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Posted on Sat, Jun 16, 2012 : 5:59 a.m.

Text me, maybe? College basketball recruiting world shifts with unlimited calling and texting

By Nick Baumgardner

Recruiting_Texts.jpg

At midnight on Friday, the NCAA began allowing college basketball coaches to send unlimited text messages and dial an unlimited number of phone calls to prospects who have finished their sophomore year of high school.

Graphic by Rich Rezler | AnnArbor.com

By about 12:15 a.m. Friday morning, Bryant McIntosh was completely familiar with college basketball's new reality.

His phone buzzed once. It buzzed twice. It buzzed three times.

Sixteen minutes prior, all three of the late-night text messages the class of 2014 point guard prospect from Greensburg, Ind., received would have been an NCAA violation.

But with the NCAA's deregulation of phone calls, text messages and social media interaction -- everything's fair game now.

All night long.

"I tried to stay up for a little bit, but I eventually fell asleep," said McIntosh, who has drawn the interest of Michigan basketball coach John Beilein and many others. "By 12:15 I had three or four. Then I got another at like 1 a.m.

"Then at 3 a.m., I got a few more. That was weird."

Keep those phones plugged in, guys. This could get interesting.

At midnight on Friday, the NCAA began allowing college basketball coaches to send unlimited text messages and dial an unlimited number of phone calls to prospects who have finished their sophomore year of high school.

In addition, coaches can now contact rising juniors through all forms of social media -- whether it be a private message on Facebook or Twitter.

As is often the case, there are two sides to every story. While some feel this policy could end in disaster, others believe it could be for the best.

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Michigan coach John Beilein reportedly offered scholarships to a pair of class of 2014 recruits on Friday: Four-star small forward Keita Bates-Diop from Normal, Ill., and four-star guard Devin Booker from Moss Point, Miss.

AnnArbor.com file photo

But in the end, it seems one old adage holds true here as well.

"It's like anything else," said Mike Mullins, who runs the Illinois Wolves AAU basketball program. "It's appropriate in moderation."

Mullins has been involved with AAU basketball for more than a decade, and has been around the block more than a few times when it comes to the rough and tumble world of college recruiting.

He remembers the ban the NCAA placed on text messaging five years ago, when unlimited data plans were nowhere near as common, and Twitter wasn't nearly as powerful as it is now.

Mullins can understand why the NCAA did what it did in 2007, and now, he also understands why it's lifting the ban.

Most kids tweet. More kids text. And basically everyone has a cellphone.

And, perhaps most importantly, it's something that's become impossible to control.

"This just makes it transparent for everybody," Mullins said. "And the NCAA can't possibly police this."

Mullins coaches one of two class of 2014 players who were formally offered a scholarship by Beilein and the Wolverines on Friday.

Four-star small forward Keita Bates-Diop, a Normal, Ill. product who plays for Mullins' AAU squad, and four-star guard Devin Booker of Moss Point, Miss., both had phone conversations with Beilein and company on Friday, and both pulled down offers -- the first two Michigan has handed out for the 2014 class.

McIntosh also got a call from Michigan. And all three likely heard from a gaggle of other schools, as well, something that likely seemed cool at the time, but could get pretty old fast if it's not kept to a reasonable level.

"In many cases, recruits are about to get inundated with extraneous calls and texts," ESPN lead college basketball recruiting analyst Dave Telep wrote earlier this week. "Let me know the first time a kid commits to a school based on the relationship he formed with a coach from texting.

"Maybe it’ll happen but I’m among the crowd of naysayers who thinks the kid’s privacy will be invaded and the stress of keeping up with the recruitment takes away from novel concepts such as, say, homework or even practice (that’s a topic for another day)."

McIntosh -- who said he received roughly 50 texts, calls or social media messages midway through Friday -- said most coaches were up front about the situation, saying they don't intend to abuse their new power.

Mullins insists it's important for players, parents and youth coaches to have discussions about the situation and set parameters for unlimited contact. He says players need to be up front with schools and let them know when it's OK to reach out, and when it's off limits.

That won't stop all the abusers, but he believes it will curb most of it.

"It's no different than speeding on the highway," he says. "I think everyone will try to find an area that's safe to go through. That's the trial and error. I believe most schools have good intentions, and most families do as well."

Some view the new rules as dangerous, others feel the changes were absolutely necessary given today's mobile communication world.

But no matter what side of the fence certain coaches, players and parents are on, most agree that the new contact rules will allow both schools and prospects alike to reach a better understanding of one another.

Something that could possibly curb the major transfer epidemic that's sweeping the sport.

"You find out more about them, you find out what kind of sense of humor they have," McIntosh said. "I got to know quite a few coaches just Friday, and I'm sure I'll get to know more even better over the next few weeks.

"It'd be a lot harder to do that if you couldn't text, because if two schools call you at the same time -- you can't answer both calls. This makes it easier to get to know people."

It's a brand new world, and one most are approaching with care and controlled skepticism.

Welcome to the digital age, college basketball.

Happy texting.

Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.

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Comments

InsideTheHall

Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 5:06 p.m.

This should be known as the Kelvin Sampson Vindication Rule!

boo

Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 12:23 a.m.

this "rule", like all the other ones doesn't matter. rules are only made for those dumb enough to follow them. anyone who plans to be successful in the competitive world of "BIG MONEY" athletics better be cheating, or they are likely not going to win. sorry to break your hearts, but that is the reality. It happens at every university....even MICHIGAN.

Charley Sullivan

Sat, Jun 16, 2012 : 7:30 p.m.

I've been recruiting high school athletes for going on 20 years now, and this has the makings of an incredibly intrusive disaster. The old rule was contact once a week. Period. And of course people cheated but to get caught was a pretty big deal. Top level recruits are going to get inundated, and I guarantee that some assistant coach trying to hold on to his or her job is going to hound kids. It's just not appropriate. Whether the NCAA can monitor it or not isn't the point. Without being "rude" or perhaps ruining a chance at a certain school's offer while they're still figuring out their options, there's no way a recruit can really say "hey, back off a bit will ya?" Well they can, but that would make me want to recruit the kid even more! This is a ridiculous rule. My advice to recruits? Get a second phone, one just for recruiting. And turn it on only when you're ready to handle the recruiting messages, etc. And tell people when it gets creepy.

Charley Sullivan

Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 2:07 a.m.

@Craig. Actually, sharing the phone number is part of the recruiting process; though it also doesn't have to be the kid's own personal number. And we should note in the old rules, the recruit was able to initiate as much contact with coaches as she/he wanted; it was the coach/program who/that was restricted from initiating contact. There are challenges to managing that process with multiple coaches recruiting within a single program, (and this is particularly true with basketball, which has more coaches per athlete than any other NCAA sport,) and I imagine this is part of what spurred this rule to come from basketball in particular. But it's still a bad idea. As to the two phones, I don't see this as a barrier at all. It is easy enough to get a cheap Go Phone with a small text and voice plan, and, honestly, that would be part of the expenses involved in a high school student's college search, if that student is also trying to get recruited. $25/month max? I can't think of a single recruit who couldn't afford that, actually.

boo

Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 12:21 a.m.

where do you coach? you better quit posting on aa.com and start texting some 15 yr old right away. your job depends on it!!

Craig Lounsbury

Sat, Jun 16, 2012 : 9:52 p.m.

Or just don't give out your phone number to people like you. (no offense). How many kids have you recruited that can afford a second phone versus those who struggle to afford one phone??

Craig Lounsbury

Sat, Jun 16, 2012 : 1:31 p.m.

I bet there are millions of college students who wish they were harassed with offers of a free 4 years of college. But alas they fail the "throw a leather ball through a steel hoop" qualifier to get a free college education.

mmppcc

Sat, Jun 16, 2012 : 12:22 p.m.

If the NCAA won't even stop adult coaches from harrassing high school kids, what good are they?

Craig Lounsbury

Sat, Jun 16, 2012 : 11:04 a.m.

"And, perhaps most importantly, it's something that's become impossible to control." I think this is the key point. The only one with control is the prospect. He can choose to not hand his number out. I've never tried, nobody's blowing my phone up) but I think I can block numbers too (Verizon).