NCAA recruiting criteria

Key topic

This is a brief guide, parts of which are taken directly from the NCAA official website in order to acquaint parents and athletes with basic information on the process of recruiting. Both parents and athletes should focus on the process of registering and applying for eligibility, the information on academic eligibility and amateurism. Everyone should pay attention to dates and definitions, so that there will be no need to worry about any violations on anyone’s part.

Learning objectives

• Understand the process of NCAA recruiting Prospective Student Athletes
• Plan ways to incorporate all academic requirements in your children’s academics
• Develop proper habits to follow the NCAA rules and avoid violations
• Discover the importance of amateurism in the recruiting process
• Create conditions that will allow your children to be eligible for collegiate sports

The college recruiting process in a nutshell

The college recruiting process is quite complex and difficult to understand for most parents. The whole process can be summarized in the below steps:

1. How to get recruited – To get the process started, you need to know where you are going and how you are going to get there.
2. Searching for colleges – While student-athletes usually have a couple of schools in mind, the chances that the coaches of those schools are recruiting the athletes’ position along with giving a scholarship, may not be too likely. Therefore, every athlete has to research several programs and build a school list to maximize their opportunities of finding their best college matches.
3. Communicating with coaches – When families think about college recruiting, communicating with coaches is usually the first thing that comes to mind because it is a very important part of the process.
4. Creating a highlights or skills video – A great highlights video can sometimes be what makes a difference in the student getting some serious attention from college coaches.
5. Attending camps, combines and showcases – There are numerous events for student-athletes to attend, from camps to combines, showcases, to evaluation camps.  It is important to know the purpose of each one and to narrow down what is right for the particular athlete in their recruiting.
6. Ensuring NCAA eligibility – The NCAA is responsible for creating the recruiting rules, academic eligibility requirements, and amateurism requirements for college-bound students at the Division I, Division II and Division III level.  It is very important that both parents and athletes understand the eligibility criteria and whether they meet these criteria.
7. Managing the recruiting process – Managing the recruiting process is crucial. During this time, recruits need to maintain coach communication, meet application deadlines, understand different types of scholarship offers, be able to compare financial aid packages from different schools and negotiate the best financial aid package, and decide which school to sign with.

Action steps – Exercise 1 (5 minutes)

• What do you know, if anything, about the NCAA recruiting process and criteria? Let’s watch a short clip about the realities of 2021 and 2022 and how athletes should approach the whole process:

How the College Recruiting Process Works: 5 Steps from a Coach

In Division-I there are 173,500 student- athletes in 346 schools; 51% of these student- athletes receive some kind of financial aid/support from the NCAA due to their involvement in sports; 81% of student-athletes do graduate with a degree. This is what it’s all about.

Recruiting happens when a college employee or representative invites a high school student- athlete to play sports for their college. Recruiting can occur in many ways, such as face-to- face contact, phone calls or text messaging, through mailed or emailed material or even through social media nowadays. The NCAA, in support of parents and prospective student athletes’ well-being, promotes a fair recruiting environment, which was instigated to limit the intrusions into the lives of student-athletes and their families. NCAA member schools limit recruiting to certain periods during the year. Recruiting calendars promote the well- being of college-bound student-athletes and ensure fairness among schools by defining certain periods during the year in which recruiting may or may not occur in a particular sport.

As you will read further down, parents and students have to concentrate on very specific and simple tasks. These, in brief, are:

1. Register with the NCAA Portal for Prospective Student Athletes (PSA)
2. Register with the Academic Eligibility Center
3. Take the right courses and college entry tests and make good grades
4. Refine and perfect the sporting skills to reach the level required for collegiate sports
5. Maintain the status of amateur athlete at all times

The actual recruitment process has several steps which we will discuss, which also happen during pre-determined time periods. The first one has to do with scouting, which is the period during which colleges identify talented players, players that can fit their program and players who can make the transition both in terms of sports and academics. It is done without any contact, usually by the collection of statistics, press information, audiovisual material and so on.

The second step is that of contact. During a contact period, a college coach may have face- to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, watch student-athletes compete, or visit their high schools and write or telephone student-athletes or their parents.

The next phase of the process is the evaluation process. During an evaluation period, a college coach may watch college-bound student-athletes compete, visit their high schools and write or telephone student-athletes or their parents. However, a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents off the college’s campus during an evaluation period.

Once colleges and athletes have made their decisions, there are two steps in finalizing their agreement. The first step is known as a verbal commitment, which takes place from the athlete towards the college and the second step is known as the offer of a national letter of intent, which is basically a binding agreement offered by the college to the athlete, in order to make them commit to the college.

Additional to the contact period and the evaluation period, the NCAA has instigated two more periods in time, known as the quiet period and the dead period. During a quiet period, a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools.

Coaches may write or telephone college-bound student-athletes or their parents during this time. During a dead period, a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college- bound student-athletes or their parents and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools. Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period.

A contact happens any time a college coach says more than hello during a face-to-face meeting with a college-bound student-athlete or their parents off the college’s campus. An evaluation happens when a college coach observes a student-athlete practicing or competing. A verbal commitment happens when a college-bound student-athlete verbally agrees to play sports for a college before he or she signs or is eligible to sign a National Letter of Intent.

The commitment is not binding on the student-athlete or the school and can be made at any time. It is understood that an athlete, who already verbally committed to one school, could at any time change their mind and verbally commit and/or sign a National Letter of Intent with another school. It should be noted that this is an uncommon occurrence, since athletes tend to be absolutely sure before committing verbally or in writing. When a student-athlete officially commits to attend a Division I or II college, he or she signs a National Letter of Intent, agreeing to attend that school for one academic year.

Let’s watch a short clip about the practical aspect of the recruiting process by the National Scouting Report:

The 4 Phases of the College Soccer Recruiting Process

Useful recruiting terms

We set below some of the basic terms you will come across during the recruiting process and which you need to be familiar with:

National Letter of Intent – A National Letter of Intent is signed by a college-bound student- athlete agreeing to attend a Division I or II college for one academic year. Participating colleges agree to provide financial aid for one academic year to the student-athlete as long as the student-athlete is admitted to the school and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules. Other forms of financial aid are not guaranteed to the student-athlete.

The National Letter of Intent is voluntary and not required for a student-athlete to receive financial aid or participate in sports. Signing a National Letter of Intent ends the recruiting process because participating schools are prohibited from recruiting student-athletes who have already signed letters with other participating schools.

A student-athlete who signs a National Letter of Intent but decides to attend another college may request a release from their contract with the school. If a student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent with one school but attends a different school, they lose one full year of eligibility and must complete a full academic year at the new school before being eligible to compete.

Gray-shirting is a term used in the recruiting process to describe situations in which a student-athlete delays initial enrollment in a collegiate institution to the winter or spring term after the traditional academic year begins. Student-athletes who “grayshirt” often use the fall term to take part-time classes or choose not to enroll in college at all. “Grayshirting” is not a formal designation by the NCAA or the National Letter of Intent program. If an athlete decides to delay the initial enrolment, provided they were eligible to enroll, the National Letter of Intent remains binding. If a coach or the institution’s admission office asks an athlete to delay the enrollment whilst eligible to enroll, the institution is obliged to honor the athlete’s athletics aid, if the athlete wishes to attend the institution. Should the athlete want to attend another member institution of the National Letter of Intent program, due to the coach or institution delaying the enrollment, then the letter signed will be declared null and void.

Campus visits – Any visit to a college campus by a college-bound student-athlete or their parents, which is paid for by the college, is considered as an official visit. Visits paid for by student-athletes or their parents are considered unofficial visits. During an official visit the college can pay for transportation to and from the college for the student-athlete, lodging and three meals per day for the student-athlete and their parents or guardians, as well as reasonable entertainment expenses including three tickets to a home sports event. The only expenses a college-bound student-athlete may receive from a college during an unofficial visit are three tickets to a home sports event.

Scholarships – NCAA Divisions I and II schools provide more than $2.7 billion in athletics scholarships annually to more than 150,000 student-athletes. Division III schools do not offer athletics scholarships. Only about 2% of high school athletes are awarded athletics scholarships to compete in college.  Of the student-athletes participating in sports with professional leagues, very few become professional athletes. A college education is the most rewarding benefit of the student-athlete experience.

Full scholarships cover tuition and fees, room, board and course-related books. Most student-athletes who receive athletic scholarships receive an amount covering a portion of these costs. Many student-athletes also benefit from academic scholarships, NCAA financial aid programs such as the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and need-based aid such as Federal Pell Grants. It should be noted that only some sports offer full-ride scholarships. These are called “head count” sports. In the NCAA, these include only football for the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A, and basketball for Division I.  For women, basketball, volleyball, tennis and gymnastics offer full scholarships.

All other sports are called “equivalency” sports, which means that the available scholarship money for each team can be divided among players. There are no restrictions on how many athletes can be on scholarship, and the allotted number of awards can be divided in whichever way the coach chooses. This includes all other Division-I sports and all NCAA Division-II sports, NAIA sports and junior colleges. Division I schools may provide student- athletes with multiyear scholarships. Additionally, Division I schools may pay for student- athletes to finish their bachelor’s or master’s degrees after they finish playing NCAA sports.

Additionally, students and parents should keep in mind that while Division-I schools may provide multiyear scholarships, some awards must be renewed each year. According to the NCAA, scholarships can be canceled at the end of the award period, or during the period if the student-athlete becomes ineligible, commits fraud, engages in misconduct or quits the team for personal reasons. If a school plans to reduce or not renew a student-athlete’s aid, the school must notify the student-athlete in writing by July 1 and provide an opportunity to appeal. In most cases, coaches decide who receives a scholarship, the scholarship amount and whether it will be renewed.

Contact – A contact is any face-to-face encounter between a prospective student-athlete (PSA) or the PSA’s parents, relatives or legal guardian(s) and an institutional staff member or athletics representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of a greeting. Any such face-to-face encounter that is prearranged (e.g., staff member positions himself or herself in a location where contact is possible) or that takes place on the grounds of the PSA’s educational institution or at the site of organized competition or practice involving the PSA or the PSA’s high school, preparatory school, two-year college or all-star team shall be considered a contact, regardless of whether any conversation occurs.

However, an institutional staff member or athletics representative who is approached by a PSA or the PSA’s parents, relatives or legal guardian(s) at any location shall not use a contact, provided the encounter was not prearranged and the staff member or athletics representative does not engage in any dialogue in excess of a greeting and takes appropriate steps to immediately terminate the encounter.

Evaluation – Evaluation is any off-campus activity designed to assess the academic qualifications or athletics ability of a PSA, including any visit to a PSA’s educational institution (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of a PSA participating in any practice or competition at any site.

Evaluation Days – An evaluation day is defined as one coach engaged in the evaluation of any PSA on one day (12:01 a.m. to midnight); two coaches making evaluations on the same day shall use two evaluation days.

Recruited PSA – Actions by staff members or athletics representatives that cause a PSA to become a recruited PSA at that institution are:

1. Providing the PSA with an official visit;
2. Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the PSA or the PSA’s parent(s), relatives or legal guardian(s); or
3. Issuing a National Letter of Intent (NLI) or the institution’s written offer of athletically related financial aid to the PSA (excluding summer term awards prior to initial full-time enrolment).

Telephone Calls – All electronically transmitted human voice exchange (including videoconferencing and videophones) shall be considered telephone calls.  All electronically transmitted correspondence (e.g., electronic mail, Instant Messenger, facsimiles, text messages) shall not be considered telephone calls.

Off-Campus Recruiters – An institutional staff member is not permitted to recruit off campus until he or she has been certified on an annual basis as to knowledge of applicable recruiting rules.

Telephone Calls During Conduct of an Institution’s Athletics Contest – Telephone calls to a PSA (or the PSA’s relatives or legal guardians) may not be made during the conduct of any of the institution’s intercollegiate athletics contests in that sport from the time the institution’s team reports on call at the competition site at the direction of the coach until the competition has concluded and the team has been dismissed by the coach.

Telephone Calls – Institutional Staff Members – General Rule – All telephone calls made to PSAs (or the PSAs’ parents, legal guardians or coaches) must be made by the head coach or one or more of the assistant coaches who count toward the numerical limitations in that sport.

Visits to a PSA’s Educational Institution – Visits to a PSA’s educational institution that will occur during that portion of the day when classes are being conducted for all students must receive the approval of the executive officer (or the executive officer’s designated representative) of the PSA’s educational institution.

Counting Contacts and Evaluations – Evaluations that occur September 1 through May 31 count against the permissible number of recruiting opportunities for a particular PSA, except for evaluations that occur on the same day as a permissible contact. From June 1 through August 31, evaluations do not count against the annual number of recruiting opportunities for a particular PSA.  Contacts that occur with a PSA count against the permissible number of total recruiting opportunities regardless of the time period (e.g., academic year or outside the academic year).  All contacts and evaluations are subject to recruiting calendar restrictions.

Contact at PSA’s Practice or Competition Site – It is permissible to make phone calls or send electronic correspondence to a PSA (or a PSA’s parents or legal guardians) while the PSA has reported on call for competition and competition-related activities, provided the PSA is otherwise permitted to receive phone calls and electronic correspondence. Recruiting contact may not be made with a PSA at any site prior to any athletics competition (including a noninstitutional, private camp or clinic, but not an institutional camp or clinic) in which the PSA is a participant on a day of competition, even if the PSA is on an official or unofficial  visit.  Contact includes the passing of notes or orally relaying information to a PSA by a third party on behalf of an institutional staff member. Contact may occur after the PSA’s competition concludes for the day and the PSA has been released by the appropriate authority (e.g., coach).

Visit (Without Contact) to PSA’s Educational Institution – A visit (without contact) by a coaching staff member to a PSA’s educational institution counts as an evaluation for all PSAs in that sport at that educational institution.

Evaluations Are Sport Specific – The limitations on the number of evaluations are sport specific; therefore, a PSA being earnestly recruited by an institution in more than one sport may be evaluated on the permissible number of occasions in each of those sports from

September 1 through May 31. Evaluations are counted against the sport of the coach making the evaluation.

Exception – Recruiting Opportunities in Cross Country and Track and Field – An institution is limited to a total of seven recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations combined) from September 1 through May 31 during which the PSA competes in any or all of the sports of cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, provided not more than three of the opportunities are contacts (contacts are permissible during the senior year only).

Evaluations in Team Sports – In team sports, an institution shall use an evaluation for each PSA participating in a practice or contest observed by the institution’s coach, except for an evaluation that occurs on the same day as permissible contact. An institution’s coach who is attending an event in which PSAs from multiple educational institutions participate in drills (e.g., combine) shall use an evaluation only for each PSA participating in the event that the coach observes engaging in the drills.

Evaluations in Individual Sports – An institution’s coach who is attending a practice or event in which PSAs from multiple institutions participate in drills (e.g., combine) or competition in an individual sport on a specific day shall use an evaluation only for those participants that the coach observes engaging in practice or competition. The evaluation is not counted for a particular PSA if a contact is made with that PSA during the same day.

Tournament Evaluations – Evaluation during each day of a tournament held between September 1 through May 31 shall count as a separate evaluation except as follows: a. Evaluation of multiple contests in a tournament that occurs on consecutive days (and normally at the same site) shall count as a single evaluation; b. Evaluation of multiple contests in a single tier of a tournament (e.g., sectional, district, regional) shall count as a single observation.  If a tier of a tournament is subdivided into identifiable segments (e.g., conducted on different weekends), evaluation of contests in each identifiable segment counts as a single observation.

Other Multiday Events – Evaluations at a multiple-day event (e.g., jamboree, round robin, showcase) constitute separate evaluations for each day of the event unless the event is conducted in a tournament format in which a winner of the event is determined.

Evaluations/Contact at PSA’s Educational Institution – If a coach makes an in-person recruiting contact at a PSA’s educational institution, all evaluations (other than observations of athletically related activities) made on that calendar day at the PSA’s educational institution shall not count among the permissible number of evaluations for any PSA at that institution in the applicable sport.

Communication After Commitment – The restrictions on the forms and frequency of communication shall no longer apply after: (1) the PSA signs an NLI or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid; or (2) the institution receives a financial deposit in response to the institution’s offer of admission.

Attendance During a Quiet or Dead Period – During a quiet period or a dead period, a coaching staff member may attend a meeting or banquet where PSAs are in attendance provided:

1. The event is not organized to recognize PSAs;
2. The event is initiated by an entity outside the institution;
3. The event is open to the general public;
4. The coach does not evaluate, make a recruiting presentation or have direct contact with any PSA (or PSA’s family member) in attendance.

Recruiting guide

The below are extracted from the manual provided by the NCAA. They represent details and explanations for the entire process.

	Questionnaires, Camp Information, NCAA Materials and Nonathletic Publications	Recruiting Materials and Electronic Correspondence	Incoming Telephone Calls	Outgoing Telephone Calls
All sports	Anytime	June 15th between sophomore and junior year	June 15 between sophomore and junior year	June 15 between sophomore and junior year
4-year college PSA	Anytime	Anytime	Anytime	Anytime
	Off-Campus Contact	Unofficial Visits	Official Visits	Verbal Offer
All sports	January 8th of junior year	January 8th of junior year	January 8th of junior year	June 15 between sophomore and junior year
4-year college PSA	Beginning 10/15 following PSA’s completion of high school	Anytime	Beginning 10/15 following PSA’s completion of high school	Anytime

The above table refers to all sports in Division-I except lacrosse, softball, baseball and men’s ice hockey. There are seven recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations combined) per Prospective Student Athlete, between September 1 and May 31. Beginning August 1, before the PSA’s junior year, not more than three of the seven opportunities may be contacts, each year.

Academic qualifications/eligibility

If an athlete wants to compete in NCAA sports, at a Division I school, the athlete will need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center to make sure they stay on track to meet initial- eligibility standards. Below there is an outline of actions that should be taken by athletes, wanting to play NCAA Division I sports, in order to be academically eligible:

Grade 9
Ask the school counselor for a list of the high school’s NCAA core courses to make sure they take the right classes.

Grade 10
Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at www.eligibilitycenter.org

Grade 11
Check with high school counselor to make sure they will graduate on time and with the required number of NCAA core courses. Athletes should take the ACT or SAT exams and submit the scores to the NCAA. At the end of the year, they should ask their counselor to upload the official academic transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Grade 12
Athletes should finish the last NCAA core courses and take the ACT or SAT again, if necessary, and submit the scores to the NCAA. They should also complete all academic and amateurism questions in their NCAA Eligibility Center account. After they graduate, they should ask their counselor to submit their final official academic transcript with proof of graduation to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Division I academic eligibility
To be eligible to compete in NCAA sports during their first year at a Division I school, athletes must graduate high school and meet all the following requirements:

• Complete 16 core courses:

• • o   Four years of English
  • o   Three years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
  • o   Two years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science, if the high school offers it)
  • o   One additional year of English, math or natural/physical science
  • o   Two years of social science
  • o   Four additional years of English, math, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy
• Complete 10 core courses, including seven in English, math or natural/physical science, before your seventh semester. Once you begin your seventh semester, you may not repeat or replace any of those 10 courses to improve your core-course GPA.
• Earn at least a 2.3 GPA in core courses.
• Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score matching the core-course GPA on the Division I sliding scale, which balances test score and core-course GPA. If an athlete has a low test-score, they need a higher core-course GPA to be eligible. In case of a low core- course GPA, then the athlete needs a higher test score to be eligible.

If one has not met all the Division I academic requirements they may not compete in the first year at college. However, if they qualify as an academic redshirt, they may practice during the first term in college and still receive an athletics scholarship for the entire year.

To qualify as an academic redshirt, an athlete must graduate high school and meet all the following academic requirements:

• Complete 16 core courses:

• • Four years of English
  • Three years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
  • Two years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if the high school offers it)
  • One additional year of English, math or natural/physical science
  • Two years of social science
  • Four additional years of English, math, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy

• Earn at least a 2.0 GPA in core courses.
• Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score matching the core-course GPA on the Division I sliding scale.

If an athlete is concerned about not meeting Division-I academic requirements, then the athlete should consider taking the following actions:

• Ask for advice and accountability from the high school counselor. Check in with the admissions or compliance office at the college of choice.
• Get tutoring or other study help.
• Graduate on time. Division I schools allow college-bound student-athletes who graduate on-time to take one core course during the year after they graduate high school.
• Avoid quick fixes through credit recovery programs. These courses may not be accepted by the NCAA.
• Keep the coursework. If the NCAA Eligibility Center needs to review the record due to irregularities, the athlete may be asked to provide the coursework.
• Follow the high school’s policies. The best thing to do is work within the rules.

Amateurism

The NCAA promotes amateurism to create a level playing field for all student-athletes. The young men and women who compete in college sports are students first, athletes second. If an athlete wants to compete in NCAA sports at a Division-I school, they must be an amateur athlete.

Prospective student-athletes enrolling for the first time at a Division I or II school must receive a final amateurism certification before being eligible to compete. This includes transfers from junior colleges, NAIA, international or Division III schools.

To receive an amateurism certification, prospective student-athletes should:

• Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center;
• Completely and accurately fill out the “Sports Participation” section during registration;
• Request final amateurism certification promptly; and
• Monitor tasks assigned to their account.

Below are some situations that may impact a prospective student-athlete’s amateur status.

Taking a break between high school/secondary school and full-time collegiate enrollment and continuing to participate in your sport(s).

• Using a recruiting agency, scholarship agent or a scouting service.
• Receiving payment from a sports team to participate.
• Receiving funds or money to offset training expenses.
• Accepting prize money based on performance/finish at a competition.

As of July 2021, and following an unsuccessful court battle, the NCAA has altered its NIL requirements substantially vis-à-vis amateurism. Put simply, student-athletes can now benefit financially from their NIL. However, high school athletes should be careful when looking into ways they can monetize on their NIL, while in high school. While the NCAA rules say a high school student-athlete can begin to monetize their NIL in high school, doing so could violate their high school/ sports association rules and jeopardize their eligibility within their sport or high school.

At the time of writing this, many high school associations had already released statements highlighting that the changes in the NCAA NIL policy does not change high school rules. Darren Heitner of Heitner Legal and Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, had his team review states’ NIL laws established by the high school athletic associations and found that:

California is the only state that clearly allows high school athletes to pursue NIL opportunities. California high school athletes can profit from their NIL, provided they do not use their high school’s name or marks.

Here is a clip prepared by the NCSA on NIL developments:

NIL Explained | What is NIL? What is Name Image Likeness? | Collectives Explained CleanKonnect

Lesson wrap-up

Today we devoted our entire lesson to the NCAA requirement criteria which are admittedly complex and difficult to navigate. Hopefully we managed to present them in a sensible and logical manner that helped you understand the main ideas.

At this point we will wrap up today’s lesson. First, we will go over the learning objectives of this lesson and we want your feedback as to whether they have been achieved and then we will address any questions you may have. Please feel free to ask anything you’d like in relation to today’s lesson and we would love to hear how the concepts we discussed today relate to your athlete kids and your family!