Differing interpretations on prospect camps.

[SacFalcFan]

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

I've had several questions from fans around the league about media coverage of prospect camps, specifically Florida's Friday Nights Lights camp last weekend.

The confusion came from differing interpretations around the league as to whether media could indeed be present at these camps and file reports.

For instance, the media covering Tennessee were told they couldn't attend the Vols' camp from June 18-20 after a memo came down from the SEC that media covering these camps was a no-no.

The Florida camp wasn't the only one this past weekend receiving extensive coverage. The South Carolina Showcase camp was also covered by several outlets.

So, after talking to several compliance officials around the league, including members of Tennessee's compliance office, this is the way it was explained to me: The NCAA issued an interpretation in the past month or so that it was OK for media to attend these camps as long as the media were there in the same areas as the general public and that the institution did not arrange for the media to be there.

Here's the official wording of that interpretation:

Media Presence at Institutional Camps or Clinics (I)

Date Published: June 17, 2009

Item Ref: 2

Interpretation: The committee confirmed that institutions may not arrange for the media, including recruiting or scouting services, to be present at an institutional camp or clinic by inviting members of the media to attend or providing special access (e.g., access to areas not open to the general public) for the media to observe, meet or otherwise interact with prospective student-athletes. Further, the committee determined that members of the media who are present at an institutional camp or clinic may be positioned only in areas open to the general public.

[SacFalcFan]

There were some questions regarding how some of the recruiting sites/media were covering some of the camps.. Chris gives some info on it here.