The National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Council announced on Wednesday that the recruiting dead period in all sports has been extended until April 15, 2021. The organization cited the negative trend the coronavirus pandemic has taken recently and its concern for coaches, prospective student-athletes and their families.
The NCAA council’s initial statement is provided below.
“The COVID-19 numbers are not trending in the right direction for the Council to allow in-person recruiting and the associated long-distance travel for coaches, prospective student-athletes and their families,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “We acknowledge the impact the restrictions are having on prospective student-athletes and coaches alike, and we will continue to assess how to best balance health and safety concerns with the desire to support prospectives and coaches in the recruiting process.”
DI Council extends recruiting dead period for all sports through April 15: https://t.co/znkRinZ2CQ pic.twitter.com/36C4JP5cip
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) November 18, 2020
Further, the press release added the following adjustments to allow more flexibility for virtual recruiting.
Members also voted to permit additional flexibility in virtual recruiting in football by allowing all coaches, full-time school staff members and current students to conduct recruiting calls (telephone calls and video calls) without a countable coach being present. This flexibility, proposed by the Football Oversight Committee, includes volunteer coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Council plans to address similar flexibility for other sports at its December meeting.
The dead period extension was supported by the oversight committees for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. Members acknowledged that while Divisions II and III had loosened recruiting restrictions, Division I schools are managing active fall sport seasons, which is not the case at most schools in Divisions II and III.
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