The NCAA is full of all types of weird violations and this is definitely one of them. Kentucky issued Drake a cease and desist letter after his appearance at the school’s Big Blue Madness event because he took photos with some recruits.
Here’s what happened via Sporting News:
Kentucky compliance self-reported the impermissible communication between Drake and three potential student-athletes (PSAs) on April 27, according to a letter obtained by Sporting News as part of an open records request.
According to the details in the letter, Drake and his management team arrived at Rupp Arena prior to the event’s tipoff and were advised that “NCAA rules prohibited the institution from arranging contact between him and the PSAs as this would be an NCAA violation.” After informing the three recruits in town for Big Blue Madness that they were not allowed to have contact with Drake, athletic directors went as far as trying to coordinate who would be in the hallways to ensure that they did not cross paths.
After Big Blue Madness concluded, Drake “headed back toward the locker room to say goodbye to the head coach (who wasn’t there)” and “PSA #3 (who Sporting News identified as four-star shooting guard commit Charles Matthews) approached Graham and requested a picture.”
The photo request was considered a Level III (non-suspension) violation, and as part of Kentucky’s self-reporting, the university sent a letter to the NCAA explaining it had “issued a cease-and-desist letter to (Drake) directing him to refrain from conversations with prospects or taking photos with prospects when that conversation or photo occurs outside the parameters established by the NCAA.”
Because Matthews had already verbally committed to the Wildcats in February of 2014 — some eight months before the Big Blue Madness event — Kentucky argued that it was not considered a recruiting advantage in the “mitigating circumstances” section of its correspondence.
There was a rumor that Drake would perform again this year but so far there’s been nothing concrete to support the claim.
