T*W*I*S: Newton Mess Highlights Need for Legit Scouting Companies Like NSR

The Cam Newton recruiting mess instigated by former Mississippi State football player and erstwhile scout-agent Kenny Rogers demonstrates the need for parents to fully check out scouting services, and scouts, before signing representation contracts.  It’s clear that Rogers not only blurred, but also intentionally crossed, the line between the role of scouting service and professional agent.  Why?  We can only speculate at Rogers’ motives, but the real lesson to be gleaned from this unfortunate episode is that there are legitimate scouting companies that honor the rules and guidelines set by the NCAA and it is incumbent upon parents to delineate the credible organizations from fly-by-night companies and attention-seeking agents masking as legit service providers.  For instance, at NSR, in 30 years of representing high school student-athletes, we have not once been called to the carpet for rules infractions.   When parents and prospects read about incidents like the Newton-Rogers debacle, they should wake up to the fact that there are independent scouts who work for personal gain, not for the prospects.  At NSR, we help kids and parents navigate the recruiting process, but there are specific things which we cannot, and do not, do.  We cannot accompany a prospect to a college campus.  We cannot negotiate scholarships for our clients.  We cannot reveal to one coach something about a prospect which we would not reveal to all coaches.  We cannot offer one prospect our services for one fee and then discount or charge a different amount to another prospect for those very same services.  At NSR, we run our business by NCAA rules.  Approaching scouting and recruiting any other way is to put a student-athlete’s eligibility at risk.  We refuse to go that route.