NCAA eases contact rules for coaches
College basketball: Coaches can now pick up their smartphones without trepidation.
Starting today, NCAA Division I men’s basketball coaches will be able to send unlimited texts and make unlimited calls to recruits who have wrapped up their sophomore year of high school. The NCAA will also allow coaches to send private messages to prospective players through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
It all means that sending a recruit an LOL (laugh out loud) will no longer get you a TTYL (talk to you later) from the NCAA.
The NCAA is allowing coaches to text, tweet and talk to their hearts’ content because, as Missouri athletic director Mike Alden put it, the organization “recognized the evolving nature of communication with students.”
In essence, coaches can finally get with the times without getting into trouble.
“I really believe it will help. I’m excited about it. And I think it’s going to be good, more so than the texts, just the ability to call and making sure to have that direct verbal communication,” Memphis coach Josh Pastner said.
The new rule was adopted by the Division I Board of Directors last October after being recommended by its leadership council. The NCAA realized that coaches were having a tougher time building relationships with recruits who already know their way around social media and then some.
What was even more worrisome was that while coaches had their thumbs tied behind their backs, third parties were using new technology to get to recruits more easily than ever.
“Now instead of going around people to get to the kid or the parents, you can call them directly. I think that’s a very valid point as to why they made the rule change,” first-year Illinois coach John Groce said.
• Paterno’s will released: Joe Paterno’s will left his personal property to his wife, Sue, and established a trust for the remainder of his estate.
The documents released by the family include the original seven-page will filed in 1997. The material did not state how much Paterno or his estate were worth.
The Hall of Fame football coach died of cancer in January at age 85, less than three months after being ousted by university trustees in November as part of the fallout over the arrest of retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on child sex abuse charges. The family released the will the same day Sandusky’s trial wrapped up its first week in Centre County court.
Makeover planned for U.S. Open home
Tennis: The U.S. Tennis Association plans to give the home of the U.S. Open a makeover that will cost it hundreds of millions of dollars, but does not include putting a roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The renovation calls for the 6,000-seat Grandstand adjacent to Louis Armstrong Stadium to be relocated; seven tournament courts moved to create more room for spectators to get about the grounds; and Armstrong Stadium rebuilt and expanded from 10,000 seats to 15,000.
Adviser changed insurance policy
Colleges: The Texas financial adviser who committed suicide last year as federal investigators probed his management of college coaches’ money changed his life insurance less than a month before his death to make former University of Houston football coach Bill Yeoman the beneficiary of $1.8 million.
The decision by David Salinas could have allowed Yeoman to recoup his losses in what the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges was a $39 million Ponzi scheme, but the coach declined to claim the money.
The 11th-hour change in Salinas’ life insurance, detailed in a court document filed this week, suggests that the prominent Houston booster could have felt guilty about his dealings with Yeoman, who turns 85 in December.
Among the basketball coaches who have lost significant amounts of money because of investments with Salinas are Texas Tech’s Billy Gillispie, Baylor’s Scott Drew, former Arizona coach Lute Olson and former Utah and Eastern Washington coach Ray Giacoletti, now an assistant at Gonzaga.
Kentucky Derby plans points system
Horse racing: Churchill Downs simplified the path leading to the Kentucky Derby, announcing a new points system pegged to three dozen races that will set the field for the country’s most famous thoroughbred race.
The track scrapped a more complicated system in place since 1986 based on graded stakes earnings that determined which horses reached the Derby starting gate.
Spain routs Ireland; Italy, Croatia tie at 1
Soccer: Fernando Torres scored a goal in each half to give Spain a 4-0 win over Ireland and eliminate the Irish from the European Championship, in Gdansk, Poland.
Also, in Group C, Italy sat back and paid for it in a 1-1 draw with Croatia at the European Championship.
Having opened with a 3-1 win over Ireland, Croatia has four points in Group C.
Italy has two points after its opening 1-1 with defending champion Spain.