College News: As Expected, Recruited Dead Period Extended Again… Through Jan. 1, 2021

If there’s been one certainty in this year of uncertainty, it was that the NCAA would continue to push back the recruiting dead period as the ebb and flow of the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

In case you missed it this week, on Wednesday the NCAA didn’t just move the dead period back a month as it had done five times previously, the last one being on August 18 through Sept. 30, this time the extension went to the end of the year.

What this means, simply, is there can be no in-person or face-to-face contact between the prospective recruit and families with college coaches, although communications still can occur through phone calls, emails, FaceTime, Zoom meetings, etc.

Athletes still can visit college campuses, but can’t have direct contact with coaches.

Division II programs, however, returned to their normal recruiting calendars on Sept. 1, as the Division II Administrative Committee ruled on August 14 that the “division’s quiet recruiting period will end Aug. 31 and resume their normal recruiting calendars…”

Division II to resume normal recruiting calendars Sept. 1: https://t.co/3tVEV7JztX pic.twitter.com/r49Tgq3fnM

— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) August 14, 2020

Below is the complete release from NCAA.com as issued on Sept. 16, 2020 pertaining to DI’s dead period extension:

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The Division I Council extended the recruiting dead period through Jan. 1. The Council has been reviewing the dead period on a regular basis since April. A dead period precludes all in-person recruiting. Phone calls and correspondence can continue to occur.

Members also adopted emergency legislation prohibiting schools from giving complimentary game tickets to prospective student-athletes and their high school or two-year college coaches during the dead period.

“While the Council acknowledged and appreciates the growing desire to resume in-person recruiting by select coaches’ associations, Council members ultimately concluded the primary concern right now must be protecting the current student-athletes on our campuses,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “We encourage our coaches to interact with prospective student-athletes virtually in this time period.”

The decision to implement the dead period was first made at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. The Council has continued to extend the dead period under the guidance of medical experts. The majority of coaches associations also supported an extension of the dead period.