an institutional or conference letter of intent until the regular signing period of the National Letter of Intent in the applicable sport. [References: Bylaw 13.9.1 (letter of intent programs, financial aid agreements — general restrictions) and a staff interpretation, (reference: 2/21/96, item a), which has been archived.]
December 12, 2006
Acting for the Division I Management Council, the Legislative Review/Interpretations Subcommittee issued the following interpretations:
Recruiting/Printed Recruiting Materials
1. Institutional Note Cards — Application of NCAA Proposal No. 06-39. Institutional note cards that are to be sent to prospective student-athletes must be blank on the inside (that is, one side of card that is 8 ½ inches by 11 inches or smaller when opened in full) when produced and that, when sent to prospects, only handwritten information (for example, words, illustrations) may be included. [References: NCAA Bylaw 13.4.1.1 (printed recruiting materials) and Proposal No. 06-39.]
Recruiting/Recruiting Person Days — Basketball
2. Counting Recruiting Person Days when Evaluating Consecutive-Day Tournaments — Basketball. During the permissible evaluation period, any visit to a prospective student-athlete’s educational institution on consecutive days to observe a tournament or tier of a tournament counts as one recruiting person day for each day the coach attends the tournament; however, the observation of the tournament counts as a single evaluation for each prospect participating, regardless of the number of days the coach engages in evaluation activities at the tournament. [References: Bylaws 13.1.5.1.3 (visits during evaluation period — basketball), 13.1.5.1.3.1 (tournament exception) and a staff interpretation, (reference: 1/25/06, item 1), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Contact/Four-Year College Prospects
3. Hearing Opportunity when Written Permission to Contact Four-Year College Prospect is Delayed. If an institution delays a response to a student-athlete’s request for permission to contact any other four-year institution or indicates that permission will be granted at a later date (for example, at the end of the term), the institution must inform the student-athlete in writing within a reasonable time after the initial request that he or she, on request, will be provided a hearing. [References: Bylaws 13.1.1.3 (four-year college prospects) and 13.1.1.3.1 (hearing opportunity); and a staff interpretation (reference: 2/22/06, item c), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Contact/Practice or Competition Site
4. Contact with a Prospective Student-Athlete During a Tournament or on an Extended Road Trip. It is permissible for an institution’s coach to contact a prospective student-athlete who is competing in a tournament that is not conducted on consecutive days, and who subsequently will return to compete in the remainder of the tournament, provided the prospective student-athlete has been released by the appropriate institutional authority and the contact occurs on a day in which there is no further competition. Further, in the case of an extended road trip, the committee determined that a member institution’s coach is permitted to contact a prospective student-athlete at the end of a competition and before the beginning of travel to the team’s next competition provided the prospective student-athlete has been released by the appropriate institutional authority and departs the dressing and meeting facility. [References: Bylaws 13.02.2 (competition site) and 13.1.7.2 (practice or competition site); and a staff interpretation (reference: 5/3/06, item a), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Electronic Communications
5. Preparation of Electronic Communications. Electronically transmitted correspondence (for example, electronic mail, instant messenger, facsimiles, pages, text messaging) must be prepared by a coach who counts toward the numerical limitations on head or assistant coaches. It is permissible for an individual other than a coach to send correspondence; however, such an individual may neither prepare correspondence that will be sent to prospects or respond to correspondence from a prospect. [References: Bylaws 11.7.1.2 (recruiting coordination functions); 11.7.4 (limitations on number — off-campus recruiting); 13.4.1.1 (printed recruiting materials) and 13.4.1.2 (electronic transmissions), and a staff interpretation, (reference: 5/10/06, item 1), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Telephone Calls
6. Athletics Department Staff Members Receiving or Returning Telephone Calls to Prospective Student-Athletes. It is not permissible for athletics department staff members (other than the head or one of the countable assistant coaches or other specific staff members pursuant to legislated exceptions) to make telephone calls to or receive telephone calls from prospective student-athletes (or the prospective student athlete’s parents, legal guardians, or coaches). [References: Bylaws 11.7.1.2 (recruiting coordination functions); 13.1.3.4.1 (permissible callers — institutional staff members — general rule); 13.1.3.4.1.1 (exceptions); and a staff interpretation, (reference: 7/19/06, item 1a), which has been archived.]
Amateurism/Promotional Activities
7. Fund-raising Activity Involving Promotional Item Bearing Name, Picture or Likeness of a Student-Athlete. A fund-raising activity (for example, auction, raffle) involving items that include the name, picture or likeness of a student-athlete must be treated in the same manner as a sale. For example, at a fund-raising event, it is not permissible for an institution to raffle a jersey with a name of a student-athlete affixed to it, even if other student-athletes sign the jersey. However, if a jersey does not bear the affixed name of an individual student-athlete and is signed by multiple student-athletes, it is permissible for the jersey to be raffled, subject to the legislative requirements for conducting such promotions. [References: Bylaw 12.5.1.1 (institutional, charitable, educational or nonprofit promotions); and a staff interpretation (reference: 7/19/06, item 1d), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Camps and Clinics/Attendance Restriction
8. Attendance Restriction at Institutional Camps/Clinics. Attendance at institutional camps/clinics may be limited by grade level or gender or both. [References: Bylaw 13.12.1.2 (attendance restriction); and a staff interpretation (reference: 5/24/06, item 1), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Tryouts/Competition Against Prospects
9. Individual Sport Competition Involving an Institution’s Varsity Team and an Outside Team that Includes High School Prospective Student-Athletes. In individual sports, it is permissible for an institution’s varsity team and an outside team that includes high school prospective student-athletes to participate in the same event, provided:
(a) The event either involves no team scoring, or the event uses team scoring such that the institution’s varsity team and the outside team are in separate scoring categories; and
(b) The institution’s varsity team members do not directly compete (e.g., in the same heat, flight, pairing) against high school prospects who are representing an outside team. [References: Bylaw 13.11.1.2 (competition against prospects); and a staff interpretation (reference: 7/19/06, item 1b), which has been archived.]
Financial Aid/Terms and Conditions/Equal Amounts of Aid
10. Equal Amounts of Aid not Required for Academic Year that Includes Final Semester/Quarter Exception. In situations in which a student-athlete will be enrolled in less than a full-time program of studies and thus eligible for competition pursuant to the final semester/quarter exception during the second semester or third quarter of an academic year, the institution is not required to award the student-athlete’s athletically related financial aid in equal amounts for each term of the academic year. [References: Bylaws 14.1.8.2.1.3 (final semester/quarter); 15.3.3.1 (one-year period) and 15.3.3.2 (regular academic year versus summer term); and a staff interpretation (reference: 7/19/06, item 1c), which has been archived.]
Recruiting/Letter of Intent Programs
11. Issuing Conference and Institutional Letters of Intent during the Early National Letter of Intent Signing Period. An institution (including those institutions that do not subscribe to the National Letter of Intent program) may permit a prospective student-athlete to sign an institutional or conference letter of intent during the early signing period of the National Letter of Intent in those sports that have early signing periods; however, at the end of the early signing period, an institution may not permit a prospect to sign an institutional or conference letter of intent until the regular signing period of the National Letter of Intent in the applicable sport. [References: Bylaw 13.9.1 (letter of intent programs, financial aid agreements — general restrictions) and a staff interpretation, (reference: 2/21/96, item a), which has been archived.]
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