SoCalHoops Recruiting News

NCAA Basketball "Working Group" Report:
Recruiting Issues--(Aug. 30, 1999)

A year ago, August of 1998, the NCAA created a "working group" to examine issues affecting the sport of Division I basketball. That group, the Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues, subsequently did so, and they examined several issues deemed to "have a significant impact on the sport of Division I basketball".   The group was asked to make appropriate recommendations, legislative or otherwise, and they've done so.  Among the issues that received extensive review were the basketball recruiting process, particularly the summer environment and the influence of nonscholastic coaches (i.e., individuals who do not coach in an academic environment) and apparel and equipment companies.

The working group conducted a series of seven meetings in which it identified issues, conducted surveys of the Association's membership and basketball student-athletes, conducted hearings to gather testimony from interested individuals and groups and, eventually, developed legislative recommendations or took other action to be considered through the Division I governance structure. Many organizations appeared in front of the group, including the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the NBA, National Basketball Players Association, National Federation of State High-School Associations, NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Committees, representatives from various apparel and equipment companies, AAU representatives, camp operators, media representatives and representatives from the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

The group determined to actually break down further into seven separate subcommittees, each devoted to a particular issue.  The recruiting subcommittee was formed to review issues related to recruiting, including the summer environment and the influence of apparel and equipment manufacturers and distributors.   According to the NCAA's official report, during the course of subcommittee discussions, common themes and objectives emerged that served as the basis for the full group's final recommendations. Those themes/objectives included: 

• The enhancement of educational opportunities for current basketball student-athletes to increase the likelihood of academic success.
• The extension of the overall collegiate experience in an effort to more fully prepare basketball student-athletes to contribute to society as productive citizens.
• The provision of appropriate oversight to enhance the development and public perception of the sport of Division I basketball, including efficient ways to direct the marketing, licensing and promotions of NCAA basketball.
• The promotion and encouragement of sportsmanship and ethical conduct by participants (players and coaches) in the sport of basketball consistent with the educational mission and goals of the Association.
• The reduction of influences that place undue pressure on and negatively impact the development of the basketball student-athlete.
• The identification of support programs and services that assist basketball student-athletes and enhance the overall collegiate experience.
• The modification of the basketball playing and practice season to provide increased time for basketball student-athletes to devote to academics and other co-curricular related activities. 
• The development of an environment that provides increased opportunities which foster player/coach relationships outside the athletics arena.
• The increased importance of the scholastic environment and decreased emphasis of nonscholastic external influences in the recruitment of prospective basketball student-athletes.
• The education of the entire collegiate community regarding the ills of illegal sports wagering and its negative impact on the sport of Division I basketball and its participants. 

The working group produced a report, which was published this past month and made public.  If you want to view the entire report, you can do so online at the NCAA's official website.  Below are those portions of the report related to the "Recruitment of Basketball Prospective Student Athletes."    Those interested in the process of recruiting, especially those students and athletes who currently play at the exposure events who have hopes of getting a college scholarship should read this report carefully as it will potentially affect the way that they are recruited in the future.  The report is, for now, just a recommendation.   But the NCAA and several vocal constituencies (most notably high school coaches and their associations) have been pushing in this direction for several years now.  The NCAA has said that final action on the recommendations won't be expected until sometime after January, 2000, but the plan is to try to implement the changes for this coming summer.

Here's the report related to recruiting:

THE RECRUITMENT OF BASKETBALL PROSPECTIVE STUDENT-ATHLETES

Proposals in this core area are designed to increase the importance of the scholastic environment and decrease the impact of nonscholastic external influences in the recruitment of prospective basketball student-athletes.

Recommendations

1. Basketball Event Certification Process. The NCAA shall strengthen the process for certifying basketball events at which Division I basketball coaches are permitted to evaluate prospective men's and women's basketball student-athletes as follows:
   1. Academic year -- practice and competition

      All evaluations during the academic year shall be limited to regularly scheduled high-school and two-year college contests/tournaments, practices, pick-up games and open gyms conducted under the supervision of the high-school or two-year college coach.

   2. Academic year and summer events

      Because of the variations in state high-school association requirements, the NCAA would establish guidelines for the certification of scholastic and nonscholastic events at which Division I basketball coaches are permitted to evaluate prospective men's and women's basketball student-athletes. These guidelines shall include the following:

      1. The National Federation of High Schools and/or the National Junior College Athletics Association (academic year events only) must approve any certified event conducted during the academic year.
      2. Full financial disclosure of the operations of the event to ensure:
         • That there is no unauthorized financial support of the event (or teams) from agents or representatives of athletics interests of NCAA member institutions.
         • That the participant players may not receive benefits or money in excess of travel expenses or any other benefits prohibited by the high school, two-year college or NCAA.
      3. No involvement by agents in the operation or management of the event.
      4. Other requirements aimed at promoting student-athlete welfare, including adequate training and sports medicine facilities, officiating, and drug and gambling education and academic components.
   3. Summer camps/foreign tours

   The process for certifying events and foreign high-school tours during the summer at which Division I basketball coaches are permitted to evaluate prospective men's and women's basketball student-athletes shall be as follows:

   1. Financial disclosure of all foreign travel teams and summer events. Information should include: how many teams are funded; how much the funding is; and for what purpose the funding is used, budgets, compensation reports and sources of revenue/funding.
   2. An important component of the certification process would be a significant review of the information submitted, including a detailed review in September of each year to examine the events that occurred and to discuss any incidents that negatively or positively impacted the summer experience. This review could be conducted by: a special enforcement representative (similar to the agent/gambling representative) and a membership committee. A critical piece of this recommendation is the commitment of staffing and resources and the cooperation of shoe/apparel companies that tentatively have agreed to participate in the development of certification guidelines.
2. Modification of the Men's Basketball Recruiting Calendar. The men's basketball recruiting calendar shall be modified as follows:
   1. Permit men's basketball coaches to contact prospective men's basketball student-athletes for 18 days within a 30-day period beginning the Thursday after Labor Day.
   2. Establish a contact period Friday following the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship game through nine days following the initial signing date for the spring signing of the National Letter of Intent.

      [Note: This change would be accompanied by a request to the National Letter of Intent steering committee to alter the date for signing the spring National Letter of Intent from May 15 to May 1.]

   3. Reduce the current July evaluation period from 24 to 14 days. The 14 days shall be selected at the discretion of the institution and designated in writing in the office of the director of athletics.
   4. Increase the evaluation days during the academic year evaluation period from 40 to 50.
   5. Establish a 10-day period (Wednesday through Sunday the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May) during which time men's basketball coaches may evaluate prospective student-athletes during their junior year in high school. During such time period, coaches would be permitted to engage in limited conversation with prospective basketball student-athletes in the presence of the high-school coach.
   6. Permit Division I institutions to make one telephone call per prospect during the 10-day period beginning the Monday after Mother's Day of the prospect's junior year in high school (in lieu of one of the calls permitted between June 21 and July 31).

   [Note: The working group acknowledged that serious problems exist related to the involvement of external influences in the recruitment of prospective basketball student-athletes during the summer and believes that its proposal provides meaningful solutions in addressing the corrupting influences related to the summer recruiting environment. The group agreed, however, that the issue of summer recruiting needs to be monitored on a continuing basis and that in the event the proposed solutions fail to ameliorate the problems, an alternative that eliminates the recruitment of prospects during the summer should be strongly considered. In that regard, the group recommended that the newly proposed Basketball Issues Committee evaluate the effectiveness of the group's recommendation and begin developing an alternative recruiting model that would not require the use of a summer evaluation period.]

3. Basketball Recruiting Oversight Committee. Establish an NCAA oversight committee to improve and preserve the game that would include representation from the NFSHA and NJCAA. At an annual summit, the committee should meet with other involved groups, including the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Women's Basketball Coaches Association, Amateur Athletic Union, National Basketball Association/Women's National Basketball Association, shoe and apparel companies and professional players associations. This committee also could assist with the increased monitoring of certified events/camps/teams.

RATIONALE

The increased emphasis on the recruitment of basketball student-athletes during the summer evaluation period, unfortunately, has served to minimize the importance of the scholastic environment and the role of scholastic administrators (e.g., coach, principals) in the recruitment of basketball student-athletes. The result has been the increased impact of nonscholastic external influences in the recruiting process. Many of these individuals operate in a structure devoid of any accountability. In addition, many of these individuals have strong ties to apparel and equipment companies. These relationships only serve to heighten the perception that institutions with contractual commitments to such companies will receive unfair recruiting advantages, particularly as they relates to the highly skilled prospects.

The proposal to strengthen the process for certifying basketball events in which prospective men's and women's basketball student-athletes may participate is designed to increase the importance of the scholastic environment in the basketball recruiting process through the involvement of the national and/or state high-school and two-year college associations in the process for certifying basketball events at which Division I basketball coaches may observe prospective basketball student-athletes. Such a process should provide more control for the high schools and two-year colleges to ensure that basketball prospects are making the necessary academic commitment, as opposed to simply showcasing their talents at various events throughout the country. In addition, strengthening the summer event certification process through the inclusion of outside travel teams and a more rigorous enforcement process should help ensure that such events/competition are conducted in a manner that is more consistent with the intercollegiate principle of amateurism.

The proposed changes in the men's basketball recruiting calendar are designed to focus the recruitment of prospective men's basketball student-athletes at the scholastic level by increasing the opportunities for coaches to contact and evaluate men's basketball prospects during the academic year and reducing the opportunities to observe men's basketball prospective student-athletes during the summer evaluation period. In addition, proposed changes to permit earlier limited contact should serve to decrease the impact of nonscholastic external influences in the recruitment process.

Further, the establishment of an oversight committee that includes representation from the scholastic community and dialogue with prominent entities in the nonscholastic community should assist in the development of a culture that will help ensure that the scholastic environment remains a very viable part of the recruiting process in the sport of basketball.

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