Recruiting rules

Question: My daughter is just beginning her sophomore year, and we recently attended a showcase event Following one of the showcase games a coach walking by stopped and told her she "covered a lot of ground in that game and has a tremendous amount of range". He then said he thought she "had a lot of potential". This was a quick exchange, and he quickly walked away. He then came the next day and watched her play the morning game.

He was from a Div. II school, and I don't think he should have been speaking to her. My daughter wants to email the school, but would you consider this recruiting interest? How would you suggest she follow up?

Answer: Since I don't have a full context for this exchange, I don't want to state categorically that this was a recruiting violation. However, Div. II coaches are not allowed to approach/contact players for recruiting purposes until June 15 following the sophomore year. It may be that this coach was simply congratulating your player on a good performance and he has no interest in recruiting her. But if he does, then I hope he thinks she's a junior and not a sophomore because otherwise, this may have been an illegal contact. If they never encounter each other again, there won't be any consequences in all likelihood. If, on the other hand, he decides to aggressively pursue her as a prospect (down the road), he could endanger her eligibility and risk a reprimand for his program.

How you proceed is up to you. Your daughter is allowed to reach out to a Div. II coach at any time by phone or email or during an on campus visit. Coaches are obligated to follow recruiting rules, however, so they can't call back or email beyond an acknowledgment of her contact. (Note: During a phone call that she initiated, they could talk about recruiting, and the same would be true during an unofficial campus visit.)

She's---of course---free to contact this school/coach. Just be aware that if this coach doesn't respect existing NCAA rules, it might be hard to guarantee that he follows through on any other commitments he makes.