NCAA Attacks Lavish Recruiting

The NCAA moved closer to adopting new legislation designed to curb abuses during recruiting visits and to improve graduation rates at schools with consistently poor results.

Responding Tuesday to a recent recruiting scandal involving sex and alcohol at the University of Colorado, an NCAA task force recommended halting the use of private jets, lavish hotel suites and automobiles and expensive dinners to lure top athletes.

In addition, the NCAA’s Division I Management Council gave its final approval to the so-called Incentive-Disincentive program, which will punish schools and teams with consistently poor graduation rates. It now goes to the Division I Board of Directors for a final vote April 29, with implementation expected before the 2005-06 school year.

An 18-member task force composed of athletic directors, student-athletes and conference commissioners presented its proposals for overhauling recruiting rules to the Division I Management Council, calling for an end to the “culture of entitlement.”

Myles Brand, NCAA president, plans to have the new recruiting standards in place before the 2004-05 academic year begins. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors will meet April 29 to review the proposals, with a final vote expected Aug. 5.

“My expectation is there will be a final vote this summer and it will be in place by start of the next recruiting season,” Brand said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters. “There’s no question but that the Colorado situation acted as a catalyst for the task force.”

The task force was formed Feb. 24, in the wake of claims by seven women that they were sexually assaulted by Colorado football players and recruits. Colorado has since adopted strict new guidelines for recruiting visits and indefinitely suspended Gary Barnett, its football coach.

The NCAA’s new proposals include:

* Banning first-class airfare for recruits to and from campus visits.

* Banning the use of special vehicles, including limousines with televisions or special decor or appointments.

* Forbidding expensive meals that would not normally be offered to athletes during the school year.

* Prohibiting the use of personalized jerseys, scoreboard video presentations and running onto the field with the team during pregame player introductions.

* Requiring universities to develop written guidelines for recruiting visits.

* Banning the use of special hosts to guide recruits during their visits, instead using current team members or others who regularly lead campus tours to other students.

The task force left the establishment of specific guidelines on inappropriate behavior such as underage drinking, use of drugs and trips to strip clubs up to the individual schools. The NCAA expects schools to be held accountable in enforcing their own guidelines, according to Brand.

“Some unfortunate and unacceptable behaviors have developed within the recruiting process and official visits at some institutions,” Brand said. “A culture of entitlement pervades the experience, and we have to turn that around by holding each campus accountable for setting expectations and monitoring behavior.”

Critics say it doesn’t go far enough to halting the abuses seen at Colorado and other schools recently.

“These rules barely address those issues,” Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), chairwoman of a House Subcommittee that last month looked into the NCAA’s recruiting policies, told the Denver Post. “They have hyper-specific rules, but they’re not seeing the forest for the trees. They’re not seeing the huge abuse.”

The Incentive-Disincentive program moved closer to adoption. Brand called it a package “with remarkable bite in ways the NCAA has never applied before.” It is expected to be implemented in 2005.

In addition to focusing on lagging graduation rates, the program also will monitor the academic progress of student-athletes.

“The focus will be on accountability, with the prospect of not only removing scholarships but also removing a team from postseason play,” Brand said.