Welcome Mean Green Fans - Recruiting Forum Guidelines

Harry · July 24, 2010

We encourage all of our fans to participate in this forum. As you know, we have fans throughout the state who follow high school football closely. Please feel free to share your scouting information of high school games, players that catch your eye and look like they would be a good fit for North Texas. Please keep the following rules in mind as you follow the recruiting process at North Texas:

Boosters play a role in providing student-athletes with a positive experience through their enthusiastic efforts. They can support teams and athletics departments through donations of time and financial resources which help student-athletes succeed on and off the playing field.

Boosters, referred to by the NCAA as “representatives of the institution’s athletic interests,” include anyone who has:

Provided a donation in order to obtain season tickets for any sport at the university.
Participated in or has been a member of an organization promoting the university’s athletics programs.
Made financial contributions to the athletic department or to a university booster organization.
Arranged for or provided employment for enrolled student-athletes.
Assisted or has been requested by university staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes.
Assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student athletes or their families.
Been involved otherwise in promoting university athletics.

Once an individual is identified as a “representative of the institution’s athletics interests,” the person retains that identity forever.

Only institutional staff members are permitted to recruit prospective student-athletes. Generally, NCAA rules prohibit anyone else from contacting (calling, writing or in-person contact) prospects or the prospect’s relatives or guardian for recruiting purposes.

Students are still considered prospects even if they have signed a National Letter of Intent or any other financial aid agreement with a university.

Boosters are not precluded from continuing established friendships with families who have prospective student-athletes. However, boosters may not encourage a prospect’s participation in university athletics or provide benefits to prospects that were not previously provided.

If a violation occurs, it may jeopardize a student-athlete’s eligibility for intercollegiate competition, jeopardize a school’s membership status with the NCAA or cause a booster to lose access to all booster benefits.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are examples of impermissible recruiting activities?

As a booster, you may not:

Contact a prospect in-person on-campus or off campus.
Contact a prospect by telephone, email, Internet or letter.
Provide gifts or free or reduced-cost services to a prospect or the prospect’s relatives or guardian.
Employ relatives, guardians or friends of a prospect as an inducement for the prospect’s enrollment and athletics participation at a university.
Become directly or indirectly involved in making arrangements for a prospect or the prospect’s relatives or guardian to receive money or financial aid of any kind.
Provide transportation for a prospect or the prospect’s relatives or guardian.
Provide free or reduced-cost tickets for a prospect or the prospect’s relatives or guardian to attend an athletic event.
Provide any material benefit (e.g., meals, cash) to the coach of a prospect, including high school, two-year college, AAU and summer team coaches.

What are examples of permissible activities?

Even though there are many rules prohibiting your involvement with prospects and the recruiting process, as a booster, you may:

Notify university coaching staff members about noteworthy prospects in the area.
Attend high school or two-year college athletic contests or other events where prospects may compete, provided no contact occurs.
Continue existing friendships.

What are examples of impermissible extra benefits for enrolled student-athletes?

As a booster, you may not provide a student-athlete or a student-athlete’s friends, relatives or guardians:

Tickets to college or professional sporting events.
A special discount, payment arrangement or credit on a purchase or service.
Cash or loan or signing or co-signing of a loan.
Transportation, payment of expense or loan of any automobile.
Benefits or gifts based upon the student-athlete’s athletic performance.
Free or reduced rent or housing.

An honorarium to a student-athlete for a speaking engagement.

What are examples of permissible benefits for enrolled student-athletes?

With the various NCAA rules and regulations regarding benefits to student-athletes, it may seem difficult to be a part of a university’s athletic programs. However, you can show your support as a booster in other ways. Boosters may:

Make contributions to university programs and other gift-in-kind arrangements.
Attend university athletic events and show student athletes you support their hard work and dedication to the university.

What is institutional control?

Institutional control of athletics is a fundamental requirement of NCAA legislation. Specifically, the NCAA constitution states that the university must:

Control its intercollegiate athletic programs in compliance with the rules and regulations of the NCAA.
Monitor its program to insure compliance.
Identify and report to the NCAA instances in which compliance has not been achieved and take corrective actions.
Insure those members of university staff, student-athletes and other individuals or groups representing the university’s athletic interests comply with NCAA rules and regulations. As a member of the NCAA, the university is responsible for the actions of its alumni, supporters and fans.

Are there any rules for the employment of enrolled student-athletes by boosters?

Student-athletes may only be compensated for work actually performed and at a rate commensurate with the going rate. Compensation may not include remuneration for the value that the student-athlete may have for the employer due to the student-athlete’s athletics status. Transportation may not be provided to student athletes unless it is a benefit provided to all employees.

direct link: http://www.ncaa.org/enforcement/role-boosters

http://www.ncaa.org/enforcement/role-boosters

gangrene · July 24, 2010

Since there will be many members that are new to this forum, I'd like to quickly review the rules for posting in the recruiting forum. Nobody likes to get bogged down in a bunch of rules but these are fairly simple and necessary to keep the recruiting information as easily accessible as possible.

#1. Please don't post comments about a prospect in the position, offer or commitment threads that are pinned. The idea is to keep these pinned threads as clutter-free as possible so that it remains fairly easy to find information about prospects. If you'd like to comment about a particular player that is listed in a pinned topic, you should create a new topic for your comments or questions.

#2. Please do post any new information about a new prospect in the appropriate position thread (and offer thread, as applicable) following the same format as the other posts. I.e. player's name (linked to Rivals/Scout/ESPN profile, if available), position, height/weight/40 time, current school/home town, schools player is interested in, offers listed separately and then any statistics or accolades you may have found for the prospect. Please post any video on a player as a new topic in a non-pinned thread. Also, if this is too much trouble or you prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to PM me regarding any prospects. If you have additional information about a prospect that's already been posted, you can also PM that to me and I will make a revision to the existing post, giving you credit for the new information.

#3. Please think before you post. Keep in mind, this forum is open to all "members" of GoMeanGreen.com, regardless of the member's school of affiliation. We also have many members that are relatives of current/former players so don't post anything about someone you wouldn't say to them in a face-to-face conversation. In addition, it's not inconceivable that the players being recruited may join GMG.com and read any relative posts so, again, please keep that in mind when commenting about a particular player's abilities or lack thereof and limit those negative comments to factual information on a player's athletic or academic abilities. Please no comments about prospect's girlfriends or anything else that may be construed as inappropriate. The last thing we want to do by making this recruiting forum more public is to scare off potential recruits by posting negative comments about them. Acceptable comments would be, "That player looks too small for a LB or a 4.8 40 seems slow for CB." Unacceptable comments would be, "That DT sure is ugly or he cheated in class all the time (unless that evidence has been documented).

Thanks in advance for your support and input, and a big welcome to all members who are new to the recruiting forum.

***Edit. #1 and #2 were posted prior to the implementation of the recruiting blog and are no longer valid under the new format. Please feel free to start a new thread about any player not already listed on the position profiles or to discuss any prospect. You can also PM Old Timer, Harry or myself if you have new information that is not already published in the blogs. Thanks***

Harry · July 26, 2010

Bumping this to the top.

Harry · August 3, 2010

One thing I want to make sure and emphasize, we do not condone taking any paid subscription based information and placing it here. Please refrain from doing this as it could get us in trouble and we would have to pull your posting privileges. If it is not subscription based feel free to link it here do not cut and paste articles however as the writer of the article should receive some traffic for their efforts. Thank you!! GMG!

Harry · December 13, 2010

One thing I want to make sure and emphasize, we do not condone taking any paid subscription based information and placing it here. Please refrain from doing this as it could get us in trouble and we would have to pull your posting privileges. If it is not subscription based feel free to link it here do not cut and paste articles however as the writer of the article should receive some traffic for their efforts. Thank you!! GMG!

BUMP!