The men’s basketball coaches at Ocean State University are very interested in recruiting a few 7th graders they have seen on film. Is it permissible for the coaches to call them or go visit them in their homes since they have not yet started classes in the 9th grade?
No. NCAA Educational Column- 11/30/12- Men’s Basketball — Definition of a Prospective Student-Athlete for Tryouts and Camps and Clinics (I)- states that NCAA Division I member institutions should note that, pursuant to NCAA Division I Bylaws 13.11.1.2 and 13.12.1.1.1, for the purposes of tryouts and camps and clinics legislation in men’s basketball, a prospective student-athlete is defined as an individual who has started classes for the seventh grade. This definition is not applicable to other recruiting bylaws (e.g., telephone calls, official visits and contact restrictions).
The following questions and answers are designed to assist member institutions in applying the legislation.
Question: Is it permissible for a men’s basketball coach to provide recruiting materials, including general correspondence related to athletics, to seventh or eighth graders or their parents or legal guardians?
Answer: No. The legislation that defines a prospective student-athlete for purposes of the tryout and camps and clinics legislation does not change the permissible time period for providing recruiting materials to men’s basketball prospective student-athletes. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.4.1, in men’s basketball, it is not permissible to provide recruiting materials, including general correspondence related to athletics, to an individual or his parents or legal guardians until June 15 at the conclusion of his sophomore year in high school or, for a prospective student-athlete who attends an educational institution that uses a nontraditional calendar (e.g., Southern Hemisphere), the day after the conclusion of the his sophomore year in high school.
Question: Is it permissible for a men’s basketball coach to place telephone calls to seventh or eighth graders?
Answer: No. The legislation that defines a prospective student-athlete for purposes of the tryout and camps and clinics legislation does not change the permissible time period for placing telephone calls to men’s basketball prospective student-athletes. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.1.3.1.3, it is not permissible for an institutional coaching staff member to make telephone calls to a men’s basketball prospective student-athlete before June 15 of the prospective student-athlete’s sophomore year in high school or, for a prospective student-athlete who attends an educational institution that uses a nontraditional calendar (e.g., Southern Hemisphere), the day after the conclusion of his sophomore year in high school.
Question: May a men’s basketball coach make in-person off-campus recruiting contacts with seventh and eighth graders?
Answer: No. The legislation that defines a prospective student-athlete for purposes of the tryout and camps and clinics legislation does not change the permissible time period for off-campus contact with men’s basketball prospective student-athletes. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.1.1.1.1, off-campus recruiting contacts may not be made with a men’s basketball prospective student-athlete or his relatives or legal guardians before the opening day of classes for the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.
Question: May a seventh or eighth grader be provided an official (paid) visit?
Answer: No. The legislation that defines a prospective student-athlete for purposes of the tryout and camps and clinics legislation does not change the date of the first opportunity for men’s basketball prospective student-athletes to receive expense-paid visits. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.6.2.2.1, it is not permissible for a prospective student-athlete to be provided an official visit earlier than January 1 of the prospective student athlete’s junior year of high school.
Question: Is it permissible to conduct a boys basketball camp for seventh and eighth graders on an institution’s campus during a dead period?
Answer: No. An institutional sports camp or clinic is defined as camp or clinic that is owned or operated by a member institution, or an employee of the athletics department, and in which prospective student-athletes participate. Seventh and eighth graders are considered prospective student-athletes for purposes of the tryout and camps and clinics legislation; therefore, pursuant to Bylaw 13.12.1.3, institutional boys basketball camps and clinics for seventh and eighth graders may not be conducted during a dead period.
Question: May an institution conduct a boys basketball camp or clinic for seventh or eighth graders during the months of June, July or August?
Answer: Yes. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.12.1.1.4, an institution may only conduct an institutional boys basketball camp during the months of June, July or August.
Question: May an institution’s men’s basketball coach or noncoaching staff member with basketball-specific duties be employed at another institution’s or noninstitutional boys basketball camp or clinic that includes seventh and eighth graders?
Answer: No. Pursuant to Bylaw 13.12.2.3.2, an institution’s coaching staff member or noncoaching staff member with basketball-specific duties (other than a manager) may only be employed at his or her institution’s camps or clinics.
Question: May a basketball coaching staff member attend noninstitutional basketball events, such as camps, leagues, tournaments in which seventh or eighth graders participate during the April or summer evaluation periods?
Answer: Unless the event is certified per Bylaw 13.18, no, it is not permissible for a coach to attend noninstitutional basketball events that include seventh and eighth graders during the April or summer evaluation periods.
[References: Division I Bylaws 13.1.1.1 (time period for off-campus contacts — general rule), 13.1.3.1.3 (exception — men’s basketball), 13.1.7.8. (basketball evaluations), 13.4.1 (recruiting materials), 13.6.2.2.1 (first opportunity to visit), 13.11.1.2 (definition of “prospective student-athlete” for tryout purposes – men’s basketball), 13.12.1.1.1 (definition of prospective student-athlete – men’s basketball), 13.12.1.1.4 (basketball), 13.12.1.5 (recruiting calendar exceptions), 13.12.1.7.1 (general rule), 13.12.2.3.2 (institutional/noninstitutional privately owned camps/clinic — basketball) and 13.18 (summer basketball event certification — men’s basketball); an official interpretation (7/13/05, Item No. 1); and a staff interpretation (4/6/94, Item No. a)]
This legislation is applicable to Division I.
Daily Compliance Item 