NCAA wants tighter recruiting
By Jon Krawczynski
Associated Press
Under new rules designed to take the "celebrity" out of the recruiting race, colleges will no longer be able to fly recruits on private jets, house them in resort hotels or feed them extravagant meals.
The NCAA Management Council concluded a two-day meeting in Baltimore yesterday and will forward the recommendations to the organization's board of directors for emergency approval Aug. 5.
The council also agreed to advance a package of proposals from the National Association of Basketball Coaches that focus on recruiting, retaining and graduating Division I basketball players.
The package includes granting players five years of eligibility, allowing coaches to talk with players outside the traditional player-coach environment and hold tryouts to evaluate prospects.
The package will be examined by member schools, with an initial vote expected in January 2005 and a final vote in April.
The recruiting recommendations call for colleges and universities to use commercial airlines and coach airfares to fly athletes to campus, lodge them in "standard" accommodations and serve them reasonable meals.
"It's intended to do away with the celebrity, the sense of entitlement, for a prospect," said David Berst, NCAA vice president and chairman of the recruiting task force.
The new rules, which would be in place for the upcoming academic year, also ban schools from giving recruits rides in vehicles not used for other prospective students. Schools would also be prevented from handing out personalized jerseys or using audio/video scoreboard presentations featuring the player.
"This measure is intended to prohibit the use of specialized vehicles, such as those with special decor or modified with televisions, which could create a sense of entitlement for prospective student-athletes," the report said.
NCAA president Myles Brand created the recruiting task force in February after several high-profile scandals emerged, including at Colorado and Miami.
A grand jury and authorities are investigating allegations that the Colorado athletic department used alcohol and sex to lure football recruits.
Miami's prized recruit, linebacker Willie Williams, was placed on probation after being charged with a felony and two misdemeanors during a recruiting visit to Florida. He also raised eyebrows with a series in a local newspaper detailing the lavish accommodations, food and treatment he received while making official visits to several schools.
The new rules will also require each school to adopt a written policy outlining the guidelines for official visits prohibiting the use of alcohol, drugs, sex and gambling in recruiting. The presidents or chancellors must approve the policies and submit them to their respective conference officials by Dec. 1.
"We have heard concerns that they're going to have to change practices or modify practices," Berst said. "The benchmark is those things that are necessary for a prospect and an institution to make a decision about each other."
Two additional recommendations, to be considered in April 2005, would allow schools to pay for one parent or guardian to accompany a recruit on an official visit and reduce the number official visits from five to four.
While the recruiting measures are on the fast track to NCAA approval, there is much work to be done on the NABC package.
With respect to the proposal allowing tryouts, Berst said it fits into the larger goal of the project — to improve the chances of a recruit meshing with a school in hopes of reducing the number of transfers and early entries to the NBA draft.
But, he said, it's nowhere near close to being adopted.
"That's one of a group of proposals tied together that they'll have to defend, explain and work with the governance entities," Berst said. "It's going to be a long process."
