Kentucky Reports High-Tech Recruiting Violation: Kentucky told the NCAA that it violated recruiting rules when Wildcat fans encouraged a high school recruit to attend the school by posting remarks on his MySpace.com profile. According to rules, fans cannot contact recruits, especially for the purpose of swaying a decision. When fans step outside the rules, Kentucky officials said, they usually contact the fans and tell them to stop because they could unintentionally hurt the team.
The incident raises attention to the dangers of the Web. If more recruits run personalized Web sites or profiles on sites like MySpace and Friendster, schools may try to recruit players through those methods. Or more fans may do so on behalf of their schools. The NCAA watches recruiting methods fairly closely, so this incident could trigger more detailed information about proper Internet use on the recruiting trail. [7/21/06]
