From the AP -- Facebook and Athletic Recruitment Crackdown

A sticky situation, to say the least. Here's the full text, with thanks to the Associated Press:

Student warned over Facebook site wooing prospect
By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—College sports fans, be careful of the company you keep on Facebook.

You might get yourself—and the program you support—in trouble.

That was the lesson this week for Taylor Moseley, a North Carolina State freshman who expressed a common-enough opinion on campus when he started the Facebook group called “John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!”

More than 700 people signed up for the group encouraging Wall—a local standout and the nation’s No. 1 basketball recruit—to pick the Wolfpack by national signing day next week.

But the NCAA says such sites, and dozens more like them wooing Wall and other top recruits, violate its rules. More than just cheerleading boards, the NCAA says the sites are an attempt to influence the college choice of a recruit.

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Moseley got a cease and desist letter from N.C. State’s compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of “further action” if he failed to comply. In an interview Friday, Lee said that people who act as boosters but fail to follow recruiting guidelines could face penalties such as being denied tickets or even being formally “disassociated” from the athletic program.

Adam Kissel, director of the Individual Rights Defense Program at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said the NCAA can impose rules on its member colleges. But universities—especially public ones—can’t enforce them if it means punishing students in any way for expressing an opinion.

“A student doesn’t lose First Amendment rights because of a contract the university signs with (the NCAA),” he said.

Moseley, the student, didn’t respond to a request for comment, but the group has been renamed “Bring a National Title back to NC STATE!” and features a photo of Wall.

Though Lee sent Moseley the tough warning, even she finds the rule exasperating. The NCAA, she says, simply isn’t keeping up with the technology reality.

“I think nationally the NCAA needs to address further Facebook and how these groups play a part in recruiting,” she said. “Is it realistic for us to be able to monitor them? What harm is a group like this causing? But as the legislation stands right now, this is the position we have to take.”

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said the group considers its rules “technology neutral.” A Facebook page is simply a high-tech way to try to influence recruits.

The NCAA’s concern is “intrusions into a high school student’s life when they’re trying to decide where to go to college,” he said. He said the NCAA is keeping up with technology, noting new rules on text-messaging from coaches.

Christianson said the NCAA expects institutions to act as N.C. State did, reaching out to the creators of such groups to “educate” them about the rules. He added he was not aware the NCAA had ever initiated any action related to a Facebook group or notified an institution about one.

But dozens of Facebook groups are still up in plain site for current recruits, including Wall, and other top undecided basketball players such as Xavier Henry and Lance Stephenson.

Wall, a 6-4 playmaker, averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Raleigh Word of God this past season. He’s the No. 1-ranked recruit in the country by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, and among the last top players yet to commit. A Facebook search reveals groups including “Bring John Wall to Baylor,” “John Wall Belongs at UNC” and “John Wall, come to DUKE!!”

There are at least four groups encouraging Wall to pick Kentucky. Through an athletic department spokesman, UK head of compliance Sandy Bell declined to comment on whether the department has taken any action in response to such groups.

Facebook did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

Kissel, of the education rights group, and Aden Fine of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that while the NCAA—a private entity—could pursue sanctions against a student like Moseley (such as denying him access to an entirely NCAA-run event), it was troubling that the letter and threatened sanction came from the university.

“The school is potentially finding themselves in a tricky situation, because of the NCAA rules, but that doesn’t mean public universities can censor lawful speech,” Fine said.

Christianson dismissed the free speech argument, saying courts have upheld the NCAA’s right to set recruiting rules for members.

“We don’t see it as a free speech issue. What we do see it as is a recruiting issue,” he said. “We want to be sure that we limit that level of intrusion that comes into their lives.”

On the Net:

http://www.ncaa.org

The Most-Requested U Sphere Blog Post Ever -- and One Worth Sharing Again in These Crazy Times

Editor's Note: Ann Landers used to do this all the time -- get a request and re-run a column that might have been older than dirt. In this case, well, a blog post from 2006 is actually older than dirt in Internet speak. But we're sharing anyway...this message makes sense (even if we're beyond "rankings" and are now talking about "economy" or something similar).

Enjoy!

Choosing a College? Relax.
It’s open season on the rankings again. Parents of high school seniors know the ones: the books, put out by large magazines or SAT test-prep companies. The ones that tell you that this college or university is better than that school because of some such reason – like better alumni or a better reputation.

Or more selective enrollment; or higher yield: those are two stats that any high-performing high-schooler knows well.

We’ve got an estimated 1.5 million high school seniors who will apply to a college or university in America this year. And, for a lot of them, the rankings serve their purpose. It’s nice to know that the school you thought you wanted to go to really is highly ranked in business, or engineering, or animal husbandry. It’s great to get into a top program at a top school.

I’m not going to suggest doing away with these rankings, as I am delighted to see people talking about choosing a college or university to spend the next four years. And if these rankings make your kid feel better, or more organized, or whatever, great. (I know, though, that the rankings are all about the Joneses being able to surpass each other with better window stickers.)

From my own experience (running a company that’s shaking up this college admissions process), I would say it’s tough for students to really fumble this selection thing as long as they trust their gut and remember these three words: Just go somewhere.

Sorry, Mom and Dad, if you think I’m trivializing what is probably a high-stress time. But I’m actually doing this for your benefit.

I can give you a couple real-world examples, from my own pre-entrepreneurial life as a Fortune 500 PR guy. My last boss had a degree from the University of Southern California. He took over for a guy who went to Virginia Commonwealth. Before that, I reported into a Holy Cross grad (the one in Worcester), and before him a Purdue-Calumet grad (the school’s satellite campus in Northwest Indiana).

They all worked at a company that is now headed up by a guy who did his undergrad in Manhattan. The other Manhattan: Kansas State University.

I’ve got a brother who’s doing fine work in IT, after getting a degree in business from Tri-State University (Angola, Indiana). I married into a family with three graduates of Illinois State University – fine women who got a great education and didn’t break the bank in the process.

I’ve worked for grads of Western Illinois and Mizzou. I’ve been at companies headed by people who went to Arkansas State, where my Mom was once offered a tiny scholarship.

Are you seeing a pattern here? No? Neither am I.

I’m not at all dismissing Ivies. Or selective liberal arts schools. And heck, I went to a school for three reasons – it is the cradle of sportscasters, it had a good basketball team, and I wanted to be Bob Costas. (For the uninitiated, the school is Syracuse, and I highly recommend it for the right kind of kid.)

I’m also not dismissing the rankings: I love the guidebooks, I love the books that dismiss the guidebooks. I love seeing where Montana-Western is (literally, it’s in Dillon, MT; figuratively, it’s a small liberal arts campus that’s a hidden gem and it’s really good in animal husbandry). I love this whole early decision vs. early action vs. open admission vs. wait list vs. double deposit discussion.

I just don’t like where it’s taking our highly stressed-out kids.

Instead, I’d offer a collective chill pill, in the form of this three-step plan:

1. Test-drive, early and often, all types of campuses and a bunch of different experiences. This means that you should (borrowing from my own experience again) attend Shakespeare plays at Notre Dame and spend three weeks out of your summer at Indiana State, even if you’re doing it to prove that you wouldn’t fit in there.

2. Ignore all that advice about having x number of reach schools and making sure that your safeties are still safe. One of the ranking books talks about some girl who filled out 31 applications. She’s my hero, but that’s probably overkill. You should pick whatever number of schools and apply to them for all the reasons that make sense for you. (I applied early, went one-for-one, and called it a day.) Is five or six too many? Too few? Who cares? Do what makes sense.

3. Negotiate. With your parents. For a car, or a trip, or something. Dad offered me a car if I got a full ride somewhere. I didn’t, and it wasn’t until after I got out of school that I realized that HE would have gotten the better end of the deal.

This is a time for Seniors to assert themselves. That could mean getting into a school that only admits 10% of its applicants and has a yield of above 80%, if that’s what’s important. Or it could mean loading up the brand-new Toyota and heading for State U, knowing that, 4 years later, the car will still be running, and there’s more money in the bank.

You’ll of course need that money to buy my book on the Top Graduate Schools for You. (To be published in the fall of 2010.)