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: A Prospect's Home
In general, a prospective student-athlete's "home" is the prospective student-athlete's legal residence, or the community of the educational institution in which the prospective student-athlete is enrolled while residing there.
This definition is germane to Bylaw 13 recruiting activities including determining permissible official visit transportation parameters a Division I institution may provide to a prospect (e.g., round trip transportation from prospect’s “home” to campus).
A prospect’s home, or legal residence more acutely, also factors into the local sports club exception whereby Division I coaches in sports other than football and basketball may be involved with a local sports club (e.g., administrator, coach) provided prospects in the local sports club have legal residence within 50-mile radius of the Division I coach’s institution. Division I recruiting rules go further to specify that a prospective student-athlete who relocates to an area within a 50-mile radius of the institution on a temporary basis (e.g., to participate on a club team or attend an institution while maintaining a permanent residence outside the 50-mile radius) is not a legal resident of the area regardless of whether the prospective student-athlete meets legal standards of state or local residency for governmental purposes.
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.
