Compliance Stadium Guide 2025
NCAA Rules Every Michigan Fan Should Know
- ALWAYS ASK BEFORE YOU ACT! Breaking NCAA rules can render prospects and student-athletes ineligible for competition at the University of Michigan. The NCAA and College Sports Commission (CSC) hold the University of Michigan accountable for the actions of its fans and friends. Providing gifts to a student-athlete, a recruit, or their family/friends could be considered an NCAA or CSC violation, so please ask before you act! Examples of benefits include: cash, gifts, meals, transportation, clothing, discounts not available to the general public, etc.
- You MAY NOT make recruiting contacts with prospects, their relatives or legal guardians. A prospective student-athlete is a student who has started classes for the ninth grade (7th grade for men’s basketball, volleyball and softball) or above. This prohibition includes written and telephone communications.
- You MAY NOT contact a prospect’s coach, principal, or counselor in an attempt to evaluate the prospect.
- You MAY send articles and other information about talented prospects to the Michigan coaching staff. Also, you MAY continue established relationships with friends and neighbors whose children are prospects or current student-athletes, provided the relationship pre-dates reaching prospect status and is not based on their status as an athlete.
- You MAY attend high school or junior college competitions provided no contact occurs with the prospect or the prospect’s relatives.
- You MAY NOT entertain any coach from a junior or senior high school, preparatory school, or junior college or provide them with tickets or any other type of benefit.
- You MAY compensate a student-athlete or prospective student-athlete for the use of their Name, Image and/or Likeness, provided the student-athlete is providing you a product or service in exchange for that compensation, the NIL deal has a legitimate business purpose and the NIL deal is reported to NIL Go. For more information, please visit www.collegesportscommission.org/nil.
- Student-athletes MAY NOT sell game tickets, jerseys, apparel, equipment or awards given to them by Michigan during their eligibility. As such, please refrain from asking to buy these items from our student-athletes.
- Athletic department staff and student-athletes MAY NOT wager on sports sponsored by the NCAA or share information (e.g., injury updates, who is likely to play) with those who do, so please do not make those requests of our student-athletes.
For More Information
The University of Michigan Athletic Department is on NCAA probation for three years until April 9, 2027, as a result of violations of NCAA rules which occurred within the football program. During the spring practices of 2021, several football staff members who were not permitted to engage in coaching activities did so resulting in the program exceeding the limit in effect at that time on countable football coaches. In addition, several noncoaching staff members were impermissibly present during permissible on-campus evaluations. Several members of the football staff also had impermissible on and off-campus contact with three prospective student-athletes during the COVID-19 Dead Period. Additional details about these violations and the resulting penalties can be found at NCAA.com.
For more information regarding NCAA rules, please visit the Compliance Services Office website at MGoBlue.com/compliance and follow @umichcompliance on X (formerly Twitter).
If you have any questions, you may contact the Compliance Services Office at (734) 615-7341 or compliance@umich.edu.
Maintaining the Integrity of Michigan Athletics is a team effort. Be part of the team!
