NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Coach – My question has to do with contact rules.  I know players that are calling, visiting and actively involved with coaches of various universities as a junior in high school student.  According to what I just read, if I’m not mistaken, there isn’t supposed to be contact with the student (junior level) athlete until June or July of the student’s junior year.  Is that the June or July before or after their Junior year?

If the information provided from “Athletes Wanted” said no phone calls until June 1st, then aren’t they communicating before the allowable date?  I can’t imagine that is what is happening considering this student athlete is talking to many colleges.  Can you explain this? – Velda

The contact rules actually vary across sports and levels. So for instance a junior football athlete is allowed to have permissible contact over the phone and in person with coaches throughout the spring after their junior year. It is also permissible for D3 coaches to contact any athlete, in any sport at any time throughout their high school career. Most D3 coaches recruit towards the end of the recruiting cycle, letting the big boys go first.  However, if a player indentifies that their best chance at reducing the cost of their education and becoming a student athlete is at the D3 level and become proactive with the process, it is very likely that those coaches will engage a player before some of the dates discussed in the article.

Also, keep in mind that college coaches have found ways to navigate these rules and contact athletes earlier and earlier.  There have been 8th graders and freshmen in high school who have received scholarship offers.  If they are not allowed to call until junior year, how do you suggest that happens?  If you want to find out, send in the question and we will talk about that next week!

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Athletic Scholarships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.