Compliance Question of the Week - 2005 Fall Semester

Nov. 21
Q. Would it be permissible for a prospect on an official visit to attend the team's end-of-the-season banquet?
A. Yes. Provided the cost of the meal is deducted from the $30 entertainment allowance. This meal cannot be used as one of the three per day that are permissible.

Nov. 14
Q. Is it permissible to provide a student-athlete with an action photo taken of him/her during a contest?
A. Yes. A member institution may provide unframed action pictures to student-athletes, inasmuch as the pictures are incidental to participation and, therefore, are not considered as an extra benefit.

Nov. 7
Q. Is it permissible for a prospect to sign a National Letter of Intent as a ceremonial gesture when no Athletics Aid is being offered (recruited walk-on)?
A. No. National Letter of Intent Provision 2 requires that in order for an NLI to be valid, it must be accompanied by one full academic year's worth of athletic financial aid. Institutions that engage in this practice will be considered in violation of the exceptions of the NLI program and may be subject to sanctions from the NLI Steering Committee.

Oct. 31
Q. Is it permissible for a prospect to "stop by" and meet with a coach during a visit to campus arranged through Admissions that occurs during a dead period?
A. No. No in-person on or off-campus contact may be made with any prospect, recruited or not, arranged or unarranged, during a dead period.

Oct. 24
Q. Is it permissible to bring a recruit who is on an official or unofficial visit up to the loge/press box area during any portion of a YSU football game?
A. No. Complimentary admissions must be issued on an individual game basis and may provide seating only in the general seating area of the facility utilized for conducting the event. Providing seating during the conduct of the event (including intermission), for the prospect or those accompanying the prospect, in the facility's press box, special seating boxes or bench area is specifically prohibited.

Oct. 17
A. Are institutional staff members or boosters permitted to arrange or employ non-qualifiers who are in their initial year of residence?
A. No. Non-qualifiers are only permitted access to academic support in their initial year of enrollment. Any other opportunity available to student-athletes (i.e. arrangement of employment, practice gear, supervised conditioning) is not available to non-qualifiers.

Oct. 10
Q. A booster would like to donate warm ups for one of our teams. Is this allowable?
A. Yes, provided such items are provided to the institution to be utilized by the team in accordance with accepted practices for issuance and retrieval of athletics equipment. A student-athlete may NOT accept athletic equipment, supplies, or clothing (tennis racquets, golf clubs, balls, shirt, etc.) directly from a booster, parent, commercial enterprise, etc.

Sept. 27
Q. Would it be permissible to provide student-athletes with expenses to participate in a charitable promotion out of town?
A. Student-athletes may accept actual and necessary expenses from YSU, the league, or the charitable agency related to participation in a non-profit promotion or activity, provided the following conditions are met:
    The student-athlete receives written permission from the compliance office; the activity does not involve co-sponsorship or promotion with a commercial agency; the student-athlete does not miss class; all moneys derived from the project go directly to a charitable agency; the student-athlete's name or picture is not used to promote the commercial ventures of a non-profit agency (i.e. the Ronald McDonald House); and the student-athlete and charitable representative sign a release ensuring the student-athletes name, picture or appearance are consistent with NCAA rules.

Sept. 20
Q. Are current student-athletes permitted to retain old uniforms or other apparel that will no longer be used, even if their eligibility has not expired?
A. Yes, provided the apparel is not reusable (e.g. it received normal usage through practice and competition) by other team members in subsequent seasons and, subject to discretion of our administration, may be retained by the student-athletes. In such circumstances, such items may not be sold by the involved student-athletes.

Sept. 13
Q. A current student-athlete who is on an athletic scholarship has requested a release to speak to other schools about transferring. Can a coach consider this action a voluntary withdrawal and request immediately cancel or reduce the student-athlete's scholarship?
A. No. A student-athlete's request for permission to speak to other four-year institutions regarding a possible transfer does not, in and of itself, constitute a voluntary withdrawal from a sport. Therefore, it is not permissible for an institution to reduce or cancel a student-athlete's athletically-related aid during the period of the award based on this or her request for permission to contact four-year institutions.

Sept. 6
Q. Would it be permissible for an institution to hang balloons and other decorative items in the locker room or hotel room when a prospect is making an official or unofficial visit?
A. No. Personalized recruiting aids are precluded during an official or unofficial visit and also includes any decorative items and special additions to location the prospect will visit (i.e. hotel room, coaches office, conference room, arena) regardless of whether or not the items include the prospect's name or picture. Note that all facilities and locations the prospect will visit during the visit should be maintained in the same manner as they would normally appear.

August 29
Q. Is it permissible to send a schedule card to a prospect, a prospect's parent/guardian, or a prospect's coach?
A. No. As of August 1, 2005, the NCAA has eliminated schedule cards as being a permissible item to provide to a prospect or his/her coach. The following are the ONLY permissible items that may be provided: a) General Correspondence, b) business cards, c) camp brochures, d) questionnaires, e) non-athletic institutional publications, f) NCAA educational materials, g) one athletic publication (media guide or recruiting brochure), h) game program.