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INTERVIEW POLICIES
News conferences will be conducted on the day before each game (see the schedule of events) and also
immediately after each game. The host media coordinator will have the authority to designate and require
any student-athlete to attend any news conference, but should work with the participating institution’s
head coach and SID, as well as a designated member of the United States Basketball Writers Association
(USBWA) to select postgame press conference participants. Each participating institution shall make
student-athletes available at all scheduled news conferences. All interviews at the facility shall occur in the
media interview room or the locker room area.
Cameras, Recorders. All electronic media desiring to record the proceedings in the interview room will be
required to use the connecting devices supplied by the NCAA. No individual filming of the interviews will be
permitted.
Telephone Interviews. Neither coaches nor student-athletes may conduct interviews via telephone until 30
minutes after the cooling-off period ends, or until after their postgame obligations to all media have been
met, whichever comes later.
Uplink. The NCAA/Hammond Communications will uplink all formal news conferences.
Locker Rooms.
Game Days. The locker rooms will be open to the media for a minimum of 30 minutes after the
cooling-off period ends, provided media representatives are present the entire time. Student-athletes
who do not play in the game and student-athletes selected for drug testing may depart earlier if they
are not requested for interviews and are not participants in the postgame press conference.
At the institution’s discretion, the locker room can remain open for individual interviews with players
who were held in the holding area prior to going on the dais and thus were unavailable while other
players were interviewed in the locker room.
The head coach has the option to allow representatives of Turner/CBS television into the locker room
before the game and during the cooling-off period after the game. These representatives must leave
the locker room after the cooling-off period if the NCAA sports sciences staff must notify student-
athletes that they will be tested for drugs.
Open Practice Days. On open practice days, any of each team’s top seven student-athletes who are not
in the media interview room, and any others requested by the media, shall be available to the media in
the locker room area during the time the coach and selected student-athletes are participating in the
news conference. A representative of each institution’s sports information staff shall be in the area and
will coordinate these interview requests.
News Conferences Day Prior To Games.
Day Before First Round, Second Round, Third Round and Regional Semifinal Games. Each coach and a
minimum of two student-athletes will participate in each news conference.
Day Before Regional Finals. The head coach and each of the five starters representing the teams
advancing to the regional championship games will participate in the scheduled news conferences. The
first 20 minutes will be devoted to a group interview of the coach and student-athletes; after which the
coach will remain on the dais for 20 additional minutes while the student-athletes go to individual
breakout rooms for 15 minutes.
Thursday Before National Semifinals. The head coach and selected student-athletes shall grant
interviews to Turner/CBS, Dial Global, NCAA Productions and Big Screen Network. The head coach shall
participate in a joint press conference with the opposing head coach from the semifinals with
credentialed members of the media and one student-athlete shall participate in a news conference
jointly with student-athletes from other Final Four teams.
Day Before National Semifinals. Five selected student-athletes will be required to participate in a
scheduled news conference and breakout sessions. The head coach shall participate in a news
conference as well.
Day Before National Championship Game. The head coach shall conduct interviews with CBS, Dial
Global and NCAA Productions, and have a joint press conference with his student-athletes. The
student-athletes will also be required to participate in breakout sessions, and shall participate in
interviews with Turner/CBS and Dial Global.
Postgame News Conferences.
Cooling-Off Period. A 10-minute cooling-off period has been set aside for each coach to be with the
student-athletes in the locker room after each game. The period is reduced to five minutes for the
winning coach after the regional finals and the national championship game. The coach and student-
athletes must report to the interview room after the cooling-off period ends. A coach may shorten the
cooling-off period, but may not extend it.
At the First Four, the winning team will appear in the news conference first, after a five-minute cooling
off period. The losing team will have a 10-minute cooling-off period before its locker room opens to
the media and the head coach and selected student-athletes are escorted to the interview room
holding area. For all games, the period begins when the coach enters the locker room after the game.
The media coordination staff should limit the time that teams wait in the holding area, keeping them in
the locker room until the first team is nearly finished in the interview room.
“Selected Media” Policy. Except for Turner/CBS as noted in the “locker rooms” section above, no
interviews may take place during the cooling-off period, nor may representatives of the institution
shoot video or conduct radio interviews on behalf of a media agency. Should a coach permit one media
representative, other than Turner/CBS or the team videographer/photographer, to enter the locker
room before the cooling-off period has ended, the locker room will be open to all other media
representatives desiring access. The only exception to this policy is if the school permits their
originating radio station to enter the locker room.
News Conference Format. The following schedule should be used as a guideline for news conferences.
The coach shall make an opening statement that should last for a maximum of two minutes. Once
completed, the moderator shall open the news conference for questions to all individuals seated on
the dais. The moderator should advise media members that student-athletes will be dismissed from
the dais if all of the questions are directed towards the coach.
Obligation of Coach. Regardless of any personal regular-season radio or television contracts, the coach
is first obligated to the entire media staffing the tournament and must report to the interview room
immediately after the cooling-off period ends. After fulfilling this commitment to the media staffing
the tournament, the coach and student-athletes may participate in other interviews.
The coach cannot delay a postgame interview with the covering media to conduct a program for a
single newspaper, radio or television reporter unless requested to grant a short interview by
Turner/CBS or the radio network as noted herein.
Order of Appearance. The losing coach and student-athletes shall be scheduled in the interview room
before the winning coach and student-athletes, except for at the First Four.
Participating Student-Athletes. The sports information director, working with the head coach and a
designated pool reporter representing the USBWA, shall designate a minimum of two student-athletes
to participate in the postgame news conference. Primary consideration will be given to student-
athletes who had the biggest impact on the game.
Turner/CBS Television and Radio Rights-holders, Postgame. If requested, the winning coach, losing coach
and winning student-athletes shall grant post-game interviews, not to exceed four minutes, to Turner/CBS
television and/or Dial Global provided the networks are still providing live coverage from the facility. The
media coordinator will be responsible for terminating the four-minute interview period, not the television
or radio network.
Coaches and student-athletes who are not being interviewed by Turner/CBS television or Dial Global may
conduct interviews with the institution’s radio network during the four-minute period.
Turner/CBS television will have the first choice of individuals to interview, then Dial Global, then the
institution’s network.
Additionally, the head coach has the option of conducting an interview with the institution’s radio network


Link: https://www.ncaa.com/dr/ncaa/ncaa/release/sites/default/files/files/Interview%20Policies.pdf