GCAA gets extension on recruiting recommendations: Campus Insider: Golf Digest

GCAA gets extension on recruiting recommendations

Monday, November 29, 2010 Comments

From year to year, the Golf Coaches Association of America's national convention ranges anywhere from busy business meeting to "working" vacation. Next week's event at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, however, promises to be more the former than the latter thanks to the GCAA obtaining an extension from the NCAA on its Dec. 3 deadline for submitting recommendations on the potential limitations on recruiting.

After several requests by the GCAA over the past month, explaining the timing of its convention (Dec. 6-9) and its ability to assist in coming to a consensus, the Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Cabinet agreed to extend the deadline until Dec. 13, allowing for discussions and voting on various proposals currently under consideration when the GCAA membership convenes in Las Vegas.

What the coaches will likely be deliberating on are two proposals offered from the GCAA's National Advisory Board. The proposals were expected to be e-mailed to coaches this morning.

* A model that offers specific number of days that coaches can recruit off campus, leaving it up to the coach as to when to use the days.

* A hybrid model that limits the number of days of coaches can recruit while also including dead and/or dark periods for recruiting during the year.

Earlier in the month, the GCAA sent out to 304 Division I head coaches a variation of the hybrid proposal, asking respondents to vote on the concept in one of three ways: yes I approve; yes I approve but with conditions; or no, I don't approve. The GCAA received 167 responses, with approximately 40 percent voting yes, 33 percent voting yes with conditions and 27 percent voting no. Following that, the NAB decided to add a recruiting days proposal for consideration.

Still unresolved in either proposal is the exact number of days coaches would be allowed to recruit as well as what dates would be included in dead or dark periods. The original hybrid proposal floated by the GCAA included a quiet period (where coaches would not be allowed to recruit off campus) from the end of the early signing period in November through January. However, the AJGA's Polo Junior Golf Classic and the Annika Invitational as well as the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship each fall within those dates, raising concerns for some.