Indiana University Athletics
Compliance Question Of The Week
Compliance Question Of The Week
Question:
Please clarify some of the NCAA phone call rules...length of call, call-backs, etc.
Answer:
1. Everyone has some kind of call limits, be it monthly or weekly, June or July start, etc. Some now have unlimited calls in contact periods too - for seniors or transfers (with permission for 4-year transfers). So the best we can say here for the sake of brevity is know your sport's rules! Know when your first opportunity to call is, and how often you can call and when. Also know WHO can call - or receive calls. All in 13.1.3; and we can help if you have questions.
2. So, assuming you know you can make your first call to someone who has made it to July 1st right before their senior year (example), and you have one call per week, here's what to know:
a. ANY recruiting content in that call - even in a message - will count and be your one call.
b. Length of call is not an issue - it is about CONTENT, and if your voicemail, or person-to-person message includes a recruiting pitch, then that's your countable call - for the week, for the month, for the 6-week time period - whatever it is that YOU are in. Recruiting messages DO count!
c. Once you have hit your countable call limit for the week, ANY attempt to call back will be a violation. Leaving a voice mail or simply letting it ring twice to show your caller ID will be a violation if you have already completed your countable call(s) for that time period.
3. If your call is dropped and you call RIGHT back without a break, that's OK - you MUST document that on your call logs (folder or CyberWeb or whatever you use). Same for 'long' messages. It is possible, if rare, that someone could answer a home phone, then go looking for the person you're calling. Could take 3, maybe 4 minutes....then they come back and say "not here" (hint: stop recruiting that kid - you're being blown off!! :)). So, you leave a quick "have him/her call me" and get off the phone. That will show up as a 5 minute call (if it went 4 mins, 2 secs) so you must document it as a noncountable message if you want to call back that week. And of course, if there was no recruiting content in your call. Get it? Easy, eh?
4. We'll continue to do our bit to remind you when your calls are unlimited (see below), but please be vigilant as some rules have changed for some sports. Other important things to note are that you're not allowed to call (even when unlimited - that just refers to NUMBER of calls) when the PSA is competing, or when YOUR team is competing. Both of them are impermissible.
Unlimited Calls:
i. During the 5-days before a pre-approved official visit (remember to tell us if you made calls and the visit gets cancelled).
ii. Also, for the time period of travel to the 48 hour visit and the travel home (and this is the ONLY time that ANY IU staff member can call - including our Anthony Travel Agents).
iii. On the day of a permissible off-campus contact.
iv. During contact periods in FB; Basketball; Volleyball; Baseball; Softball and Track and Field. (watch out for your Dead, your Quiet and your Eval periods!!)
v. On the first day (always a Weds) of the NLI signing period in your sport through the Friday of that week - for "signable" PSAs only. (FB has the whole week).
vi. AFTER NLI signing - go for it. Anyone. Check if not an NLI - rules get tricky. Walk-Ons - not yet, but it's coming......
5. Monitoring Tips: The TN case has a major similarity to ours....lack of documentation of calls - even messages - during limited call times. Making three 1-minute noncountable message calls at the beginning of the week but not documenting them in any way, then calling back for a countable call later in the week could result in major issues! You can summarize the noncountables with a "tried to call a few times" but you should make note of even those calls, somewhere somehow. Also, not documenting the countable calls might lead another staff member to call that same week, which also causes issues. Have a system and stick to it (we should have a copy of this said system on file). Your documentation could be vital to you someday.
Clarify any concerns with Andy (phone monitoring guru) or Jenna or I for more wide-reaching issues. And always remember (come on, altogether now): Ignorance is no excuse!!
Lastly: Document the calls! Always. Even for unlimited call periods, it makes sense for you to know who you called and what you said.
Question:
Please clarify some of the NCAA phone call rules...length of call, call-backs, etc.
Answer:
1. Everyone has some kind of call limits, be it monthly or weekly, June or July start, etc. Some now have unlimited calls in contact periods too - for seniors or transfers (with permission for 4-year transfers). So the best we can say here for the sake of brevity is know your sport's rules! Know when your first opportunity to call is, and how often you can call and when. Also know WHO can call - or receive calls. All in 13.1.3; and we can help if you have questions.
2. So, assuming you know you can make your first call to someone who has made it to July 1st right before their senior year (example), and you have one call per week, here's what to know:
a. ANY recruiting content in that call - even in a message - will count and be your one call.
b. Length of call is not an issue - it is about CONTENT, and if your voicemail, or person-to-person message includes a recruiting pitch, then that's your countable call - for the week, for the month, for the 6-week time period - whatever it is that YOU are in. Recruiting messages DO count!
c. Once you have hit your countable call limit for the week, ANY attempt to call back will be a violation. Leaving a voice mail or simply letting it ring twice to show your caller ID will be a violation if you have already completed your countable call(s) for that time period.
3. If your call is dropped and you call RIGHT back without a break, that's OK - you MUST document that on your call logs (folder or CyberWeb or whatever you use). Same for 'long' messages. It is possible, if rare, that someone could answer a home phone, then go looking for the person you're calling. Could take 3, maybe 4 minutes....then they come back and say "not here" (hint: stop recruiting that kid - you're being blown off!! :)). So, you leave a quick "have him/her call me" and get off the phone. That will show up as a 5 minute call (if it went 4 mins, 2 secs) so you must document it as a noncountable message if you want to call back that week. And of course, if there was no recruiting content in your call. Get it? Easy, eh?
4. We'll continue to do our bit to remind you when your calls are unlimited (see below), but please be vigilant as some rules have changed for some sports. Other important things to note are that you're not allowed to call (even when unlimited - that just refers to NUMBER of calls) when the PSA is competing, or when YOUR team is competing. Both of them are impermissible.
Unlimited Calls:
i. During the 5-days before a pre-approved official visit (remember to tell us if you made calls and the visit gets cancelled).
ii. Also, for the time period of travel to the 48 hour visit and the travel home (and this is the ONLY time that ANY IU staff member can call - including our Anthony Travel Agents).
iii. On the day of a permissible off-campus contact.
iv. During contact periods in FB; Basketball; Volleyball; Baseball; Softball and Track and Field. (watch out for your Dead, your Quiet and your Eval periods!!)
v. On the first day (always a Weds) of the NLI signing period in your sport through the Friday of that week - for "signable" PSAs only. (FB has the whole week).
vi. AFTER NLI signing - go for it. Anyone. Check if not an NLI - rules get tricky. Walk-Ons - not yet, but it's coming......
5. Monitoring Tips: The TN case has a major similarity to ours
Clarify any concerns with Andy (phone monitoring guru) or Jenna or I for more wide-reaching issues. And always remember (come on, altogether now): Ignorance is no excuse!!
Lastly: Document the calls! Always. Even for unlimited call periods, it makes sense for you to know who you called and what you said.