Ban the ban
NCAA should reconsider satellite ban as summer months approach
By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
I was never an elite prospect, never one to check the mailbox for endless Division 1 football offers or recruiting letters.
Sure, there were a few here and there, smaller D-3 schools, a couple in D-2 even I wondered if the mailman had the right address on.
But as my high school football career played out, the reality of playing in college came into focus.
So to did the desire to attend a camp here and there.
So, the summer before my senior year, myself and four buddies loaded into my green Topaz and headed to Bowling Green State University for a couple days away from home, immersing ourselves under the eyes of dozens of college coaches from near and far.
For me, nothing really came of that other than a few needed pointers in how to throw the football.
For others, I’m certain doors were opened.
I had mostly forgotten about that experience until last summer.
On a muggy, rainy summer day, I headed to Macomb Dakota to cover the Sound Mind Sound Body football camp.
More than 1,000 athletes from the across the country were there, getting tutelage from, and performing under the watchful eye of some of the biggest and best coaches in college football.
Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer all made an appearance, all spoke to the campers.
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly did likewise.
The experience and exposure for these high school athletes was over the top — in a good way.
But when the NCAA effectively banned so-called satellite camps, it effectively put a wet blanket on said experience and exposure many of these kids could get.
No longer can coaches attend or work at camps like Sound Mind Sound Body, unless the camp is held on that coach’s campus.
This may not affect some of the nation’s best recruits, kids that can run a 40 faster then I will finish typing this sentence.
But smaller conferences like the MAC, looking into that second-tier of players, will undoubtedly feel the repercussions.
It’s been reported the NCAA Board of Governors are meeting Thursday to discuss an array of topics, and this one could, and should, be at the forefront.
As many know, this all began with Harbaugh’s tour of camps last summer, and subsequent complaints from the SEC and ACC.
An overreaction was taking in banning these, and the NCAA has a chance now to reverse that before the real damage is done.
“The biggest losses are for the kids, the under-the-radar recruits,” Curtis Blackwell, co-founder of Sound Mind Sound Body, told The Detroit News earlier this month. “They get exposure at these camps. You get schools like Youngstown State, Bowling Green and Kent State and they find kids they normally wouldn’t get a chance to see. Kent State doesn’t have a camp. They go to other camps. If you take them away from (Kent State), how do they effectively recruit?
I had never heard of Sound Mind Sound Body, or camps like it, before last summer.
As a reporter, it was an intriguing story, a new look at the world of recruiting.
As a player, it was a can’t miss, a vehicle to a possible college future.
It’s on the NCAA to restart that engine, and now.
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’
Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.
