summer recruiting news

Lawsuit Against the NCAA Now Pending: Many people do not know about this one, but there is presently pending in Philadelphia (in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennysylvania, before Judge Ludwig) a lawsuit in which a group of camp operators, tournament operators, and individual plaintiffs are seeking a TRO and a preliminary injunction to enjoin the NCAA from enforcing two aspects of the new rules governing recruiting, specifically Bylaws 30.16 (k) and (l), i.e., the "coaches approval" requirements and the "100-Mile Rule" restriction.

We don't have time right now to go into much detail about the substance of the lawsuit, but we're making a request to our readers: Those of you who will be affected by the 100-mile rule restriction are encouraged to send us an e-mail, detailing your particular circumstances. Let us know how the rule has affected you. Be sure to leave a phone number where you can be reached, because time is of the essence. With the summer recruiting schedule about to kick off on July 8, there's no time to spare. Please let us know and spread the word about this request for information. Send your replies to J. Gale at jegesq@socalhoops.com.

More NCAA Recruiting Info: Many high school coaches have called or written us to ask about whether NCAA D-I coaches will be able to attend summer high school tournaments. The answer, according to those we've spoken with at the NCAA, including Jan Gentry, who is responsible for enforcement this summer of the NCAA's recruiting bylaws is "ONLY IF THE EVENT IS CERTIFIED." There are no exceptions to this rule. High school coaches who are accustomed to the "in-season" rule which permits D-I college coaches to attend high school contests will be in for a rude awakening if they believe colleges can follow the same procedure during the summer, because they can't. What this means is that all tournaments being held during the summer must go through the event certification process and must also make the same financial disclosures as club and travel events must make in order to receive event certification. More importantly, if an event is not certified by the NCAA by now, it's too late: Event operators (and this includes high school coaches who want their summer tournaments to be certified) had to file their applications three months in advance of the event....No exceptions.

NCAA Intereprets 100-Mile Rule To Exclude Foreign Players: The NCAA enacted a new "100-mile" rule, which limits the options for many players to participate with travel teams and AAU teams this summer. It mostly affects players in the Western States, where the geography is more expansive and the population centers are more spread out. But that's nothing compared to the recent interpretation of the rule by the NCAA when it comes to foreign players: The NCAA's interpretation of the 100-mile rule requires players to either reside in the same state as their team (i.e., where the team's mailing address is), or if they live outside that state, then they must reside within 100 miles of the team's mailing address. But according to a recent memorandum from the NCAA which we've obtained, foreign players (such as guys who are attending school here in the U.S. on a student visa, or at a prep school) don't "reside" anywhere. Such students are deemed to reside (like everyone else, according to the NCAA) where their parents reside, and since their parents don't reside in the U.S., they don't "reside" anywhere within the U.S., and can't play for any U.S.-based travel teams. So, guys like Martin Iti, just to mention one name, won't be able to play at all this summer, at least if the NCAA gets its way. And this is so, even though Iti is over 18, legally an adult, and can reside anywhere he intends to reside. This, like the other aspects of the 100-mile rule, is a developing issue, and one which will no doubt be addressed in the pending action.

People have asked us where we're going to be this summer, and which events we'll cover. Here's a quick schedule of our tentative plans for next month:

July 7-11	ABCD Camp @ Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ
July 7-11	Eastern Invitational @ College of New Jersey
July 11-14	Pump's West Coast All Stars No. 2
July 10-13	Fullcourt Press All West Camp
July 16-19	Fullcourt Press Summer Shootout
July 15-21	Five Star Camp "Pitt III", Pennsylvania
July 22-26	adidas Las Vegas Big Time Tournament
July 25-28	16th Annual Nike Fairfax Tournament
July 28-31	Double Pump Best of Summer @ LMU

In between, if there is any "in between" time, we'll try to cover as much other news and info as we can. If you've got news of a tournament, a report on a player and other interesting info, drop us a line or post it on the message forum.