NCAA D-III coaches can now text recruits

Division still doesn’t allow social media contact like D-I, D-II.

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 10:45 PM Monday, January 16, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Wittenberg coaches have one more tool in their recruiting arsenal thanks to a vote by the NCAA last week: text messages.

NCAA Division III coaches can now communicate with recruits because 418 of the 467 Division III institutions voted to allow it. Whether or not coaches choose to use the new form of communication is another question.

“I don’t text, period,” Wittenberg men’s basketball coach Bill Brown said. “I’ve sent one text in my life. It was on the evening we got home from taking our oldest son to college. My wife wondered why it took me so long, and it’s because I’ve got an old-school phone, and there’s like six letters on one number.”

Brown did say he and his coaching staff will take advantage of the rule with a software package they have that allows them to send text messages to many recruits at once.

Wittenberg men’s and women’s track and cross country coach Craig Penney does text, but he prefers a more personable approach.

“If a kid texts me, I will reply with a text, only because that may be his only means to communicate,” Penney said. “I’d rather talk to the kid on the phone. I think (texting) is a great tool if that’s what they’re into. You have to be careful how you manage it.”

The NCAA voted last year to allow Division I coaches to send text messages to a recruit after June 15 of a recruit’s sophomore year. Division I coaches can also contact recruits via social media, like Twitter or Facebook, though Division III coaches are still banned from doing that. Texting and the use of social media to contact recruits are also allowed in Division II.

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