NCAA issues updated guidance on NIL collectives, boosters

It’s official. The NCAA is cracking down on its NIL rules and recruiting.

The NCAA Board of Directors sent out new guidance Monday to its Division I membership clarifying the current rules and prohibiting boosters from recruiting. It’s effective immediately, and comes amid multiple calls for changes across the board.

“Today, the Division I Board of Directors took a significant first step to address some of the challenges and improper behaviors that exist in the name, image and likeness environment that may violate our long-established recruiting rules,” Georgia president Jere Morehead, the board chair, said in a statement. “While the NCAA may pursue the most outrageous violations that were clearly contrary to the interim policy adopted last summer, our focus is on the future.

“The new guidance establishes a common set of expectations for the Division I institutions moving forward, and the board expects all Division I institutions to follow our recruiting rules and operate within these reasonable expectations.”

The new guidance also addressed prior violations after college leaders proposed retroactive punishments “or else” last week.

“For violations that occurred prior to May 9, 2022, the board directed the enforcement staff to review the facts of individual cases but to pursue only those actions that clearly are contrary to the published interim policy, including the most severe violations of recruiting rules or payment for athletics performance,” the guidance read. “Schools are reminded of their obligation to report any potential violations through the traditional self-reporting process.”

How talks of change impacted new NIL guidance

Change to NIL guidance seemed inevitable. In fact, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey met with Congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. about potential national NIL legislation. One of the Senators the two met with, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), took a shot at outgoing NCAA president Mark Emmert in a statement after meeting with the commissioners.

Boosters aren’t allowed to be involved in recruiting under current rules, but an accusation of tampering came up earlier this offseason. Pittsburgh wide receiver Jordan Addison opted to enter the transfer portal just ahead of the May 1 deadline, but before he did, reports surfaced about a potential NIL deal if he decided to head to USC to play for Lincoln Riley. That came out before Addison officially entered the portal, which is why Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi called Riley regarding the situation.

That’s not the only time it’s come up, though. Earlier in the offseason, The Athletic reported an unnamed five-star recruit had an $8 million NIL deal waiting for them once they committed.