Daily Compliance Item- 2/20/13- 16.2.1.1.1- Complimentary Admissions for a Conference Tournament

Alley Oop is a basketball student-athlete at Ocean State University.  Alley’s team will be participating in its conference tournament next week, and she would like to provide tickets to a few of her family members.  How many complimentary admissions may Alley provide?

A.  2

B.  4

C.  6

D.  None

The answer is C.  NCAA Bylaw 16.2.1.1.1 states that an institution may provide each student-athlete who participates in or is a member of a team participating in a postseason event (e.g., conference championship, NCAA championship, National Invitation Tournament, bowl game) with six complimentary admissions to all intercollegiate athletics events at the site at which the student (or team) participates.  (Adopted: 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, Revised: 11/1/01 effective 8/1/02, 1/17/09 effective 8/1/09)

Daily Compliance Item- 10/15/12- 17.3.3.1(a), 17.3.5.3(h)- Basketball Practice Scrimmage

Trip L Double and Dub L Double are two prospective student-athletes interested in playing basketball at Ocean State University (OSU) next year.  OSU is conducting an informal practice scrimmage next weekend and would like both prospects to attend.  During the weekend of the scrimmage, Trip will be taking an OFFICIAL visit and Dub will be taking an UNOFFICIAL visit to OSU’s campus.  Which of the following is true?

A.  Trip may attend the scrimmage

B.  Dub may attend the scrimmage

C.  Both Trip and Dub may attend the scrimmage

D.  Neither Trip or Dub may attend the scrimmage

The answer is A.  NCAA Educational Column- 5/1/08-Informal Basketball Practice Scrimmages (I)– states that NCAA Division I institutions should note that in basketball, NCAA Bylaw 17.3.5.3(h) (practice scrimmage) permits an informal practice scrimmage with outside competition to be exempted from an institution’s maximum number of contests, provided:  (1) the scrimmage is conducted in private (i.e., not open to the public) and without official scoring; and (2) only those athletics department staff members necessary to conduct the scrimmage are present during the scrimmage.

In basketball, an institution may play two practice scrimmages during any year it does not use an exemption set forth in Bylaw 17.3.5.3-(g) (exhibition against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution) or may play one practice scrimmage and one exhibition contest against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution.

Below are some commonly asked questions and answers designed to assist Division I institutions in applying this legislation.

Question:  When is the first opportunity to conduct a practice scrimmage?

Answer:    The first opportunity to conduct a practice scrimmage is the same day as the first opportunity to practice [i.e., 5 p.m. the Friday nearest October 15 (effective August 1, 2008)].  Further, a practice scrimmage may be conducted at any point during the season.

Question:  May the practice scrimmage be published on the institution’s season schedule?

Answer:    No.  The practice scrimmage may not be included on the institution’s published season schedule.

Question:  May the practice scrimmage count against either of the participating institutions’ won/loss records?

Answer:    No.  The practice scrimmage may not count against either team’s won/loss records.

Question:  May anyone (e.g., media; student-athletes’ families) other than the participating institutions’ coaches, student-athletes, athletics department staff members (e.g., trainers, managers) attend the practice scrimmage?

Answer:   Only athletics department staff members and those individuals necessary to conduct the practice scrimmage may be present during the scrimmage.  Further, the institution must ensure the scrimmage is free from public view and media are not in attendance.

Question:  May prospective student-athletes attend the practice scrimmage?

Answer:    Only prospective student-athletes (and those accompanying the prospective student-athletes) who are making official visits to the host institution may attend the practice scrimmage.  Prospective student-athletes on unofficial visits may not attend such a practice scrimmage.

Question:  If the facility in which the practice scrimmage is conducted is a facility that is normally open to the general public or student body during the time of the scrimmage, may the general public or student body attend the scrimmage?

Answer:    No.  Only athletics department staff members and those individuals necessary to conduct the practice scrimmage may be present during the scrimmage.

Question:  May the host institution’s statistics crew work the practice scrimmage?

Answer:    Yes.  The host institution’s statistics crew may work the practice scrimmage even if members of the crew are not members of the host institution’s athletics department staff.

Question: May an official score and/or statistics for the practice scrimmage be kept?

Answer:   No.  An official score and/or statistics for the practice scrimmage may not be kept.  However, an institution may keep score and/or statistics for private use.  The institution may not post the score and/or statistics in a newspaper, on the participating institutions’ Web sites, conferences’ Web sites or any other location.  In addition, an institution may not provide the score and/or any statistics to any type of media outlet.

Question:  May a coach or the student-athletes of either team participate in an interview with the media?

Answer:    The coach or student-athletes of either team may participate in an interview with the media, provided the comments are limited to the practice scrimmage in general and the interview was not established by either school to promote the scrimmage.  The coach or student-athletes may not comment specifically on the score or team and/or individual student-athlete statistics.

Question:  May the practice scrimmage be videotaped?

Answer:    Both teams may videotape the practice scrimmage as long as the footage is used only by the participating teams and is not published in any manner (e.g., posted on a participating institution’s Web site, video may not be provided to other institutions for scouting).

Question:  Do the daily and weekly hour limitations apply to the practice scrimmage?

Answer:    All student-athletes participating in the practice scrimmage are subject to the daily and weekly hour limitations.  A practice scrimmage is considered to be a contest.  Therefore, participation in the practice scrimmage and any associated athletically related activities count as three hours regardless of the actual duration of the scrimmage or associated athletically related activities.

Question:  May practice (e.g., review of videotape) be conducted after the scrimmage?

Answer:    No.  A practice scrimmage is considered to be a contest and practice may not be conducted following competition.

[References: Bylaws 17.1.6.3.2 (competition day), 17.1.6.3.2.1 (practice prohibited after competition), 17.5.3.1 (practice scrimmages), 17.5.5.3 (annual exemptions) and a staff interpretation, (11/8/06, Item No. 1)]

Daily Compliance Item- 10/9/12- 16.2.2.1- Exchange for Complimentary Admissions

Charity Stripe, a women’s basketball student-athlete at Ocean State University, assigns all four of her complimentary admissions to a home event.  One of the recipients is the owner of a local salon where Charity gets her manicures and pedicures.  The owner of the salon is a big basketball fan and told Charity that if she could get tickets to the home games, she would give Charity a free manicure once a week.  Is this arrangement permissible?

1.  Yes, as long as the value of the manicure is less than or equal to the value of the tickets
2. Yes, as long as the owner of the salon is not an agent
3. No, this arrangement would be considered a violation
4. No, complimentary admissions may only be provided to immediate family members

The answer is 3.  NCAA Bylaw 16.2.2.1 states that a student-athlete may not receive payment from any source for his or her complimentary admissions and may not exchange or assign them for any item of value.

Daily Compliance Item- 9/27/12- 13.6.7.5- Student Host Money

Hook Shot is a basketball student-athlete at Ocean State University (OSU).  Hook is going to serve as a student host this weekend for a recruit visiting campus.  How much money can OSU provide per day to Hook for entertaining the prospect?

A.  $30

B.  $40

C.  $50

D.  $60

The answer is B.  NCAA Bylaw 13.6.7.5 states that the student 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. The institution may provide the following to a student host entertaining a prospective student-athlete: [R] (Revised: 10/28/97, 11/1/00, 8/5/04)

(a) A maximum of $40 for each day of the visit to cover all actual costs of entertaining the student host(s) and the prospective student-athlete (and the prospective student-athlete’s parents, legal guardians or spouse), excluding the cost of meals and admission to campus athletics events. The cost of entertainment of the institution’s athletics department staff members who accompany the prospective student-athlete is also excluded. If an athletics department staff member serves as the prospective student-athlete’s host, his or her entertainment costs must be included in the entertainment allowance. The entertainment allowance may not be used for the purchase of souvenirs, such as T-shirts or other institutional mementos. It is permissible to provide the student host with an additional $20 per day for each additional prospective student-athlete the host entertains; (Revised: 1/10/90 effective 8/1/90, 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, 5/12/05, 4/27/06, 4/26/12 effective 8/1/12)

(b) Complimentary meals, provided the student host is accompanying the prospective student-athlete during the prospective student-athlete’s official visit; and (Adopted: 1/10/92, Revised: 2/23/09)

(c) Complimentary admissions to campus athletics events, provided the student host is accompanying the prospective student-athlete to the events during the prospective student-athlete’s official visit. (Revised: 2/23/09)

 

PLEASE NOTE:  The allowance permitted increased from $30 to $40 a day with the adoption of NCAA Proposal 2011-40.  This piece of legislation became effective 8/1/12.