No wrongdoing by Alabama's Nick Saban in visit to Heritage Hall, Barry Sanders?

By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com

Though it may have felt weird to see Alabama football coach Nick Saban taking a tour of the Heritage Hall campus Wednesday, no recruiting violations occurred because the coach was in town.

Under the NCAA ‘s rules and regulations, from Nov. 28 until Jan. 29 is an open contact period for college coaches.

During this time, coaches are allowed to visit recruits off campus. Coaches can make only one visit per week to individual recruits.

However, it’s not as open-and-shut as that, though. In between that time, there are also ‘dead’ and ‘quiet’ periods.

From Dec. 20 through Jan. 3 was a dead period where coaching staffs were only allowed to have contact with recruits who have been admitted for mid-year enrollment. The next ‘quiet period’ is Jan. 9 (Sunday), so Saban followed NCAA guidelines in his visit.

EDIT: Juniors are a little bit different. Did this fall in a gray area? A basic hello? What’s the definition of a basic hello? I believe it’s a basic hello, but I’m a pretty lenient fella.

“A college coach is only permitted to contact you in person off the college campus only on or after July 1st when you have completed your junior year of high school. If the coach meets with you or your parents and says anything to you or them then this is considered a contact. Anything more than a very basic hello is a contact.”

Short meet-and-greet visits are rather normal this time of year, said Heritage Hall athletic director Rod Warner. Saban did the same thing with Dorial Green-Beckham. For that, here is the story from Matt Schoch of the Springfield News-Leader out of Springfield, Mo.

“They (coaches) come in. We show them the campus. Introduce them to the recruits, and then they take off,” Warner said.

Warner and head coach Andy Bogert were not at Heritage Hall on Wednesday. Instead, it was defensive coordinator Mark Adams and strength and conditioning coach Chris Gfeller showing Saban and Alabama recruiting coordinator Curt Cignetti around Heritage Hall.

Saban was in town to visit Heritage Hall junior running back Barry J. Sanders. Back in October, Sanders listed the Crimson Tide as one of his top four choices among the schools that have offered him. Oklahoma State, UCLA and Florida State are also in the running.

Sanders said he hopes to attend the junior days for Alabama and Florida State in the upcoming weeks. He won’t be able to participate because Sanders is recovering from foot surgery, but he would like to show up.

With Saban at the school, the Chargers also gave the coach a highlight film of junior all-around athlete Sterling Shepard. Shepard emerged as a star this season and received an offer from Oklahoma State in December.