The Division I Men’s Basketball Issues Committee wants to restrict institutions from subscribing to scouting services under certain conditions.

Meeting June 1 in Indianapolis, the committee recommended that the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet sponsor legislation in the 2009-10 cycle that would preclude institutions from subscribing to services unless the services:

• Disseminate information at least quarterly;
• Make all applicable rates public;
• Make public whether the service is local, regional or national (the quarterly reports must reflect broad-based coverage of that chosen scope);
• Incorporate analysis into the report beyond demographic information or rankings of prospects; and
• Make sample reports available to subscribers before purchase.

Currently, NCAA rules permit schools to subscribe to a scouting service that is regularly published and available at the same rate for all subscribers.

The committee’s rationale for amending the rule centers on the proliferation of scouting businesses. Members acknowledged the potential value of some such services, though some believe they do not provide information consistent with the intent of the current scouting-service legislation.

Many service operators are tied directly to teams or events involving highly skilled prospective student-athletes. Many coaches believe the service is used as leverage against them. In other words, they think that unless they subscribe to these recruiting services, their staffs will be disadvantaged in recruiting prospects linked with the service operator.

Committee members also noted that, in some instances, the scouting service merely provides demographic information that can be obtained through other sources, and it doesn’t include the kind of information that would help coaches evaluate talent.

The Basketball Issues Committee is also recommending that the cabinet sponsor legislation to preclude non-coaching athletics department members with responsibilities in men’s basketball from attending an off-campus athletics event (including high school contests or sports camps) to observe a prospect. The only exception would be if the staff member is an immediate family member of one of the participants. The attendance of the staff member in those instances, though, could not be for evaluation purposes.

The committee also referred several informational items to the newly formed Division I Men’s Basketball Ethics Coalition.

One involves the hiring of individuals associated with a prospect as a result of the prospect’s athletics ability.

Another is a proliferation of nonscholastic events held on an institution’s campus during May, outside of a permissible contact period. The concern relates to the recruiting advantages through hosting such activities and the degree of involvement by the basketball coaching staff in arranging for the event and the campus activities in conjunction with the event.