| NEWS NCAA Press release of new rule changes (A few of note.)

[TerryP]

New rules aim to make college athlete recruiting experience similar to student body’s

April 18, 2018 2:45pmMichelle Brutlag Hosick

Starting with the next school year, most prospective student-athletes will follow a recruiting model that resembles the schedule other students follow when choosing where to go to college. The Division I Council made the decision when it met Tuesday and Wednesday in Indianapolis.

The new recruiting model allows potential student-athletes more time to make thoughtful decisions about their next steps after high school. The shift was supported by the national Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

“These changes will improve the recruiting experience for prospective student-athletes and coaches and lead to better decision-making,” said Blake James, Council chair and Miami (Florida) director of athletics. “Ultimately, a better recruiting process will improve the college experience for Division I student-athletes.”

The changes will affect several aspects of the recruiting model. For student-athletes in sports other than football and basketball, official visits now can begin Sept. 1 of a prospect’s junior year in high school instead of the first day of classes for senior year.

Football changed its recruiting model last year to add earlier official visits, starting April 1 of the junior year through the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June.

Men’s basketball allows official visits Jan. 1 of a prospective student-athlete’s junior year. Women’s basketball recruits can take an official visit beginning the Thursday following the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship game of the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.

Additionally, athletics departments can’t participate in a recruit’s unofficial visit until Sept. 1 of the recruit’s junior year in high school, and recruiting conversations during a school’s camp or clinic can’t happen before Sept. 1 of the junior year. Both rules apply to all sports but football and basketball, which have their own rules.

The changes are based on the work of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Student-Athlete Experience Committee, and guided by feedback from student-athletes, coaches, athletics directors and compliance administrators. They are considered a first step toward regulating a recruiting process that can begin in middle school — and sometimes earlier. The Student-Athlete Experience Committee will continue to examine the recruiting environment, with communications (telephone, email, text), verbal and written offers, and off-campus contacts on the agenda for the next phase.

In addition to the recruiting model, the Council eliminated restrictions on the sale of alcohol at Division I championships. The decision comes nearly two years after a pilot program that allowed alcohol sales in general seating at the College World Series and Women’s College World Series expanded to include the Football Championship Subdivision’s championship game, wrestling, men’s lacrosse championships in all three divisions, men's ice hockey and women's volleyball.

Football legislation

The Council tabled a proposal that would allow football student-athletes to participate in up to four games per year without using a season of competition. Proponents argue that late-season injuries and other factors often require student-athletes who hadn’t played all season to burn a year of eligibility for a small number of games. Others wonder whether the proposal could be applied to other sports, as well, whether the number of games in the proposal is appropriate, and whether the timing of the four games matters.

The Football Oversight and Student-Athlete Experience Committees will review the proposal and provide feedback.

The Football Championship Subdivision removed restrictions on employing individuals associated with prospective student-athletes at a school’s camp or clinic and struck rules preventing noncoaching staff members with football-specific duties from working at camps or clinics at their own school or other four-year NCAA member schools. Proponents argued that the rules, adopted last year, were not needed in the FCS because hiring people to secure recruits is not an issue in that subdivision.

Council members from Football Bowl Subdivision schools defeated the same proposals for that subdivision, with some calling the proposals a “weakening” of the comprehensive football recruiting package adopted last year.

Both subdivisions adopted proposals preventing former student-athletes from participating in practice at their former schools. Sponsored by the Atlantic Coast Conference, the proposal is intended to negate competitive and recruiting advantages schools potentially could gain by allowing former student-athletes to practice with the current team.

Other actions

Council members adjusted the effective date of the notification-of-transfer proposal to Oct. 15, 2018. The proposal would eliminate schools’ ability to influence athletics scholarships provided to student-athletes. It includes the creation of a national database for transfer student-athletes to make it known that they wish to be recruited by other schools.

The Council also modified the database portion of the notification-of-transfer proposal to give schools two business days after a student notifies the school he or she will transfer to enter a student-athlete’s name into the database. The group plans to vote on the proposal at its June meeting.

The Council also approved noncontroversial legislation permanently changing the deadline to Nov. 1 each year for the Council to submit legislation. The Council had provided a waiver each year for specific issues, and members anticipated a third request in 2018. Instead of continuing to provide waivers, the Council opted to change the deadline. The deadline for conference-sponsored proposals will remain Sept. 1.

Separate from the other recruiting legislation, the Council also adopted noncontroversial legislation pertinent to recruiting in softball. The new rules prevent phone calls between coaches and recruits until Sept. 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s junior year and allow off-campus recruiting contact to begin the same date. The changes were requested by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and align with similar changes adopted in lacrosse last year.

Division I Council adopts recruiting legislation

 

[TerryP]

Good rule for the softball dates being changed. They're attempting to get a hold on the travel club "market" and taking small steps.

Hate to see the redshirt rule tabled. Wonder what the stumbling block(s) were?

Notice the database for grad transfers being adjusted?

 

[RTB Twitter Bot]

MORE: Who are the Division I Council Members?
The NCAA Division I Council on Wednesday announced it has adopted some sweeping legislative proposals, ranging from changes to the recruiting calendar to finally allowing teams the ability to play fall exhibition games without them counting against the 56-game spring schedule.

At least for coaches, the biggest story stemming from the vote involves the recruiting calendar. Currently, prospective recruits can take unofficial visits anytime they want. Are you a 12-year-old who wants to take an unofficial visit to Texas? No problem. Furthermore, currently, a high school prospect can’t take an official visit to a school until the beginning of classes their senior year.

Those two rules are changing, effective the next academic year. How so, you ask? With the adopted legislation, prospects may now take official visits as early as September 1 of their junior season. Several coaches and baseball administrators I’ve spoken with over the past few months preferred the date stay during a prospect’s senior season.

The more radical change from Wednesday deals the early recruiting calendar, which has become a topic of contention in college baseball over the past couple of seasons as players continue to commit at an earlier age. Also beginning with the next academic year, a school or their staff members may not participate in an unofficial visit before Sept. 1 of a prospect’s junior year. That means that prospects who are younger than juniors can’t have contact with players and coaches, by design, on campus, and they can’t take tours of the facilities. Coaches also won’t be allowed to leave tickets for prospective recruits who aren’t juniors or seniors in high school. Additionally, recruiting conversations will not be allowed at clinics or camps until that same Sept. 1 date. Coaches I’ve spoken with this afternoon say the latter will be almost impossible to monitor or enforce.
“I do like that the recruiting calendar for official visits is moving back,” ABCA executive director Craig Keilitz said. “I’m encouraged that we’re moving the right direction on starting the recruiting process a little later. So, that’s a step in the right direction.

“But, there are some concerns. For instance, if you can’t contact a prospect until a certain date, there aren’t conversations on campus leading up to that, and then offers are made on September 1 of their junior year, it’s almost like asking someone to marry you without going on a date,” he continued. “Hopefully, things will be governed and parents and student-athletes will wait and not verbally commit without seeing what different programs have to offer. I think it needs to be an informed decision. I think the biggest thing is just making sure kids aren’t just taking the first offer they get.”

The adopted legislation regarding unofficial visits already has coaches talking. Before the ABCA Convention in January, 16 coaches met in Charlotte to discuss a wide range of recruiting issues, while they also voted on some potential proposals. One of those proposals was the date that a prospect can take unofficial visits, and the 16-member committee voted and agreed on that date being Sept. 1 of a prospect’s sophomore high school year, not the junior year as the Council actually adopted.

ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz is in wait and see mode. (High Point)

With that said, the decisions made by that coaching committee in Charlotte shouldn’t be considered the gospel. As a matter of fact, Loyola Marymount head coach Jason Gill and others made impassioned statements at the ABCA Convention in Indianapolis about how they thought the sport as a whole should weigh in on the issue — not just 16 coaches — and how the ABCA needed to tap the brakes on any sweeping changes before hearing the nation’s coaches out.

So, the end result is that the 16-coach committee didn’t get what it wanted for the unofficial visit start date, and coaches as a whole didn’t truly have their voices heard on the issue before the Division I Council adopted the legislation.

Getting more strict recruiting rules to help curtail early recruiting and commitments could be much tougher to accomplish than people think. The NCAA has recently made it crystal clear that it would like to avoid adopting sport-specific rules, which obviously isn’t optimal for baseball considering the sport’s unique set of circumstances.

“We’re going to see how it works itself out, we’ll see how it all shakes out. Time will tell,” Keilitz said. “Every piece of legislation is never as good as people think it is, or as bad as people think it is. I’ve learned to kind of analyze it and let it play out — and then judge its merits. A lot of times, it turns out to be worse than thought, and sometimes, it also turns out to be better.”

In more news, the Division I Council adopted legislation to allow two fall exhibitions, beginning this fall, that don’t count against your 56-game spring schedule. Previously, you were allowed to play games in the fall, but they counted against your 56-game slate. The NCAA informed me that there will be no mileage limit on the exhibition games, though rules regarding missed class time will remain in place. The only bad news is that coaches thought they’d get four games. The Big South Conference put forth two proposals — one that included two games, and another that included four games. And the D1 Council adopted the latter. It’s worth noting that Division I Softball programs are allowed to play eight exhibition games in the fall.

Last but not least, the Division I Council also lifted the ban on selling alcoholic beverages to the public at NCAA Championship events. The SEC and others have rules against selling alcohol to the general public at athletic venues, but sources have told me over the past year that rule is expected to change sooner rather than later. Plenty of schools, including a few SEC schools, have already created “pay to drink” areas in their respective ballparks.

Stay tuned as we stay on top of the always evolving world of college baseball.

Division I Council Adopts Baseball Changes | D1Baseball.com

 

[TUSKtimes]

With the "redshirt" rule being discussed, what difference does it make when the 4 games were being played? As long as it was during the regular season. Anyone who gets put in a playoff game is pushing the development stage a little too much. If I had a preference, maybe 3 games max. Somehow getting to play in a third of the season and still get a redshirt seems like a lot.