For UConn’s basketball and football coaches, the NCAA just drew a much tighter circle around where they can go.
A new Division I rule, approved Wednesday and effective immediately, limits which games men’s basketball and football coaches - along with certain staff members - may attend in person. That means no more wandering into other teams’ preseason, regular-season or conference tournament games unless the contest falls under a specific exception.
The obvious motivation is tampering. NCAA oversight committees pushed the change to cut down on face-to-face contact between coaching staffs and players who could eventually enter the transfer portal. In the NCAA’s view, fewer in-person opportunities means fewer chances for “in-person recruiting” before portal windows open.
There are some carve-outs. Coaches and staff can still attend games that are part of an event their school is involved in, such as the Players Era Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships in Las Vegas. Family members also create an exception, so a coach or staffer can be present if a relative is participating.
Football gets a few more specific allowances. In FBS, head coaches may be on site for a bowl game played in their home stadium or for a College Football Playoff game. At the FCS level, coaches and specified staff can attend the FCS national championship game and the College Football Playoff title game.
Men’s basketball has its own list of permitted postseason events, including the NCAA basketball championship and other approved postseason games.
For UConn fans, the timing makes for a few easy hypotheticals that now run straight into the rulebook. The Huskies open the season with four home games before heading out, which gives Dan Hurley and his staff some nights at home.
In another world, maybe Hurley and his family would head to Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Nov. 3 to see former UConn assistant Luke Murray make his head-coaching debut at Boston College against Wagner, the first stop of Hurley’s own head-coaching career. Or maybe Hurley would take an assistant with him on the 45-mile trip from campus to Worcester, Mass., to watch Holy Cross host Furman on Nov.
But under the new NCAA rule, those ideas get shut down.
Turn the car around.
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Awakas decision came down to how the Gators approached his recruitment, with Florida making him a clear priority and selling him on his long-term development. The commitment also closed the door on a strong list of suitors, leaving programs such as UConn, Arizona, Michigan and Michigan State still searching for their next target in the class. [Read more 🡒]