Coaches & Athletic Staff
The mission of the Office of Athletics Compliance at the University of Louisville is to advance the NCAA Principle of Institutional Control and to provide our student-athletes, coaches, staff and outside constituents exemplary customer service, sound guidance, visibility and effective communication.
The Louisville Office of Athletics Compliance will provide thorough rules education of NCAA, ACC And University regulations, effective monitoring systems, and will promote a culture of compliance within both the Athletic Department and the University. Through ethical decision-making and conduct, integrity, monitoring and enforcement, this mission will provide a strong foundation for compliance and institutional control for the university and all of its stakeholders.
Personnel
All UofL coaches, staff (athletics and non-athletics staff, including part-time and clerical staff), student-athletes, and boosters have an obligation, by NCAA rule, to report violations. The obligation to report supports the University of Louisville’s commitment to institutional control and promoting an atmosphere of compliance.
Notification may take place by contacting (in-person, by telephone or email) an Athletics Compliance Office staff member, the Senior Women Administrator, the Director of Athletics or the Faculty Athletics Representative. If you would rather submit information anonymously, please click here.
Unethical Conduct
NCAA Bylaw 10.1 outlines various actions of unethical conduct that may jeopardize a staff member’s employment status. Any individual who performs work for the institution or the athletics department, even if he or she does not receive compensation for such work, is subject to Bylaw 10.1, which includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Refusal to furnish information relevant to an investigation of a possible violation of an NCAA regulation when requested to do so by the NCAA or the individual's institution;
- Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid;
- Knowingly furnishing or knowingly influencing others to furnish the NCAA or the individual's institution false or misleading information concerning an individual's involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation;
- Receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor or a representative of an agent or advisor (e.g., "runner"); and
- Knowing involvement in providing a banned substance or impermissible supplement to student-athletes, or knowingly providing medications to student-athletes contrary to medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care in sports medicine practice, or state and federal law.
Sports Wagering
NCAA Bylaw 10.3 states that staff members of an institution's athletics department and non-athletics staff members who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department shall not knowingly participate in sports wagering activities or provide information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities.
Sports wagering activities includes placing, accepting, or soliciting a wager (on a staff member's or student-athlete's own behalf or on the behalf of others) of any type with any individual or organization on any amateur, collegiate, or professional team or contest. This includes the use of a bookmaker or parlay card; Internet sports wagering; auctions in which bids are placed on teams, individuals, or contests; and pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required and there is an opportunity to win a prize. A wager also includes an agreement to risk an item of value (e.g., money, apparel, dinner) in exchange for the possibility of gaining another item of value. What may seem harmless, could place the university at risk of NCAA sanctions.
Kentucky State law also prohibits an individual from placing a wager on a game or event in which they are a participant. More information on this law can be found here.
Head Coach Responsibility
Per NCAA Bylaw 11.1.1, Institutional staff members found in violation of NCAA regulations shall be subject to disciplinary or corrective action, whether such violations occurred at the certifying institution or during the individual’s previous employment at another member institution. An institution’s head coach is presumed to be responsible for the actions of all institutional staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the head coach. An institution’s head coach shall promote an atmosphere of compliance within his or her program and shall monitor the activities of all institutional staff members involved with the program who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach.
Resources
NCAA Head Coach Responsibility Booklet
Recruiting
Official Visits:
Prior to an official visit, coaches must obtain approval from the Compliance Office. The Official Visit Approval Form is found on ARMS. Post-visit paperwork is due 10 days following the completion of the visit.
Information for before an official visit occurs:
Official Visit Host Brochure
The following forms must be included in the post-visit paperwork:
Official Visit Itinerary/Requisition (on ARMS)
Official Visit Prospect Declaration
Official Visit Host Instructions
Unofficial Visits:
For an unofficial visit, the following form must be submitted 10 day following the completion of the visit:
Unofficial Visit Requisition Form (on ARMS)
Unofficial Visit Prospect Declaration
Complimentary Ticket Requests:
All complimentary ticket requests for official/unofficial visits are requested through ARMS.
Other:
Basketball On-Campus Evaluation (on ARMS)
Memorabilia or Donation Request
On-Campus Recruiting Policy
Recruiting Calendar
Athletic Activities
Countable Athletically-Related Activities (CARAs)
Per NCAA regulations, countable athletically-related activities include any required activity with an athletics purpose involving student-athletes, and at the direction of, or supervised by, one or more of the coaching staff (including strength and conditioning coaches). Administrative meetings, such as compliance meetings and academic meetings, are not considered to be CARAs.
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| Period | Daily Hour Limit | Weekly Hour Limit | Minimum Off Days |
| In-Season | 4 | 20 | 1 / Week |
| Out-of-Season | 4 | 8* | 2 / Week |
| Vacation Period | Unlimited (In-Season Only) | 1 / Week | |
* In football: A maximum of 2 hours per week may be spent on film review and walk-throughs
* In sports other than football: A maximum of 4 hours per week may be spent on skill instruction
Student-Athlete Time Management Plan
Per NCAA Regulations, each sport must develop a student-athlete time management plan to ensure, at a minimum, the following:
- Student-athletes are provided adequate notice of all CARA and RARA;
- Schedules for all CARA/RARA are developed through a collaborative process involving student-athletes, coaches and senior athletic department staff members; and
- Student-athletes are provided adequate notice of changes to previously established schedules for CARA/RARA.
Policies & Procedures
- Annual Calendar Declaration
- On an annual basis, each sport is required to submit a calendar declaration that includes in- and out-of-season segments and regular days off (e.g. 20-hour/1-day off, 8-hour/2-days off), the additional fourteen (14) additional days off, the required seven (7) discretionary period at end of championship segment and a competition schedule.
- This declaration must be reviewed and approved by each sport’s SAAC representatives.
- Monthly TMP Submissions
- Sports are required to submit a Monthly Time Management Plan (TMP) calendar in Teamworks prior to the of preseason practice, or the day prior to the start of the fall term (whichever is earlier), and by the 25th day of the month prior thereafter.
- Each monthly submission must include required days off, specific practice and conditioning times/activities, including CARA and RARA.
- Upon submission, student-athletes and support staff will be notified that the monthly TMP is available to view on Teamworks.
- Changes/Notifications
- A minimum of 24-hour notice is required for any change and all parties must be notified via Teamworks of any changes in times or locations of required activities, changes in previously declared days off, or any additional student obligations.
- For change requests within 24 hours of the required activity or changes to required days off, sports are required to contact the sport administrator and SAAC representatives to discuss proposed changes, obtain written approval from both parties and provide documentation of the approval to the Compliance Office.
- Weekly CARA Logs
- Sports are required to submit Countable Athletics Related Activity (CARA) Logs seven (7) calendar days following the conclusion of the previous week
- A notification will be sent to all student-athletes to review via Teamworks, ensure any changes/omissions are reflected and provide any additional feedback to the Compliance Office anonymously.
Additional Notes & Reminders
- A day off is required each week during in-season vacation and preseason periods, however daily/weekly CARA hour limits do not apply
- The following activities are not permissible on a day off: compliance meetings, organized team promotional activities, recruiting activities and student host duties, media activities, fundraising events, required community service events, team-building activities, and travel days
- Travel days may not be used as off days (exception for return to campus between midnight and 5 am if no CARA occurs for a continuous 24-hour period)
- Days during an extended road trip may not be used as a required day off, even if no CARA or RARA occur on a given day
- A sport is not required to provide a day off during a week in which an SEC or NCAA Championship event takes place.
- Student-athletes must be provided an additional 14 days off per academic year in addition to the required days off outlined above.
- A competition day is considered three (3) hours of activity regardless of the actual duration of the event (this includes pre-game warm-ups, shoot-around, etc.). No countable activities may take place after a competition.
- Required Athletically Related Activities (RARA) (e.g., compliance meetings, recruiting activities, media activities, etc.) do not count toward the hour limitations displayed above, but may not be required on a student-athlete's day off.
- Voluntary Athletically Related Activities (VARA) do not count toward the limitations displayed above. However, any activity at which a coach is present must count against daily and weekly hour limits (other than meetings initiated by student-athletes during which no other countable activities occur). Academic and medical meetings do not count against daily and weekly limits.
Participation Awards
Per NCAA regulations, student-athletes may receive participation, championship and special achievement awards. The awards are limited in value and number as specified below. Participation award tracking can be found on ARMS.Â
| Type of Award | Maximum Value of Award | Number of Time Award May Be Received | Permissible Awarding Agencies | Maximum Number of Permissible Awarding Agencies |
| Special attainments or contributions to team's season (e.g., scholar-athlete, most improved player, most minutes played, most valuable player) | $175 | Once per category of award per year | Institution | 1 |
| Most valuable player - special event* | $325** | Once per event |
Institution Conference Organization approved by institution or conference |
Unlimited |
| Most valuable player - bowl game or all-star contest | $350 | Once per event | Sponsoring entity of all-star contest or certified postseason bowl | 1 |
| Established regional/national recognition awards (e.g., Wade Trophy, Heisman Trophy) | $325 | Once per year per award | Management of award program | 1 |
| Trophy recognizing established national award | Unlimited | Once per year | Management of award program | 1 |
| Trophy recognizing conference "athlete of the year" | $1,500 | Once per year to one male and one female | Conference | 1 |
| Trophy recognizing conference "scholar-athlete of the year" | $1,500 | Once per year to one male and one female |
Conference |
1 |
| Specialized performance in single contest or during limited time period (e.g., player of the game, player of the week) | $80 (certificate, medal or plaque only) | Unlimited |
Conference Outside organization (e.g., local business) |
Unlimited |
| Hometown award | $80 | Unlimited | Group (other than institution's booster club) located in the student-athlete's hometown | Unlimited |
*The award recipient must be selected by a recognized organization approved by a member institution or conference.
**Each permissible awarding agency is subject to separate $325 limit per award. Each awarding agency may provide only a single award fo reach event to each student-athlete
Camps & Clinics
Per NCAA regulations, an institution’s sports camp or instructional clinic shall be any camp or clinic that is owned or operated by a member institution or an employee of the member institution’s athletics department, either on or off its campus, and in which prospective student-athletes participate.
The following post-camp paper work must be submitted within 45 days of completion of the camp:
Camp Advertisement Form (on ARMS)
Camp Initial Request Form (on ARMS)
Camp License Agreement Form (on ARMS)
Camp Manual (on ARMS)
Camp Pre and Post Event Form (on ARMS)
Camp YPP Authorized Adult Additions Form (on ARMS)
Resources
Camps Manual
Student-Athlete Amateurism
To ensure your student-athletes remain eligible, please have them submit the appropriate form if they intend to be employed, provide a private lesson, compete in outside competition, or participate in a promotional activity. For basketball, a student-athlete intending to compete in a summer league must obtain written permission prior to participation in the league.Â
Student-Athlete Employment Form (on ARMS)
Private Lesson Audit & Approval (on ARMS)
Outside Competition Approval (on ARMS)
Promotional Activities- External
Promotional Activities- Internal
Summer Basketball League Permission Form (on ARMS)
UL / ACC Employment (ARMS Only)
Playing Season
Head coaches must declare their playing season prior to the beginning of their season. Please use the following form to assist in the declaration of playing season. If you intend to declare an international tour, this can be found on ARMS.
Playing Season Declaration Form (on ARMS)
Financial AidÂ
Coaches can request financial aid agreements for prospective student-athletes through ARMS. Any questions about financial aid or scholarships should be directed to Emily Spears.
Resources
NLI Signing Dates
