The NCAA Enforcement Certification and Approvals Group (ECAG) is responsible for administering the NCAA Scouting Service Approval Process which grants approval to recruiting/scouting services that have met minimum NCAA requirements. Per NCAA Bylaw 13.14.3, NCAA Division I coaches in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball and football are only permitted to subscribe to recruiting/scouting service that has been granted an NCAA approval.
By definition, a recruiting/scouting service is any individual, organization, entity or segment of an entity that is primarily involved in providing information about prospective student-athletes.
A scouting service includes any individual, organization, entity or segment of an entity that is primarily involved in providing information about prospective student-athletes. An institution is considered to have subscribed to a recruiting or scouting service when a staff member registers to access information provided by the service only to paid subscribers or registers to access information available only to a select group of individuals (e.g., coaches), regardless of whether a charge is associated with accessing the information. However, an institution is not considered to have subscribed to a recruiting or scouting service if a staff member registers to access information about prospective student-athletes from a service that provides the same information to the general public at no cost.
As of June 1, 2012, NCAA Division I member institutions are only permitted to subscribe to scouting services in basketball and football that are approved through the NCAA scouting service approval process. The approval process was implemented by the NCAA national office, to ensure compliance with legislated requirements governing the elements required to permit an institution’s subscription to a recruiting service