Effective August 1, 2022
| Sport | Questionnaires, Camp Information, NCAA Materials and NonathleticPublications | Recruiting Materials and Electronic Correspondence | Incoming Telephone Calls | Outgoing Telephone Calls | Off-Campus Contact | Unofficial Visits | Official Visits | Verbal Offer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Men’s Ice Hockey | Anytime. | 1/1 of sophomore year. | 1/1 of sophomore year. | 1/1 of sophomore year. | 8/1 of junior year. | 1/1 of sophomore year. | 8/1 of junior year. | 8/1 of junior year. | |
Lacrosse and Softball | Anytime. | 9/1 of junior year. | 9/1 of junior year. | 9/1 of junior year. | 9/1 of junior year.Lacrosse Only: contact during the junior year only permitted at PSA’s educational institution or residence | 9/1 of junior year. | 9/1 of junior year. | 9/1 of junior year. | |
Baseball | Anytime. | 9/1 of junior year. | Anytime. | 9/1 of junior year. | 7/1 following junior year. | 9/1 of junior year. | 9/1 of junior year. | Not legislated. | |
| All Other Sports | Anytime. | 6/15 following sophomore year. | 6/15 following sophomore year. | 6/15 following sophomore year. | 8/1 of junior year. | 8/1 of junior year. | 8/1 of junior year. | 6/15 following sophomore year. | |
Two-Year College PSA | Anytime. | Anytime. | Anytime (at discretion). | Anytime (at discretion). | Qualifier: Beginning 10/15 following PSA’s completion of high school. Nonqualifier or academic redshirt: Contact may only occur at PSA’s institution during first year of enrollment. | Qualifier: Anytime Nonqualifier or academic redshirt: Following the completition of first year of enrollment. | Qualifier: Five (5) additional beginning 10/15 following PSA’s completion of high school. Nonqualifier or academic redshirt: Following completion of first year of enrollment. | ||
| *Only after student-athlete has been entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal.^Please note that this document should not be used as a subtitute for the NCAA Manual. Coaches are incouraged to contact their athletics compliance administrators for additioinal information. | |||||||||
DEFINITIONS
Contact.
A contact is any face-to-face encounter between a prospective student-athlete (PSA) or the PSA’s family members and an institutional staff member or athletics representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of a greeting. Any such face-to-face encounter that is prearranged (e.g., staff member positions himself or herself in a location where contact is possible) or that takes place on the grounds of the PSA’s educational institution or at the site of organized competition or practice involving the PSA or the PSA’s high school, preparatory school, two-year college or all-star team shall be considered a contact, regardless of whether any conversation occurs. However, an institutional staff member or athletics representative who is approached by a PSA or the PSA’s family members at any location shall not use a contact, provided the encounter was not prearranged and the staff member or athletics representative does not engage in any dialogue in excess of a greeting and takes appropriate steps to immediately terminate the encounter.
Evaluation.
Evaluation is any off-campus activity designed to assess the academic qualifications or athletics ability of a PSA, including any visit to a PSA’s educational institution (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of a PSA participating in any practice or competition at any site.
Evaluation Days.
An evaluation day is defined as one coach engaged in the evaluation of any PSA on one day (12:01 a.m. to midnight); two coaches making evaluations on the same day shall use two evaluation days.
Recruited PSA.
Actions by staff members or athletics representatives that cause a PSA to become a recruited PSA at that institution are:
- Providing the PSA with an official visit;
- Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the PSA or the PSA’s parent(s), relatives or legal guardian(s); or
- Issuing a National Letter of Intent (NLI) or the institution’s written offer of athletically related financial aid to the PSA (excluding summer term awards prior to initial full-time enrollment).
Telephone Calls.
All electronically transmitted human voice exchange (including videoconferencing and videophones) shall be considered telephone calls. All electronically transmitted correspondence (e.g., electronic mail, Instant Messenger, facsimiles, text messages) shall not be considered telephone calls.
CONTACTS, EVALUATIONS AND TELEPHONE CALLS
Off-Campus Recruiters.
An institutional staff member is not permitted to recruit off campus until he or she has been certified on an annual basis as to knowledge of applicable recruiting rules.
Telephone Calls During Conduct of an Institution’s Athletics Contest.
Telephone calls to a PSA (or the PSA’s family members) may not be made during the conduct of any of the institution’s intercollegiate athletics contests in that sport from the time the institution’s team reports on call at the competition site at the direction of the coach until the competition has concluded and the team has been dismissed by the coach.
Telephone Calls – Institutional Staff Members – General Rule.
All telephone calls made to PSAs (or the PSAs’ family members) must be made by the head coach or one or more of the assistant coaches who count toward the numerical limitations in that sport.
Visits to a PSA’s Educational Institution.
Visits to a PSA’s educational institution that will occur during that portion of the day when classes are being conducted for all students must receive the approval of the executive officer (or the executive officer’s designated representative) of the PSA’s educational institution.
Counting Contacts and Evaluations.
Evaluations that occur September 1 through May 31 count against the permissible number of recruiting opportunities for a particular PSA, except for evaluations that occur on the same day as a permissible contact. From June 1 through August 31, evaluations do not count against the annual number of recruiting opportunities for a particular PSA. Contacts that occur with a PSA count against the permissible number of total recruiting opportunities regardless of the time period (e.g., academic year or outside the academic year). All contacts and evaluations are subject to recruiting calendar restrictions.
Contact at PSA’s Practice or Competition Site.
It is permissible to make phone calls or send electronic correspondence to a PSA (or a PSA’s family members) while the PSA has reported on call for competition and competition-related activities, provided the PSA is otherwise permitted to receive phone calls and electronic correspondence. Recruiting contact may not be made with a PSA at any site prior to any athletics competition (including a noninstitutional, private camp or clinic, but not an institutional camp or clinic) in which the PSA is a participant on a day of competition, even if the PSA is on an official or unofficial visit. Contact includes the passing of notes or orally relaying information to a PSA by a third party on behalf of an institutional staff member. Contact may occur after the PSA’s competition concludes for the day and the PSA has been released by the appropriate authority (e.g., coach).
Visit (Without Contact) to PSA’s Educational Institution.
A visit (without contact) by a coaching staff member to a PSA’s educational institution counts as an evaluation for all PSAs in that sport at that educational institution.
Evaluations Are Sport-Specific.
The limitations on the number of evaluations are sport-specific; therefore, a PSA being earnestly recruited by an institution in more than one sport may be evaluated on the permissible number of occasions in each of those sports from September 1 through May 31. Evaluations are counted against the sport of the coach making the evaluation.
Exception: Recruiting Opportunities in Cross Country and Track and Field.
An institution is limited to a total of seven recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations combined) from September 1 through May 31 during which the PSA competes in any or all of the sports of cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, provided not more than three of the opportunities are contacts (contacts are permissible during the senior year only).
Evaluations in Team Sports.
In team sports, an institution shall use an evaluation for each PSA participating in a practice or contest observed by the institution’s coach, except for an evaluation that occurs on the same day as permissible contact. An institution’s coach who is attending an event in which PSAs from multiple educational institutions participate in drills (e.g., combine) shall use an evaluation only for each PSA participating in the event that the coach observes engaging in the drills.
Evaluations in Individual Sports.
An institution’s coach who is attending a practice or event in which PSAs from multiple institutions participate in drills (e.g., combine) or competition in an individual sport on a specific day shall use an evaluation only for those participants that the coach observes engaging in practice or competition. The evaluation is not counted for a particular PSA if a contact is made with that PSA during the same day.
Tournament Evaluations.
Evaluation during each day of a tournament held between September 1 through May 31 shall count as a separate evaluation except as follows:
- Evaluation of multiple contests in a tournament or multiple day event that occurs on consecutive days (and normally at the same site) shall count as a single evaluation;
- Evaluation of multiple contests in a single tier of a tournament (e.g., sectional, district, regional) shall count as a single observation. If a tier of a tournament is subdivided into identifiable segments (e.g., conducted on different weekends), evaluation of contests in each identifiable segment counts as a single observation.
Communication After Commitment.
The restrictions on the forms and frequency of communication shall no longer apply after: (1) the PSA signs an NLI or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid; or (2) the institution receives a financial deposit in response to the institution’s offer of admission. Further, an institution may provide, via electronic correspondence or digital media storage device, video/audio material personalized to include a prospective student-athlete’s name, picture or likeness after a prospective student-athlete has signed a National Letter of Intent or institutional financial aid agreement or has been officially accepted for enrollment.
Nontraditional Calendar
Official Visits:
In the sports of baseball, lacrosse, men’s basketball and softball a prospective student-athlete that attends an educational institution that uses a nontraditional academic calendar (e.g., Southern Hemisphere), the prospective student-athlete may not be provided an expense-paid visit earlier than the opening day of classes of his or her junior year in high school.
Unofficial Visits:
In baseball, lacrosse and softball, an individual that attends an educational institution that uses a nontraditional academic calendar (e.g., Southern Hemisphere), the prospective student-athlete may not be provided an unofficial visit with athletics department involvement (e.g., contact with athletics department staff, athletics-specific tour, complimentary admission) any earlier than the opening day of classes of his or her junior year in high school.
In men’s basketball an individual that attends an educational institution that uses a nontraditional academic calendar (e.g., Southern Hemisphere), the prospective student-athlete may not be provided an unofficial visit with athletics department involvement (e.g., contact with athletics department staff, athletics-specific tour, complimentary admission) any earlier than opening day of classes of his sophomore year in high school.
Banquets or Meetings at a Prospective Student-Athlete’s Educational Institution.
Except during a dead period, a coach may speak at a banquet or meeting at a PSA’s educational institution outside a contact period or during a contact period without using one of the institution’s permissible contacts or evaluations provided:
- The meeting or banquet is initiated and conducted by the educational institution;
- The coach does not make a recruiting presentation in conjunction with the appearance;
- The coach does not have any direct contact with any prospective student-athlete (or a prospective student-athlete’s family members) in attendance; and
- The coach does not engage in any evaluation activities.
Attendance During a Quiet or Dead Period at a Location Other than a Prospective Student-Athlete’s Educational Institution.
During a quiet period or a dead period, a coaching staff member may attend a meeting or banquet where PSAs are in attendance provided:
- The event is not organized to recognize PSAs;
- The event is initiated by an entity outside the institution;
- The event is open to the general public; and
- The coach does not evaluate, make a recruiting presentation or have direct contact with any PSA (or PSA’s family member) in attendance.