Trustee Interaction with Prospective and Enrolled Student-Athletes

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has very clear and restrictive rules governing the recruitment of, and other dealings with, student-athletes. Trustees (like other members of the University community who might be considered “representatives of the institution’s athletic interests”) must be careful to avoid inappropriate recruiting activities or providing benefits to either prospective or enrolled student-athletes, as these activities could affect both the athlete’s eligibility to compete on behalf of Boston University and the University’s standing with the NCAA.

Specifically, trustees may not:

• Recruit prospective student-athletes. (Only coaches who have passed an NCAA test and have been certified are allowed to contact or evaluate prospective student-athletes¹ or engage in any of the activities that constitute recruiting²)
• Have any on-campus contact with a prospective student-athlete that exceeds an introduction or the exchange of greetings.
• Have any off-campus contact with someone who is known to be a prospective student-athlete that exceeds an introduction or the exchange of greetings, unless there is a bona fide pre-existing relationship (e.g., neighbor or friend).
• Contact a prospective student-athlete’s high school coach, teachers, or administrators in an attempt to evaluate the athlete.
• Provide either prospective or enrolled student-athletes, or their relatives or friends, with extra benefits of any kind, including financial assistance, gifts, cash, loans (as provider or co-signer), transportation, housing, meals, clothing, entertainment, or other preferential treatment (e.g., reduced rates, preferred seating, restrictive parking, event tickets) not available to the general public.
• Provide or arrange employment for a prospective student-athlete prior to his or her graduation from high school.
• Provide or arrange employment for a high school graduate who will matriculate at the University, or an enrolled student-athlete, without first receiving written permission from the NCAA Compliance Office.
• Provide or arrange employment for either a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete with compensation or benefits different from those that any other individual, doing the same job, receives or would receive.

If you are aware of a prospective student-athlete who you believe may benefit from a Boston University education, please notify the Director of Athletics Drew Marrochello at 617-353-4631 or the appropriate coach.  Senior Vice President Todd Klipp has administrative oversight responsibility for the Athletics program and should be consulted if there are any questions regarding these matters.

¹ A prospective student-athlete includes anyone who has begun classes in the ninth grade, regardless of whether he or she is participating in interscholastic athletic competition. A student at a two- or four-year college also becomes a prospect as soon as the other school grants permission to contact him or her.

² Recruiting includes any solicitation of a prospect (or his or her parents or guardians) by a representative of the University’s athletic interests. Recruiting activities include correspondence, e-mails, faxes, telephone calls, and in person contact, either on- or off- campus.