Page 124 - 2023-24 By-Laws

Rule 20 - Undue Influence

or the student’s family to induce a change of schools or residences.
Q. 20-4 May an alumnus provide financial assistance to needy students?
A. No, not directly. Donations may be made to a School and dispersed by the
School to students who qualify under an objectively determined need-based
financial aid program for tuition, room and/or board, provided student-athletes
receive no special consideration.
Q. 20-5 A School has a donor who wants to give funds to underwrite the tuition and
fees of a needy student. The School uses an objectively determined need-
based financial aid program. May the donor be permitted to meet, interview
and endorse the selection of the needy students prior to the allocation of this
financial aid?
A. No.
Q. 20-6 After donated funds are objectively allocated by a School under an objectively
determined need-based financial aid program, may a donor meet the students
who were recipients of a donation?
A. Yes.
Q. 20-7 May a booster club provide financial assistance to a needy student?
A. No, not directly. Donations may not be made directly to a student, but must
be made to the School for disbursement to students who qualify under an
objectively determined need-based financial aid program, for tuition, room and/
or board, which does not provide student-athletes with special consideration.
Q. 20-8 May a School assist the family of a student which is suffering financially?
A. Yes, the undue influence rule addresses only the payment of funds for, or
on behalf of, a student to attend a member School. Any assistance given a
student or a student’s family for the payment of tuition, room or board must be
determined under an approved objectively determined, need-based financial
aid program. Any other assistance provided for other purposes and reasons
is not prohibited, provided that such assistance is not directly or indirectly to
be used to pay tuition, room or board or used to unduly influence a student to
attend a School for athletic reasons.
Past Link
Q. 20-9 A student transfers to a School, where the student’s travel basketball coach
coaches ,and is declared ineligible under the rule 20-2. However, two months
after enrolling, the travel basketball coach leaves the Receiving School for a
new coaching job. Now that the travel basketball coach has left the Receiving
School, can the student get full eligibility?
A. No, whether the travel basketball coach remains or not is immaterial to the
student’s eligibility. The fact that a student has a link with a member of the
coaching staff of the Receiving School suggests that the transfer was athletically
motivated/the result of undue influence, and the student’s motivation included
the “link” to the coaching staff. Having transferred as the result of athletics/
undue influence, the student will be ineligible regardless of whether the travel
basketball coach remains at the School or not. (rule 20-2.)
Q. 20-10 Must there be evidence of actual ‘undue influence’ before the Past Link Rule
applies?
A. No. The Past Link Rule was established after the IHSAA witnessed a pattern,
in both school settings and in non-school settings (e.g. AAU), where student
athletes with direct and indirect contacts and connections with coaches, would
later end up Enrolling at the very School where the coach just happens to be
employed. These circumstances strongly suggested that the student’s reason
for transferring was athletic and was being enticed to transfer. However, the
IHSAA’s ability to adequately investigate these type cases is limited, there is
generally little available evidence that the coach or his/her supporters actually
recruited the student to enroll at the coach’s School and there are few if any
admissions by students, families, supporters, etc., that a transfer was athletic.
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