All universities that compete in the NCAA are only allowed to recruit in a specific timeframe throughout the year. Recruiting calendars help to promote the well-being of prospective student-athletes and coaches. It ensures competitive fairness by defining specific time periods when recruiting is or is not allowed for a specific sport.
There are four different periods in the recruiting calendar:
Contact period
The contact period is the first period in the cycle. During this period, athletics department staff members can make in-person, off-campus recruiting contact and evaluations.
Evaluation period
During the evaluation period, authorized athletics department staff members can go off-campus to evaluate the academic and athletic qualities of the players. It is not allowed to make in-person off-campus contact with the student-athlete.
During the evaluation period, authorized athletics department staff members can go off-campus to evaluate the academic and athletic qualities of the players. It is not allowed to make in-person off-campus contact with the student-athlete.
Quiet period
The quiet period gives time to make in-person recruiting contact only on the member institution’s campus. Again off-campus contact with the student-athlete is not allowed.
The quiet period gives time to make in-person recruiting contact only on the member institution’s campus. Again off-campus contact with the student-athlete is not allowed.
Dead period
During the dead period, it is not allowed to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution’s campus or to permit official or unofficial visits with the student-athletes to the institution’s campus.
During the dead period, it is not allowed to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution’s campus or to permit official or unofficial visits with the student-athletes to the institution’s campus.
The rules of the recruiting period calendar differ for each sport. Let us know if you want to know more about the recruiting process calendar for your sport.