Advances in Technology Cited as Reason to Deregulate Telephone Call Restrictions in Recruiting
By Bo Kerin
During its September 2009 meeting, the NCAA Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet supported Pacific-10 Conference Proposal No. 2010-32, which if adopted, would permit coaches to make unlimited telephone calls to prospective student-athletes during sport-specific recruiting contact periods. In addition to agreeing with the Pac-10 rationale that monitoring recruiting telephone calls has become overly burdensome on institutional compliance administrators, the cabinet also noted, “…the many forms of communication available in today’s culture, with electronic means increasingly becoming the preferred method among high school students.”
Historically, NCAA recruiting rules related to telephone calls to prospective student-athletes have been crafted to minimize intrusion into the lives of prospects and their families. However, this rationale appears to be losing its hold on the NCAA Division I membership, in part, due to advances in technology and the changing culture of today’s youth.
“So much has changed since the one-call-per-week rule was enacted many years ago,” said Mike Matthews, Associate Commissioner for Compliance at the Pac-10 Conference. “That rule was created at a time when families only had one phone in the house and it could be tied up at night with recruiting calls from college coaches. Now, prospects walk around with mobile phones that include things like caller ID and forwarding to voice mail. Since prospects have much more control over the phone calls they receive, it makes sense to bring this rule into the 21st century.”
Despite support from the cabinet, some coaches are leery of heading down this road. The Women’s Basketball Issues Committee opposes Proposal No. 2010-32 and expressed concern that, “this legislation would cause telephone calls to become more intrusive on prospective student-athletes and have a negative impact on the work/life balance of coaches due to the increase in the number of telephone calls they would feel they must make during contact periods.”
The proposal may be the first step in additional deregulation as it relates to communication with prospects and their families. The cabinet has announced plans to review current Division I recruiting rules for potential deregulation over the course of this academic year, so regardless of the position to which one subscribes, this issue appears to be one that will be debated heavily in the near future. In the interim, coaches will continue to be expected to adhere to telephone call restrictions and institutions will continue to be expected to monitor such communication. While the current proposal would deregulate recruiting telephone calls during contact periods if adopted, restrictions will continue to remain outside of those periods. As a result, institutions will need to evaluate monitoring activities and implement technological solutions to adhere to this standard for the foreseeable future.