DI SAAC weighs in on rules changesAs the Rules Working Group continues its review of the Division I manual, the student-athletes on the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee are paying close attention. At every quarterly meeting they vet the concepts from their perspective and the perspective of their peers across the country.
They’ve developed early positions on some topics and will provide those positions to the Rules Group. Their biggest message for the administrators, coaches and presidents on that body? Thank you for listening.
“Our voices are being heard. The NCAA cares about our input and is actually taking that into consideration before they finalize anything,” said Chalonda Goodman, a track and field student-athlete at Texas. “I feel like that’s the most important thing for student-athletes.”
Maddie Salamone, a lacrosse student-athlete at Duke University and vice-chair of the 31-member national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, wants to be sure that sentiment continues, and that members of the SAAC take seriously their responsibility to gather input from peers.
“We want to be in the loop as much as possible, and we are making a big push to increase our communication (to other student-athletes),” she said. “Right now, we’re pleased with (the rules group) opening up the legislation to allow for more flexibility for student-athletes.”
Georgia football student-athlete Christian Conley agreed that student-athletes are satisfied with the way the rules group is progressing.
“We as a committee definitely agreed that there are some rules that are over-the-top,” Conley said. “We have confidence in the way the NCAA is handling it, and we are thankful they are allowing us input as student-athletes.”
Recruiting In the past, the national SAAC has voiced strong opinions on changes to recruiting rules. In 2007, the student-athletes were successful in convincing administrators to prohibit coaches from text-messaging recruits, and were instrumental in preventing an override of that legislation. As the years passed, attitudes toward the quick-hit form of communication evolved. As the membership considers deregulating recruiting contacts, the student-athletes on SAAC (none of which were on the committee in 2007), are supportive – to a point.
“In the sport of football, allowing text-messaging would open up whole new venues for coaches to contact recruits. A lot of communication comes through text messages now. It could be a good thing,” Conley said. “But we want to keep the student-athlete’s best interests in mind. There should be a little bit of breathing room so they’re not badgered all the time. It has the potential to be overwhelming.”
Conley acknowledged that coaches probably won’t bombard recruits with texts if they believe it could backfire, but said there’s no real way to regulate that. For their part, he believes some recruits will be intimidated enough by coaches that they won’t be able to say “stop.”
“It will be a risk we take,” he said.
SAAC Chair Eugene Daniels, a former football player at Colorado State, said coaches have lives to live as well, and that life-work balance issues still need to be worked out. The student-athletes believe phone calls are more invasive than text messages and should be regulated more strongly. The SAAC is in favor of allowing contact with recruits starting July 1 following the student’s sophomore year in high school. The current proposal has a June 15 date.
Academics The SAAC is also supportive of strengthening the academic rules and regulations, including strengthening progress-toward-degree requirements. Salamone said the group wants to reinforce the idea that “student” comes before “athlete.”
“It’s funny, I think people expect us to be against (stronger academic requirements), but I think we can be the hardest on ourselves and have the highest expectations. We push ourselves on the field, but we also push ourselves in the classroom,” she said. “We do want to perform well in the classroom, and we think stronger standards are not unreasonable.”
The group also discussed the idea of creating academic requirements for student-athletes in some sports to transfer and play immediately. Conley noted the dangers of allowing student-athletes in all sports to play immediately upon transfer, but supported the addition of an academic component.
“We don’t want to broaden it necessarily because there will be a lot of team-swapping by a lot of people in certain sports,” he said. “In smaller sports, there should be more leeway because they are usually transferring not because they want to play but because of personal preference and opportunities at another university. If they have the right grades and are on top of things academically, they shouldn’t be hampered by a rule.”
Meals Some administrators have longed to eliminate rules that tell schools what, when, where and how they can feed their student-athletes. The student-athletes are interested in that topic as well. They support a deregulation of meals legislation and want to include all student-athletes, not just those on scholarship.
“I’ve always felt uncomfortable personally about walk-ons not being able to eat the same thing when they are working as hard if not harder then we (scholarship athletes) are,” Daniels said. “They also have to find a way to pay for school. We think we should feed everybody.”
Daniels acknowledged the issues such a plan would create between schools at different resource levels, but said the student-athletes ended up in much the same place as the rules working group: The less-resourced schools are already at a recruiting disadvantage because they have fewer resources in other areas, not just meals.
“It’s not about me going on my official visit and seeing that the team gets steak and lobster before a game. That’s not what makes my decision for me,” he said.
Daniels said the SAAC did not support providing cash instead of a meal because student-athletes don’t always make the best nutritional decisions when provided cash instead of food.
“I’m not going to spend that whole $15 on a meal. I’ll get the McDonald’s dollar menu, which doesn’t provide enough nutrition,” he said.
Future Discussions The SAAC will continue to discuss the concepts and legislative proposals coming out of the Rules Working Group. The group has a webinar set in September, after which they will continue to seek the feedback of student-athletes within their conferences.
They will examine each proposal broadly from the perspective of how it benefits the majority of student-athletes. The SAAC’s next in-person meeting will be in November in Indianapolis. |
Month: August 2012
Daily Compliance Item- 8/30/12- 13.1.3.1- Time Zones for Telephone Calls
The football recruiting coordinator at Ocean State University (OSU) is dividing up the telephone calls to senior prospects. There are several prospects located in different time zones. In these situations, do the OSU coaches use their time zone or the prospect’s time zone to determine when calls may be made?
The coaches will use the time zone where the prospect is located. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 6/24/98-Telephone Calls to Prospects- states that the membership services staff reviewed the provisions of NCAA Bylaw 13.1.3.1 regarding the permissible time period for making telephone calls to prospects and determined that the time zone (e.g., Eastern, Standard, Pacific) where the prospect is located (as opposed to the location from where the call is being placed) should be used in determining when such calls may be made.
[Reference: 13.1.3.1 (time period for telephone calls — general rule)]
Daily Compliance Item- 8/29/12-13.5.2.6, 13.5.2.6.1- Transportation on Official Visit
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Shot Block is a men’s basketball prospect that is going to visit Ocean State University (OSU) in a few weeks. Shot is going to fly to campus, but his mother is going to drive. Because his mother is a little uneasy about the drive, one of the OSU assistant coaches has offered to ride with her. Is this permissible?
Yes with conditions. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 8/24/12-Coach Traveling with Prospective Student-Athlete’s Parents to Campus on an Official Visit (I)- states that if a prospective student-athlete flies to an institution for an official visit and the prospective student-athlete’s parents drive to the institution’s campus to accompany the prospective student-athlete on the official visit, it is permissible for a member institution’s coach to ride with the prospective student-athlete’s parents from their home to the institution and back to their home, provided the contact with the prospective student-athlete’s parents occurs during a contact period (recruiting period in men’s basketball) and is counted as one of the in-person off-campus contacts that may occur with the prospective student-athlete. Also, in men’s basketball, an institution may reimburse the prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians (expenses for up to two people) for the actual round-trip costs to accompany the prospective student-athlete on his official visit.
[References: NCAA Bylaws 13.02.4 (contact), 13.02.5.3 (recruiting period — men’s basketball), 13.1.5 (contacts), 13.5.2.2.1 (prospective student-athlete’s relatives or friends), 13.5.2.6 (transportation of prospective student-athlete’s relatives, friends or legal guardians) and 13.5.2.6.1 (exception — transportation expenses for a prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians — men’s basketball), and staff interpretation (01/28/87, Item Ref: 4-a-(3), which has been archived] |
Daily Compliance Item- 8/28/12- 16.5.2- Training Table Meals for Walk-Ons
Scout Team is a walk-on football student-athlete at Ocean State University. Scout would like to eat the training meals with his teammates, but he is not receiving an athletic scholarship. If Scout pays for the meal, would he be permitted to eat with the scholarship student-athletes?
Yes. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 8/24/12-Walk-on Student-Athlete Receiving Training Table Meal (I)– states that a student-athlete who is not receiving athletically related financial aid that includes board (e.g., walk-on) may receive training table meals under any of the following circumstances:
1. The student-athlete has previously paid for all meals through a regular institutional meal plan and misses a meal due to practice activities (i.e., the meal is available in the dining hall only during the time practice is in session);
2. The student-athlete pays for the training table meal at the same rate that the institution deducts from the board allowance of student-athletes who receive athletically related aid covering board costs;
3. The student-athlete is on an institutional meal plan and pays the difference in the cost between the two meals, provided the student-athlete could not use the unused meal under the regular institutional meal plan at a later date; or
4. The student-athlete reports on call and becomes involved in activities related to a home competition.
[References: NCAA Division I Bylaws 16.5.2-(d) (meals incidental to participation) and 16.8.1.2 (competition while representing institution) and a 8/25/04 staff interpretation, item 1a and a 5/12/93 staff interpretation, item c, which have been archived]
Daily Compliance Item- 8/27/12- 13.1.1.2- Telephoning Junior College PSAs
Which of the following is true regarding permissible recruiting activities for a prospect who was not a qualifier and is enrolled in the first year of a two-year college?
A. The prospect may take an official visit.
B. Coaches may have contact with this prospect off the institution’s campus.
C. Coaches may telephone this prospect.
D. No recruiting activities are permissible with this prospect.
The answer is C. NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.2 states that a prospective student-athlete who was not a qualifier as defined in Bylaw 14.02.11.1 and who is enrolled in the first year of a two-year college may not be contacted in person on or off an institution’s campus for recruiting purposes.
NCAA Staff Interpretation- 8/24/12-Telephone Calls to Two-Year College Prospective Student-Athletes (I)- states that a prospective student-athlete who was not a qualifier and who is enrolled in his or her first year at a two-year college may be contacted by telephone for recruiting purposes, subject to the applicable telephone calls legislation.
[Reference: NCAA Division I Bylaws 13.1.1.2 (two-year college prospective student-athletes), 13.1.2.3 (general restrictions — staff members and governing board), 13.1.3.1 (time period for telephone calls — general rule) and 14.5.4.2 (not a qualifier); and a 11/15/1991 staff interpretation, Item No. a ]
Miss. State confirms NCAA probe
Mississippi State on Thursday confirmed an ongoing NCAA investigation into “potential recruiting violations.” The school said the investigation is “nearing an end” and it will cooperate fully.
Wide receivers coach Angelo Mirando resigned Sunday, less than two weeks before the season opener against Jackson State, in the wake of an ongoing NCAA investigation related to his recruitment of at least one player on the Bulldogs’ roster.
On Sunday, a statement released by the school said Mirando resigned due to “unforeseen personal issues.” In the statement, Mirando said, “It is in my best interest to resign from Mississippi State.” He also said he wanted to “stress that these issues are personal.”
Mississippi State freshman wide receiver Will Redmond was the subject of an NCAA interview that his coach at Memphis East High School gave, according to the coach, Marcus Wimberley.
“I told them as far as I was concerned his recruitment was on the up and up,” Wimberley said. “Who knows what they’re looking for. Will chose his school because he felt most comfortable and it was close to home.”
The Bulldogs hired former Minnesota coach Tim Brewster to fill Mirando’s position, a source told ESPN earlier Thursday.
Mirando was a graduate assistant under head coach Dan Mullen for two seasons before becoming a full-time assistant in 2011.
Brewster was fired as Minnesota coach in 2010 after going 15-30 with the Gophers, including 6-21 in the Big Ten. He had agreed earlier this month to become an analyst with the CBS Sports Network.
CoachingSearch.com earlier had reported Brewster was headed to Mississippi State.
PLEASE NOTE: The selection of this article was for educational purposes only.
Daily Compliance Item- 8/23/12- 17.1.6.6.1- Missed Class Time for Practice
The softball coaches as Ocean State University are finalizing the schedule for the fall non-championship segment. The schedule will include a practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4pm to 6pm. A few of student-athletes have a lab class from 3pm to 5pm. Is it permissible for the student-athletes to miss class to participate in these practices?
No. NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.6.1 states that in baseball, cross country (for institutions without indoor or outdoor track and field), field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball, no class time shall be missed in conjunction with non-championship segment competition, including activities associated with such competition (e.g., travel and other pregame or post-game activities). (Adopted: 4/28/11 effective 8/1/11)
There are a few secondary violation cases posted on LSDBi pertaining to this issue. These cases included a 2 for 1 penalty based on the amount of class time missed.
Daily Compliance Item- 8/22/12- 15.3.4.1- Increase in Athletic Aid
Flick Pass is a soccer student-athlete at Ocean State University. Flick was awarded a 50% athletic scholarship for the 2012-13 academic year. Flick really impressed the coaches during the pre-season period and earned a spot in the starting line up for the first regular season contest. On the first day of classes, the Head Coach rewarded Flick’s hard work by increasing her athletic aid to 75%.
Is this permissible?
Yes. NCAA Bylaw 15.3.4.1 states that institutional financial aid may be increased for any reason at any time.
With the adoption of NCAA Proposal 2011-97, the restrictions associated with increasing athletic aid after the period of the award began were removed.
Daily Compliance Item- 8/21/12- 17.1.6.3.5, 17.1.6.4.3- Pre-Season Practice
Which of the following is true with regard to countable athletically related activities (CARA) for those sports that are permitted to conduct pre-season practice prior to the start of the academic year?
A. Daily hour limitations do not apply to CARA prior to the first day of classes or first contest (whichever is earlier).
B. Weekly hour limitations do not apply to CARA prior to the first day of classes or first contest (whichever is earlier).
C. Institution is not required to provide a day off to student-athletes prior to the first day of classes or first contest (whichever is earlier).
D. All of the Above.
The answer is D. NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.3.5 states that daily and weekly hour limitations do not apply to countable athletically related activities occurring during preseason practice prior to the first day of classes or the first scheduled contest, whichever is earlier.
NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.4.3 states that an institution is not required to provide student-athletes with one day off per week during preseason practice that occurs prior to the first day of classes, or the first scheduled contest, whichever is earlier.
Daily Compliance Item- 8/20/12- 13.6.7.5, 13.7.2.1.8- Student Hosts
Ocean State Football coaches have several student managers that work with the team on the field and student workers that work with the staff in the office. The job responsibilities for these students do not include interaction with prospective student-athletes.
Because they are student workers within the football program, would they be permitted to serve as student hosts when football recruits visit campus?
No. NCAA Educational Column- 8/17/12-Issues Related to Campus Recruiting Visits (I)-states that the following information is intended to assist member institutions with the application of legislation governing campus recruiting visits.
Hosting Duties.
Institutions should note that pursuant to NCAA Bylaws 13.6.7.5 and 13.7.2.1.8, a student host involved in an official or unofficial visit 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. In this regard, 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.
Further, for purposes of this legislation, student managers and other student employees are considered to be students, as opposed to athletics department employees. Therefore, those individuals are restricted to engaging in general employment functions and are not permitted to host prospective student-athletes unless they meet the criteria noted in the aforementioned bylaws. Finally, inasmuch as student-hosting duties are considered incidental to athletics participation, and an individual must be either a student-athlete or a member of the official university host group, a student-athlete may not be paid to perform this function unless the university typically pays its official host groups for their services.
Athletics Department Involvement with Institutional Hosting Groups.
Pursuant to Bylaws 13.6.7.5 and 13.7.2.1.8, a student host involved in an official or unofficial visit 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. Consistent with this legislation, athletics departments are expected to remain completely uninvolved in the management and operation of these programs. Athletics departments may, however, 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. Further, if permitted by institutional policy, athletics departments 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.
Transportation Costs/Meals and Lodging While in Transit for Parents or Legal Guardians — Men’s Basketball.
Pursuant to Bylaw 13.5.2.6.1, in men’s basketball, an institution may pay the actual round-trip costs for a prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians (expenses for up to two people) to accompany the prospective student-athlete on his official visit. In addition, per Bylaw 13.6.7.1.1, in men’s basketball, an institution may pay the actual costs for meals and lodging for a prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians (expenses for up to two people) that are incurred while traveling to and from campus to accompany the prospective student-athlete on his official visit.
Standard Lodging.
Pursuant to Bylaw 13.6.6, a prospective student-athlete on an official visit shall be provided lodging and take meals as regular students normally do. Local commercial facilities may be used but at a scale comparable to that of normal student life and only within a 30-mile radius of the institution’s campus. Lodging may not include special accessories (e.g., Jacuzzis, suites) that are not available generally to all guests residing at the establishment. Consistent with the overarching theme that prospective student-athletes should be housed in a similar manner as other prospective students generally, institutions should adhere to the following guidelines: hotels selected to house prospective student-athletes should be similar to hotels in which prospective students are housed, hotels in which visiting teams are housed or lodging used by the institution for away from home contests.
Standard Meals.
Pursuant to Bylaw 13.6.6, a prospective student-athlete on an official visit shall be provided lodging and take meals as regular students normally do. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.6.7.7, meals must be comparable to those provided to student-athletes during the academic year. In this regard, meals provided during an official visit will be considered standard if they are similar in nature to campus meals, including training table meals. Additionally, institutions should note that the training table meal standard is considered the upper limit for all sports, regardless of whether training table is typically provided in a particular sport. Further, pursuant to Bylaw 13.6.7.1, a member institution may not arrange or permit excessive entertainment of a prospective student-athlete on campus or elsewhere. This restriction includes special arrangements for admittance to exclusive or elite restaurants where such opportunities are not generally available to the public.
Standard Transportation.
Pursuant to Bylaw 13.5.2.2.4, an institution transporting a prospective student-athlete (and those accompanying a prospective student-athlete) around campus during the official visit must use institutional vehicles normally used to transport prospective students while visiting the campus. In addition, coaching staff members or student hosts may use personal vehicles to transport a prospective student-athlete (and those accompanying the prospective student-athlete) around campus during an official visit. As a general principle, institutions should note that vehicles used for transportation around campus should be consistent with the type of vehicle an institution uses (or would use) for regular prospective students under similar circumstances, regardless of whether the institution actually provides such transportation. Also, a coaching staff member may use his or her personal vehicle for such purposes, provided the vehicle is used on a regular basis by the coach and has not been modified for the purpose of transporting prospective student-athletes. Further, coaches may rent vehicles for transportation purposes as needed, pursuant to institutional policy, provided those vehicles are considered basic transportation and not modified in any manner for this purpose. Finally, unmodified golf carts and similar vehicles are considered basic transportation; therefore, such vehicles may be used to transport prospective student-athletes around the campus.
[References: NCAA Bylaws 13.5.2.2.4 (on-campus transportation), 13.5.2.6.1 (exception — transportation expenses for a prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians – men’s basketball), 13.6.6 (accommodations on official visit), 13.6.7.1 (general restrictions), 13.6.7.1.1 (meals and lodging while in transit), 13.6.7.5 (student host), 13.6.7.7 (meals on official visit), 13.7.2.1.8 (student host) and staff interpretations (7/26/12, Item Ref. a and b)]
Daily Compliance Item 