The NCAA is taking a hard line on university representatives tampering with top recruits--even when the representatives are ordinary students and their form of tampering is to create a Facebook group. North Carolina State's NCAA compliance director Michelle Lee sent a cease and desist letter warning of "further action" to the creator of a Facebook group called "John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!" The creator, NC State student Taylor Moseley, and 700 others in the group would like North Carolina native John Wall, the nation's top basketball recruit, to play for the Wolfpack. The NCAA says that pages like Moseley's are attempts to influence recruits and "intrude" into their lives.

Both University administrators and free speech advocates reacted strongly to the NCAA policy and letter from Lee.  Adam Kissel, a free speech attorney, said while the NCAA can impose rules on its member colleges, public universities can't enforce those rules if it means punishing students for expressing an opinion. "A student doesn't lose First Amendment rights because of a contract the university signs," he said.  Aden Fine of the American Civil Liberties Union said that while the NCAA, a private entity, could ban Moseley from NCAA-run events, it was concerning that the letter and warnings came from the university. "The school is potentially finding themselves in a tricky situation, because of the NCAA rules, but that doesn't mean public universities can censor lawful speech," said Fine.  Even the administrator who sent the letter questions the NCAA policy asking if it is "realistic for us to be able to monitor [Web sites like these]? What harm is a group like this causing?"

Despite these objections, NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said the NCAA expects schools to act in the manner that N.C. State did in similar situations. The AP reports similar Facebook groups concerning potential recruits to Baylor, Duke, Kentucky, and the University of North Carolina. Christianson said the NCAA sees this as a recruiting issue, and not a free speech issue.

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