UK Text Message Confession Probably Won't Earn NCAA Punishment- Not Very Scandalous

The Dominion Post (Morgantown, West Virginia)
July 23, 2006 Sunday

Fans contacting recruits via Web may vex NCAA
Michael Casazza, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Jul. 23--A WEEK AGO, Dejaun Blair triumphantly exited the Coliseum floor
after powering the Pittsburgh JOTS to the 17-under championship at the Triple S
Harley-Davidson Jam Fest.

Blair had a wonderful game, scoring 26 points, grabbing nine rebounds and
dominating all aspects of play under the basket. It was the type of performance
that made WVU fans drop to their knees and beg Blair to give the Mountaineers
more serious consideration than he had previously.

Just as Blair was about to leave, a kid, maybe 6 or 7 years old, spoke up.

"Hey, 45," the kid said, grabbing Blair's attention, "come to WVU!"

Innocent stuff, right?

Maybe not.

The University of Kentucky announced plans last week to selfreport secondary
violations to the NCAA -- and to say it reports any wrongdoings of its own is
actually false.

The MySpace.com page for Huntington High star and UK recruit Patrick
Patterson was littered with messages from fans of certain colleges. Most
prevalent were urgings from UK fans.
Some treaded lightly, saying they wanted to see Patterson in Lexington, Ky.
Not quite scandalous.

Others, though, trampled the thin line the NCAA has in place to separate
prospects and fans. There was at least one photo of the UK dance team, plus
another of actress Ashley Judd, who follows the Wildcats as closely as their
fans apparently follow recruiting.

As C. Ray Hall, of the Louisville Courier-Journal reported, "Accompanying
text implied that a sexual wonderland awaits a top UK basketball player."
Still not very scandalous.

UK's confession probably won't earn any punishment from the NCAA, though
there will be a response and it should be more than a yawn. Any commentary
should be addressed to the entire membership, not just one contrite party.

This is a new area to explore and police. As harmless as the WVU fan's
comment to Blair sounded, it more or less falls under the umbrella the NCAA
may soon open, one that could cover a wide variety of fan actions. And what a
shadow that could cast.

The Wildcats are the wild cards here for they have started a trend that will
surely evolve. The immediate reaction is that this should be a start toward more
closely monitoring the newer ways fans can interact with prospects. The
loopholes, so to speak.

That might create more equitable competition in recruiting, or at least
reduce the significant advantages other schools have because of the risks they
are willing to take.

It happens. You know it does. Kids are subject to more communication with
fans and boosters of schools than they are to legal soliciting from the schools
themselves.

Prospects are educated about these matters, by high school coaches and at
mandatory NCAA rules meetings at Amateur Athletic Union events, but they must be
reminded, perhaps daily, of how easy it is to do something wrong and have it
affect the entire recruitment. Schools, too, need to do a better job spelling
out to supporters what is and is not allowed by the NCAA and how transgressions
can tangle things up.

Mostly, though, the NCAA has questions it must answer. Is a college fan
talking to a prospect after a high school game now illegal? How do you monitor
that? Are Internet message boards problematic? How is that handled?

The NCAA needs to network with high school, AAU and college coaches,
prospects and their parents, Web site editors and fans and boosters to evaluate
the situation and define the new rules before we tell a child to shut up because
he might get the hometown college in trouble.