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Recruiting Resources : Senior Year Recruiting Rules

D1 NCAA Recruiting Rules - Senior Year

Division I Rules for High School Senior Athletes

The chart below shows rules for some of the more common NCAA recruiting methods for high school senior football players, men and women basketball players, and athletes attempting to play all other Division I NCAA sponsored sports.


How to Read the Chart

A blue check mark indicates that the NCAA recruiting method is allowed for high school seniors in that sport while a red "X" symbol shows that the method is not allowed during the athlete's senior year of high school. An orange exclamation mark indicates that the recruiting method is restricted to specific dates and situations for that sport during senior year.

Checkmark = Allowed X-Mark = Not Allowed Exclamation Mark = Restrictive Use
Senior Year
Recruiting Method
Football Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Other Sports
Questionnaires & Camp Brochures Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed
Unlimited Unofficial Visits
Unofficial Visits are generally taken prior to the end of the student athlete's junior year of high school. There is no limit to the number of Unofficial Visits an athlete may make to any given college. On such a visit, the college is allowed to provide the athlete with the following:
  • Free admission to a school athletic event
  • Complimentary transportation up to 30 miles off campus to the team's practice field, gymnasium, stadium, or other athletic facility on the condition that no sporting event is taking place during that time at the facility.
  • At DI and DII schools, a free meal at the on-campus dining facility or an off campus facility if there is not an open one on campus.
  • At DIII schools, a free meal and housing if it is common procedure to provide all prospective students with such privileges.
Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed
Calls to Coaches at Your Expense Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed
Recruiting Materials
Examples of NCAA Recruiting Materials include the following printed items sent from D1 college coaches to prospects by mail:
  • Letters
  • Postcards
  • Notecards
  • Business Cards
  • University Media Guides
  • Info about orientation, conditioning, academics and practice activities.
    (NOTE: These may only be sent to the athlete if a National Letter of Intent or institutional financial aid agreement has been signed or he/she has been officially accepted for enrollment.)
Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed
Calls from NCAA Coaches (!)
Dates & Details
Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed
Off-Campus Contact with Coaches
Dates & Details
Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed
Official Visits
Official Visits are generally taken during the student athlete's senior year of high school and are paid for by the university. Unlike unofficial visits, Official Visits have limitiations on the frequency and number an athlete may make. During an Official Visit, the the following rules apply:
  • Official Visits can not be made before September 1 of the student athlete's senior year
  • For DI and DII schools, an Official Visit may not be made until initial eligibility is given by the NCAA clearinghouse.
  • Any college or university may give at most one all-expenses paid Official Visit per prospect.
  • A DI or DII prospect may accept at most 5 all-expenses paid Official Visits.
  • At DIII schools, a prospect may accept an unlimited number of Official Visits as long as he or she attends a DIII college.
  • No Official Visit may be longer than 48 hours.
  • Limitations must be made by the college on the amount of entertainment a prospect and his or her family may receive during an Official Visit.
Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed

(!) Making calls to college coaches on your own time and having coaches
call you are two very different things in the eyes of the NCAA. A coach is not at any time allowed to contact a prospect until after June 15 following his or her sophomore year of high school. Even after the 15th of June there are different restrictions on how many phone calls can be made, based on the sport.