NCAA Endzone

Coaches have spent the last several years upgrading their gadgets and learning the new tricks of recruiting. Now it may be time to turn back the clock.

The NCAA Division I management council has recommended a ban on all electronically transmitted correspondence, including text messages, between coaches and recruits. E-mails and faxes would be exempt from the new rule but would be limited by current NCAA guidelines.

Unlike restrictions on phone calls and in-person visits, there are no coach limits on text messaging.

The Board of Directors must still pass the legislation, and if approved at its April 26 meeting, the ban would take effect in August. Typically, the board passes such recommendations, but if it’s delayed or rejected, coaches would revert to their previous policy of no limits.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Council, which represents college athletes, complained during this week’s meetings that the number of text messages had become intrusive and costly.

For some coaches, the changes could become problematic.

Before this week’s vote, Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating, a former UCLA assistant, said coaches need to contact recruits through modern means, the same way teenagers often chat with friends and family, to build relationships.

The NCAA was concerned that unlimited text messages created a loophole that permitted coaches to send a message asking recruits to call them — calls that would violate NCAA rules if the coach made the call.

Dealing with the rapid technological advances has become tricky for the NCAA. Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has seen it all before.

“I’ve gone through the evolution of stopping at the payphones in the cold and freezing to death [while] calling recruits, to cell phones, to word processors — you used to hand write everything you did,” he said. “Obviously, the text was the next thing. E-mail became a part of the world, you know, I think you’re used to change and you’re used to change being legislated as to how it affects things. So I’ll be anxious to see how this is taken care of.”

Because it normally takes at least one year to pass a rule, new features and devices sometimes appear in the marketplace faster than the NCAA can regulate. So the management council took the unconventional route by passing a broader measure over its usually more specific ones.

The all-or-nothing approach wasn’t the only one under initial consideration. The Ivy League made two proposals: One that would have limited text messaging and another that called for an outright ban. The first measure failed in January.

It also passed a proposal that would allow college athletes to try out for professional teams while still taking classes. The current rules prohibit student-athletes from trying out while still enrolled in school. The new measure would allow athletes to receive money from pro teams to make a 48-hour trip. Or they could also pay the bill themselves and not be bound by the time limit.

The stipulation: An athlete could not miss classes for the tryout.

NCAA, text messaging, college football