A year and a half ago, text messaging was the NCAA’s main concern regarding recruits. After prohibiting coaches from text messaging potential recruits, Facebook has become a new source of tension.

The NCAA and member schools’ compliance departments, whose job is to ensure its school abides by NCAA rules and regulations, are looking at Facebook groups created by students who try to influence a recruit’s college decision.

“Individual schools need to be on their toes as to what is taking place out there on the Internet,” said Cameron Schuh, associate director of public and media relations for the NCAA. “It’s up to the institutions to monitor social media sites that come across their desk.”

Schuh said the NCAA and its member schools wanted to restrict as much outside influence on a prospective student athlete’s choice of school as possible. According to the NCAA, a Facebook page is simply a high-tech way to influence recruits.

After Taylor Moseley, a North Carolina State student, created a Facebook group titled, “John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!,” the Athletics Department sent him a cease-and-desist letter, which is a request to halt activity or face legal action. Moseley complied by changing the name to “Bring a National Title back to NC STATE.”

This incident has placed Facebook on the radars of many compliance departments across the country.

Theresa Becker, associate athletics director for compliance, said Kansas’ Compliance Department was well aware of the NC State case that received national attention.

“We have actually had a discussion with the North Carolina State staff to compare notes and make sure we were interpreting and looking at things in the same way,” Becker said.

Becker said when a booster or a student refused to comply with the NCAA by-law, the next step would be disassociation. In a student’s case, this could mean that they may not have the privilege of buying tickets to athletics events, or may be denied the opportunity to be a member of a student organization that supports Kansas Athletics.

“It is the Athletics Department’s responsibility to distance and disassociate themselves from that individual so that the NCAA would understand that Athletics is not involved with and does not agree with how that student is misrepresenting the activities of the department,” Becker said.

Becker said it was a difficult and frustrating task to monitor new technological developments and social networking sites, such as Facebook.

“It’s really difficult to put our hands around,” Becker said. “It’s nearly impossible to monitor everything that goes out there on the Web.”

Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said that by and large, the decisions of recruits were a result of the success of a certain program and the relationship that the recruit formed with the coaching staff.

“I think social networks make a lot of noise, but in the end, I don’t think that’s what a recruit bases his or her decision on,” Marchiony said.

Greg Shippy, Overland Park junior, who was a member of the “Greg Monroe, Come to KU (We’ll Get a Championship)” Facebook group, said that high school prospects didn’t have to visit a Web site recruiting them to a specific school. Shippy also said it should be the responsibility of the recruit and whoever guides him or her through the recruiting process to avoid Facebook groups from influencing the decision.

Schuh of the NCAA said the social networking “craze” was currently under discussion within the Division-I recruiting cabinet. He said it was deciding how to handle the effects of technology and its latest applications.

Schuh also said that the NCAA instructed schools to look out for Facebook groups that are made by someone with malicious intentions.

After the NC State group made national news, a Facebook group called “John Wall, I’ll pay you to come to KU” was created.

Marchiony said it was a little unrealistic to think that schools could monitor the Internet constantly, but that it was the Athletics Department’s responsibility, as a member of the NCAA, to abide by the rules regarding recruiting influences.

“We don’t want to stifle the creativity, the imagination or the enthusiasm that the students have for our athletics program, but we in college athletics have to be aware of what effects it has on recruiting,” Marchiony said.

— — Edited by Sonya English