BOOSTERS, ALUMNI & FANS
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Student-Athletes
Who is a Representative of Athletics Interests?
The NCAA broadly defines a "booster" as an individual, agency, entity or organization who is known by an institution to:
- Have participated in or been a member of an agency that promotes the institution's intercollegiate athletics program
- Have made financial contributions to the athletics department or a booster organization for the department
- Have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution's athletics program
- Have been a season ticket holder
- Have provided benefits to student-athletes or their relatives or friends
Boosters & Prospects
Who are Prospective Student-Athletes?
A prospective student-athlete is any student who has started classes for the ninth grade (seventh grade in basketball). Any student younger than the ninth grade who receives any benefits from an institution or athletics representative would also be considered a prospective student-athlete as would an enrollee at a preparatory school or two year college. It is important that prospects enjoy a positive campus visit within the constraints of the NCAA regulations. Thus, please do not provide anything to a prospect, the prospect’s family or the prospect’s friends that is not available to the general public without consulting with the Compliance Office.
It should be our goal, as the best alumni and fans in the country, to preserve and protect each and every student-athlete’s eligibility. All NCAA legislation cannot be covered in a limited space such as on this site. Therefore, any questions should be forwarded to the Compliance Office in the Department of Athletics.
Social Media
Boosters Can Cause Violations! Only countable coaches are authorized to recruit. Supporters of Drake are prohibited from contacting a prospective student-athlete and cannot participate in recruiting conversations. Boosters continue to reach out to prospective student-athletes, their families or friends. In particular, social media such as Facebook, and Twitter have created an open forum for boosters to overstep NCAA boundaries. Drake does NOT condone this contact.
It is necessary for the NCAA and Drake Compliance to regulate social media. Otherwise, we would be unable to maintain a level playing field for recruiting consistency as some coaches and programs receive more prevalent support than others.
Boosters are prohibited from any contact with a recruit, unless a recruit contacts the booster, and even then, the booster is not allowed to discuss recruiting. NCAA rules do not allow comments about possible recruits on an institution’s social media page or a page belonging to someone affiliated with the institution. In addition, these pages cannot feature photos of prospects and messages cannot be sent to recruits using these social media technologies other than through their e-mail function.
Extra Benefits
Extra Benefits should not be offered to a prospective student-athlete, current student-athlete or their family or friends by anyone (regardless of a booster affiliation). An extra benefit is defined as anything that is offered based solely on participation in intercollegiate athletics. If something is offered to all students at Drake or to the general public, a student-athlete may accept the benefit as it doesn't carry an athletics nexus. Examples of extra benefits are (but are not limited to):
- Money, loans or credits
- Complimentary or discounted services
- Selling, trading or upgrading any athletics gear or participation awards
- Acceptance of any item of tangible value in exchange for complimentary tickets
The list above is not exhaustive. Please refrain from ever offering our prospective and current student-athletes, their families, and their friends anything that isn't available to all students or the general public.
