Coaches to get more contact with recruits

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

College basketball coaches no longer have to shy away from potential recruits during summer camps and clinics on their own campus.

On Tuesday, the NCAA’s Legislative Council announced it would allow coaches to have “recruiting discussions” on campus, loosening a rule that was nearly impossible to enforce anyway. The change does not mean coaches can go into full recruiting mode, but they can converse with players they are actually recruiting.

The changes must still be approved by the NCAA’s Board of Directors, which meets later this month. The proposal does not distinguish between head coaches or assistants.

“The coach cannot give them campus tours and do the kinds of things that they would do on an official visit,” said Steve Mallonee, the NCAA’s managing director of academic and membership affairs. “We wanted to eliminate some of the third-party influence in recruiting.”

The proposals intended to clean up college basketball recruiting gained traction in October when the board unanimously endorsed a package of changes. Some were adopted. Others did not survive the NCAA’s rigorous legislative process.

The council considered more than 30 proposals during a two-day meeting this week and passed more than 20.

The council also defeated a proposal that would have banned all “outside” coaches or athletes from working at the summer camps or clinics, and legislation that would have eliminated one game from the men’s and women’s basketball seasons.

The council also passed legislation requiring “deserving” bowl-eligible teams to post a .500 record against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents; defeated legislation that would have eliminated all printed media guides, and eliminated the number of phone calls that can be made during contact periods in all sports that have an established recruiting calendar, with the exception of football.