NCAA Definitions
A representative of athletics interest (Bylaw 6.4.2) is anyone who has:
• Participated in or is a member of an organization promoting the Rollins College athletics program;
• Contributed to the Rollins College athletic department or the Tars Booster Club;
• Assisted or have been requested by the athletic department staff to assist in the recruitment of prospects;
• Assisted in providing benefits (for example, summer jobs or occasional family meals) to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or
• Ever been involved, in any way, promoting the Rollins College athletics program.
Once an individual is identified as a representative of the institution’s athletics interest, the person retains that identity indefinitely.
A prospective student-athlete (prospect) (Bylaw 13.02.8) is a student who has started classes for the ninth grade. Student-athletes enrolled in preparatory schools or two-year colleges are also considered prospects. A student who has not started ninth grade becomes a prospect if the institution provides such an individual (or the individual’s relatives or friends) any financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally, so it is recommended to treat all athletes as prospects. A student remains a prospect until enrollment at a four-year collegiate institution.
Actions by athletics staff members or athletics representatives that cause a prospective student-athlete to become a prospect are:
• Providing the prospect with an expense paid visit to an institution;
• Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospect or the prospect’s parents, relatives, or legal guardians; or
• Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with the prospect, family member or guardian for the purpose of recruitment.
A contact (Bylaw 13.02.2) is any face-to-face encounter between a prospect, or the prospect’s parents, relatives, or legal guardian, and an institutional staff member or athletics representative during which a dialogue occurs in excess of a greeting.
A student-athlete (Bylaw 12.02.5) is a student whose enrollment was solicited by a member of the athletics staff or other representative of athletics interests with view toward the student’s ultimate participation in the intercollegiate athletics program.
Recruiting (Bylaw 13.02.9) is any solicitation of a prospect or a prospect’s relatives (or legal guardian) by an institutional staff member who has passed an NCAA Recruiting Test, for the purpose of securing the prospect’s enrollment and ultimate participation in the institution’s intercollegiate athletics program.
An extra benefit (Bylaw 16.02.3) is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution’s athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete’s relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their relatives or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation, if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution’s students or their relatives or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., foreign students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability.
An evaluation (Bylaw 13.02.5) is any off-campus activity designed to assess the academic qualifications or athletics ability of a prospective student-athlete, including any visit to a prospective student-athlete’s educational institution (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of any practice or competition at any site at which the prospective student-athlete participates.
A quiet period (Bylaw 13.02.3.3) is that period of time when it is permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution’s campus. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or evaluations may be made during the quiet period.
A dead period (Bylaw 13.02.3.4) is that period of time when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution's campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution's campus. The provision of complimentary admissions to a prospective student-athlete during a dead period is prohibited, except as provided in Bylaw 13.7.2.5 for a prospective student-athlete who visits an institution as part of a group. During such a dead period, a coaching staff member may not serve as a speaker at or attend a meeting or banquet at which prospective student-athletes are in attendance, except as provided in Bylaw 13.1.9, and may not visit the prospective student-athletes' educational institutions. It remains permissible, however, for an institutional staff member to write or telephone prospective student-athletes during such a dead period.
