WELCOME to the 2009 Spring Compliance Corner!

Welcome to Compliance Corner – the official WBCA publication for Division I legislation! In collaboration with the NCAA academic and membership affairs staff, this publication will be distributed on a quarterly basis and will contain NCAA Division I legislative news and notes affecting women’s basketball, recruiting basics, questions from our coaches, and other legislative information you need to know. The primary purpose of this publication is to help our coaches navigate the complexity of NCAA legislation and serve as a quick and convenient reference. Previous issues of Compliance Corner can be found on our website, wbca.org, under DI Legislation. Feel free to offer any suggestions or feedback to make this tool more useful. We encourage you to contact your compliance officers on campus with any legislative questions.

Thank you,
WBCA

WBCA High School All-American Game presented by Nike: CONTACT NOT PERMITTED

• The NCAA Academic and Membership Affairs staff has assisted the WBCA by clarifying that institutional staff members are prohibited from in-person face-to-face contact with ALL prospective student-athletes participating in the WBCA High School All-America game. The exception to the dead period surrounding the Final Four is to attend the event itself. Once the game is over, the evaluation period ends and it is a dead period.
• Bylaw 30.17: In women’s basketball, coaches are permitted to attend a single basketball event selected at the discretion of the institution, certified by the NCAA and held in conjunction with and conducted within a 30-mile radius of the championship site and host city of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Institutions may attend ONE such event. ALL coaching and noncoaching staff members may attend. Institutional staff members are precluded from in–person face-to-face contacts with prospective student-athletes during such events.
• See Q & A for more clarification in reference to contact after the game.
• Don’t forget to purchase your tickets!! The WBCA High School All-America Game presented by Nike has been certified and will be held on Saturday, April 4th at Washington University Athletic Complex in St. Louis.

Division I Business Meeting in St. Louis

• The WBCA DI Business Meeting will be held on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. Members of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee will present for the first hour.
• Following the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year Luncheon the DI Business Meeting will resume with a presentation by Lynn Holzman of newly adopted legislation followed by the issues voting.
• Voting is one vote per institution and the head coach must be present to vote or have transferred their voting rights, in writing, to Julie Guttowsky at 770-279-8473 prior to March 19, 2009.
• The new issues submission window is now open. If any new issues have risen through the course of the season, they may be submitted to Julie Guttowsky at jguttowsky@wbca.org by March 19, 2009. Any new issues submitted will be added to the 2008-09 Foresight Issues to be voted on at the DI Business Meeting in St. Louis.
• The current list of Foresight Issues was sent by email to all WBCA DI members in January. They may also be found on the WBCA website, DI Legislative page. Please make sure to look over and discuss the Foresight Issues before coming to St. Louis. You will also have the opportunity to voice your opinion with the whole group before voting. Remember your opinion counts!
• Attendance at the DI Business Meeting will be posted on the WBCA website and sent to Conference Offices following the St. Louis Convention.

2008-2009 NCAA Division I Legislation

• The NCAA Legislative Council and Board of Directors took action on all 2008-09 legislative proposals at the NCAA Convention in January. Please see the WBCA website, DI Legislative page for the updated report of all women’s basketball related proposals.
• Outcomes to the proposals can be one of the following: Adopted, 60-Day Override Period; 60-Day Comment Period; Defeated-Final. The 60-day override/comment period is from January 18 – March 18, 2009. Proposals sent out for comment will be voted on again by the NCAA Legislative Council then Board of Directors in April.
• Women’s basketball related proposals that were adopted and are in the 60-day override period that need to be brought to your attention are as follows:
  • Proposal No. 2008-14 – Definition of a Prospective Student-Athlete Enrolled and Attending Summer Classes Prior to Initial Full-Time Enrollment.
  • Proposal No. 2008-30-B – Prohibit Employment as Speaker/Presenter in Athletically Related Institutional Activities – Basketball.
• As you start looking at your schedule for next year, please pay attention to the following proposals that were adopted in January:
  • Proposal No. 2008-49 – Basketball – First Contest – Exceptions – Informal Practice Scrimmages – No Missed Class Time
  • Proposal No. 2008-50 – Women’s Basketball – First Contest Exceptions and Annual Exemptions. Limit exhibitions to contests against four year collegiate institutions.
  • Proposal No. 2008-65 – Foreign Tours and Competition – Timing of Tour – Prohibition During Academic Year Labor Day Vacation Period.
• The following are two women’s basketball related proposals that are in the 60-day comment period that need to be brought to your attention:
  • Proposal No. 2008-12 – Limitation on the Number of Off-Campus Recruiters at Any One Time (See below).
  • Proposal No. 2008-45 – General Regulations-Skill Instruction-Sports Other Than Football-Concurrent Sessions. Please see Q & A section for more information, if this proposal is adopted.
• The NCAA DI legislation submission deadline for 2009-10 proposals is July 15th.

Proposal 2008-12

• 2008-12 – Limitations on Number of Off-Campus Recruiters at any One Time – Exception – Basketball – July Evaluation Periods: In basketball, to specify that during the July evaluation periods, a coach replaced for the purpose of off-campus recruiting activities is not required to return to the institution’s campus before engaging in additional recruiting activities, provided no more than three coaches engage in off-campus recruiting activities each day.

• Currently in a 60-Day Comment Period. Please make sure that you fully understand the concept of the rule and voice your opinion of this proposal to your administrators. Make your voice heard.

• See Q & A section for more clarification.

Advertising Camps or Clinics Update
At the NCAA Convention in January, the DI Legislative Council reviewed the October 2008 committee interpretation about Advertising an Institutional Camp or Clinic (I) that caused some conflicts. On January 15, 2009, an updated interpretation was posted on LSDBi and can be found in the Q & A section below..

Camp Administration
During the WBCA Foresight Committee Process, the issue of non-coaching staff members’ participation in camp administrative duties was brought forth. The WBCA has asked the NCAA academic and membership affairs staff for clarification of the rules governing non-coaching staff members’ participation and their response will be posted on wbca.org under DI Legislation by March 15.

Men’s Basketball Academic Enhancement Summer Access Package
Please see wbca.org, DI legislative page for the full report, updating where the men’s summer access group study is to date. Highlights in the report include: a lack of support for mandatory summer school, support for greater access to student-athletes during the summer, a staggered concept for preseason basketball practice and a decrease in the maximum number of contests.

Coaches Academic Progress Rate(APR) Portfolio
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors voted in January to pursue the creation of an Academic Progress Rate “lifetime batting averages” public website for all DI head coaches that could be available as early as summer 2010.

The DI Committee on Academic Performance, met during the third week of February and outlined specific detains for the development of and data collection for the public website. The site is scheduled for a phased launch, with information about baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s indoor and outdoor track coaches available in the summer of 2010 and other sports available in the summer of 2011.

The website will display the single-year APR for which a head coach is associated with a team, along with hire date and the date the coach left the head coaching position. Including the hire and departure dates will help those who view the information to understand how much influence a particular coach had over a team’s APR in that academic year. ANY head coach who is in place at ANY point during an academic year (August 1-July 31) will be assigned that team’s APR for that year. Coaches will not have the opportunity to appeal the single-year APR, though coaches will be able to review the accuracy of employment data.

The committee has also discussed the creation of the secure website that would include more extensive information about head coaches, including academic profiles of recruits and infractions information. The Division I Committee on Academic Performance is expected to present this model to the Board in April. Keep your eye out for any updates on the progress of the DI head coaches’ APR portfolio.

Spring Non-Scholastic Events
Division I coaches are permitted to evaluate nonscholastic women’s basketball certified events Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 20, 2009. Please confirm that the particular event you plan to attend has indeed been certified for 2009 by going to the NCAA website. Last year, 50 events were certified, whereas only 30 have been certified this year.

Questions from Our Coaches

Q: There is a player participating in the WBCA High School All-America game who has signed an NLI with our institution. Is it permissible to speak with her after the game?
A: No! Bylaw 13.1.6.8.1 (a) states that no in-person, on or off campus contact may be made during a “dead period”. Once the game concludes on Saturday, April 4 the dead period of the women’s basketball recruiting calendar immediately kicks back in.

Q: During the WBCA High School All-America game is it permissible to speak with the parents of a prospective-student-athlete who is participating in the game and has signed the NLI with our institution?
A: Yes. The game has been certified by the NCAA (Bylaw 30.18) and is an exception to the Dead Period. Therefore, inasmuch as the game itself is considered an evaluation period, for a prospect who has signed a NLI, per Bylaw 13.1.6.8.1 (c) contact with psa’s relatives or legal guardians at the site of the psa’s competition shall be permitted.

Q: Is it permissible to have dinner with the relatives of a prospective-student-athlete who has signed the NLI after the game?
A: No. Contact with the relatives of a prospective-student-athlete who has signed the NLI must cease immediately once the game has concluded. Once the game is over, the recruiting calendar reverts back to the dead period.

Q:  Currently there are two prospective student athletes participating in the WBCA High School All-America game who have not signed an NLI. Is it permissible to speak with them after the game or their relatives during the game?
A:  NO.  Contact is prohibited after the game regardless of whether the PSA has or has not signed with an institution.

Q:  Do I need to count the evaluation of the WBCA High School All-America Game as one of my 100 recruiting-person days?
A:  Yes, evaluations at the WBCA High School All-American Game must be counted in the 100 recruiting-person days since this event occurs during an academic year evaluation period (see Bylaw 13.1.6.4).

Q:  Is it permissible to call juniors after the Division I women’s basketball national championship game?
A:  Yes, Bylaw 13.1.3.1.3-(a) states that a women’s basketball coaching staff member may make ONE telephone call during the month of April of a prospects junior year in high school on or after the Thursday after the conclusion of the NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four.  This year, coaches may call a junior high school prospect one time on or after Thursday, April 9, 2009 through the end of April. 

Q:  One of my student-athletes told me that they received a call from a prospect.  I know that this prospect is still in her junior year of High School.  Is it a violation that my student-athlete spoke to this prospect?
A:  Enrolled student-athletes or other enrolled students shall not make or participate in telephone calls to prospective student-athletes at the direction of a coaching staff member or financed by the institution or a representative of its athletics interests; however, they may receive telephone calls at the expense of the prospective student-athlete on or after July 1 following the completion of the prospective student-athlete's junior year in high school.  An enrolled student-athlete may receive telephone calls made at the expense of a prospective student-athlete prior to July 1 following the completion of the prospective student-athlete's junior year in high school, provided there is no direct or indirect involvement by athletics department staff.  Bylaw 13.1.3.5.2

Q:  Is it permissible to have four coaches out recruiting at one time?
A:  No, only three (3) coaches can actually be recruiting at one time.  It is permissible for a coach to leave campus to engage in off-campus contact or evaluation before another coach who is off-campus actually returns to campus, provide the total number of coaches recruiting on behalf of the institution at any one time does not exceed the permissible number (i.e., three).  The coach being replaced must complete his or her recruiting activities before another coach may begin any off-campus recruiting activities.  Further, the replaced coach may not engage in additional recruiting activities until after he or she has returned to the institution’s campus (Bylaw 11.17.4.3).

Q:  What would be the difference if Proposal No. 2008-12 was adopted?
A:  If Proposal No. 2008-12 is adopted, the coach that was replaced for the purpose of off-campus recruiting activities would NOT be required to return to the institution’s campus before engaging in additional recruiting activities.  However, this proposal would only allow three (3) of the four (4) coaches to evaluate in a day while the fourth coach travels from one certified event to another certified event.  One big difference, if Proposal No. 2008-12 were adopted, would be that institutions would not be allowed to split days.  Another important key to this proposal is that it would only be allowed in the month of July.  If adopted in April, this legislation would be effective immediately and in place for the July evaluation periods.

Q:  Could you give me an example of how this would work?
A:  Institution A has its head coach and assistant coaches 1 and 2 out recruiting on Saturday, July 11, 2009.  Assistant coach 3 leaves campus Saturday morning to travel to Dallas, TX to recruit at a certified event.  Assistant coach 2 is planning on leaving her event on Saturday afternoon and travel to another location for Sunday recruiting.  Assistant coach 3 will NOT be able to enter the certified event in Dallas, TX to evaluate until Sunday, since there were already three coaches out recruiting on Saturday for institution A.  If the head coach and assistant coaches 1 and 3 were to go out recruiting on Sunday, assistant coach 2 would not be able to go and evaluate at her second location until Monday.

Q:  Would I be able to take a vacation, somewhere not on my recruiting schedule, in between recruiting trips without having to touch home  if Proposal No. 2008-12 is adopted?  For example:  I am going to be recruiting in South Carolina on July 15th, want to take vacation in Florida from July 16-21, and then go to Tennessee to evaluation at a certified event on July 22nd.
A:  Yes, if Proposal No. 2008-12 is adopted, you are still permitted to go on vacation in between recruiting stops!  The difference between the proposal and the current rule is that you that wouldn’t have to touch home before re-engaging in recruiting activities.  However, you couldn’t re-engage in recruiting activities until there were only a maximum of two other coaches recruiting on that day.

Q:  Are we permitted to have “Elite” or “Advanced” in the title and/or how we advertise our camp or clinic?
A:  Yes, The Legislative Council determined that an institution may advertise or promote an institutional camp or clinic in any way, provided any camp or clinic advertisement or promotion (e.g., camp brochure, Web site, newspaper or magazine advertisement) stipulates that the camp or clinic is open to any and all entrants (limited only by number, age, grade level and/or gender).  [References: Bylaws 13.4.1.1-(c) (summer-camp advertisements), 13.12.1.3 (attendance restriction) and an official interpretation (10/29/08, Item No. 1), which has been archived)]

Q:  Is it permissible for a coach to invite certain prospective student-athletes to a camp that is open to any and all entrants?
A:  Yes, an institution’s coach may invite certain prospective student-athletes to a camp provided the camp is open to any and all entrants.  However, an institution may not provide any type of priority registration for specific prospects.  Additionally, institutions must abide by all applicable recruiting legislation when inviting certain prospects to a camp.  For example, a coach cannot call or write a prospective student-athlete in ninth grade in order to extend a camp invitation.

Q:  May an institution provide apparel and /or other merchandise (e.g., equipment, posters, gifts) that it receives free of charge or at a reduced rate to camp participants without including the normal retail cost of the item(s) in the participants admissions fee?
A:  No, an institution must assign normal-retail value to the item(s) it provides to camp participants regardless of whether the institution received the item(s) free of charge or at a reduced rate.  The normal-retail value of the item(s) must be included in the participants’’ admissions fee.

Q:  Per NCAA Bylaw 13.12.1.5.4, the cost of awards received by prospective student-athletes at an institutional camp or clinic must be included in the admissions fee charged to participants at the camp.  Does the full cost of each award have to be included in the admissions fee for each camp participant even though not all camp participants will receive an award?  For example, if all awards provided at the camp cost $100, does the $100 have to be included in each camp participant’s admissions fee?
A:  No, the full cost of each award does not need to be included in each participant’s admissions fees.  However, the full cost of the awards must be included collectively in the admission fee for all camp participants.  For example, if the total cost of all awards to be given out at an institutional camp or clinic is $100 and the camp attendance is capped at 100 participants, each individual admissions fee would have to include and additional $1 used to cover the awards provided at the camp or clinic.

Q:  Am I permitted to evaluate at nonscholastic open gyms in the spring?
A:  Yes, during the academic year and summer, evaluations may take place at open gyms.  These evaluations may only occur during permissible evaluation days and, during the academic year, such an evaluation counts against the 100 recruiting-person days.  Evaluations at open gyms during the academic year are NOT limited to the spring/fall identified full weekends when evaluations at nonscholastic events may occur.  Evaluations at open gyms may occur during any permissible evaluation day.  Open gyms are considered noninstitutional, nonorganized event and are not subject to the event certification program.  Bylaw 13.1.8.8

Q:  What is the difference between a tournament and a multi-day event?
A:  A tournament is an event where a winner is determined.  A multi-day event is not a tournament and no winner is identified.  Examples of a multi-day event are: a showcase, round robin, jamboree.

Q:  If a coach attends a multi-day event, does each day of the multi-day event (not a tournament) count as an evaluation?
A:  Yes. For example, if a multi-day event is three days and a coach is evaluating the same prospect participating in that event for three days, that count as  three evaluations for that prospect.  Therefore, three of the five recruiting opportunities for that prospect have been used.  In the same scenario, assuming one coach is out evaluating for these three days (no other coaches are evaluating/on the road), three recruiting person days have been used (Bylaws 13.1.8.14 and 13.1.8.14.1).

Q:  What if a coach also evaluates at an open gym on one of these same three days in the scenario outlined above?
A:  Per Bylaw 13.1.8.7, any number of evaluations or observations made during the same calendar (defined as 12:01 a.m. to midnight) shall count as one evaluation.  Therefore, in this scenario, it is still the case that three of the five recruiting opportunities for that prospect have been used.  In addition, it is still the case that three recruiting person days have been used. 

Q:  What if the event was a tournament, in which there was a winner, that ran three consecutive days?
A:  If the scenario above was a tournament, per Bylaw 13.1.8.14, only one evaluation opportunity of the five would be charged for that prospect and only one evaluation would count against the 100 recruiting-person days. 

Q:  I am looking for a speaker for my institutional camp.  A local women’s basketball high school coach has inquired about speaking at my camp.  May I hire her to be one of my camp speakers? She would not be involved in the camp in any other manner.  (Per adoption of Proposal 2008-30-B effective Immediately)
A:  No, an individual who is involved in coaching prospective student-athletes or is associated with a prospective student-athlete as a result of the prospective student-athlete’s participation in basketball may not be employed (either on a salaried or volunteer basis) as a speaker.

Q:  If a prospective student-athlete’s coach is employed at an institution’s camp or clinic as a camp counselor, may he or she also serve as a speaker and receive additional compensation beyond the going rate for a camp counselor? (Per adoption of Proposal 2008-30-B effective Immediately)
A:  No, a camp counselor may only perform speaking duties that are normally associated with camp counselor duties (e.g., skill instruction) and may only receive compensation for performing such duties that is commensurate with the going rate for camp counselors of like teaching ability and camp experience. Bylaw 13.12.2.2

Q:  At my institution, we only have one facility to practice and play in.  If Proposal No. 2008-45 is adopted, does a curtain separating two areas of one facility constitute two different facilities?
A:  No, if Proposal No. 2008-45 is adopted, you will not be able to use a curtain and count it as two different facilities.

Q:  When is the spring signing period for Women’s Basketball?
A:  The women’s basketball spring signing period is April 15 – May 20, 2009.

Q:  I am recruiting a local prospective student-athlete.  Is it permissible for me to deliver the NLI to her high school since it is so close for me?
A:  No, in-person, off-campus delivery of a letter of intent by an institutional staff member is prohibited.  The letter may be delivered by express mail, courier service, regular mail, electronic mail or facsimile machine.  Bylaw 13.1.6.7.1

Q:  For the first game of the conference tournament, my institution was given hard tickets as the complimentary tickets for the student-athletes on my team.  Is it permissible to give the student-athletes these complimentary tickets to pass out to their family?
A:  No, it is not permissible to give student-athletes hard copy tickets to hand out.  The individual using the complimentary admissions must present identification to the person supervising the use of the pass list at the admission gate.  The individual THEN shall be provided a ticket stub or other identification of a specified reserved seat or eating area or treated as a general-admissions ticket holder.  Bylaw 16.2.1.2.1

Q:  I have a student-athlete who missed a tutoring and study hall appointment.  Whenever a student-athlete misses any appointments like that, I require them to participate in 30 minutes of a conditioning activity.  Is it still ok to require this student-athlete to participate in this conditioning activity even if it is the week before final exams?
A:  No, if the team is outside of the playing season, you may not require your student-athlete to participate in any conditioning activity during the week prior to final exams.  ALL athletically related activities outside the playing season are prohibited one week prior to the beginning of the final examination period for the applicable academic term through the conclusion of each student-athlete’s final exams.  Bylaw 17.1.6.2

Q:  I heard that one of my fellow colleagues held a mandatory film session with his/her team directly after a competition to go over the teams mistakes while they are fresh in their minds.  Is this permissible?
A:  No, practice or other countable athletically related activities (e.g., watching film, may not be conducted at any time (including vacation periods) following competition, except between contest, rounds or events during a multiday or multievent competition.  Bylaw 17.1.6.3.2.1

Recruiting Basics

Correspondence: Recruiting materials, both printed recruiting materials and written correspondences, such as e-mail, may be sent to a prospect beginning September 1st of the prospects junior year. Hardcopy correspondence may only be sent first-class or at a lesser rate.

Contact: Permissible for authorized athletic department staff members to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations. Permissible during official visits and unofficial visits. Unofficial visits may occur earlier than a prospect’s senior year.

Evaluations: Permissible to be involved in off-campus activities designed to assess the academic qualifications and playing ability of prospective student-athletes. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts shall be made with the prospective student-athlete during an evaluation period. [Evaluation Period: September 16, 2008 through April 21, 2009 – Women’s basketball staff members shall not exceed 100 recruiting-person days. A recruiting-person day is defined as one coach engaged in an off-campus recruiting activity of a women’s basketball prospect on one day; two coaches engaged in recruiting activities on the same day shall use two recruiting days.

Unofficial Visits: Permissible at any time except Dead Periods, during the July evaluation periods, and unlimited number of visits at the prospect’s expense. May occur before and during the prospect’s senior year.

Important Dates

Women’s Basketball Recruiting Calendar - www.ncaa.org

September 15, 2008, through April 21, 2009: Evaluation Period
Women’s basketball staff members shall not exceed 100 recruiting days. A recruiting day is defined as one coach engaged in an off-campus recruiting activity of a women’s basketball prospect on one day; two coaches engaged in recruiting activities on the same day ahs use two recruiting days.

March 1 – April 2, 2009: Contact Period

April 3 – 16, 2009, [except for (a) and (b) below]: Dead Period

(a) One women’s basketball event certified by the NCAA (Bylaw 30.17) held in conjunction with, and conducted in the host city of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship: Evaluation Period
(b) April 10-12, 2009: Quiet Period
Note: Evaluations permitted at nonscholastic women’s basketball events – April 17-19, 2009.

April 22 – July 5, 2009: Quiet Period

Exceptions:
Evaluations are permissible in the following states only during the time periods listed, provided evaluations outside of July period are counted toward the 100 recruiting-person days set forth above:

Hawaii: March 1-May 31 and July 8-31

All states (except Hawaii) that play April 8-28 and July 8-31 the high school basketball season in the spring

NLI Signing Dates:
Regular Period: April 15, 2009-May 20, 2009

2008/2009 National Testing Dates:

SAT: March 14, 2009, May 2, 2009, June 6, 2009

ACT: April 4, 2009, June 13, 2009