There was growing anticipation and anxiety today as many in the softball world waited to hear what the NCAA announcement would be regarding the Dead Period, the time when coaches cannot have face-to-face interactions with prospective student-athletes or their parents.
Word just came out that the Dead Period for softball and other sports has been extended to June 30, after currently being set at May 31.
According to sources who have received this confirmation, the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee "adopted emergency legislation to extend the temporary recruiting period... in all sports through June 30."
The Coordination Committee will meet again on May 27 to see where things are regarding the COVID-19 pandemic at that time (two weeks from today).
This is actually a "win" for softball and the other sports as many feared, especially in the last few days, that the Dead Period could be extended to July 31 or even later.
Of course, that could still happen depending on how things go with the Coronavirus, but at this point the only certainty is no college coaches will be on the road through the end of June to evaluate players at events.
Ironically, there were reports this afternoon from at least one media outlet that the basketball dead period had been extended to July 31 and this would be the same for softball and other sports, but that has been refuted even though one Power 5 conference ran with it.
For now, the Class of 2021 can look at this as a small victory in that the entire summer of evaluations in-person aren't being wiped out.
On the flip side, this strengthens the case for live streaming such as is done by AthletesGoLive where live scoring is incorporated and clips can be later sent to college coaches or models like the one released today by Top Gun Events where game footage can be put online for coaches to view on-demand via a "Virtual Recruiting Platform."
--- Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball