Say goodbye to the National Letter of Intent.
On Wednesday, the NCAA D1 Council approved the removal of the National Letter of Intent program.
“DI Council approves transition of National Letter of Intent program into NCAA signing and recruiting rules, effective immediately,” NCAA PR said on Twitter. “Council decisions are not final until meeting concludes later today.”
“The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution,” National Letter of Intent’s site explains. “A prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters). The institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).”
Prior to Wednesday’s ruling, student-athletes would sign their NLI during their senior year of high school. However, if that student changed their mind down the road and wanted to commit to a new college, oftentimes, students would apply for a release from their NLI. That release was granted often to the student. If a player had signed an NLI and then enrolled at the college, they would then enter the transfer portal if they wanted to change schools once their freshman year began.
Read more about the National Letter of Intent here.
“NLI,” meaning “National Letter of Intent,” is not to be confused with “NIL,” meaning “Name, Image, and Likeness.”
Stay tuned on Pittsburgh Sports Now for updates on the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.
How about just have a draft?