When football recruits Peter Graniello of El Paso, Texas and Richard Kovalcheck of San Diego arrived at UA for their official visits, they expected to meet coaches, administrators and maybe some UA athletes.

But the first glimpse of UA they got was in two female hostesses.

Forty-five women make up a group of hostesses, who are assigned to introduce recruits to the UA campus.

Recruiting visits at the UA last up to 48 hours, which is the maximum amount of time allowed under NCAA recruiting rules. Recruits cannot participate in organized workouts and cannot go more than 30 miles from the university.

Many of the recruits depend on the hostesses to get them to where they need to be during the weekend.

"The girls spend the whole weekend with them," said Athletics Department administrative assistant Ana Verdin. "They take them around and keep them on schedule. (The hostesses) sell the U of A," Verdin said.

Both Kovalcheck and Graniello said the women were nice, helpful and knew what they were talking about.

Although they do not get paid, the hostesses receive other benefits.

"The girls gain people skills and get a chance to meet new people." Verdin said.

According to Verdin, most of the women who volunteer for the program are interested in careers in sports management.

"They meet with the coaches daily and see the inner workings of the recruiting process." Verdin said. "Many get internships in the NFL and some in the NBA."

"The girls make the whole process," she said.

Students around the UA had mixed thoughts about the use of female hostesses.

"If I saw a hot girl when I showed up, I'd would say ĪDamn I'm going to go there,'" said Anthony Mancuso, a music education freshman.

However, Mancuso also said it is not right to use women specifically for the purpose of showing the recruits around.

"I also think it's objectifying women and that's not cool," he said.

"If they (the hostesses) want to do it, then why not?" said Kristin Loudy, an undeclared sophomore.

The practice of using female hostesses in the recruitment process began at the University of Alabama when "Bear Bryant sent lip-sticked, winsome coeds to visit All-Americans considering Alabama in the 1960s," stated the Jan. 27 issue of Sports Illustrated.

In fact, the entire Southeastern Conference (with the exception of the University of Kentucky) and the whole Atlantic Coast Conference have female hostesses to assist recruits.

In the Pacific 10 Conference, the University of Oregon, Arizona State University, and UA all have female hostesses. Other schools in the conference could not be reached for comment.

UA football, baseball and women's basketball all have female hostesses.

The men's basketball team relies solely on the influence of its players and coaches to recruit players, said Ryan Hansen, coordinator of Basketball Operations.

Aaron Mackey and Brett Fera contributed to this report.