Brandon Huffman@BrandonHuffmanReply<br />Could get interesting here w/Stanford RT @jason247scout: Peoria (Az) Centennial safety Zach Hoffpauir decommitted from Cal today
" />" />" />" />">rooling
" />" />" />" />" /><hr></blockquote><br /><br />In the run up to NLOI day, I think the NCAA should have a set of rules that have more clarity and more enforcement than what you find today.<br /><br />For instance (professing complete ignorance of the rules in the CURRENT process, and an admitted abhorrence of excessive and irrelevant regulation in almost all cases, I submit to you..)<br /><br />a) Verbal commitments mean nothing and therefore perhaps a rule is in order that states no Athletic Department or other official school representative, and no student-athlete, or other representative, parent, sibling, guardian, coach or any other individual associated w/ the student, shall be allowed to verbally communicate ANYTHING regarding a student-athlete's commitment until such time as that commitment is delivered in a universally accepted format (The official NCAA LOI format). <br /><br />b) Students may visit up to 5 schools of their choice in an official capacity, and that capacity shall include AND be limited to:<br /><br />a) a 60 min tour of the campus<br />b) a 60 min tour of the field/facilities of the recruiting school<br />c) a 30 min meeting with the Head Coach<br />d) a 15 min meeting with the Head Coach and Staff<br />e) a luncheon or dinner with no more than 5 current players on roster<br />f) a luncheon or dinner with no more than 2 alumni<br />g) a full reporting of the visit, including any gifts or monetary awards or reimbursements received, tour directors for items a+b, names of attendees for items c+d, names of attendees and locations for items e+f<br />h) Official visits must be completed 45 days prior to the NLOI Day. Waivers can be granted by the NCAA, but must be communicated to the other schools who have scheduled and/or completed the official visit process with the student-athlete.<br /><br />c) The Head Coach and ONE other official recruiting representative (assistants, GA's, school representatives) may conduct a 30 min. in home visit with the student-athlete, accompanied by a full reporting of date, time, place, attendees. The student-athlete may be accompanied by immediate family or guardians ONLY as well as ONE coach from HS (head coach or assistant), and ONE HS official (counselor, teacher or other representative) if desired. Such visits may be conducted once in the Junior year and once in the Senior year of the student-athlete, and shall be completed 30 days prior to the NLOI day and no later. Waivers of this deadline must be granted by the NCAA and must be communicated to the other schools who have filed for and/or completed home visits with the student athlete.<br /><br />d) The Head Coach and ONE other official recruiting representative (as noted above) may conduct up to TWO scouting visits each year to a given HS. The scouting visits to the school will be announced in advance, to the HS Head Coach and Principal. The visits will be confined to viewing the game, and recording the game and activities of student-athletes targeted. No information needs to be disclosed as to which student-athletes are being targeted. Any conversations between the recruiting Head Coach and other official recruiting representative AND the Student-Athlete must be in the company of the student-athlete's HS Head Coach or other HS representative. No meals, gifts, monetary sums, favors, or other items or services of any value can be presented to the student-athlete at ANY TIME. Each scouting visit must occur and be completed during the athletic season of the sport to which the student-athlete is being recruited. Off season, private workouts and the like are STRICTLY PROHIBITED.<br /><br />e) the official NCAA LOI must be completed, signed and notarized prior to delivery to the school, to the attention of the Head Coach and the Athletic Director of the recruiting school that the student-athlete wishes to commit to. These letters, upon receipt, shall be recorded and forwarded to the NCAA's headquarters in Indiana by midnight local time on the NLOI Day. Fines and penalties will be assessed by the NCAA for any violations of the protocol required to file the LOI with the school of commitment. The NCAA may, at its discretion, require commits to certain schools who chronically violate such rules, to submit the completed, signed and notarized LOI form to the NCAA itself. Schools that chronically violate the the LOI rules can lose scholarships and be sanctioned in other ways until such time as the NCAA feels satisfied that the school's LOI practices are in compliance with the rules set forth.<br /><br />f) In the event a Head Coach or other official recruiting representative (assistant, GA, other school representative) through a VOLUNTARY decision, begins employment with another school within 60 days of the NLOI Day, that person(s) is barred from contact with the student-athlete until the NLOI Day. Incidents of phone calls, emails, letters or 3rd party communications must be reported by the student-athlete. Failure to report will result in the student-athlete's LOI submission to be considered null and void until 30 days AFTER the NLOI Day. If the student-athlete has not submitted an LOI by midnight local time of the NLOI Day, he/she must wait until 30 days after the NLOI Day before accepting communications from ANY school, or initiating communications with ANY school. This will be known as the 'quiet period', where no official recruiting activity may take place, and where all unofficial recruiting activity will be penalized. Upon the expiration of 30 days from the NLOI Day, the student may communicate with schools for a period of 5 calendar days. Visits by the student-athlete or the recruiting schools are strictly PROHIBITED during the 5 day open period. Phone calls, emails, letters and 3rd party communication are permitted, but no in-person meetings are allowed. At midnight local time of the 5th day after the NLOI Day, the student athlete MUST submit a completed, signed and notarized LOI to the school of his/her choice. Failure to meet this deadline will result in the student-athlete being barred from accepting scholarships to any NCAA school in any division, for the sport originally being recruited. The student-athlete must petition the NCAA for 'walk on' status and that petition shall be approved or denied by the NCAA no later than March 15 of any calendar year.<br /><br /><br />Granted, I had a bit of time here and a bit frustration with the insidious process of recruiting in the NCAA. That being said, kids need to know they're 17/18, they're going to have an opportunity of a lifetime, and there will be rules and regulations allowing them plenty of time and information to make their decisions. The 'all star' games featuring student athletes are a fun way to see these students in action, but should not ever be used as a showcase to force a commitment by these students without the proper time, information and process to do so.<br /><br />The NCAA, in my opinion, has lost all credibility. It is a fossil of an earlier age where there was NO REGULATION of collegiate sports. The structure and pomp and circumstance have all been inflated in great measure, but the REGULATION of collegiate sports is being trampled in the process.<br /><br />High school is what it is, most of us feel lucky we survived it psychologically and physically, in hindsight. It's not a place or time for kids to be bombarded by the predators in collegiate recruiting, but a place and time for kids to learn how to make solid, honest decisions, and how to develop a comfort level with commitment after proper due diligence, and how to hold to those commitments once they are made. That's what ADULT life is all about, and that's what the NCAA completely disregards in its oversight of collegiate sports. Not many ADULTS are being formed, nurtured and graduated. And I put that all on the NCAA and its member schools. It's an outright sham.