One of the most confusing times of parents' and athletes' lives is trying to understand what the do's and don'ts are when it comes to engaging with college athletic recruiters. Naturally, the parents and athletes would like to be able to talk with as many potential schools as they can (and as early as they can) and the recruiters would like to have the best pick for their programs from the talent pool and get a commitment as early as they can, but must 'hold-back' to follow proper protocol in order to avoid any NCAA recruiting violations.... It all gets kind of confusing and at times -you're left forgetting about "who does what"or losing touch with the athlete's goals, dreams or priorities. Here's a little information with links to a "calendar-like" timeline that all parties are expected to follow....
College Coaches Timeline for Talking to New Recruits
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Freshman may receive general introductory letters and questionnaires from colleges. Once a questionnaire has been returned to a college, that athlete may get mail regarding summer camps.
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Freshmen can not receive phone calls from a college coach, but they can call the coach. If a recruit catches a coach in the office, they may talk as long as they like. If a recruit leaves a message for the coach, the coach can not call back. It is up to the recruit to make contact. There can be no face-to-face contact off of the college campus until after junior year is completed. This includes at tournaments. DIII coaches can talk to players or parents as soon as the junior year is completed. DII has to wait until June 15; DI waits until July 1. Any athlete may have on-campus contact with a coach. The letter and phone call information applies to DI and II programs. DIII coaches are much freer in making these types of contacts.
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Dead and quiet times: The only dead period falls after the NCAA Final Four tournament in December until January 1. High school students can contact college coaches via phone and email, however coaches can't call back to anyone except seniors, and then only once a week. Juniors will start hearing from schools on September 1 via email and letters.
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Here's a neat little chart that will help. Click on the "Recruiting Calendars" link on the NCAA link. It will take you to the volleyball calendar, which has all dates for quiet/dead periods and exceptions listed.
This is specific to Women’s VB.
There is a section on ncaa.org dedicated to recruiting.
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