N.C.A.A. Plans Stricter
Recruiting Standards
by LYNETTE CLEMETSON - The New York Times
March 12,
2004
The N.C.A.A. is considering
sweeping changes in recruiting practices that may include decreasing the
length of campus visits, eliminating student-hosted off-campus entertainment
and allowing only commercial, coach-fare transportation for recruits.
The proposals were laid out Thursday by David Berst, the N.C.A.A. vice
president and chairman of its task force reviewing recruiting rules, during a
Congressional hearing on concerns that lavish spending, alcohol and sex are
being used to lure recruits to college sports programs.
"We do not intend to go through another recruiting season without new
standards in place," Berst said.
Convened by a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which
has oversight over college athletics, the hearing was prompted by more than a
half-dozen allegations of sexual misconduct by football players and recruits
at Colorado, and what Rep. Jan Schakowsky,
Democrat of Illinois, called "a culture that persists throughout the nation
that tolerates such violence against women."
But the scope of the proceedings cut across a wide array of National
Collegiate Athletic Association programs and policies. Throughout the often
confrontational session, members of Congress, along with academic and athletic
officials, offered harsh criticism of practices that include providing private
jets, alcohol and strippers to potential recruits.
Among the issues debated was whether Congress should even be making
recommendations on N.C.A.A. guidelines.
"It's very important that Congress not try to get involved in N.C.A.A.
legislation," said Rep. Tom Osborne, Republican of Nebraska and the former
football coach at Nebraska. "It would be like having the Washington Redskins
come in here and write tax policy. You just don't understand it. You have to
be there to know what to do."
His testimony did not stop the members of the committee from leveling tough
questions at witnesses.
"Why are you not ahead of the curve?" Rep. Cliff Stearns, Republican of
Florida and the chairman of the subcommittee, asked Berst, saying that he
viewed the N.C.A.A.'s proposals as reactive rather proactive. "It seems to me
there is some culpability in the N.C.A.A.," he said. "Why have you not been
leading the charge?"
Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman, the president of the University of Colorado; Don
McPherson, the former Syracuse quarterback and executive director of the
Sports Leadership Institute at Adelphi University; and David Williams II, vice
chancellor and general counsel at Vanderbilt, were among other officials who
testified before the panel.
Saying that "sports has become a cancer in our culture," McPherson expressed
support for legislative and legal review of abuses in college athletic
programs.
"It's very important that when we talk about the laws of the land versus the
laws that govern collegiate athletics or recruiting that the laws of the land
take precedence," he said. "And that we recognize that when student athletes
or students commit crimes against women, commit crimes against others on
campus, that they be dealt with as crimes."
Last week, all but one member of the Colorado Congressional delegation signed
a letter asking the committee to postpone the hearing because it might
compromise existing investigations involving football players and recruits at
Colorado.
Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado, who did not sign the letter and is a
member of the subcommittee that convened the hearing, said before the session
that it was "not intended to be a witch hunt of the University of Colorado or
a review of the facts in the Colorado investigations."
Instead, she said during the hearing, the proceedings were called to
"determine whether there are system problems" contributing to abuses that
could be addressed through tougher regulations.
Even though the Colorado scandal was mentioned repeatedly, there was
widespread praise of Hoffman, the Colorado president, for implementing
stringent recruiting guidelines last week. These include many of the proposals
being considered by the N.C.A.A.
"Our vision is to become a national leader for a culture of personal respect
and responsibility in our football and athletic programs and throughout
campus," Hoffman said.
Hoffman and several other panelists conceded that the university's changes, if
not adopted by the entire N.C.A.A., would most likely put Colorado at a
competitive disadvantage in recruiting top players.