The NCAA Division I Management Council recently voted on a wide-ranging proposal regarding
various aspects of the recruiting rules.
The NCAA has now created a phased-in recruiting approach that allows coaches to build
relationships with recruits through phone calls and other types of communication before
allowing campus visits and off-campus contact. Previously, coaches and players did not have a
designated window of time to build a relationship prior to the window being open for campus
visits.
Although these new rules actually allow for slightly earlier communication from Coaches and
campus visits, the NCAA’s overall goal in this initiative is to curb early recruiting, especially for
student-athletes in their freshman year of high school or younger. The “early recruiting” review
was undertaken by a subcommittee of the Division I Student-Athlete Experience Committee,
and the committee will continue to work on regulating verbal scholarship offers.
The following rule changes are effective beginning May 1, 2019:
• Incoming calls (from you to Coaches): permissible beginning June 15th after
Sophomore Year
• Outgoing calls (from Coaches to you): permissible beginning June 15th after
Sophomore Year
• Private Messaging (Email, DM, text): permissible beginning June 15th after
Sophomore Year. Note: Recruits can still email, DM, text at anytime. Coaches
just can’t reply back except to say “I can’t respond” before June 15th
• Unofficial & Official Visits: permissible beginning August 1st of Junior Year
regardless of weather you’ve started school or not
• Off-Campus Contact: permissible beginning August 1st of Junior Year
• Recruiting Materials: can be sent by Coaches to recruits beginning June 15th
after Sophomore Year
Glossary
• Off-Campus Contact: A contact occurs any time a college coach says more than “hello” during a face-toface contact with a college-bound student-athlete or his or her parents off the college campus
• Official Visits: Any visit to a college campus by a recruit or his or her parents paid for by the college is an
official visit.
• Unofficial Visits: Visits to the school or university paid for by recruit or their parents are unofficial visits.
By Michael J. Smith, ForeCollegeGolf
E: mike.smith@forecollegegolf.com
Don’t Miss this Event Below… July 1-5, 2019 in San Diego, CA (40 College Coaches Last Year)