NCAA compliance is one of the more ambiguous components of college athletics operations. All constituents of Sun Devil Athletics, whether they are student-athletes, coaches, staff, administration, or Sun Devil Club members are responsible for adhering to compliance guidelines. To assist with navigating the world of NCAA compliance, the Sun Devil Club is providing a "Tip of the Month" to cover some of the most common questions regarding the role our members play in ensuring our compliance with the NCAA.
If you have any questions regarding compliance, please visit our compliance website at https://sundevilcompliance.asu.edu or contact the Sun Devil Club at Sundevilclub@asu.edu or by phone at (480) 727-7700.
June 2023
Contacting Prospects at Games
As an ASU booster, you may view prospects (e.g., 9th through 12th graders) in competitions like high school or community college games or summer club tournaments. However, boosters are generally prohibited from contacting prospects for the purpose of recruiting them to ASU, including by telephone, in person, or through social media. Thus, although you could watch a prospect’s summer tournament game, you could not introduce yourself to the prospect afterward.
May 2023
NCAA Rules Awareness
As a Sun Devil Athletics booster, you cannot provide extra benefits (i.e., anything of value) to student-athletes. This is especially important to remember around the graduation season because you cannot give graduation or other celebratory gifts (e.g., senior gifts celebrating a great career) to student-athletes even after they have graduated or exhausted their eligibility. You can, however, send graduation or congratulatory greetings, for instance in an email or greeting card, so long as no money, gift cards, or other presents are included. In addition, one of the best ways to show your support for our student-athletes is to make donations to the sports programs. For example, you could donate money to a sport program to use for a celebratory end-of-season meal.
April 2023
Student-Athlete Employment
Boosters may employ a student-athlete as long as the student-athlete is:
- Only paid for work performed;
- Paid the going rate; and
- Not compensated for one’s athletics reputation.
But before beginning employment, a student-athlete must complete the Student-Athlete Employment form verifying the nature and terms of the employment. So please contact the Compliance Office at 480-965-5760 or SunDevilsAsk@asu.edu before having a student-athlete work for you.
March 2023
Booster Conduct
Please remember that as a booster, your conduct is considered ASU conduct. Thus, any NCAA rules violation you commit could result in sanctions against Sun Devil Athletics, as well as our student-athletes, coaches, and prospects.
February 2023
Simplifying NCAA Rules For Boosters
Although the legislation regulating booster activities takes up many pages in the NCAA Manual, that legislation can be simplified into two main rules described in a short video here and outlined below:
Booster Rule No. 1: Boosters cannot recruit prospects, either directly or through their friends or families.
Booster Rule No. 2: Boosters cannot give anything to student-athletes (prospective or current) or their friends or families.
January 2023
Navigating NCAA Compliance
To help you and other Sun Devil Athletics stakeholders better understand NCAA legislation, the Sun Devil Athletics Compliance Office created its own rules education website at sundevilcompliance.asu.edu. The website contains summaries of important NCAA rules for boosters like you (including the definition of a booster and what a booster can and cannot do) and information on a broad range of other topics.
December 2022
Gifts and Acknowledgments by Boosters
As an ASU booster, you cannot provide extra benefits (i.e., anything of value) to student-athletes. This is especially important to remember around the holiday and midyear graduation season because this means you cannot give holiday, graduation, birthday, or other celebratory gifts (e.g., congratulating a successful season) to student-athletes even after they have graduated or ended their eligibility. You can, however, send holiday, graduation, or birthday greetings, for instance in an email or card, so long as no money, gift cards, or other presents are included.
November 2022
Recruiting Student-Athletes by Boosters
As general rule, Sun Devil Athletics boosters cannot recruit prospects either directly or through prospects’ friends and family. This includes on social media platforms. So, for example, you cannot tweet at prospects or send them direct messages.
October 2022
Booster Interactions with Prospective Student-Athletes
Boosters are prohibited from providing benefits (e.g., free or reduced-cost goods and services) to prospective or current student-athletes or their friends or families. Thus, it would be impermissible for you to provide student-athletes or prospects free tickets to professional, collegiate, or even other SDA sporting events (including allowing student-athletes or prospects (or their friends/family members) to use your club-level football or courtside basketball tickets).
September 2022
Boosters Attending Outside Events
As a booster, you may attend high school, community college, and public events in which prospects are participating. However, you cannot attempt to contact or recruit prospects while you are there.
August 2022
Benefits for Student-Athletes and Recruits
As an ASU booster, you are prohibited from arranging benefits for anyone involved with a student-athlete or with the recruitment of a prospect. This means you may not funnel money or benefits to anyone responsible for teaching or instructing a prospect (e.g., coaches, counselors, teachers, non-scholastic teams) or friends and relatives of current student-athletes.
July 2022
Name, Image, Likeness
NCAA rules now allow student-athletes to be compensated for the use of their names, images, and likenesses, so long as they follow ASU’s NIL activity policy.
For more information about NIL, please visit the Compliance Office NIL webpage.
If you have any questions, please contact us at SunDevilsAsk@asu.edu or talk with your Sun Devil Club representative.