NCAA NEWLY ADOPTED Rules 2019

Real Deal said:
Anyone who committed prior to being a Junior under the old rules should think twice about their comments. You all had a choice and you could've all waited. Then there would've been no need for a rule.

Edit: Anyone can and should comment- makes for a better discussion :). Didn't mean to say otherwise.
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I agree we “all had a choice”... however, I disagree we “could have all waited”. Under the old rules, because recruiting and commitments were happening so early, by waiting, you risked losing out on an offer from one of your top choice schools or there being less money available, especially at P5 schools.

The new rule creates more of an even playing field for both players and schools. Hopefully gives some of the lower profile players at smaller clubs a better chance of getting discovered.
 
Guys, the recruiting rules changed a year ago, and that this modification allows contact sooner. Also note this is for coaches to initiate contact, players have been and still can contact coaches on their own.

The rule modification says: Effective May 1, 2019, college coaches will be allowed to directly initiate recruiting-related discussions with potential recruits starting on June 15 at the end of the player’s sophomore year. This is two and a half months earlier than the previous date of September 1 for players entering their junior year.
 
socalkdg said:
Guys, the recruiting rules changed a year ago, and that this modification allows contact sooner. Also note this is for coaches to initiate contact, players have been and still can contact coaches on their own.

The rule modification says: Effective May 1, 2019, college coaches will be allowed to directly initiate recruiting-related discussions with potential recruits starting on June 15 at the end of the player’s sophomore year. This is two and a half months earlier than the previous date of September 1 for players entering their junior year.
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If that were the only change, you are right. But it sounds like the change is that ANY informal contact is prohibited until the June 15 window opens. So while it moves the prior permission back 2 1/2 months, it shuts off all the other communication so that verbals and other discussion will be eliminated. Otherwise, even the headline in the NCAA release makes zero sense (reference to curbing early recruiting).
 
From the release: "The proposal for most sports would allow communication — either from or to a coach — June 15 after the sophomore year of high school and would allow visits beginning Aug. 1 before the junior year of high school."

I read that to mean that while communication from or TO a coach is ALLOWED as of June 15, no communication is allowed prior to that. That is a significant limitation, if accurate. Of course, the NCAA does not help much by not including the text of the actual rule.
 
socalkdg said:
Guys, the recruiting rules changed a year ago, and that this modification allows contact sooner. Also note this is for coaches to initiate contact, players have been and still can contact coaches on their own.

The rule modification says: Effective May 1, 2019, college coaches will be allowed to directly initiate recruiting-related discussions with potential recruits starting on June 15 at the end of the player’s sophomore year. This is two and a half months earlier than the previous date of September 1 for players entering their junior year.
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Can someone publish the link that will take me to the actual wording of the new rule(s) instead of a press release that doesn't seem to provide the actual rule? Appreciate the help.
 
dk_b said:
If that were the only change, you are right. But it sounds like the change is that ANY informal contact is prohibited until the June 15 window opens. So while it moves the prior permission back 2 1/2 months, it shuts off all the other communication so that verbals and other discussion will be eliminated. Otherwise, even the headline in the NCAA release makes zero sense (reference to curbing early recruiting).
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Players can still reach out to coaches, FYI. The coaches aren’t able to reach out. Each time they have changed the rule on this within the last decade the net result is to allow earlier contact each time.
 
With Pace said:
Can someone publish the link that will take me to the actual wording of the new rule(s) instead of a press release that doesn't seem to provide the actual rule? Appreciate the help.
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I am parsing through the rules right now - they are dense (and I do something like this for a living) and not in a user-friendly format (at least I have not found one). The link to Bylaw 13 (which handles recruiting) is here: https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/search/bylawView?id=8749#result.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Players can still reach out to coaches, FYI. The coaches aren’t able to reach out. Each time they have changed the rule on this within the last decade the net result is to allow earlier contact each time.
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You may be right but until we see the actual amendments in writing, it is hard to say (for me, at least) because if all they are doing is moving when coaches may initiate contact, the idea that this will "curb early recruiting" does not make a lot of sense (not that we need to assume logic from the NCAA). It also suggests that the line regarding allowing communication TO a coach is unnecessary in the release (and that would surprise me that the NCAA would include a superfluous statement).
 
The new rules were adopted last week. They are effective 5/1. The wording is not on the NCAA site anywhere yet but I’m sure it will be published soon.

The net effect will be that college coaches cannot talk to athletes about recruiting prior to 6/15 AT ALL (even if the athlete calls or comes to campus) except to share generic recruiting info and timelines or give camp info. No face to face recruiting discussions can happen at ID camps prior to 6/15. The only thing a college coach will be able to say to a club coach is “I’m interested in your player.” They cannot discuss at what level they are interested or facilitate any further recruiting discussion including setting up phone calls.

So, send your emails anyway, expect no response beyond “I’m interested” and then I guess phones will go crazy on 6/15.
 
Soccerfan2 said:
The new rules were adopted last week. They are effective 5/1. The wording is not on the NCAA site anywhere yet but I’m sure it will be published soon.

The net effect will be that college coaches cannot talk to athletes about recruiting prior to 6/15 AT ALL (even if the athlete calls or comes to campus) except to share generic recruiting info and timelines or give camp info. No face to face recruiting discussions can happen at ID camps prior to 6/15. The only thing a college coach will be able to say to a club coach is “I’m interested in your player.” They cannot discuss at what level they are interested or facilitate any further recruiting discussion including setting up phone calls.

So, send your emails anyway, expect no response beyond “I’m interested” and then I guess phones will go crazy on 6/15.
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That is exactly my expectation - I'd guess an update to Bylaw 13 in the next week (May 1 is next Wed after all).
 
From what coaches have told me (both club and college), the goal/intent is to prevent all direct and indirect communication regarding a specific player's recruitment until the 6/15 date after their sophomore year. That would include talking to representatives of the player (coaches, parents, etc.). The primary goal of the changes they have made in the last two years is to get to a point where there are no verbal commitments until that date.

Perhaps my information is wrong, perhaps the language of the rules will not produce this result, and likely some coaches and parents will try to game whatever system is put in place. All cynicism aside, there are honest college coaches out there, and given this is their livelihood, I would look to them for guidance going forward.

As for camps and showcases, this may make them more relevant for freshmen and sophomores, if indeed other lines of communications are cut off. In my experience, many top schools already have their list of the freshman they are looking at before their spring camps, and unless you already had lines of communication open, impressing at a camp or showcase "unannounced" was more of an exception than an option. But that remains to be seen.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Players can still reach out to coaches, FYI. The coaches aren’t able to reach out. Each time they have changed the rule on this within the last decade the net result is to allow earlier contact each time.
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Doesn't the new rule specifically say that it doesn't matter who initiates the communication - the communication is prohibited? Maybe the new rules still allow the kid to send an email to the coach, but the coach cannot respond based on the existing no contact rules applicable to electronic communications.

Here is one of the specific rule changes:

13.1.3.2.3 Telephone Calls From an Individual -- Sports Other than Baseball, Basketball, Football and Men's Ice Hockey. In sports other than baseball, basketball, football and men's ice hockey, an institutional staff member may not receive telephone calls from an individual (or his or her family members) before June 15 at the conclusion of his or her sophomore year in high school.
 
I am not sure if the release (http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-council-adopts-rules-curb-early-recruiting) did not have the chart at the bottom or if I just missed it previously. I think this is a really helpful summary and seems to suggest NO COMMUNICATION AT ALL before June 15 after Soph year (I've re-formatted because I can't get it to paste w/column titles):

Sport: All Other Sports
Correspondence/Private Messages: 6/15 after sophomore year
Incoming Telephone Calls: 6/15 after sophomore year
Outgoing Telephone Calls: 6/15 after sophomore year
Unofficial Visits: 8/1 before junior year
Official Visits: 8/1 before junior year
Off-campus Contact: 8/1 before junior year
Verbal Offer: Not legislated. 6/15 after sophomore year is first recruiting interaction

This last one is interesting - it is NOT saying no verbals but it is saying, "be real everyone . . . you can't have a verbal before 6/15 of sophomore year if that is the first recruiting interaction". That also suggests that routing communication through the club coach is not permitted though I think it is somewhat ambiguous.
 
dk_b said:
I am not sure if the release (http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-council-adopts-rules-curb-early-recruiting) did not have the chart at the bottom or if I just missed it previously. I think this is a really helpful summary and seems to suggest NO COMMUNICATION AT ALL before June 15 after Soph year (I've re-formatted because I can't get it to paste w/column titles):

Sport: All Other Sports
Correspondence/Private Messages: 6/15 after sophomore year
Incoming Telephone Calls: 6/15 after sophomore year
Outgoing Telephone Calls: 6/15 after sophomore year
Unofficial Visits: 8/1 before junior year
Official Visits: 8/1 before junior year
Off-campus Contact: 8/1 before junior year
Verbal Offer: Not legislated. 6/15 after sophomore year is first recruiting interaction

This last one is interesting - it is NOT saying no verbals but it is saying, "be real everyone . . . you can't have a verbal before 6/15 of sophomore year if that is the first recruiting interaction". That also suggests that routing communication through the club coach is not permitted though I think it is somewhat ambiguous.
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Nothing about the changes are good for student athletes. Before the rule change, the student athletes and their families had plenty of time to get to know as many coaches and obtain first hand knowledge of as many programs as they wanted, even if it was earlier than anyone wanted. Now, there will be absolutely no contact until 6/15 after sophomore year, which is likely to be the same day that many colleges will start making offers and pressuring kids to accept them - or risk that the spot and scholarship money will go to someone else. There are going to be a lot of kids pressured to make verbal commitments even before they're allowed to even make an unofficial visit or even meet coaches in person. Anyone who thinks they'll have plenty of time from 6/15 after sophomore year to visit and evaluate programs at their leisure is either delusional or one of the handful of highest ranked players in the country.

This is all about the NCAA taking away the power that student athletes and their parents previously had in the recruiting process. College coaches didn't like "wasting" time having to meet with and schmooze HS freshmen and sophomores, but they also wanted to make sure they didn't lose them to another school. They also don't like having to follow through on a verbal made as a freshman when the kid got hurt as a sophomore or didn't develop to their satisfaction. Now they get to have their time back with no downside, but at the expense of the student athlete's ability to obtain valuable information. And now the student athlete takes on the risk of getting hurt as a sophomore when they otherwise would have been verbally committed. The rules are also bad for kids at smaller clubs because it's now that much harder now to even get a college coach's attention, and they probably won't until the big schools are already making offers to the kids that were already scouted at ECNL or GDA events or who happen to be on a GNT roster. In the race to make offers starting 6/15, the big club coaches with the connections will be working the phones so hard that kids and coaches at small clubs will be getting a constant busy signal until it's too late.
 
End of the Line said:
Nothing about the changes are good for student athletes. Before the rule change, the student athletes and their families had plenty of time to get to know as many coaches and obtain first hand knowledge of as many programs as they wanted, even if it was earlier than anyone wanted. Now, there will be absolutely no contact until 6/15 after sophomore year, which is likely to be the same day that many colleges will start making offers and pressuring kids to accept them - or risk that the spot and scholarship money will go to someone else. There are going to be a lot of kids pressured to make verbal commitments even before they're allowed to even make an unofficial visit or even meet coaches in person. Anyone who thinks they'll have plenty of time from 6/15 after sophomore year to visit and evaluate programs at their leisure is either delusional or one of the handful of highest ranked players in the country.

This is all about the NCAA taking away the power that student athletes and their parents previously had in the recruiting process. College coaches didn't like "wasting" time having to meet with and schmooze HS freshmen and sophomores, but they also wanted to make sure they didn't lose them to another school. They also don't like having to follow through on a verbal made as a freshman when the kid got hurt as a sophomore or didn't develop to their satisfaction. Now they get to have their time back with no downside, but at the expense of the student athlete's ability to obtain valuable information. And now the student athlete takes on the risk of getting hurt as a sophomore when they otherwise would have been verbally committed. The rules are also bad for kids at smaller clubs because it's now that much harder now to even get a college coach's attention, and they probably won't until the big schools are already making offers to the kids that were already scouted at ECNL or GDA events or who happen to be on a GNT roster. In the race to make offers starting 6/15, the big club coaches with the connections will be working the phones so hard that kids and coaches at small clubs will be getting a constant busy signal until it's too late.
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Nonsense.
 
I think there are pros and cons to the new rule, but you are only highlighting the negative. Firstly, any coach that offers on 6/15 after the sophomore year and expects an answer will be rare. Or don't value your kid. They will have plenty of time. Coaches (who are worth playing for) want to get to know your kid and you as a family. Only UCLA coaches apparently take kids based on an email from someone else and never do any sort of background check on them.

Coaches want to make good decisions too. I don't think many will rush into offers without getting to know kids and using the structured timeline that exists. The proof will be with UNC, UCLA, Stanford, Florida State...if those coaches slow down and don't offer the top 20 kids on day one everyone else will follow suit. Remember it is those coaches that started this entire thing. So on day one if there's a bunch of commitments to those top 5-8 schools you can bet the rule will be changing in a few years because this new rule didn't have the intended effect of slowing it down, just heightening the pressure.

Ideally we will see commitments during or after kids take their 5 visits. I do wish you could talk to coaches while on campus as it was nice to tie in family vacays to a local school. I could see allowing that to happen anytime but keep the no offers/no commitments/no other contact rule in place.
 
full90 said:
Ideally we will see commitments during or after kids take their 5 visits. I do wish you could talk to coaches while on campus as it was nice to tie in family vacays to a local school. I could see allowing that to happen anytime but keep the no offers/no commitments/no other contact rule in place.
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I agree with your comment - during my player's recruitment, I spoke to one of the coaches about her (the coach's) recruitment as a player. She's still someone I'd consider "young" so it was not that long ago but she said she did all 5 officials - it was expected - before committing to a Pac-12 school where she played for four years. If the system returns to that, all the better.

As for the small club (non-GDA/non-ECNL) players . . . I think this is also better for them because there may be less scrutiny in those years when all the early commitments seem to be for the big club players as they are getting seen at the big GDA/ECNL showcases. Maybe that gives the small club players more of a chance to get noticed at an ID camp attended in the summer before HS or during the time before 6/15 following their soph year.

One fallout that I could see - if there is less emphasis on showcases for 8th and 9th grade players (U14s and U15s) - and if GDA survives . . . even fewer non-GDA players being invited to YNT camps/put on younger YNT rosters since, I'd imagine, US Soccer will continue to scout those events while pulling back even more from ECNL events.

(consistent with what someone speculated upthread, one wonders if colleges will continue to scout younger teams at the current level since they can't really establish the relationships like they do presently - obviously they will continue to scout the events when there are U16s, U17s playing but they may just ignore the younger ages and if your teams are being ignored, does it really make sense to pay the expense of travel/hotel/etc.?)
 
dk_b said:
I am not sure if the release (http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-council-adopts-rules-curb-early-recruiting) did not have the chart at the bottom or if I just missed it previously. I think this is a really helpful summary and seems to suggest NO COMMUNICATION AT ALL before June 15 after Soph year (I've re-formatted because I can't get it to paste w/column titles):

Sport: All Other Sports
Correspondence/Private Messages: 6/15 after sophomore year
Incoming Telephone Calls: 6/15 after sophomore year
Outgoing Telephone Calls: 6/15 after sophomore year
Unofficial Visits: 8/1 before junior year
Official Visits: 8/1 before junior year
Off-campus Contact: 8/1 before junior year
Verbal Offer: Not legislated. 6/15 after sophomore year is first recruiting interaction

This last one is interesting - it is NOT saying no verbals but it is saying, "be real everyone . . . you can't have a verbal before 6/15 of sophomore year if that is the first recruiting interaction". That also suggests that routing communication through the club coach is not permitted though I think it is somewhat ambiguous.
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Rule changes start May 1, still four days left! :)
 
full90 said:
I think there are pros and cons to the new rule, but you are only highlighting the negative. Firstly, any coach that offers on 6/15 after the sophomore year and expects an answer will be rare. Or don't value your kid. They will have plenty of time. Coaches (who are worth playing for) want to get to know your kid and you as a family. Only UCLA coaches apparently take kids based on an email from someone else and never do any sort of background check on them.

Coaches want to make good decisions too. I don't think many will rush into offers without getting to know kids and using the structured timeline that exists. The proof will be with UNC, UCLA, Stanford, Florida State...if those coaches slow down and don't offer the top 20 kids on day one everyone else will follow suit. Remember it is those coaches that started this entire thing. So on day one if there's a bunch of commitments to those top 5-8 schools you can bet the rule will be changing in a few years because this new rule didn't have the intended effect of slowing it down, just heightening the pressure.

Ideally we will see commitments during or after kids take their 5 visits. I do wish you could talk to coaches while on campus as it was nice to tie in family vacays to a local school. I could see allowing that to happen anytime but keep the no offers/no commitments/no other contact rule in place.
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I agree with you here. What would possibly make all this better is to allow contact and conversations for 6-12 months before allowing verbal commitments. Maybe contact (6/15), visits (8/1) and then no verbals until December of Junior year to coincide with the early signing period. Allows players to visit and talk to multiple schools/coaches and everybody gets to know one another better.
 
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