As of June 1, 2012, NCAA Division I member institutions are only permitted to subscribe to scouting services in men’s basketball, football and women’s basketball that are approved through the NCAA scouting service approval process.
Given that this is the first year in which it is mandatory for a scouting service to be certified by the NCAA, the deadline for a service to apply has been extended until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on August 15, 2012. This is a one-time exception and under no circumstances will a service be permitted to apply after that deadline. Similarly, after the 2012 application period has closed, all deadlines will be strictly enforced and no consideration will be given to circumstances that resulted in a service missing the deadline to apply. The application period for 2013 will be between April 1, 2013, and 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 31, 2013, with NO exceptions.
Institutional List and Responsibility
Once approved, the service will be identified on the list of approved scouting services that can be accessed with the following URL: https://web1.ncaa.org/scouting/school_search. An ncaa.org account is required in order to access the list. If a scouting service’s application is approved, the approval will be valid until May 31, 2013.
A member institution that subscribes to an approved scouting service has an expectation of shared responsibility to monitor the product they are receiving and communicate any red flags to the NCAA staff. Institutions are expected to confirm that the scouting service complies with the criteria set forth in Bylaw 13.14.3 including:
1. The fee rate charged to the institution is the same as the fee rate listed on the NCAA approved scouting services list.
2. The institution received information from the scouting service (e.g., reports, profiles) about prospective student-athletes at least four times per annual cycle.
3. The product they received is consistent with the sample that was submitted with the scouting service online application. Scouting service sample reports are viewable at the Approved Scouting Services Search link.