NCAA Says Facebook "wooing" is a violation

by Andy--01 on Apr 10, 2009 5:20 PM CDT

According to this article in sportsillustrated.cnn.com, web sites such as Facebook can be used to "influence the college choice of a recruit". This is a recruiting violation, and the school could be punished for it.

Reading through the article, it seems as if a social networking group that focuses on a specific athlete would be seen as a public appeal to by a program's booster. In the specific case cited in the article, the school threatened "further action" in a cease and desist letter to the student who created the group. There are several questions raised by this issue, but that brings up one very interesting one.

The school, legally, has no right to keep a student from creating a group on Facebook (or on a blog), as long there are no issues of defamation or libel. However, if the student's creation of the group is a violation of NCAA Rules that the school is required to follow.... what is the school to do?

1. While I understand the NCAA's worry - illegal contact by boosters is a legitimate concern of the NCAA and if they DON'T have a rule against things like this, it will be a loophole that is exploited - how can the college be held responsible for the actions of an unrelated party in a public forum?

2. Could I create a Facebook page trying to find groups of people to pay specific recruits to go to, say, Kansas? Even though KU can do nothing to stop me from doing it, would that mean that they'd be guilty of a recruiting violation? Could they do it to us? It certainly wouldn't take long for someone to actually do this, if the NCAA started punishing programs for it.

3. If indirect contact of a player is considered a violation, how far can it go? If I go to a HS basketball game and sit behind the bench wearing an MU sweater, is that attempting to "influence the college choice of a player" that plays for that team? Even if that's my intention, is that a violation that the NCAA could ding MU for - even if I never speak to the player?

4. If Facebook/MySpace is something that would be a violation, is a blog? If RockMNation were to create a posting saying that Famous should come to MU, what would the NCAA think of that?

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Comments

Shockingly, the NCAA is missing the boat here

Who cares about a Facebook group that encourages a player to go to a certain school? I’m much more concerned about those who befriend recruits on Facebook and thus have the ability to contact them (relatively) directly. Facebook and MySpace are a haven for potential recruiting violations, but groups “encouraging” recruits to choose a certain school are far less of a problem than boosters and other interested party using these social networking sites to contact recruits directly.

There’s a reason (well, a lot of them, actually) that I don’t befriend recruits or players via Facebook. It opens way too many thorny and unsettled issues. Of course, if any of you want to be my friend, feel free. I like having friends.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Apr 10, 2009 5:40 PM CDT reply actions

Do you play Mafia Wars?

Actually, does BOTC have a fan page on FB?

"When he went for that ball and dived over the table, I knew what was next to come. I felt sorry for what Texas Tech had to face after that."
-- J. T. Tiller - 3/12/09

by Andy--01 on Apr 10, 2009 6:13 PM CDT up reply actions