The NCAA is trying to tackle the rampant issue of player tampering in college sports. A big part of the challenge is that it may not know exactly how to do it. The governing body for college sports issued a memo to all colleges and universities this week with a reminder that tampering is against the rules. But its handling of the issue stopped right there.
The memo from the NCAA never used the word tampering. But in light of events over the last six months, with players signing new revenue-sharing agreements at their current schools, only to jump into the portal at the last minute, the intent was clear.
The NCAA Tries to Address Tampering
NCAA Vice President of Enforcement Jon Duncan sent the following to all schools. “Communications of any kind are not permitted with a student-athlete at another school—or any other representatives of their interests, including agents—before the student-athlete enters the NCAA Transfer Portal. If a coach is contacted by an agent of a student-athlete who is not in the Transfer Portal, any further continuation of that discussion is considered a rules violation. That includes a coach or a booster expressing interest in or suggesting the possibility of a roster spot opening for a student-athlete should the individual enter the transfer portal.”
Most coaches have accused others of tampering for a few years now. With the unfettered free agent market that exists in college sports, players can transfer as many times as they like. Coaches talk about the outreach that goes on to their players. Very few names are given when it comes to the offending parties. They are either afraid to call out their peers, or they know their program is not as clean as they would like.
The Broken System In Need of a Fix
Some of the challenges existed in a microcosm this off-season. The portal window shrank from four weeks beginning in December to just two weeks in January. The month of December was supposed to be a no-contact period, as no player could enter the portal yet. Good luck trying to find a program that completely stuck to that rule. Hundreds of players announced far in advance of the entry period that they would put their names into the portal. That made them immediate targets of coaches looking to get a jump on the process, even though the players were still under contract at another school.
Quarterback Darian Mensah was going into year two of his contract at Duke. He was poached by Miami in the last hours before the portal window closed. By the NCAA memo above, Miami is guilty of poaching. Duke filed suit against Mensah for breach of contract. The two sides settled out of court for an undisclosed buyout from Mensah. Just like that, breaking NCAA rules was forgiven.
Wake Forest had just signed offensive lineman Melvin Siani to a new one-year contract. Within a week of signing it, Siani entered the portal and signed a new deal with the Texas Longhorns. The only way that happens is if someone on Steve Sarkisian’s staff was tampering with Wake’s player. Wake Forest took no action.
The NCAA reiteration of its rules is clear that it does not matter if the communication is directly with a player or the player’s representation/agent.
The Clarion Voice
The only one willing to go all in with accusations has been Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. Linebacker Luke Ferrelli had recently transferred from Cal to Clemson. He was actually in classes at Clemson while getting texts from Ole Miss. He eventually withdrew from Clemson and transferred to Oxford.
At a press conference, Swinney went over details of text messages and the timeline of events, naming names in the process. How is it that other coaches do not have similar information when their programs have been poached? Why can’t they do what Swinney did? Or does the fear of being called out themselves shove them into silence?
So What, What’s Next?
Another option is that few, if any, coaches have confidence in reporting the NCAA bringing swift justice to the situation. The critical detail missing from Duncan’s NCAA memo is any mention of the penalties for breaking the rules. The NCAA has admitted it is looking into the Clemson-Ole Miss issue. There is also an investigation into claims against Ole Miss by the Fresno State football program.
But what happens from there remains very unclear. Will the NCAA impose financial fines on the offending schools, administrators, or coaches? Will the fines be enough for the paying parties to even care? Or will there be a suspension of coaches or others involved? Having been stripped of much of its power by federal courts, the NCAA does still maintain the ability to punish schools and staff for violations of what few rules still exist. But will the NCAA drop that hammer? Or does it also fear being overrun by the process?
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