The long summer for high school athletes just got longer as the NCAA recruiting dead period has been extended with no end in sight.
The NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee has announced that the recruiting dead period will be extended through July 31. This ruling essentially means that no meaningful official visits will take place until November or December because of the high school season, assuming one Is played. This also impacts college coaches because with a season to worry about, they’ll likely not be on the road recruiting until December.
“The extension maintains consistent recruiting rules for all sports and allows coaches to focus on the student-athletes who may be returning to campus,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, Penn Athletic Director. “The committee is committed to reviewing the dead period again in late June or early July.”
Last week, the NCAA announced that team activities would be permitted to return on June 1, as long as they comply with the state and county health guidelines.
The lack of visits over the summer has led to many players deciding to make their college decision early and more than 800 recruits have made commitments ahead of their senior season, which is more than double the number in a normal recruiting year.
Something to watch down the line is whether all of these early commitments will eventually lead to a larger number of decommitments towards the end of the year.
