It’s well-known that Drake is a basketball fan — see his tireless support for this hometown Toronto Raptors. But in 2015, the pop singer was courtside for the University of Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness basketball game, and what happened next resulted in a cease-and-desist letter from the university.
Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness is an annual celebration to launch the university’s men’s and women’s basketball season. Each year, Kentucky faithful fill the stands, as well as potential recruits, visiting the school to decide if they’d like to join the team. Kentucky’s a perennial college basketball powerhouse, and as the Raptors’ global ambassador and outspoken Kentucky Wildcats fan, it makes sense that Drake would attend.
In those situations, universities must be careful not to appear like the school has influenced a potential student athlete’s (PSA’s) decision to enroll with money, gifts, or other perks like meeting a big star like Drake. In 2015, the latter infraction caused the school to issue Drake a cease-and-desist letter.
Kentucky warned Drake in advance
Kentucky tried to make sure that no inappropriate interactions took place between the IDGAF singer and PSAs, according to Billboard. In a letter to Drake, the school wrote the following,
“NCAA rules prohibited the institution from arranging contact between him and the PSAs as this would be an NCAA violation.”
via Billboard
And that contact would include a photograph taken with the singer, the school said. But after the game, Drake was by the locker rooms when Charles Matthews, a Kentucky recruit, approached him for a picture, and the hip-hop star obliged. Matthews had already committed to play for the school when the photo was taken, so the interaction with Drake was a gray area, according to the university. Still, when Kentucky found out, the school issued a cease-and-desist letter, telling Drake he should,
” … [R]efrain from conversations with prospects or taking photos with prospects when that conversation or photo occurs outside the parameters established by the NCAA.”
via Billboard
Kentucky also self-reported Drake’s interaction with Matthews to the NCAA, letting the athletic governing body know the school was aware of the picture, and that they’d taken steps to ensure the possible infraction never happened again.
Kentucky and Drake are all good
Kentucky’s response to Drake’s photo with Charles Matthews was a better-safe-than-sorry situation for the university. The NCAA declared Matthews’ picture with Drake a Level III (non-suspension) violation. According to Kentucky coach John Calipari in a series of tweets, Drake and the University of Kentucky basketball program remained on good terms.
Drake never commented publicly on the 2015 situation. But in 2016, the NCAA gave Kentucky another mild slap on the wrist when Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis shared a photo with Drake on Instagram, taken backstage at Drake’s concert. According to the NCAA, the Ulis picture was “preferential treatment.” Ulis was briefly suspended, but he was later reinstated.