NCAA signs off on unlimited texting plan

The NCAA is advancing with digital social media, and beginning Friday cleared college basketball coaches to send unlimited text messages to recruits entering their junior season.

The change comes as direct recognition of the evolving modes of communication, including Facebook and Twitter. Coaches may also make unlimited recruiting calls to players who have finished their sophomore year in high school.

Students prefer communication via text or email, the NCAA acknowledged, and the limit of one phone call per week was eliminated because it was easily curtailed -- recruits were allowed unlimited calls to coaches.

The no-limits measure is a dramatic change for the NCAA.

In April, Baylor's men's and women's basketball teams announced they were facing sanctions from the NCAA for more than 1,200 impermissable calls and messages.

The regulatory body fired former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson on Feb. 22, 2008, for excessive phone calls and messages to prospective recruits. He was cited for similar violations as head coach at Oklahoma.