The debate about satellite camps has reportedly reached the federal level.
According to a report from USA Today, the United States Department of Justice “has begun an informal inquiry” into the camps, which were banned via a vote from the NCAA’s Division I Council on April 8. Representatives from the DOJ have reached out to “coaches, conference commissioners and college administrators,” the report says.
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From USA Today:
The DOJ's interest, according to one of the people who spoke to USA TODAY Sports, is based on whether an NCAA ban of satellite camps — a term used to describe off-campus coaching clinics attended by prospective student-athletes — could jeopardize or lessen opportunities for youth players to be seen or have access to college football coaches.
Some coaches – Jim Harbaugh from Michigan, most notably – used the camps to extend their recruiting footprint into different parts of the country, mainly the South. The decision to ban the practice had some unintended consequences, however. Coaches from smaller schools are no longer allowed to attend camps hosted by Power Five programs. This can limit opportunities for exposure and potential scholarship offers for some prospective student-athletes.
The vote, which came via conference representatives, passed 10-5 (a Power Five league vote was worth two) in favor of the ban.
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The Big Ten was the only Power Five conference to vote against the ban, but Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told reporters last week that 11 schools from his conference were not in favor of the ban. Despite this UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, who represented the league, voted to ban the camps because he thought it would pass no matter the Pac-12’s vote. Because of this, Guerrero said he voted in favor of the ACC’s proposal to ban the camps (as opposed to the SEC’s version of legislature) because it believed it’d best benefit the Pac-12.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
