According to the Washington Post, the NCAA is beginning to look into the possibility of new recruiting restrictions surrounding hiring coaches who have ties to recruits. This is a subject that I have talked about quite a bit on HoopDirt and in our forum.

http://www.hoopdirt.com/blog/c32fabad/news-and-rumors-from-t…

The NCAA DI Board of Directors will meet on October 29th to discuss new measures to prevent coaches from hiring people close to a prospect for non-coaching positions. Using Louisville as an example, Rick Pitino hired Shabaka Lands as "Special assistant to the Head Coach." It just so happens that Lands was an assistant at Pike High School (Indianapolis), where he coached Marquis Teague, the No. 1 point guard in the Class of 2011 and on Louisville’s radar at the time. The Board of Directors is looking to end this practice, and will propose that schools prohibit hiring individuals associated with a prospect for two years before or after the prospect’s anticipated enrollment.

This is a good step towards cleaning up some of the shady things that go on at the higher levels. The guys who get hired to non-coaching positions are looking out for themselves, and may not always be doing what’s best for the kid. I am definitely in favor of any type of legislation that is passed to regulate this.

The NCAA is also looking into who can be hired to work at an institutions summer camp. The hiring of people close to a recruit in order to gain contact with the recruit has also become common practice. This one may be a little tougher to regulate. The NCAA is proposing that schools hire only its own staff members or enrolled students at its camps and clinics. I know many young guys in the business travel all over during the summer working camps. This will definitely affect them is this proposal is passed. There needs to be some kind of provision made for college coaches or HS coaches to be allowed to work camps.

I am definitely looking forward to the outcome of the October 29th meeting. The decisions that are made there could affect a lot of people in our business. I’ll keep you posted.