• Contact Period -- A period when it is permissible for authorized athletics department staff members to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations with prospective student-athletes.
• Evaluation Period -- A period when it is permissible for authorized athletics department staff members to be involved in off-campus activities to assess the academic qualifications and playing ability of prospective student-athletes. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts shall be made with any prospective student-athletes during an evaluation period.
• Quiet Period -- A period when it is permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on an institution's campus. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or evaluations may be made during a quiet period.
• Dead Period -- A period when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off-campus or permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to an institution's campus. During a dead period, coaches may still place telephone calls to prospective student-athletes who are permitted to receive telephone calls.
Telephone Calls
Telephone calls to a prospect (or his or her relatives or legal guardians) may not be made before July 1 following the completion of a prospect's junior year in high school in all sports other than men's basketball. In the sport of men's basketball, telephone calls may not be made to a prospect (or his relatives or legal guardians) prior to June 15 following the completion of the prospect's sophomore year in high school. Thereafter, staff members may be limited in the number of telephone calls they can make to prospects depending upon the restrictions for each individual sport. However, a prospect may call a coach at any time. Should a prospect call a call prior to those initial contact dates and the coach misses the phone call, it is not permissible for that coach to return the prospect's telephone call.
Contacts
A contact is a face-to-face encounter between a prospective student-athlete or their parents, relatives or legal guardians and an institutional staff member or athletics representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange or greeting.
• Any face-to-face encounter that is prearranged is considered contact. For example, a staff member positioning themselves at the site of a prospect's competition and then having a face-to-face encounter is considered a contact.
• In sports other than basketball, coaches may not make off-campus contact with a prospect until July 1 following the completion of his or her junior year in high school. In men's basketball, coaches may make off-campus contact with a prospect beginning June 15 after the prospect's sophomore year in high school. In women's basketball, coaches may make off-campus contact with a prospect beginning September 1 of the prospect's junior year in high school.
Number of Contacts
• Basketball -- 7 recruiting opportunities (Contacts and Evaluations combined).
• All other sports -- 7 recruiting opportunities (Contacts and Evaluations combined). Not more than 3 being off-campus contacts
Evaluations
An evaluation is defined to include multiple different scenarios, including:
• Watching a prospect practice, compete or lift weights at any site
• Meeting with a prospect's high school counselor to review transcripts
• Talking to a prospect's high school/junior college coach or instructors at the prospect's education institution.
Many sports are limited in the number of evaluation or recruiting person days they may use per year, all subject to the recruiting calendar restrictions.
Evaluations that occur during the academic year count against the permissible number of recruiting opportunities. Outside the academic year, evaluations do not count against the annual number of recruiting opportunities. Contacts with a prospect count against the permissible number of total recruiting opportunities regardless of whether they take place during or outside the academic year. All contacts and evaluations are subject to recruiting calendar restrictions.
Recruiting Materials
The following recruiting materials may be provided to a prospect (or his or her parents or legal guardians) at any time:
• Camp or Clinic Brochures
• Questionnaires
• NCAA Educational Material Published by the NCAA (e.g., NCAA Guide for College-Bound Student-Athletes)
• Non-athletics Institutional Publications (e.g., official academic, admissions and student-services publications)
General correspondence may not be provided to a prospect until September 1 of a prospect's junior year in high school (or for men's basketball on June 15 after a prospect's sophomore year in high school).
Who is a booster?
Initial Eligibility
Amateurism
Recruiting Periods and Contacts
Official Visits
Unofficial Visits
National Letter of Intent (NLI)
