There’s a Gap in Recruit Rules

It happened to Geoff Schwartz this winter as he traveled to several major colleges that were recruiting him to play football.

The Palisades High lineman was on an official visit to one of the campuses -- he was hesitant to say which -- when players from the team asked whether he wanted to go to a strip club.

“I wasn’t too surprised,” he said. “I’d heard stories.”

Although such stories have made national headlines this month -- claims that some athletic programs woo recruits with strippers and raucous parties -- experts say a critical point has been overlooked.

Such behavior is not necessarily prohibited by the NCAA.

The bylaws that govern how a school may entertain recruits constitute only a few paragraphs in an otherwise voluminous rulebook. Experts point to a critical sentence which states, in part, that colleges may “provide entertainment at a scale comparable to that of normal student life and not excessive in nature.”

An argument can be made that young men are known to attend parties and strip clubs as a part of normal student life.

“The NCAA has given institutions pretty wide latitude,” said Mike Glazier, a Kansas City attorney who represents schools investigated by the NCAA. “There definitely have to be changes.”

This week, the NCAA is expected to name members of and provide details about a task force that will consider expanded -- and stricter -- bylaws.

“This is an area we haven’t regulated,” said NCAA Vice President David Berst, who will chair the task force. “It seems to me there should be a better standard than that.”

The controversy has arisen from the cutthroat manner in which athletic programs vie for high school talent.

“Recruiting is the Holy Grail,” said Peter Roby, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. “It creates the media frenzy and alumni interest. It sells season tickets and helps teams win games.”

Schools may offer each prospect a single, expense-paid visit, a 48-hour opportunity to sell themselves. That usually includes a tour of classrooms, training facilities and dinner with coaches.

Come evening, recruits are handed over to players from the team.

A local college player, who asked not to be identified, put it this way: “We were told to take them to have a good time. Football players want to meet women. They want to go out and party. We’d introduce them to people and show them what college life is all about.”

Among all the activities governed by the NCAA, Glazier said entertainment of recruits is unique because it shifts authority from staff and administrators to college athletes who might be only a year or two older than their high school visitors.

There are limitations. According to bylaws, when players take a recruit out for the night, they may not venture more than 30 miles from campus or ferry him around in a limousine or helicopter. The school may provide them with no more than $30 to be spent on each prospect.

State laws also come into play if recruits are too young to drink or be in a strip club.

But some experts wonder whether the ambiguity in NCAA rules has led to trouble.

At Colorado, players have been accused of offering alcohol and strippers to recruits. At Minnesota, university officials were investigating a report that recruits were taken to a strip club two weeks in a row.

The father of San Diego State running back Lynell Hamilton told the Stockton Record that his son was offered sex, alcohol and marijuana during a visit to Oregon.

Recruits such as Westlake defensive end Jimmy Miller, who had a comparatively tame experience, nevertheless say they enter into the recruiting process suspecting almost anything might happen.

“Coaches tell their players, ‘Make sure [the recruit] enjoys himself,’ ” Roby said. “They leave it up to the players how best to do that. Without some guidance, 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds will make decisions that may not be in the best interest of the university.”

NCAA President Myles Brand put it more bluntly last week, saying: “Some of what is being alleged is morally reprehensible and has no place in college sports.”

It remains unclear what actions the NCAA might take.

“There are a lot of rules that might be in play,” spokeswoman Kay Hawes said.

In the meantime, Colorado has formed an independent committee to investigate its recruiting practices. At Arizona State, which was not implicated in any of the scandals, recruiters must now sign a behavioral agreement.

With most of the reported incidents occurring at night, attorney Glazier offered a suggestion: Limit visits to daytime activities on campus and dinner.

“If they take the prospect back to the hotel room,” he said, “a lot of this is eliminated.”

Schwartz, the Palisades prospect, went on his recruiting trips armed with a parental warning.

“Look, you may be put into awkward positions,” his father, Lee, told him. “You have to be aware this may happen, and this is how we recommend you handle it.”

Schwartz, 17, would not have been legally permitted to enter a strip club. Although he didn’t think the offer was any big deal, he declined.

“I’m not a huge party person,” he said.

That isn’t to say the 6-foot-7, 330-pound lineman cannot be swayed by a good time. He ended up committing to Oregon, in part, because of his visit.

“We went paint-balling,” he said. “That was probably the most fun I had on any of my trips.”

Times staff writer Steve Henson contributed to this report.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

What the Rule Says

NCAA BYLAW,

ARTICLE 13, RECRUITING

13.01.2 Entertainment. A member institution may provide entertainment (per Bylaw 13.5), at a scale comparable to that of normal student life and not excessive in nature, to a prospect and his or her parents (or legal guardians) or spouse only at the institution’s campus (or, on an official visit, within 30 miles of the institution’s campus). Entertainment of other relatives or friends of a prospect at any site is prohibited.

13.5.2 Excessive Entertainment. A member institution may not arrange or permit excessive entertainment of a prospect on the campus or elsewhere (e.g., hiring a band for a dance specifically for the entertainment of the prospect, a chauffeured limousine, a helicopter).