Despite his verbal pledge to play football next year at Ole Miss, college coaches are by all accounts still trying to get Andy Bauer, the De Smet Jesuit offensive lineman and the top ranked recruit in the state of Missouri's class of 2014, to change his mind.
According to Bauer's Twitter feed, Arkansas has been quite active. He posted a picture of handwritten letters sent from the Razorbacks to his mother last month.
But new Arkansas Head Coach Bret Bielema may have accidentally broken NCAA regulations this week in his pursuit of the coveted recruit. SB Nation reports that Bielema appears to have accidentally Tweeted Bauer's name, when he was more likely trying to search it on the social media site, or possibly to direct message the recruit.
The problem? Coaches are prohibited from publicly acknowledging recruitable athletes until after the recruit has signed a letter of intent. Doing so is considered a secondary NCAA offense. Missouri fans might remember that Head Basketball Coach Frank Haith, in his first few days in charge of the program, acknowledged the recruitment of then high school senior Otto Porter, telling a Kansas City Star reporter that Porter had agreed to go to Georgetown.
The offense is not considered likely to result in major sanctions. It is unclear if the gaffe has impacted the school's pursuit of Bauer. The earliest football recruits in the class of 2014 can officially sign letters of intent is February.
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