Back in March the NCAA put a mandatory dead period in place restricting any on-campus visits by prospects and their families. The dead period also meant that coaches could not go out on the road to recruit at high schools or in camp settings. The Division I Council Coordination Committee approved three blanket waiver requests on Wednesday during a virtual meeting.
- Basketball and football student-athletes to participate in currently defined summer athletic activities without being enrolled in summer school.
- Schools to provide less than the currently legislated minimum financial aid requirements to maintain membership in Division I. This waiver does not provide relief from other financial aid rules, including financial aid commitments to prospective and current student-athletes or regulations related to the cancellation or reduction of financial aid.
- Reclassifying schools to count as Division I opponents in the first year of the reclassification process, whether or not the school meets Division I scheduling requirements.
There were also more nuts and bolts recruiting rule changes that will go into effect on May 11. These rules are allowing for more flexibility in a unique recruiting process so that prospective student-athletes can get the most information possible.
Any school staff member may participate on recruiting calls between a countable coach and a recruit. That means that academic support staff or someone like Director of Performance Nutrition Dave Ellis can be on calls with recruits.
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.
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. This means that a current Husker could serve as a virtual recruiting host for a prospect or pop into a virtual visit to answer any questions.
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. This would be big for incoming Husker football players. In essence, as soon as their high school or JUCO requirements are fulfilled they can begin participating in virtual position and team meetings. Allowing that will really help those players not be so behind when they are able to resume team activities.
The committee will make a final decision on extending the dead period through June 30 at the group’s May 13 meeting. It seems likely that the recruiting dead period will last through June which will have a huge impact on recruiting.
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
