What’s Going on With USTA Junior Comp? The NCAA is a challenging organization when it comes to staying on top of recruiting and eligibility rules, to say the least. As I tweeted yesterday, it announced yet another change to contact rules for Division I recruiting just one year after its last rule change. The goal of these rule changes is to curb early recruiting which is one of the NCAA’s Strategic Areas of Emphasis.
Specifically, this new rule states that communication – either from or to a coach – can begin June 15 after the sophomore year of high school and will allow visits beginning August 1 before the junior year of high school. This is a change from the September 1 date set last year. The new rule goes into effect May 1, 2019.
Justin Sell, chair of the NCAA Student-Athlete Experience Committee, explains the reason for the rule change: “We feel strongly that it’s an incredible enhancement to our current situation and how students are being recruited. At the end of the day, these changes will eliminate students in the ninth grade and younger being recruited while still providing access to our campuses early enough to make informed financial and educational decisions on where to go for college.”
Please remember that the first step in college recruiting is for the Prospective Student-Athlete to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center here.
For more information on the NCAA and playing collegiate sports, go to its Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete here. It includes information on all three divisions of college sports as well as a very useful checklist and worksheet for students to track their progress toward gaining eligibility.
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