NCAA Reportedly Lifts Multiple Recruiting Rules Including Text Message Limits

Feel free to text recruits again, college football coaches.

The NCAA loosened its recruiting restrictions on Jan. 19 by eliminating some key prohibitions by schools on texting recruits, according to an official report by Michelle Brutlag Hosick of NCAA.org.

ESPN's Joe Schad outlined the major changes voted on that will be implemented on Aug. 1 (via Twitter):

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NCAA announces elimination of rules such as prohibitions on texting recruits and regulations of printed recruiting materials.

— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 19, 2013"

The move is a step in the right direction and a result of an August 2011 summit. Hosick outlined the additional changes that have also resulted from that meeting:

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...enhanced academic eligibility standards for incoming freshmen and student-athletes who transfer from two-year colleges, the creation of a tie between a team’s academic performance and participation in NCAA championships, a revamped enforcement and Committee on Infractions process, and a multiyear scholarship model.

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College basketball made this shift last summer, and it was only a matter of time before the football side of the NCAA followed suit.

On June 15, the NCAA allowed college basketball coaches to make unlimited phone calls and send unlimited text messages to recruits who had finished their sophomore year in high school, according to Sports Illustrated’s Rob Dauster.

College football imposed the ban on a 13-3 vote in favor of the restriction back in August of 2007. The rule prohibited NCAA coaches from sending any text messages to potential recruits.

It seems the regulatory attitude of the NCAA has begun to shift over the past few years. That was recognizable in NCAA President Mark Emmert's remarks about the changes.

He praised the changes, according to Hosick, and claimed this kind of progress is a significant step forward and that these “common sense rules” will help protect “the core values of intercollegiate athletics.”

Hopefully these changes are also accompanied by safeguards that will help keep college football recruiting honest and outside of the light of negativity that has surrounded it in recent years.

Please visit NCAA.org for further information on additional rule changes.