Dead period for NCAA Division I recruiting extended through end of 2020

The NCAA Division I Council has extended the in-person recruiting dead period through January 1, 2021.

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.

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“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.