NCAA Facebook face-off: Recruiting rules are far too strict should not suppress student voice

The NCAA should loosen up. Forcing universities to regulate student recruitment efforts on social networking sites is too much. Students are not representatives of university recruiting efforts.

Recently an N.C. State University student started a Facebook group that encouraged a top high school senior basketball recruit senior John Wall of Raleigh Word of God Christian Academy" to commit to NCSU.

But NCSU contacted the student and instructed him to remove the group's page because it violated NCAA recruiting regulations.

NCAA recruiting regulations state that current students are considered ""representatives of the university"" and are therefore not permitted to have any communication with possible athletic recruits.

That sounds easy enough.

But communication can mean any sort of public attempt to sway a prospect" said Lance Markos director of compliance in the UNC-Chapel Hill athletic department.

That includes chat rooms blogs message boards and even Facebook.

NCAA's regulation of recruiting violations is too rigid. Students shouldn't be considered representatives of a university when it comes to recruiting.

Students from Duke and UNC also have created Facebook groups urging Wall to commit to their respective schools.

But NCSU did nothing wrong by enforcing NCAA regulations. It's just that those regulations are unnecessary.

Barring all students even those who are unaffiliated with their schools' athletic departments from expressing their opinions of recruits online is ridiculous.

And regulations this strict come awfully close to threatening free speech.

Something as simple as a Facebook page shouldn't concern the NCAA. Let's hope the recruit-in-question has enough judgment not to be swayed by a group of unaffiliated students he's never even met.

Rules are rules but ultimately the NCAA should not be able to restrict student voice.