After a lot of discussions, the NCAA has voted to approve new D-I recruiting rules. These new rules will make the recruiting experience better for athletes by alleviating the pressure to commit early.<\/p>\n
The NCAA hopes that new D-I recruiting rules will make the decision process better for student-athletes. Over the years, there’s been a tremendous increase in athletes committing before their freshman year<\/a> of high school.<\/p>\n According to research conducted by the NCAA, over 40% of athletes who commit before their freshman year<\/a> of high school have \u2018no idea\u2019 of what they want to major in at the time of their commitment.<\/p>\n What\u2019s even more startling is that roughly 25% of athletes who verbally commit before the 10th grade don\u2019t enroll where they verbally committed.<\/a><\/p>\n Almost 50% of the athletes who said they verbally committed on or before the 9th grade<\/a> had the terms of their scholarship changed before they signed. Meaning the offer they verbally accepted as a freshman in high school is not what they received.<\/p>\n The new NCAA D-I recruiting rules that are in effect now will hopefully eliminate early recruiting.<\/p>\n Both D-I prospective athletes, their families, and D-I college coaches.<\/p>\n These new rules affect athletes because they change how and when recruiting can happen. The regulations affect D-I college coaches because they’re set for them to follow and abide by.<\/p>\n There are a few exceptions though. Football, men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball have a different set of rules. Additionally, the NCAA has one new rule that\u2019s only for D-I softball prospects and coaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2017-111: Official Visits — The first opportunity to take an official visit — September 1 of junior year for all sports other than basketball and football.<\/p>\n 2017-112: Unofficial Visits — The first opportunity to take an unofficial visit — September 1 of junior year for all sports other than basketball and football.<\/p>\n 2017-113: Sports camps and clinics — Recruiting conversations during an institutional camp or clinic are not permitted between an institution’s coach and a prospective student-athlete. For all sports other than basketball and football.<\/p>\n 2018- 2: Softball off-campus contacts and telephone calls — September 1 of a prospective D-I softball player’s junior year of high school.<\/p>\n For every sport except football and basketball, official visits can start Sept. 1 of an athlete\u2019s junior year of high school. Previously, student-athletes couldn\u2019t take their five official visits until the first day of classes of their senior year.<\/p>\n This new D-I recruiting rule will allow athletes to use their five official visits over an extended period. The hope is by doing this athletes’ will make more mature decisions.<\/p>\n So, what about football and basketball?<\/p>\n These two sports adopted new recruiting rules within the last year or so, and they\u2019ve been successful. Currently, football prospects can start taking official visits April 1 until the last Wednesday in June of their junior year.<\/p>\n Men\u2019s basketball prospects can take official visits starting Jan. 1 of their junior year of high school. Women\u2019s basketball prospects can take official visits the Thursday after the D-I Women\u2019s Basketball Championship game of their junior year.<\/p>\n Ultimately, now all D-I prospects can start taking official visits to D-I colleges and universities during their junior year.<\/p>\n Insider tip: Since D-I athletes can take official visits earlier make sure they’re asking the right questions on their visits<\/a>!<\/p>\n You\u2019re probably wondering, \u201chow does the previous rule eliminate early recruiting?\u201d It\u2019s because the NCAA added additional rules that effect unofficial visits and recruiting conversations.<\/p>\n Athletic departments, which includes coaches and support staff, aren\u2019t able to participate in recruits unofficial visit until Sept. 1 of their junior year in high school.<\/p>\n The unofficial visit rule mirrors when students start taking college visits, which is a good thing! The NCAA hopes this new rule will give D-I prospects the time to make more well-informed decisions.<\/p>\n Previously, athletes could take unofficial visits at any time and meet with the college\u2019s coaching staff and the athletics department. With these new rules that won’t happen anymore. Athletes can still go on unofficial visits to see college campuses, but they won\u2019t be able to meet with coaches or the athletics department until Sept. 1 of their junior year.<\/p>\n College coaches can’t hold recruiting conversations with student-athletes during an institutional camp, clinic or showcase. However, coaches can still evaluate athletes at those types of events. They just can\u2019t have discussions about recruiting with athletes until Sept. 1 of their junior year.<\/p>\n All of these new rules will help eliminate early recruiting, but the NCAA with help from the NFCA wanted to take these new rules a step further for D-I softball.<\/p>\n From now on, college coaches can\u2019t hold recruiting conversations with prospective student-athletes or their families until Sept. 1 of athletes\u2019 junior year. This rule includes talks at camps, combines, tournaments, showcases, games, practices, etc.<\/p>\n Recruiting conversations include any contact between a prospective student-athlete and a coach where they discuss the athlete\u2019s recruiting journey, performance, or the coach\u2019s interest in that athlete.<\/p>\n Additionally, college coaches can’t send or return any emails, direct messages, texts, phone calls or letters that have to do with the athlete\u2019s recruiting process.<\/p>\n College coaches can’t use coaches or scouts as a means to pass on messages. However, they can use them to show or express interest.<\/p>\n For example, when a college coach calls an NSR scout asking about an athlete, they can say, \u201cyes, I have an interest in Susie Que.\u201d But they can\u2019t say, \u201ctell Susie Que we are interested in her.\u201d<\/p>\n In a good way!<\/p>\n These new D-I recruiting rules will make every athlete\u2019s recruiting experience way more enjoyable. They will help them make a better well-informed decision in the end, which is the most important thing.<\/p>\n However, even though recruiting conversations have been pushed back that doesn’t mean you should wait until your junior year to start the recruiting process. People are speculating that for most coaches, when Sept. 1 comes around for juniors, offers will be made.<\/p>\n Our best advice, don\u2019t wait to start the recruiting process. You still need to be evaluated and identified before recruiting conversations can begin. With the new D-I recruiting rules athletes will have even more opportunities for coaches to assess their abilities.<\/p>\n Here are a couple of things you should start doing well before your junior year: research and show interest.<\/p>\n Spend time figuring out what you want out of your college experience. Research schools and degree programs that interest you and create a list.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve got a list that\u2019s decent sized, do everything you can to be evaluated by those schools. Start sharing your NSR website with them, video, summer schedule, etc. Even if coaches can\u2019t communicate with you, it doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t save them for later.<\/p>\n For NSR athletes, you can use your EVO website<\/a> to see who\u2019s looking at your profile. Then send them some additional information to show them you’re interested too.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t wait until Sept. 1 of the junior year to start talking or showing interest to college coaches. As always if you need help, or have any questions about the new D-I recruiting rules, contact us today<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a lot of discussions, the NCAA has voted to approve new D-I recruiting rules. These new rules will make the recruiting experience better for athletes by alleviating the pressure to commit early. The NCAA hopes that new D-I recruiting rules will make the decision process better for student-athletes. Over the years, there’s been a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":15050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1299],"tags":[1290,1289,1287,1286,588,222,79,792,1288,1291,1051],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15043"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15052,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15043\/revisions\/15052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Who do the new D-I recruiting rules affect?<\/h2>\n
What are the new D-I Recruiting rules?<\/h2>\n
Official Visits<\/h2>\n
Unofficial Visits<\/h2>\n
Recruiting Conversations at Sports Camps or Clinics<\/h2>\n
DI Softball Only Recruiting Rule<\/h2>\n
How will this affect your recruiting?<\/h2>\n