The NCAA plans to pursue tampering allegations more aggressively moving forward. On Monday, NCAA vice president of enforcement Jonathan Duncan announced that the DI Board of Directors has charged its staff with new directives regarding tampering violations.
“NCAA staff from enforcement, hearing operations, and governance and membership services will work with Geoff Mearns, president of Ball State and chair of the Division I Board of Directors Infractions Process Committee, and an infractions modernization task force to propose policy changes to expedite the resolution of rules violations and make other improvements,” Duncan’s announcement read, per Yahoo Sports‘ Ross Dellenger. “It is our sincerest hope that these potential policy and rules changes will better serve the new era of Division I while balancing fairness and efficiency to meet membership expectations.
“In the meantime, the national office will work to speed up the infractions process within the existing rules. This will include streamlining various stages of an investigation, such as collecting information from schools or student-athletes more quickly, conducting interviews on a shorter schedule and/or limiting extension requests often made by parties in infractions cases.”
Tampering has surged as an issue since the introduction of the NCAA Transfer Portal. With players searching for the best situation, including from a financial standpoint, agents will reach out to other programs after their client has already committed to a school.
If a coach engages with the agent or the player directly, they are committing tampering. Duncan extensively outlined the definition of tampering in his announcement.
“Communications of any kind are not permitted with a student-athlete at another school — or any other representatives of their interests, including agents — before that student-athlete enters the NCAA Transfer Portal,” Duncan wrote. “If a coach is contacted by an agent of a student-athlete who is not in the Transfer Portal, any further continuation of that discussion is considered a rules violation.
“That includes a coach or a booster expressing interest in or suggesting the possibility of a roster spot opening for a student-athlete should the individual enter the Transfer Portal.”
In January, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made headlines when he accused Ole Miss of tampering with linebacker Luke Ferrelli. Ferrelli initially committed to Clemson via the transfer portal, but ultimately flipped his commitment to Ole Miss.
Swinney provided a detailed timeline of Clemson’s interactions with Ferrelli and his agent. In this alleged timeline, Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding sent Ferrelli a picture of a contract, asking what his buyout was.
This alleged message occurred after Ferrelli had already enrolled at Clemson. To avoid future incidents like Ferrelli’s and ensure fair play altogether, the NCAA is cracking down on tampering.
