Tag: ncaa dead period

Report: NCAA recruiting dead period ending on June 1

The NCAA’s historically long recruiting dead period is on the verge of being lifted.

The NCAA’s historically long recruiting dead period is on the verge of being lifted.

According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, June 1 has been set as the date the dead period will be lifted. Coaches and recruits have not been able to engage face to face for the last 13 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic-inflicted dead period.

“The NCAA Council this week is expected to set an end date of June 1 for the long-standing recruiting dead period, multiple sources told CBS Sports,” Dodd said. “The dead period was imposed in March 2020 after COVID-19 shut down college sports. It was extended eight times over the past year as the global pandemic raged, the last time in February.

“With widespread distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, it has become easier to envision more in-person contact, including football camps and official visits, beginning in June. For more than a year, college football coaches have been able to do little more in recruiting than hold Zoom calls with prospects.”

If the NCAA does indeed lift its dead period and transitions into a quiet period, college football programs could once again host recruits on campus and host camps — something they have not been able to do since last March.

RELATED: No. 1 2021 recruit Chet Holmgren will choose a college

“During a dead period a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools,” the NCAA website says. “Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period.

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing NCAA dead period have had a profound impact on college recruiting — especially in basketball and football. Many 2021 football and basketball recruits were left with no choice but to sign with the school of their choosing without having ever visited their campus or facilities in person. With in-person restrictions in place, coaches and recruits have been limited to FaceTime and Zoom calls.

NCAA should lift dead period after current extension runs out

About time NCAA

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The NCAA has been dragging their feet on the dead period for over a year now, the class of 2021 has the most impact, as they never got to officially visit any schools.

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With the current extended dead period set to end on May 31st, a report by CBS Sports Dennis Dodd claims the NCAA council will consider lifting the dead period.

They key word here is consider, but it seems like some of the wheels are in motion for when that should occur according to a report by Athlon Sports Bryan Fisher.

This obviously would be much different than we have seen in the past, but it’s a step in the right direction. There needs to be closure on the dead period soon as the 2022 class is less than 9 months away from the early signing period beginning. Team also need to get things prepared for recruits to get on campus. Hopefully these reports are correct and college football recruiting gets back to a semblance of normalcy.

Another Extension on Dead Period for All NCAA Division I Sports

The good news is COVID-19 vaccines are slowly bringing our country closer to a return to normality one day at a time.

The good news is COVID-19 vaccines are slowly bringing our country closer to a return to normality one day at a time. The bad news is “slowly” is the keyword here in that they’re not being rolled out fast enough. That being the case, the NCAA has decided it’s too risky for in-person recruiting to continue at this time. The Athletic is reporting that the NCAA has extended its dead period for all Division I sports through the end of May:

This means that whenever the dead period ends, recruits and coaches will, at the very least, have gone well over a year without being able to see each other in the flesh. That’s not good for recruits who can’t afford to make unofficial campus visits. Not every amateur athlete hoping to compete at the next level is able to travel around the country at will searching for their next opportunity. There’s no question whenever actual visits are allowed to resume, plenty of stories will be written about how the futures of so many talented athletes were affected by this pandemic.

Is the NCAA dead period set to end on April 15th or will it be extended again?

Is it possible the NCAA could extend the dead period once again? It certainly is as they get set to convene next week.

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It is coming up on a full calendar year since high school prospects have been able to visit college campuses on the schools dime. Back on March 13th of last year, the NCAA imposed a universal dead period that extended through June 20th, but a little more than a month before it was to end, the NCAA extended it once again.

The extensions kept coming, pushing the dates from the initial announcement all the way through April 15th of this year. Now with a scheduled meeting next Wednesday the 17th, another extension of the dead period could be happening once again.

Kevin Wade’s tweet shows that the Football Oversight Committee wants a six week extension of the dead period, again holding off recruits from visiting campuses to meet coaching staffs and tour the facilities.

Will more virtual visits like the one Notre Dame offensive line target Jake Taylor just had yesterday in store?

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It’s obviously not what any college coaching staff wants to do, but the adjustments have been made.

Who this really hurts are the recruits, not having the visit experience that classes in front of them have had. It would make the most sense to test a recruit and a family member of their choice prior to making a trip to see a school. If they’re positive, obviously they wouldn’t be able to go, but if they are in the clear, wear your masks and tour the school and meet with coaches.

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The NCAA has had almost a year to figure out the best way to combat COVID with recruits visiting schools. To me they just seem to be pushing the dead period back and hoping it figures it out on it’s own. Once again, the NCAA and president Mark Emmert are dropping the ball if they opt to extend the dead period, hurting the student-athletes they’re meant to protect.

Notre Dame football hosted Bishop Gorman star for virtual visit

The Notre Dame coaching staff hosted Bishop Gorman offensive lineman Jake Taylor for a virtual visit last night.

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The Notre Dame staff offered Las Vegas’ star offensive tackle Jake Taylor back in early October of last year. With the NCAA mandated dead period still in effect the only way recruits are able to “visit” schools is virtually. That’s exactly what happened last night with Taylor.

Although it is nothing like actually stepping foot on campus, virtual South Bend and the football facilities are really the only options for Brian Kelly and his staff at the moment. The Irish followed up a virtual visit that Taylor took to Alabama, but it seems like Notre Dame made a very positive impression on the six-foot-six-inch and 280-pound lineman.

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Taylor does seem to want to physically visit programs, he made a trip out to Oklahoma during the season. The star tackle has yet to visit South Bend, so expect him to make a trip when the NCAA lifts the dead period.

NCAA Again Extends Recruiting Dead Period

It’s not surprising news but Wednesday night the NCAA again extended their dead period for recruiting. Find out why and for how long here

What started in March as a reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak has continued to today and will go through at least July 31 as the NCAA has again extended their recruiting dead period.

From Wednesday evenings release from the NCAA:

The Division I Council Coordination Committee extended the recruiting dead period in all sports through July 31.

“The extension maintains consistent recruiting rules for all sports and allows coaches to focus on the student-athletes who may be returning to campus,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “The committee is committed to reviewing the dead period again in late June or early July.”

The committee will regularly evaluate the dead period, continuing to be guided by medical experts.

Virtual Physical Activities

Additionally, the committee decided to allow strength and conditioning coaches to virtually observe voluntary physical workouts for health and safety purposes but only if requested by the student-athlete. The measure goes into effect June 1. The strength and conditioning coach will be allowed to observe the workouts and discuss items related to voluntary workouts but not direct or conduct the workout.

The decision was supported by the Committee on Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports Prevention and Performance Subcommittee. The subcommittee encouraged schools that decide to allow their strength and conditioning coaches to observe voluntary workouts to proactively consider the school’s overarching responsibility to protect the health of and provide a safe environment for each student-athlete. More specifically, the subcommittee stressed that schools should plan for how the strength and conditioning coach should respond if they observe an unsafe workout environment or in the event that a medical emergency occurs during a voluntary session.

The committee will continue to explore the opportunity for strength and conditioning coaches to conduct voluntary workouts virtually, as they do during in-person, on-campus voluntary workouts.

So with that announcement comes the end of any wishes of recruiting visits this summer.  The question now turns to the fall where we’re not certain games will even be played yet, let alone whether or not perspective student-athletes will be able to make their visits then.

Notre Dame Recruit Tristan Bounds Uses Loophole to Visit Campus

Much has been made about how much Notre Dame has been hurt by its inability to recruit players during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Much has been made about how much Notre Dame has been hurt by its inability to recruit players during the COVID-19 outbreak. The university’s location puts it at a disadvantage. Still, that didn’t stop one recruit from stopping by campus anyway.

Tristan Bounds, a three-star offensive tackle who’s part of the 2021 recruiting class, has eight schools at the top of the list. The pandemic had prevented him from visiting four of them, including Notre Dame. But Bounds, the 39th-ranked offensive tackle in his class according to 247Sports, made the trek to campus Tuesday, one day after he visited Michigan. Though the dead period has been extended to June 30, a loophole allows recruits to visit colleges as long as they aren’t accompanied by or in contact with anyone affiliated with the football program during their trip.

Bounds, who measures at 6-foot-8 and 280 pounds, plays for Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, still has to make visits to Boston College and Texas. So far, he also has set foot on Virginia Tech, Virginia, Maryland and Vanderbilt. It’s a lot of traveling, but nothing the student at a boarding school over 300 miles from his home in Bethesda, Maryland, can’t handle.

Jeff Quinn, the Irish’s offensive line coach, offered Bounds a scholarship May 1, the day Notre Dame was revealed to be on Bounds’ list. The Irish emerged as a late contender for his services. However, his visit to campus means they’re still in the hunt.

 

NCAA Issues Additional Guidelines Related to Recruiting

This week the NCAA released a new set of rules in regards to the current dead period and some of the online meetings that have replaced that

On Wednesday the NCAA released the lengthy, three part piece in which it highlighted the necessary steps required before collegiate sports can resume.  They also added a few additional guidelines to the current, unprecedented rules against in-person recruiting.

The committee also granted waivers of recruiting rules effective May 11 to make them more flexible during the dead period the group imposed, which currently lasts through May 31. For example, any school staff member may participate on recruiting calls between a countable coach and a recruit. In normal circumstances, only coaches, and a few others in limited situations, may communicate with uncommitted prospective student-athletes via telephone or video calls.

The committee also lifted the restriction on the number of uncommitted prospective student-athletes (and their family members) who may participate in a recruiting call with a countable coach.

Additionally, current student-athletes may now participate in recruiting calls with coaches, as long as that time counts against the eight hours of countable athletics related activity that the committee permitted in all sports earlier this spring.

Finally, committed prospective student-athletes may participate in virtual team activities after completion of all academic requirements for high school graduation or transfer to a Division I school. Uncommitted prospects could on one occasion observe such activities but not participate.

It feels like the NCAA is much like you and me, learning more about Zoom meetings in the last six weeks than we had probably in all of our years previous, combined.

This new sets of rules does however pull back the curtain on some of the ways coaching staffs are evolving their recruiting efforts right now with group Zoom meetings full of recruits or potential targets getting to experience what a team meeting is like, even if it’s only done over the internet.

I don’t find myself as interested in all the NCAA rules with cyber-recruiting as much as I’m curious how this changes recruiting in the years to come.  Will campus visits turn into less of a thing?

That’s hard to imagine but if you can visit with a ton more schools and teams virtually, it’d certainly give that 16 year old a chance to open their eyes to something you may not have considered otherwise.