The NCAA Division I Council announced Wednesday it was extending the recruiting dead period for all sports through April 15.
There has been a dead period in place since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, meaning there will have been no official campus visits or in-person evaluations in more than a year by the time it potentially ends in April.
“The COVID-19 numbers are not trending in the right direction for the council to allow in-person recruiting and the associated long-distance travel for coaches, prospective student-athletes and their families,” council chair and Penn athletic director M. Grace Calhoun said. “We acknowledge the impact the restrictions are having on student-athletes who dream of being Division I athletes, but we must prioritize the health and safety of current and potential student-athletes and their families, as well as coaches and others on campus.”
The council is expanding virtual recruiting in football, however, allowing all staff members, students and volunteer coaches to conduct recruiting calls. Wednesday’s announcement said “similar flexibility for other sports” is expected to be addressed at December’s meeting.
For basketball, this announcement means there will be no in-person evaluation during the high school season, and the scheduled live period of April 9-11, 2021, will also be off limits for coaches. There is another live evaluation period scheduled for April 23-25, 2021.
Football’s spring evaluation period is scheduled to begin April 15.