Compliance with NCAA rules is a never-ending process that requires diligence on the part of both the Department of Athletics and Virginia Tech as a whole. Below is a brief summary of the basic issues that you may be faced with as a prospective student-athlete.

1. You become a prospective student-athlete if you have started classes for the ninth grade. Before the ninth grade, you become a prospective student-athlete if the college provides you (or your relatives or friends) any financial aid or other benefits that the college does not provide to prospective students generally.

2. A "representative of an institution's athletics interests" (commonly referred to as a booster) is defined by the NCAA as anyone who:

• Is now, or previously been, a member of any organization promoting the institution's intercollegiate athletics program;
• Has made a financial contribution to the athletics program or an athletics booster organization;
• Has helped arrange any employment for a student-athlete;
• Has been involved, in any way, in the promotion of the athletics program.

3. Please be aware that any former Virginia Tech student or former or current member of the Hokie Club is automatically considered a representative of Virginia Tech's athletics interests (booster). According to NCAA rules, once an individual is identified as a booster, he/she retains that status forever.

4. You become a "recruited" prospective student-athlete at a particular college if any coach or booster solicits you or your family for the purpose of securing your enrollment and participation in intercollegiate athletics. Activities by coaches or boosters that trigger recruited status are:

• Paying some or all of your expenses during a visit to campus (known as an "official" visit);
• Arranging an in-person, off-campus encounter with you or your parent(s) or legal guardian; or
• Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with you, your family or guardian on more than one occasion for the purpose of recruitment.

5. A booster may not solicit your enrollment in any manner (no phone calls, letters or in-person encounters).

6. You (or your family) may not receive any benefit, inducement or arrangement such as cash, clothing, cars, improper expenses, transportation, gifts or loans to encourage you to sign a National Letter of Intent or to attend an NCAA school.

7. A "contact" is any face-to-face encounter between you or your parent(s) or legal guardian and an institutional staff member or athletic representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of greeting.

8. Phone calls to you from faculty members and coaches (but not boosters) are permitted beginning July 1 (Sept. 1 for football) after completion of your junior year. In addition, football coaches may call a prospect or the prospect's family once during the month of May during the prospect's junior year. A college coach or faculty member is limited to one telephone call per week to you (or your parents or legal guardians). Unlimited calls to you (or your parents or legal guardians) may be made under the following circumstances:

• During the five days immediately before your official visit by the university you will be visiting;
• On the day of a coach's off-campus contact with you;
• During the time beginning with the initial National Letter of Intent signing date in your sport through the two days after the signing date; and
• In the sport of football only, during the permissible off-campus contact periods and during the 48 hours prior to and 24 hours after 5 a.m. on the initial signing date for the National Letter of Intent. Coaches also may accept collect calls, and universities are permitted to utilize a toll-free number to receive telephone calls from you (or your parents or legal guardians) on or after July 1 after completion of your junior year.

9. Letters to you from coaches and faculty members (but not boosters) are permitted beginning Sept. 1 at the beginning of your junior year in high school. A Division I university may provide you with the following printed materials:

• General correspondence, including letters, U.S. Postal Service postcards and institutional note cards;
• Game programs which may not include posters and one Student-Athlete Handbook;
• NCAA educational information;
• Pre-enrollment information subsequent to signing a National Letter of Intent with the university;
• One athletic publication (media guide or recruiting brochure);
• Official academic, admissions and student services publications published or videotapes produced by the institution and available to all students;
• Schedule and business cards;
• Questionnaires which may be provided prior to your junior year; and
• Camp brochures which may be provided prior to your junior year.

10. An "evaluation" is any off-campus activity designed to assess your academic qualifications or athletic ability, including any visit to your high school (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of any practice or competition in which you participate.