Social networking sites aren't supposed to be recruiting grounds -- but they are

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Social networking sites aren't supposed to be recruiting grounds -- but they are
By BEN VOLIN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 24, 2009

GAINESVILLE — Andre DeBose, a five-star football prospect from Orlando, committed three weeks ago to play for the Florida Gators this fall.

Drew Degraauw, born and raised in Baton Rouge, La., and a 2003 graduate of LSU, figures he has a little more than a week until the Feb. 4 national signing day to sway DeBose to his beloved Tigers.

"LSU is where it's at," Degraauw, 28, recently wrote on DeBose's Facebook page. "You'd be the man in Baton Rouge!"


Degraauw, an attorney in Albuquerque, N.M., doesn't know DeBose, but wrote on his wall three times in the past two weeks. Degraauw sees it as harmless fun.


"I don't think one of these kids is going to get a Facebook message from a random guy and have that influence his recruiting," he said. "It's more just for kicks."


Innocent as his intentions may be, Degraauw was unwittingly committing a secondary recruiting violation. The NCAA considers Degraauw, an alumnus, as a "representative" of his school's athletic interests, and his contact with DeBose through his Facebook wall is prohibited by the NCAA.


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[Timbuff10]

This is soooo stupid. There is no way to police this stuff properly. What is to stop me from going over to an NU prospect and posting all over his board that he should play for the red, just to get them a violation?

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

This is soooo stupid. There is no way to police this stuff properly. What is to stop me from going over to an NU prospect and posting all over his board that he should play for the red, just to get them a violation?

I'm pretty sure they'd see through something like that pretty easily.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I'm pretty sure they'd see through something like that pretty easily.

How?

Besides, the ncaa moves so slow that you or I could fake a facebook page in December, have someone raise a stink in January, scare the player into signing at another school in February, and the ncaa braintrust would still be trying to figure out the web page 3 years from now.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

How?

Besides, the ncaa moves so slow that you or I could fake a facebook page in December, have someone raise a stink in January, scare the player into signing at another school in February, and the ncaa braintrust would still be trying to figure out the web page 3 years from now.

You aren't as anonymous on the internet as you think. Trying to get a program into trouble with the NCAA would probably require an investigation into the allegations no?

 

[somebody]

The NCAA doesn't perform criminal investigations, so you wonder how much they can extract from an unwilling ISP.

 

[AlferdJasper]

The NCAA doesn't perform criminal investigations, so you wonder how much they can extract from an unwilling ISP.

my guess is the accusation and supporting material wouldn't originate with the ncaa... rather, an opposing team would do the footwork and hand over to the ncaa in the form of a complaint.


Never underestimate the power of a university football team scorned.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

The NCAA doesn't perform criminal investigations, so you wonder how much they can extract from an unwilling ISP.

Let me correct myself. I'm not trying to say the NCAA would conduct the investigation themselves. But I do think they could set up a process that could. They certainly have the time and money to do so.

 

[somebody]

my guess is the accusation and supporting material wouldn't originate with the ncaa... rather, an opposing team would do the footwork and hand over to the ncaa in the form of a complaint.


Never underestimate the power of a university football team scorned.

I'm not getting your point. Another school certainly can't force an ISP to divulge identities.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I'm not getting your point. Another school certainly can't force an ISP to divulge identities.

Trust me. If they wanted it. They can get it.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

Let me correct myself. I'm not trying to say the NCAA would conduct the investigation themselves. But I do think they could set up a process that could. They certainly have the time and money to do so.

They do have the money, and probably enough people to do it. My point is that I question whether or not they're competent enough to pull it off. And then there's the matter of time - even if they suspected something wrong (like a bogus web site or facebook page), it would probably take 'em eons just to start the inquisition.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

They do have the money, and probably enough people to do it. My point is that I question whether or not they're competent enough to pull it off. And then there's the matter of time - even if they suspected something wrong (like a bogus web site or facebook page), it would probably take 'em eons just to start the inquisition.

The NCAA has a rep for not handling things very well. I agree with you on that. But they are not incompetent like many people would like to believe. jmho.

 

[somebody]

I could be wrong, but it seems that they would have to get past privacy laws to identify individuals (at least, I hope we still have privacy laws in this country), and they'd need a court order for that. I question whether they could do that for NCAA guideline violations.

 

[supahphish]

Trust me. If they wanted it. They can get it.

I highly doubt that. If your ISP has even a half-cracked privacy policy, they will not give out that sort of information. The NCAA is a private entity and not a government organization or law enforcement agency, and even if they were, they would have to get a judge to issue a subpoena or at least show the ISP that you were under suspicion of some kind of illegal activity before they would comply.

Regardless of what kind of power the NCAA yields, an ISP (and Facebook etc.) would be much more interested in complying with FTC fair trade practices and avoiding lawsuits. They can and have been sued before for giving out private information when their TOS and privacy policies said it would be protected.

This isn't even getting into the possibility of easily using proxy servers to mask your identity, and the fact that neither the NCAA or anyone else who matters has any power over people with international IPs.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I highly doubt that. If your ISP has even a half-cracked privacy policy, they will not give out that sort of information. The NCAA is a private entity and not a government organization or law enforcement agency, and even if they were, they would have to get a judge to issue a subpoena or at least show the ISP that you were under suspicion of some kind of illegal activity before they would comply.

Regardless of what kind of power the NCAA yields, an ISP (and Facebook etc.) would be much more interested in complying with FTC fair trade practices and avoiding lawsuits. They can and have been sued before for giving out private information when their TOS and privacy policies said it would be protected.

This isn't even getting into the possibility of easily using proxy servers to mask your identity, and the fact that neither the NCAA or anyone else who matters has any power over people with international IPs.

I stand corrected. :thumbsup: