Using the term “Agent” will, in most cases, automatically raise questions and concerns about whether an athlete has violated NCAA rules and will be ineligible for college athletics!
I recently received an email from an international student who referred to the college recruiting service that was assisting him as his “agent” or “agency.” When I questioned him, I learned that rather than violating NCAA rules, he was simply mis-using the terms and didn’t realize the consequences of using the wrong terminology. The student asked me what he should call them and I advised referring to the service as an “advisor” or “consultant” rather than an “agent” or “agency.”
It IS acceptable to use a college athletic advisory service or college athletic recruiting service to help market and promote you to college coaches.
HOWEVER, such services can’t charge a fee that is based on the condition of you getting placed with a college team or have a fee structure in which they are paid more based on the value of your athletic scholarship. The fee charged should be the same regardless of the level of college the athlete attends, or whether the athlete receives only a walk-on opportunity instead of an athletic scholarship.
There are very limited exceptions where the use of agents is acceptable, but they only apply to the sports of baseball, basketball, and men’s ice hockey at the NCAA Division I level.
The NCAA defines an agent as an individual who:
“(a) Represents or attempts to represent an individual for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation for financial gain; or
(b) Seeks to obtain any type of financial gain or benefit from securing a prospective student-athlete’s enrollment at an educational institution or from a student-athlete’s potential earnings as a professional athlete.”
To learn more about recruiting rules, visit How We Help – Recruiting Rules. To learn more about eligibility Issues, visit How We Help – Eligibility Issues.
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