General Information
Robert Tony O'Neal
Assistant Athletic Director/ Compliance |
As a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Bethune-Cookman College must abide by NCAA rules and regulations as they relate to all aspects of its athletics program. In addition to ensuring that all of its coaches, administrators, University faculty and staff, and student-athletes are aware of and following NCAA rules, Bethune-Cookman is also responsible for the actions of any individual who is a member of any of its athletic booster groups or meets the definition of a "representative of athletics interests." (see definitions below).
It would be nearly impossible to communicate all NCAA rules and regulations in a quick reference list or brochure. The information below is an attempt to provide you with basic definitions and "do's and don't's." If you have additional questions about NCAA rules and regulations, you should contact either the Bethune-Cookman College Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.
DEFINITIONS
Representative of Athletics Interests (Booster)
A "representative of the institution's athletics interests" (athletics representative), or booster, is an individual who is known (or who should have been known) by the institution's staff to:
a) Be a member of or have participated in activities of an agency or organization promoting Bethune-Cookman' intercollegiate athletics program.
b) Have made financial contributions to the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics or to an athletics booster organization of Bethune-Cookman;
c) Be assisting or to have been requested (by a Bethune-Cookman Division of Intercollegiate Athletics staff member) to assist in the recruitment of prospects;
d) Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families (e.g., helping to arrange summer and/or vacation employment for a student-athlete); or
e) Have been involved otherwise in promoting Bethune-Cookman Intercollegiate Athletics.
IMPORTANT: ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF ATHLETICS INTERESTS, YOU WILL ALWAYS RETAIN THAT IDENTITY.
Prospective Student-Athlete (Prospect)
A prospective student-athlete, or prospect, is any student (not just students who are athletes) who has started classes for the ninth grade. Also, a student who has not started classes for the ninth grade becomes a prospect if the institution provides such an individual (or his/her relatives or friends) any financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally.
A prospect remains a prospect until he or she begins classes as a full-time student or attends official preseason team practice at Bethune-Cookman. Signing a National Letter of Intent to attend Bethune-Cookman does not "remove" the status of "prospect."
Junior College Prospects
The same recruiting rules that apply to high school prospects also apply to junior college prospects.
Four-Year College Prospects
An athletics staff member may not have contact with a student of another four-year college, directly or indirectly, without first obtaining written permission from the first institution's athletics director, regardless of who makes the initial contact. The first institution is not required to grant, and may in fact deny, such permission. The recruiting rules that apply to high school prospects also apply to four-year college prospects, if permission is granted to have contact.
Recruiting
Recruiting is any solicitation of a prospect (or his/her family or legal guardian) by a member of an institution's staff or by a representative of the institution's athletics interests for the purpose of securing the prospect's enrollment (and ultimate participation) in the institution's intercollegiate athletics program.
A prospective student-athlete becomes a recruited prospective student-athlete when an institution's staff member(s) or an athletics representative do any of the following:
a) Provide the prospect with an official (expense paid) visit to the institution;
b) Have an arranged in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospect (or his/her parents or legal guardians); or
c) Initiate or arrange more than one telephone contact with the prospect (or family member or guardian).
Offers and Inducements
Institutional staff members or representatives of athletics interests may not directly or indirectly provide, arrange for the provision of, or offer any financial aid or other benefits to a prospect (or the prospect's relatives, guardian or friends) other than expressly permitted by NCAA regulations. This shall apply regardless of whether similar financial aid benefits or arrangements are available to prospective students in general.
Specifically prohibited items include, but are not limited to:
a) arranging employment for a prospect's relatives;
b) a gift of clothing or equipment;
c) co-signing of a loan;
d) providing a loan to a prospect's relatives or friends;
e) cash or like items;
f) any tangible items, including merchandise;
g) free or reduced-cost services, rentals or purchases of any type;
h) free or reduced-cost housing;
I) use of an institution's athletics equipment (e.g., for a high school all-star game); or
j) sponsorship of or arrangement for an awards banquet for high-school, preparatory school or two-year college athletes by an institution, its athletics representatives, or its alumni groups or booster groups.
