C-U-L8R: NCAA Bans Sending Text Messages To Recruits

The NCAA Division I Management Council yesterday voted to “eliminate the use of text messaging in college recruiting,” according to Steve Wieberg of USA TODAY. The committee opted for a total ban, which was first proposed by the Ivy League, instead of one putting limits on the number of texts and instant messages that could be sent. The ban, which would become effective August 1 if it is endorsed next week by the NCAA D-I BOD, would “limit electronically transmitted correspondence to recruits to e-mail and faxes.” NCAA D-I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Chair and former Univ. of Arizona women’s basketball player Anna Chappell said text messages are “intruding on [recruits’] lives and creating inappropriate relationships with coaches” (USA TODAY, 4/18).

REAX: But CBS SPORTSLINE.com’s Gary Parrish wrote, “Leave it to the NCAA to make a big deal out of an issue that isn’t a big deal. ... The NCAA wants to crack down on the evil of text messaging because there’s no reason to leave well enough alone” (CBS.SPORTSLINE.com, 4/16). Blogger Dan Shanoff writes, “They're going to allow the coaches to continue to email players unlimitedly. Guess what: A coach with a Blackberry can email a kid with a Blackberry or EnV or Treo or whatever just as easily as he can text him” (DANSHANOFF.com, 4/18).