The current NCAA rules allow students to make unofficial visits any time, and make official visits (definitions for “visits” at the bottom of the article) starting September 1 of the player’s Senior year. Over the past five years, these unofficial visits have started earlier and earlier, as the sport has started to experience younger athletes making commitments. Last week that rule changed; the new rule, effective immediately, will prevent student athletes from making visits involving athletic staff before September 1 of their junior year, however coaches will be able to pay for official visits starting September 1 of the players Junior year.

In summation:

• Old Rule: Prospective Student Athletes (PSA) can make unofficial visits any time. They can make official visits starting September 1 of their Senior year of High School.
• New Rule: Effective immediately, PSA cannot meet on campus with a coach until September 1 of their Junior Year, however coaches can start to pay for official visits starting September 1 of the prospective student athlete’s junior year.

The adoption of this legislation signals a major paradigm shift in recruiting among college coaches. Data collected by GolfWRX,suggests that not all coaches support the new rule, however. Through an online, optional survey, GolfWRX was able to collect feedback from 60 NCAA Men’s and Women’s coaches; 51 percent of respondents identified themselves as women’s coaches, and 49 percent of respondents identified themselves as men’s coaches.

The first question we asked coaches: “Are you in favor of the resolution which prevents players from visiting before September 1 of their Junior year?” In response, 51 percent of respondents suggested they where in favor, including Bradley women’s coach Mary Moan.

“The more time we can give athletes to explore their options thoughtfully the better,” Moan said. “There is such an urgency to verbally commit that players may not be making the best choice with the limited information they have. In the long run, this rule, allows players to mature and have more time to explore options.”

The second question we asked coaches: “Do you think the rule will prevent early commitments?” Nearly 60 percent of respondents said, “No.” According to comments collected anonymously as part of the survey, many coaches think the legislation will simply nudge coaches to use other methods to interact with recruits, such as camps. Steve Runge, the Head Men’s Coach at University of Central Arkansas and former college standout at Ohio State said, “while you want to do what’s right for the student athlete, it is important that coaches keep to the intention of the rule and allow young people the time to properly develop, as well as explore all their options”.

As a former college coach myself, and someone with an academic training and strong interest in behavioral economics, it will be interesting to see the long-term impact of the rule. Colleagues in other sports where this legislation has been adopted have suggested similar rules in their sports have not been overly effective, as coaches simply have more camps and clinics where they can not only interact with younger players but can also make money. The new rule also opens potential interference from either club reps/apparel reps, college advisors, high school coaches and swing instructors who could look to capitalize on the later time table, acting as middle men in the recruitment process.

While the rules do take a step towards protecting PSA from making decisions early, they don’t fully address the problem facing the typical recruit, which is the issue of bad information. At the root of the issue is the lack of useful information for PSA, their families and coaches. It’s important for PSA to use a wide range of resources to help them make the best choice for them and thirr future.

As the rule nudges visits after September 1 of players Junior Year, it may also have a fiscal and scheduling impacts. These visits, funded fully or in part by the college or university, have been significantly decreasing as the time table for players have moved up. Shifting the timing back makes it more likely they will again be a part of both recruiting, as well as a line item in budgets. For some schools, this will mean they can make less investment in the student athlete experience. The rule may also have a significant impact on Fall schedules as many schools such as Norte Dame, Stanford and Alabama look to make sure they can entertain their best recruits on major football weekends.

One cannot help but applaud the intentions of the NCAA; to serve the best interest of the student athlete. However, one can question their understanding of the process; while coaches need to be held accountable, so do college advisors, media outlets, agents, industry reps and others. This rule does nothing to better frame their roles and accountability in the process and it is my feeling that until that happens, it will be much of the same.

In the future there is also talk of other significant rules changes. New legislation likely to become effective in early August will limit the days coaches can recruit off-campus to 45 days. To put this in perspective, when I coached at the University of Kentucky, I recruited approximately 150 days per year. Cutting those days by a third will handcuff coaches; they will need to make quicker decisions, which could result in earlier offers with shorter windows to accept. It could also lead to a lot of offers on players who coaches have not watched, which over the long term could lead to an increase in transfers.

Another potential rule will limit recruiting during the month of December, allowing coaches to have more of a break during the holidays. During my 8 years of college coaching, I was never home once at Christmas. Instead I was at either Doral, the South Beach Amateur, the Orange Bowl or watching National teams at training camps. I can therefore appreciate how this can impact the quality of family life, however, I think the rule will have significant consequences for the late developer who uses tournaments like the AJGA Senior Showcase and Doral (both in December) to demonstrate to coaches their skill. This is particularly true for players from outside the United States, who might not be as savvy with the NCAA rules.

Definitions

• Unofficial Visit: when the recruit, and their family, pay for all costs associated with visiting a school. During the visit the prospective student athlete can meet coaches and teams, as well as tour academic and athletic facilities within a 30-mile radius.
• Official Visit: When the athletic department pay for part or all the cost associated with the trips for the student athlete. The parents must pay their own costs.