Indianapolis ? The NCAA Division I board of directors unanimously approved a package of basketball rules changes Thursday, including a proposal to eliminate men’s summer recruiting in 2002.
“The board is eliminating summer basketball environments as we now know it,” said Penn State president Graham Spanier, chairman of the board of directors. “We will scale back in 2001, then we will replace it in 2002.”
Spanier said the new program is designed to reduce “the unsavory influences affecting the lives of young people and the integrity of our programs.”
Coaches currently are allowed 24 days of recruiting during the summer, including attending camps sponsored by shoe manufacturers. In 2001 that will be cut to 14 days of recruiting.
The following summer, recruiting will be eliminated and replaced with a new set of guidelines to be implemented by a yet-to-be named Div. I basketball issues committee to be made up of coaches, athletics directors, NCAA presidents faculty representatives and perhaps others. It will be chaired by Syracuse chancellor Kenneth Shaw.
Spanier said while the NCAA cannot prevent the camps from continuing, it can prohibit coaches from attending them.
The proposals were among nine passed two weeks ago by the Division I Management Council and forwarded to the board for consideration at its quarterly meeting.
“We are sending a clear message that there are going to be changes,” Spanier said.
The NCAA suspended several players this past season who reportedly received illegal financial support before they began attending colleges, including gifts and money.
