In one of the its smarter moves in some time, the NCAA reported today that its management council is recommending a ban on text messaging between coaches and recruits.  Although nothing gets us quite as lathered up as the image of middle-aged men playing electronic footsie with teenagers, we feel that this is an overdue necessity for the sake of the kids, who are already bombarded with letters and phone calls from amorous coaches.  Consider the following story about uber-texter Billy Gillispie:

When describing how well Billy Gillispie fits what the University of Kentucky wanted in a basketball coach, athletics director Mitch Barnhart noted his new man has sent an average of 8,000 text messages a month to recruits.”  He’s got the fastest thumbs in America,” Barnhart quipped. 

Assuming a thirty day month and six hours of sleep per night (perhaps a high estimate for the workaholic Gillispie), this means that Gillispie averages FIFTEEN text messages per waking hour, or one every four minutes.  When does the man find time to do other things, like eat, or coach? 

For recruits who do not have unlimited texting capabilities with their cell phone plan, the barrage of text messages can also become expensive.  An Arizona football recruit named Delashaun Dean says that he racked up an $800 bill one month solely based on text messages from coaches.  No matter how you slice it, we can all agree that it’s just plain creepy to have the likes of the Great Pumpkin, er, Phil Fulmer routinely texting kids with “what’s up playmaker?!”  Ick.  Good call NCAA.