It was bound to happen, but Jim Harbaugh’s grand satellite camp plan ran into a bit of a wall built by the NCAA. A satellite camp planned to take place in Australia has been canceled as a result of a potential violation of NCAA rules, specifically one that would classify the host as a recruiting agency.
Sorry to announce that due to some NCAA rules, Prokick can NOT host the Michigan Camp here in Australia. #crazytimes
— Prokick Australia (@ProkickAus) May 23, 2016
Once the NCAA lifted the ban its Division 1 Council had hastily voted in favor of earlier this spring, Harbaugh and Michigan got to work scheduling as many satellite camps it could from all around the United States, and even across the world. The trip to Australia was one of the more fascinating and interesting ones, because it would have given a number of Australian players a chance to work with Michigan’s staff. Given the increasing number of players to come out of Australia, it was good move for Michigan to embrace if it could (and it most certainly would have).
The key difference between Michigan’s satellite camps in the United States and its planned trip to Australia comes down to who is hosting the event. Where in the United States Michigan’s satellite camps largely were being held at other college campuses or high schools, the stop in Australia was to be hosted by ProKick Australia. This is more of an academy for Australian kickers than anything else, which helped it toe the line between legal and illegal according to the NCAA rulebook. Of course, the NCAA rulebook has no such problem with IMG Academy, where any number of college football players come through the pipeline, and where Michigan spent its spring break.
“They’ve classed us as a data-based recruiting agency,” ProKick Australia director Nathan Chapman said in a story published by MLive.com. “We’re like, no, no, we’re just training guys to punt the ball and then we get in touch with coaches or interested coaches call us. But they wanted to class us in that category and they put their foot down, which they have the right to do.”
In the end, Harbaugh still has quite the busy June ahead of him with dates booked all month for satellite cmap duty. A missed trip to Australia is a bummer for all parties involved, but do not be shocked if Harbaugh finds another way to get his coaches down under next summer. He will find a way.
