NCAA Eligibility
The NCAA Eligibility website provides prospective student-athletes with a wealth of information regarding any number of eligibility-related topics. Visit the NCAA's website section on Elgibility & Conduct for more information.
General
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You become a "prospective student-athlete" when you start ninth-grade classes. Before the ninth grade, you become a prospective student-athlete if a college gives you (or your relatives or friends) any financial aid or other benefits that the college does not provide to prospective students generally.
You become a "recruited prospective student-athlete" at a particular college if any coach or representative of the college's athletics interests (booster or representative) approaches you (or any member of your family) about enrolling and participating in athletics at that college. Activities by coaches or boosters that cause you to become a recruited prospective student-athlete are:
- Providing you with an official visit;
- Placing more than one telephone call to you or any other member of your family; or
- Visiting you or any other member of your family anywhere other than the college campus.
In addition, no alumni or representatives of a college's athletics interests (boosters or representatives) can be involved in off-campus recruiting; however, you may receive letters from boosters, faculty members, students and coaches on or after September 1 of your junior year. In all sports telephone calls from coaches and faculty members are permissible on or after June 15 before your senior year.
After this, a college coach or faculty member is limited to one telephone call per week to you (or your parents or legal guardians), except that unlimited calls to you (or your parents or legal guardians) may be made under the following circumstances:
- During the five days immediately before your official visit (by the college you'll be visiting);
- On the day of the coach's off-campus contact with you; and
- On the initial date for signing the National Letter of Intent in your sport through the two days after the initial signing date.
In Division II football, however, unlimited phone calls to you can be made during a contact period and once a week outside of a contact period.
Coaches may accept collect calls and use a toll-free (1-800) number to receive telephone calls from you (or your parents or legal guardians) at any time.
Enrolled students (including student-athletes) may not make recruiting telephone calls to you unless the calls are made as a part of an institution's regular admissions program directed at all prospective students. Enrolled students (including student-athletes) may receive telephone calls at your expense on or after July 1 before your senior year.
You (or your family) may not receive any benefit, inducement or arrangement such as cash, clothing, cars, improper expenses, transportation, gifts or loans to encourage you to sign an institutional or conference letter of intent or to attend an NCAA school.
A college coach may contact you in person off the college campus but only on or after June 15 before your senior year.
Any face-to-face meeting between a coach and you or your parents, during which any of you say more than "hello" is a contact. Furthermore, any face-to-face meeting that is prearranged, or occurs at your high school or at any competition or practice site is a contact, regardless of the conversation. These contacts are not permissible "bumps."
In all sports, coaches may contact you off the college campus three times. However, a coach may visit your high school (with your high-school principal's approval) only once a week during a contact period.
An evaluation is any off-campus activity used to assess your academic qualifications or athletics ability, including a visit to your high school (during which no contact occurs) or watching you practice or compete at any site.
In all sports, coaches may evaluate you an unlimited number of times.
In football and basketball only, there are specified periods when a coach may contact you off the college campus and/or attend your practices and games to evaluate your athletics ability.
2006-2007 Contact Periods
2006-2007 Evaluation Periods
Official Visits
During your senior year, you can have one expense-paid (official) visit to a particular campus. You may receive no more than a total of five such visits. This restriction applies even if you are being recruited in more than one sport. A college may not give you an official visit unless you have provided it with a PSAT, ACT or SAT score from a test taken on a national testing date under national testing conditions.
During your official visit (which may not exceed 48 hours), you may receive round-trip transportation between your home (or high school) and the campus, and you (and your parents) may receive meals and lodging. You also may receive three complimentary admissions to campus athletics events. In addition, a student host may help you (and your family) become acquainted with campus life. The host may spend $30 per day to cover costs of entertaining you (and your parents, legal guardians or spouse); however, the money cannot be used to purchase college souvenirs such as T-shirts or other college mementos.
Printed Materials
A Division II college recruiting you may provide to you printed recruiting materials on or after September 1 at the beginning of your junior year.
In addition, a Division II college may show you a highlight film/videotape, but may not send it to you or leave it with you or your coach.
Finally, a Division II college also may provide you with a questionnaire, camp brochure and educational information published by the NCAA (such as this guide) at any time.
(Information taken from the NCAA's on-line Division II Recruiting Guide.)
