The DI Council approved all Division I sports to return to their regular recruiting calendars beginning on June 1, the NCAA announced on Thursday.
The Council acknowledged schools in different areas of the country could be limited based on regulations set by campus, city and state requirements, but the schools are no longer restricted by the created dead period that had been enacted since March 13, 2020.
“We are delighted to announce that as of June 1, all sports will return to their normal recruiting calendars,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “We want to thank all prospective student-athletes, their families, coaches and current student-athletes for their patience as we determined the best way to move forward safely with recruiting in Division I.”
Men’s basketball will start a quiet period on June 1, which allows in-person visits on campus, along with an evaluation period towards the end of the month. Women’s basketball will also now be allowed to conduct the quiet period that runs through the entire month of June and will allow the schools to participate in the evaluation period July 6 through July 12.
Football recruiting will have separate waivers and allowances as the Council is permitting on-campus evaluations during unofficial visits during the days football camps and clinics are allowed in June and July 2021.
For FBS programs, there will be a quiet period allowing camps and on-campus visits from June 1 through June 27, a dead period from June 28 through July 24 and a return to a quiet period July 25 through July 31.
That waiver will allow coaches to work players out individually while on unofficial visits to help make up for time lost with missed evaluation periods over the last year.
The Council is also allowing phone calls during football prospects’ junior year starting in 2022. The calls will be allowed to begin in January, the Sunday after the American Football Coaches Association Convention, with one call per week.
No calls in February, one call per week in March and at the school’s discretion in April and May, before going back to one call per week in June and July.
All sports will be allowed to have school staff participate in a call with any number of uncommitted prospective student-athletes and will allow full-time institutional staff members, current students and all coaches to initiate recruiting calls.
The dead period enacted nearly a year ago had been extended multiple times, but coaches and staff members in recent weeks had begun to prepare for the possibility that visits would be allowed in June. Now, with the vote officially approved, coaches and recruits already have camps and visits planned to begin on June 1.