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NCAA Communication Rules for 2019

By Josie Ashton, 07/02/19, 1:30PM EDT

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NCAA has made some changes to the rules

Read this overview of the NCAA communication rules changes for D1 recruiting.

NCAA Rules Changes for Communications in Recruiting

As of May 1st, 2019 the rules regarding Division I recruiting has had some major changes. First off, many of the new rules only affect athletes and coaches that are involved in the Division I program, other athletes and coaches on the Division II and Division III levels aren’t as affected by the new rules. June 15th of sophomore year is now the date when contact between coaches and athletes are allowed, but there are a couple of exceptions. Private emails can be sent to coaches whenever, but they are not able to respond to them until the athlete is a rising junior. Mass emails or camp invites are still able to be sent but any talk about recruiting is strictly prohibited. Like emails, an athlete may call a coach but a response should not be expected. Previously if a player had called the coach, they would be able to accept the call but, now a coach is not able to pick up the call or call the athlete themselves until June 15th going into their junior year. While off campus contact can be initiated on June 15th going into the athletes junior year, both official and unofficial visits of the campus are not allowed until August 1st going into junior year. An unofficial visit would be where you introduce yourself or meet with the coach, while an official visit is where the coach would invite you to come visit the campus to meet with them. While the physical visit is not allowed to take place until August 1st, a coach can invite an athlete to come visit at a later date on June 15th. Regarding verbal commitments, which are unofficial commitments that are not finalized until a National Letter of Intent is signed, coaches may not offer and athletes can not accept an offer until June 15th. What all of the rule changes mean to athletes is that freshmen and sophomores are still not allowed any contact with a coach, while college coaches may interact with either a club coach or a high school coach that they are interested in that player once they reach the legal age. However, college coaches may no longer request that a conversation that they have had with either the club coach or the high school coach be forwarded to the player. Freshmen and sophomores are still able to attend camps or clinics that colleges are hosting but no specific recruiting information can be discussed until June 15th going into their junior year. Due to these changes, many colleges are now hosting their summer camps and clinics the first week in August so they are able to discuss specific information with certain players as long as they meet the age requirement. Overall, the new rules are mainly affecting rising juniors but are important for anyone going through the recruiting process to know and understand.