Recruiting Calendar 101
For high school student-athletes, one of the most important things to keep track of is the NCAA Recruiting Calendar for Division I and Division II sports. These calendars are designed to guide athletes and create a timeline for the recruiting process. Each calendar lays out key dates, times, and rules to help student-athletes understand when they can expect to communicate with college coaches.
What is the recruiting calendar?
General Definition
The NCAA recruiting calendars outline the timeframe when DI and DII colleges can communicate with prospective athletes for each sport. The NCAA created these calendars to help prevent athletes from being inundated and overwhelmed with messages from college coaches. Each calendar is broken down into four different “periods” — Contact, Evaluation, Quiet, and Dead.
Contact period
Contact periods are times when it’s permissible for college coaches to communicate with athletes in-person and off-campus, including conducting evaluations. This is a great time for coaches to get to know their potential recruits by doing the following:
- Engaging in face-to-face contact
- Watching student-athletes compete live
- Writing or calling student-athletes and/or their parents
Evaluation period
During an evaluation period, college coaches may watch athletes compete, visit their high schools, and/or write or call athletes or their parents. However, during this time, the NCAA states that “a college coach may not have face-to-face contact” with potential recruits off-campus.
Quiet period
Quiet periods are times when it’s only permissible for college coaches to have face-to-face communication with recruits on their college campuses. Coaches may also write or call athletes or their parents during this time, but may not engage in any other off-campus contact.
Dead period
Dead periods are very restrictive when it comes to communication between college coaches and athletes. College coaches can neither engage in face-to-face communication nor watch athletes compete during these times. Writing and calling athletes or their parents are the only forms of contact allowed during dead periods.
When do recruiting periods start and end?
Every year on August 1st, the NCAA releases new recruiting calendars for the upcoming year. The new calendars include updated dates for contact, evaluation, quiet, and dead periods. Each sport will have its own calendar with unique dates and times that athletes should note during the recruiting process. The calendars exist so that student-athletes and their parents are aware of when they should be expecting communication and evaluation by college coaches. They also give every party involved clarity and equity throughout the recruitment process
National Signing Day
National signing day is an important time in the college recruiting calendar. It is the first official day that athletes can sign a National Letter of Intent to commit to an NCAA DI or DII institution. The NLI program is voluntary for both athletes and NLl college members. While not every school is part of the NLI program, there are over 600 NCAA DI and DII programs that participate. It’s also an exciting time in the life of high school athletes.
More info on National Signing Day
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