Volleyball is well known for its accelerated recruiting timeline. While the NCAA is trying to crack down on early recruiting, the reality is that the volleyball recruiting process is incredibly competitive and coaches are looking to lock down top talent as soon as possible.
The NCAA volleyball recruiting rules and calendar are in place to regulate how and when coaches can start proactively contacting. The NCAA provides Division 1 coaches with the strictest rules, as they tend to start the recruiting process the earliest of all the divisions. Division 2 coaches also have a specific set of rules around when coaches can start reaching out to recruits, but they are more relaxed than at the D1 level. Division 3 and NAIA coaches have the most freedom in their recruiting timelines and are able to contact athletes at most times.
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How do the NCAA volleyball recruiting rules and calendar impact your recruiting process?
We can’t stress this enough: The NCAA volleyball recruiting rules and calendar regulate when coaches can proactively reach out to prospects. These rules are in place to prevent elite athletes from getting bombarded with recruiting interest at a young age and provide some relief from recruiting contact at certain points throughout the year.
However, athletes can—and should—reach out to college coaches at any point. Once an athlete has decided that they are committed to playing college volleyball, they should do their research, figure out which schools she’s interested in and then start proactively contacting coaches. The athlete should fill out the program’s recruiting questionnaire (usually available on the school’s volleyball website) to get on the coach’s radar and start getting alerts from that coach. She can also send initial emails with information about who she is as a student-athlete, and she can call the coach.
When can college volleyball coaches contact you?
NCAA Division 1 coaches can contact athletes starting June 15 after an athlete’s sophomore year of high school. This includes extending verbal offers, electronic communications (such as emails, texts, instant messages, etc.) and phone calls are acceptable at this time. NCAA D2 coaches can contact athletes by any means at any time.
NCAA Division 1 volleyball recruiting rules
The NCAA Division 1 volleyball recruiting rules restrict when and how D1 volleyball coaches can actively start communicating with prospects. The most important date for D1 volleyball players is June 15 after their sophomore year. At this point, coaches can extend verbal offers and are allowed almost all forms of communication.
- Recruiting questionnaires, camp invites, NCAA materials and non-athletic publications: Any time
- Verbal Scholarship Offers: June 15 after sophomore year
- Private correspondence (phone calls, emails, texts, instant messages, DMs, faxes): June 15 after sophomore year
- Official and unofficial visits: August 1 before junior year
- Off-campus contact: August 1 before junior year
NCAA Division 2 volleyball recruiting rules
The most important date in the NCAA Division 2 volleyball recruiting rules is June 15 after sophomore year of high school. At this time all contact is permitted.
- Recruiting questionnaires, camp brochures and non-athletic publications: Any time
- Unofficial visits: Any time, unlimited
- Verbal Scholarship Offers: Any time
- Private correspondence (phone calls, emails, texts, instant messages, DMs, faxes): Any time.
- Official visits: June 15 before junior year
- In-person, off-campus contact: June 15 before junior year
NCAA Division 3 volleyball recruiting rules
D3 volleyball colleges have the most relaxed NCAA recruiting rules of all the division levels. Most contact is allowed at any time and recruits are only restricted in when they can start taking official visits and have off-campus contact with coaches.
- Recruiting materials: Athletes can receive recruiting materials at any time.
- Phone calls and electronic communications: There is no limit on when college coaches can call or digitally message athletes.
- Unofficial visits: Any time, unlimited
- Off-campus contact: After the athlete’s sophomore year, college coaches may begin to conduct off-campus contact.
- Official visits: Athletes can begin taking official visits after January 1 of their junior year.
NAIA volleyball recruiting rules
The NAIA gives a lot of freedom to its coaches in the recruiting process, and it does not restrict when or how coaches can reach out to high school athletes. Though there are fewer rules, NAIA coaches do tend to start the recruiting process a little later than NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 coaches.
2024-25 NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar
The NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar works in coordination with the NCAA volleyball recruiting rules. The rules explain when coaches can contact recruits based on the recruit’s year in high school. The calendar explains what type of contact is permitted throughout the school year.
For example, imagine it’s November 10 of a D1 recruit’s junior year. The NCAA volleyball recruiting rules show that the recruit can be contacted by college coaches, as well as go on unofficial and official visits. However, according to the NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar, November 10 falls in a dead period, so that recruit shouldn’t plan on taking a campus visit, because D1 coaches aren’t permitted to have in-person contact with recruits during dead periods.
The D2 NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar is much less restrictive than the D1 calendar. For D2 volleyball, all dates not specified as part of the dead period should be treated like a contact period. D3 volleyball doesn’t have a recruiting calendar, with the entire school year treated like a contact period.
Contact Period: During this time, coaches can email, text, call, direct message and contact athletes and their parents through any NCAA-approved method.
- Division 1: September 1 – November 30, 2024
- January 17 – July 31, 2025 (except dates listed as quiet period).
Evaluation Period: Throughout the evaluation period, coaches are allowed to watch an athlete compete in person or visit them at their school or home. However, there are some specific rules about where coaches can evaluate athletes, so pay close attention to whether coaches can evaluate athletes at school events, non-school events or both.
- Division 1: Thursday of the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Championship through the Sunday immediately following the championship, a college’s coaching staff is allowed to evaluate on one day only and may attend only one event on that day, as long as it’s within a 30-mile radius of the championship site. However, coaches cannot attend events that occur at the same time as any games associated with the NCAA championship.
Quiet Period: The quiet period is a time when coaches may not have face-to-face contact with recruits off the college campus, such as at an athlete’s school, or at an athlete’s games and tournaments. In other words, the coach can only talk to recruits on the coach’s campus or through any other approved electronic means of communication.
- Division 1: August 1-31, 2024
- December 1, 2024 – January16, 2025
- Exception: Coaches attending the American Volleyball Coaches Association annual awards banquet may have incidental contact with two-year college prospective student-athletes being honored at the banquet, provided no recruiting conversation occurs.
- March 3–6, 10–13, 17–20 and 24–27, 2025
- March 31 – April 3, 2025
- April 7–10, 2025
- May 1–29, 2025
Dead Period: During the dead period, coaches may not have any in-person contact with recruits or their families. Coaches can still keep in touch with recruits via phone, email, social media and other approved electronic means of communication.
- Division 1: November 11–14, 2024
- Division 2: November 11 (7 a.m.) to 13 (7 a.m.), 2024