THE RECRUITING GUY: Official visits include some perks, peculiarities

— Fans interested in recruiting often ask about the differences between official and unofficial visits.

The differences are distinct and uniform, as each school goes by the guidelines set by the NCAA, which are universal in Division I football.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino and his staff have entertained several prospects over the past few months on official visits. Recruits are allotted five official visits, which can place until Sept. 1 of their senior year.

Schools are allowed to pickup the cost of the trip for the recruit on an official visit, which is limited to 48 hours. The typical official visit starts on Friday and ends sometimeon Sunday. Some athletes wait until Saturday to arrive and leave on Monday.

A prospect’s airfare on an official visit is paid by the school but if parents or a legal guardian wish to make the trip, they must pay their own airfare.

Schools can pay lodging and meals for parents or guardians of prospects once they arrive on campus.

Athletes who travel by car are reimbursed for each mile driven to and from the college, based on what the school pays its employees.

Allowing schools to pay for automobile travel but not airfare is difficult to grasp, especially when one considers how many of the athletes come from single-parent or low-income households.

Those athletes will often which leads to athletes making their decisions based on what they see and experience without insight from an adult, who can help them weigh the positives and negatives.

The feeling here, is if the NCAA allowed the air transportation of the adult or adults to be paid, the number of transfers would lessen because the decision would be based on two opinions of a school instead of just one.

Unofficial visitors, meanwhile, pay all of their expenses, but are given three game tickets, just like athletes on official visits

Athletes on unofficial visits typically arrive two to three hours before kickoff and check into the Miller Room inside the Broyles Complex.

Recruits are escorted down to the field to watch pregame warmups about an hour before gametime. They must be in their seats before kickoff.

Prospects on unofficial visits have the option to go into the Broyles complex after the game to visit with coaches or travel home, ending their unofficial visit. The official visitor, who is assigned a player/host for the weekend, will usually go out for the evening with their host.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports, Pages 40 on 11/21/2010

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