Athletics Veritas is a weekly series aimed at helping higher education executives, faculty, and other stakeholders stay tuned in on trending national issues impacting college athletics, especially NCAA Division I. Athletics Veritas is created by senior DI athletic administrators around the nation.
Term-in-Ology: Giveaways to Prospects Attending a Division I Coach's Summer Camp
Division I coaches’ summer camps across the country are re-emerging after a hiatus last summer due to the pandemic.
Noting the two-way recruiting value that camps offer to both prospects and Division I coaches where prospects have opportunity to showcase their athletic abilities within a summer sports camp format, NCAA recruiting rules attempt to ensure camps are void of impermissible benefits or inducements to prospects in attendance at the camp.
As a result, NCAA rules do factor in to what benefits a prospect-camper could receive for attending a Division I coach’s camp.
Specifically, Division I coaches' camps may provide apparel and/or merchandise to high school prospects participating in a camp and clinic provided the total cost of the items is included in each camp or clinic participant's admissions fee.
If the cost of the items is not included in each participant's admissions fee, then the institution is providing participants an impermissible benefit. For example, if an institution provides each camp participant a basketball and a shirt valued at $45 but the camp admissions fee for each participant is only $30, the institution has provided an impermissible benefit to each participant who received those items.
Even though an institution’s athletics department or coach may receive apparel or other merchandise for free or at a discounted price, a Division I coach's camp must assign normal-retail value to the item(s) it provides to camp participants regardless of whether the institution or coach received the item(s) free of charge or at a reduced rate. The normal-retail value of the item(s) must be included in the participants' admissions fee.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
