Division I Recruiting Hot Topics DJ Brown Jen Roe Session Overview Benefits received in conjunction with recruiting events. Co-mingling of club team responsibilities and expenses with institutional travel and responsibilities. Use of student host groups.. Best practice and educational efforts from NCAA staff. Recruiting Funds 1
Use of Recruiting Funds All fund for recruiting must be deposited with the institution (Bylaws 13.14.1 and 13.14.4). Benefits for boosters. Benefits from event operators. Sharing expenses with other institutions. 2
Club Team & Institutional Expenses Club Team Expenses and Institutional Expenses There needs to be a clear line of demarcation and no crossover between club and institutional expenses may occur. Recruiting activities. Travel expenses for contests. 3
Case Study Your assistant swim coach is also the coach of a local sports club. Both the institution s team and the coach s club team will be competing in the same town. Your coach is flying out with your institution s team but will rent a car. The assistant swim coach will coach a club athlete the first day of the trip and then coach the institution s team for the remainder of the trip. Is this permissible? Case Study No, the institution has paid for both legs of the transportation. Coach would need to either travel with club team and return home before traveling with institutional team, or Not coach the club team while traveling with the institutional team. Student Host Groups 4
Who Can Serve as Host Must be either a current student-athlete or a student designated in a manner consistent with the institution's policy for providing campus visits or tours to prospective students in general. Student managers and other student employees are considered to be students, as opposed to athletics department employees. Therefore, are not permitted to host prospective student-athletes unless they meet the criteria in the legislation. Bylaws 13.6.7.5 and 13.7.2.1.8 Hosting Duties Individuals are considered hosts if they are involved in traditional hosting duties, such as tasks that require specific interaction with the prospective student-athlete (e.g., entertaining, escorting). Individuals who are involved solely in administrative functions (e.g., stuffing envelopes, collecting unofficial visit money, handling complimentary admissions) are not considered student hosts. Athletic Department Involvement Athletics departments are expected to remain completely uninvolved in the management and operation of these programs. An athletics department may: Contribute funds to the overall university host program, provided such funding does not result in the athletics departments assuming control or compromising university oversight of such programs. If permitted by institutional policy, may request specific hosts from the institution's pool of hosts only if such opportunities are available to other institutional departments and the athletics department does not compromise the university's control or oversight of the host program. August 31, 2015 Educational Column 5
(SAEC) has been charged with looking at the recruitment of prospective student-athletes that occurs prior to grade 11 in sports other than football and basketball. SAEC recently recommended the creation of a Early Recruiting Subcommittee. o Staff is assisting subcommittee in identifying stakeholders in the recruiting process and gathering information and feedback from stakeholders. Board of Directors Council Student-Athlete Experience 6
Focus Areas Principles Problem Statements Early Recruiting Review Stakeholder Input Recruiting Environment (excludes basketball and football) 8 th Grade Nonbinding, verbal offers of athletics aid Early Student financed campus recruiting visits* 9th Grade Recruiting Student to coach telephone communication* 10th Grade 11 th Grade Coach to student communication Current Recruiting Institutionally financed campus recruiting visits Model 12 th Grade Binding, written offers of athletics aid *Recent legislation passed in some sports to prohibit until 11 th grade Early Recruiting Review Focus Areas Phase I (Jan-Sep 2017) Phase II (TBD) Communication Recruiting time periods Campus visits Offers of athletics aid Tryouts Camps and clinics 7
Principles to Guide the Review Promote a fair and transparent process that empowers prospective studentathletes, parents and coaches to begin to exchange appropriate information to help make informed academic, athletics and financial decisions. Evaluate the appropriate balance of scholastic and nonscholastic evaluation opportunities for coaches to assess the playing ability of prospective studentathletes. Ensure appropriate time periods and requirements are established for institutions to make verbal scholarship or roster spot offers and adequate time is provided to allow the prospective student-athlete to consider the offer. Evaluate the appropriate time period for official and unofficial visits and how the timing impacts information gathering in the early recruiting process. Promote balance between a coach's need to support and mentor current studentathletes and the need to recruit. Early Recruiting Problem Statements Uninformed and Pressured Financial Decisions Uninformed Academic Decisions Financial terms lack transparency. Exploding offers. Equivalency grant-in-aid market. Offers made without academic information. Offers accepted before academically ready. Socioeconomic Disparity Excessive Influence of Nonscholastic Coaches Exposure and access to early offers benefits students with financial means. Facilitate and control communication. Leverage verbal commitment to maintain participation. Moving Forward Establish a Subcommittee for Early Recruiting Engage Stakeholders Form Legislative Concepts Based on Feedback from Stakeholders 8
Educational Efforts/Best Practices How are you educating your coaching staffs related to new legislation? What are the monitoring efforts you are implementing on your campuses related new legislation? QUESTIONS?????? We Want Your Feedback Your input is important. Rate this session using the survey on the Regional Rules Seminar app. 9