NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Administration

Tony Sanchez finishing up work (Todd Shurtleff/Maxpreps.com)

Congratulations!  You just landed your first college basketball job and finally get to go out and recruit your own type of player.  Now that you know what caliber players the head coach wants to bring in, all you have to do now is choose from the number of players vying for a potential college roster spot.  You are quickly grounded when your Officer of Compliance comes in and requests your call logs and official/unofficial paperwork.  That is the point where you realize there is an administrative side to the job.

UNOFFICIAL AND OFFICIAL VISITS

There is obviously a lot of time and preparation that goes into hosting an official visit to impress recruits when they get to campus.  It is at this moment that coaches become the best salesmen in the business to make the best first impression.  Before that can happen, universities must be sure to have the following documentation on file to stay within the rules.

Official visit to an institution:

·      Valid score from a PSAT, SAT, PLAN or ACT test

·      High school transcript

·      Verification that the prospect has registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center1

Unofficial visit to an institution:

·       Unofficial visit form

·      Tryout release form

·      Physical

·      Sickle cell waiver1

CALL LOGS

At Boston College, coaches that recruit must submit a telephone call log, contact log, and evaluation log to the Compliance Office by the 10th of the subsequent month detailing their phone calls for the previous month.  They must print off this report, sign it and return it to the Compliance Office.2

EXPENSE REPORTS

Team meals, recruiting meals, gasoline, and other expenses accrued through the program must be tracked for financial records.  Completing these expense reports entails the submission of reasoning for each trip taken throughout the year along with charges and receipts.  Failure to complete these reports in a timely manner could result in reprimands and even freezes on charge cards.

When coaches say they get paid to do what they love for a living, I am quite positive they are not referring to the administrative part of the job.  However, they more than likely do not mind as long as they are bringing in a steady number of valuable recruits to help the program. Bring on the paperwork!

REFERENCES

1PROSPECT’S GUIDE TO OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL RECRUITING VISITS. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2015,   from http://compliance.louisiana.edu/sites/compliance/files/Official and Unofficial Visits1.pdf

2Recruiting Philosophy and Official Visit Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2015, from               http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/bc/genrel/auto_pdf/2014-             15/misc_non_event/RecruitingPhilosophy14-15.pdf