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The Top 5 Terms You Need to Know About the NCAA Recruiting Calendar

The NCAA publishes recruiting calendars each year to help athletes and coaches understand when different periods of the recruiting process occur. As a recruit, you must understand how the recruiting calendar for your sport will dictate your interactions with coaches. There are five key periods to identify when looking at your recruiting calendar.

However, don’t forget that athletes can reach out to coaches at any time (although some times are better than others).

Contact Period

The contact period allows coaches and athletes to have direct contact with each other. This includes phone, snail mail, e-mail (initiated by a coach or student athlete), and in-person meetings. Coaches are allowed to visit high schools to see an athlete compete, and they are allowed to host athletes on unofficial and official visits.

Quiet Period

During a quiet period, athletes and coaches cannot have any face-to-face contact, except on the college’s campus; athletes can still go on official and unofficial visits. Coaches and athletes can also communicate via phone, snail mail, and e-mail. But coaches cannot go visit athletes or watch them compete or practice.

Dead Period

Coaches and athletes cannot have any in-person contact whatsoever during the dead period. Coaches and athletes can still correspond with each other and talk on the phone, but that is all they are allowed to do. Coaches are not allowed to scout athletes live during this time.

Evaluation Period

Coaches are allowed to watch athletes compete live during the evaluation period, but they cannot have in-person contact with athletes. Not all sports have an evaluation period, so make sure you double-check the recruiting calendar for your sport.

Signing Period

The signing period is the time when a senior athlete can sign a scholarship offer or a National Letter of Intent from an NCAA Division I or Division II school. The signing period is different for most sports, so if you want to sign a scholarship, you have to know exactly when you are allowed sign. Otherwise, you may have to try walking on to a program.

Do you have any questions about the NCAA recruiting calendar for your sport? Click the parent or athlete button below to speak with one of our recruiting specialists.


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