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NCAA Announces Significant Change to Official Visit Rules for Recruits

• Author: Mike McDaniel

The NCAA’s Division I Council met this week and tackled a host of topics, including one wide-sweeping change that affects recruiting across college athletics.

Effective July 1, there will be new recruiting rules for official and unofficial visits. Prospects will no longer have a limit on the number of schools they can visit on official visits. However, prospects will be limited to one official visit per school. The only time that prospects will be allowed a second official visit is if there is a coaching change that takes place after the first official visit has been taken.

In men’s basketball, prospects will still be able to take a second official visit as they usually have, but the visits can not occur within the same academic year.

In addition, official visits may last “no longer than a two-night stay” per the updated rules. Schools are permitted to cover travel costs, transportation and meals, as well as “reasonable entertainment” for up to two family members who accompany the prospect on a visit.

“For young people considering where to go to college, visits to campus - both official and unofficial - are an integral part of the decision-making process,” said Lynda Tealer, the chair of the Division I Council. “This was an opportunity to modernize NCAA rules in a way that provides greater and more meaningful opportunities for prospects going through the recruitment process.”

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Prospects no longer restricted to 5 official visits, limited to 1 official visit per school

The NCAA announced Thursday afternoon that its Division I council has created new rules for official and unofficial visits. Here’s what you need to know:

• The main change is that prospects will no longer be restricted to five official visits but will be limited to one official visit per school.
• If there is a coaching change, a second official visit can be taken.
• The rules will take place this August.
• College programs still have a limit of 56 total official visits per year.

The Athletic ’s instant analysis:

What this change means for prospects

Prospects with extensive offer lists previously had to weigh closely which programs they would officially visit. Oftentimes, prospects would choose to pay their own way on unofficial visits to schools located closer to their homes in order to preserve official visits for more expensive trips.

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With unlimited official visits, prospects now have an opportunity to see more places with no expense for their families. This will likely encourage more visits to be taken, and thus, more drama on the recruiting trail.

Because the schools take on the travel, lodging and meal expenses for official visits, they often tend to be in-depth, multi-day visits with prospects they want badly. Now prospects will likely be more liberal with their visits, meaning big-time programs will likely still have the opportunity to host prospects who aren’t fully sold on the likelihood of them going there. The result could be more surprising recruiting results and a higher conversion rate on national recruitments.

The power shift has already been slowly moving toward the student athletes in college athletics, and this is just another rule change that will allow more opportunities for prospects to make a more thorough and informed college decision.

What they’re saying

“For young people considering where to go to college, visits to campus — both official and unofficial — are an integral part of the decision-making process,” said Lynda Tealer, executive associate athletics director at Florida and chair of the Division I Council. “This was an opportunity to modernize NCAA rules in a way that provides greater and more meaningful opportunities for prospects going through the recruitment process.”

(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)

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Ari Wasserman is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football and recruiting nationally. He previously spent 10 years covering Ohio State for The Athletic and Cleveland.com, starting on the Buckeyes beat in 2009. Follow Ari on Twitter @ AriWasserman

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NCAA approves rule allowing prospects to take an unlimited number of official recruiting visits

Prospects were previously limited to official visits at five schools.

High school athletes will be able to take an unlimited number of official visits as part of their recruiting process starting July 1, according to new rules passed by the NCAA Division I Council on Thursday . Recruits will be limited to one official visit per school, unless there is a coaching change. 

Official visits allow schools to pay for transportation, a two-night stay, meals and "reasonable entertainment" for an athlete and up to two family members. Previously, prospective athletes were limited to five total official visits as part of their recruitment process. 

"For young people considering where to go to college, visits to campus -- both official and unofficial -- are an integral part of the decision-making process," said Lynda Tealer, chair of the Division I Council. "This was an opportunity to modernize NCAA rules in a way that provides greater and more meaningful opportunities for prospects going through the recruitment process."

The decision could provide a significant victory for schools outside of the recruiting hotbeds who often struggle to get athletes on campus. For example, 15 of Oregon's 29 high school recruits came from outside the Pacific Time Zone. With the new rules, it will be easier for Dan Lanning and his staff to bring more players to campus. 

Additionally, non-power programs could more easily treat local prospects to official visits without costing blue-chip recruits one of their visits. However, it also gives an advantage to well-monied programs that can afford to hand out numerous official visits. Georgia, for example, spent 30% more on recruiting than any other program in college football over the past three years. 

The new rule is part of a sweeping transformation to college recruiting instituted by the NCAA in April. The NCAA has shifted the recruiting calendar to allow coaches to contact recruits starting June 15 after a recruit's sophomore year of high school, moved up from Sept. 1 of their junior year. Additionally, coaches will be able to have in-person contact with recruits after Jan. 1 of their junior year, vastly increasing the number of days available, but cutting the amount of total allowable total recruiting days by 37 between the spring and fall contact periods. 

Updating the recruiting calendar has become a major priority for coaches as recruiting becomes essentially a non-stop activity . Staffs in December often deal with bowl prep, high school recruiting and navigating the transfer portal at the same time. Many of these new rules are focused at trying to ease the demands on staffs later in the year by opening the process up earlier in the year. 

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NCAA lifts restrictions on athletes’ official visits

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Prospects no longer will have limits on the number of schools they can officially visit during their college selection process.

The NCAA announced Thursday that its Division I Council approved the policy change that will take effect on July 1. Prospects previously could make official visits to five schools. Official visits are defined as visits that are paid for by the college.

Prospects can make one official visit to each school, unless that program has a head coaching change. In that case, a prospect could make a second official visit to the same school.

In men’s basketball, prospects will be permitted to make two official visits to the same school, as long as the visits don’t occur in the same academic year.

“For young people considering where to go to college, visits to campus — both official and unofficial — are an integral part of the decision-making process,” Lynda Tealer, executive associate athletics director at Florida and chair of the Division I Council, said in a statement. “This was an opportunity to modernize NCAA rules in a way that provides greater and more meaningful opportunities for prospects going through the recruitment process.”

Official visits can’t last longer than a two-night stay. Schools are allowed to pay for transportation, meals and what the NCAA defines as “reasonable entertainment” for up to two family members accompanying the prospect on that visit. ___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25

Speaking of NCAA DI Official Visit Rules

• High school recruits who are entering their junior year of high school are allowed to take official visits to Division I universities beginning August 1st in all sports other than baseball, women’s basketball, football, lacrosse and softball.
• For the Division I sports of baseball, lacrosse and softball, the first opportunity is September 1st of a recruit’s junior year of high school.
• For women’s basketball, the first opportunity is January 1st of the junior year of high school while April 1st of the junior year of high school is the first opportunity for Division I football recruits.

For Division II programs, all sports can provide a recruit with an official visit beginning June 15 preceding the recruit’s junior year of high school.

If you have questions about the NCAA recruiting rules and want to discuss your athlete’s particular situation, we can help with a  confidential Recruiting Rules consultation. During the consult, we’ll answer all your questions, and can also discuss the athletic scholarship rules of the various college levels and how they pertain specifically to your athlete.

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Articles & Advice > College Athletics > Blog

Official College Visit Tips for Student-Athletes

If you end up one of the chosen athletes to attend an official college visit, make sure to prepare so you and the coach both get as much out of it as possible.

by Megan Gibbs Director of CollegeXpress

Last Updated: Mar 24, 2023

Originally Posted: Nov 27, 2012

For student-athletes in their senior year of high school, the official campus visit is one of the more exciting recruitment tactics used by college coaches to find the right athletes for their schools. Official college visits are not offered to just anyone; only the best of the best are invited personally by interested coaches. If you end up being one of the chosen athletes to be whisked away on an official visit, make sure you’re prepared and know the right questions to ask so you and the coach both get as much out of it as possible. Here’s what to know and what to expect before going off on your college visit journey and meeting with the coach of your preferred sport.

What is an "official visit"?

According to the NCAA, when you are invited on an official visit, "the college can pay for transportation to and from the college for you, lodging and meals...for you and your parents or guardians, as well as reasonable entertainment expenses, including three tickets to a home sports event." Before you can be invited, you need to submit a copy of your high school transcript (as well as standardized test scores for Division I schools) to the college, in addition to registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center . Per NCAA guidelines for most sports, you can only visit a college on an official visit once  and have only five total visits to all Division I schools; however, an unlimited number of official visits may be made to Division II schools. Unofficial visits—where travel, lodging, and meal expenses are paid for by you and your family—are also unlimited. 

What to expect

Colleges vary when it comes to hosting prospective athletes. Some may have you stay with one student who is on the team and it will be their job to show you around, while some will have you share your time with multiple people. With most visits, you will be on the campus for about (but no more than) 48 hours, and you will experience every aspect of college life , from checking out a practice, watching a game, and touring the campus to eating at the cafeteria , going to class, and joining in on the social atmosphere. It will be a jam-packed day or two where you will get to meet up with the coach and discuss your future at the college and on the team. Maybe you'll even get a scholarship offer while you're there! The school can also set up meetings with an academic counselor or professor in your desired major so you can get a better feel for the academics. All in all, it's an intense but potentially very enlightening experience.

Related:  Why You Shouldn't Expect a Full Ride for College Sports

Questions you should ask on the visit

Having questions prepared shows a huge level of interest in the college's athletic program and the coach. Here are a few to get you started:

• What is the team's travel schedule like? How does that factor into academics/school?
• How does the coach see you as a fit for the team? Would you be a starter? Walk on? Are there already many athletes in your position, i.e., four offensive wings so you would be the fifth—and would that be worth it?
• How many athletes are being recruited for the team?
• What is the practice schedule like/how many hours per week?
• Is there practice in the off season?

Write these and any other questions you may have down and bring them with you, along with extra paper and a pen.

How you should represent yourself

Grab your Sunday best, because you need to dress to impress. It shows you put time and thought into your trip and that you appreciate the coach extending him or herself to you. Dressing nicely is just the tip of the iceberg, though. In an interview with former  UMass Amherst  softball player Bridget Lemire and former Worcester State University  field hockey coach Susie Whelan, both expressed how important it is to represent yourself as best as possible off the field. "Most coaches will look at how you treat your parents, how you talk to other people, and how you talk to your teammates," said Lemire. "It may seem small, but it's a very important thing." Whelan added that it is crucially important to be polite. Finally, when your trip is over and you're back home, the first thing you need to do is write a thank-you note to the coach and your host player(s) to express your gratitude for their help and for sharing their time to make you feel at home.

Related: 6 Secrets You Need to Know For a Great Campus Visit

And why you need to behave

Let's face the facts here: you are a senior in high school who has been invited to a college campus for a night or two. Depending on who your lovely host is, it is very possible that you will be asked to join your new friends for some parties and fun. There is nothing wrong with following them out, but beware of doing everything they do. If a coach finds out that you were drinking or were out past curfew, your future at the college will be over. No exceptions. You know that scholarship you were given? You can kiss that goodbye as well. While it might seem like the "cool" thing to do because you want to fit in, it's not worth your athletic dreams and college future. And if you're still not convinced, check out this official visit horror story  that I'm sure will change your mind.

Related:  Take Your Campus Visit Experience Into Your Own Hands

An official college visit as a student is a heightened experience to the campus visits other students go on. As a student-athlete, you’ll get all the experience of visiting a college plus the added bonus of meeting and getting to know the coach of your desired college sport. Because of this, you want to make sure you’re truly prepare to reap the benefits of every second of your visit. While this may seem intimidating, in the long run, being prepared will mean you’ll enjoy it more. So have fun and make a good first impression—especially if it’s your dream school!

For more advice on making the most of college tours, check out our Campus Visits section, or for more tips on becoming a college athlete, check out our College Athletics section.

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About Megan Gibbs

Megan Gibbs is the Director CollegeXpress. She has worked for Carnegie, CollegeXpress's parent company, since graduating from Merrimack College in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Communication. Megan is the glue that keeps CollegeXpress together and the push that keeps us moving forward.

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NCAA lifts restrictions on athletes' official visits

Prospects no longer will have limits on the number of schools they can officially visit during their college selection process.

that its Division I Council approved the policy change that will take effect on July 1. Prospects previously could make official visits to five schools. Official visits are defined as visits that are paid for by the college.

Prospects can make one official visit to each school, unless that program has a head coaching change. In that case, a prospect could make a second official visit to the same school.

In men’s basketball, prospects will be permitted to make two official visits to the same school, as long as the visits don’t occur in the same academic year.

“For young people considering where to go to college, visits to campus — both official and unofficial — are an integral part of the decision-making process,” Lynda Tealer, executive associate athletics director at Florida and chair of the Division I Council, said in a statement. “This was an opportunity to modernize NCAA rules in a way that provides greater and more meaningful opportunities for prospects going through the recruitment process.”

Official visits can’t last longer than a two-night stay. Schools are allowed to pay for transportation, meals and what the NCAA defines as “reasonable entertainment” for up to two family members accompanying the prospect on that visit. ___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25

NCAA rules relating to recruiting visits

Types of visits – official and unofficial.

A visit to ASU is considered an official visit if any part of the visit (other than complimentary admissions to a home athletics event) is financed by ASU.  An unofficial visit is any visit to ASU that is made at a prospective student-athlete’s own expense. 

Rules for official and unofficial visits.

There are numerous NCAA rules that govern the conduct of an official visit to a member institution, like ASU.  Those rules have been incorporated into ASU’s official visit policy and process.  Click  here  to review ASU’s official visit policy.

The only expenses that NCAA rules allow ASU to provide a prospective student-athlete on an unofficial visit are three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest through the use of a pass list (not hard tickets).  Those admissions are for the exclusive use of the prospective student-athlete and those accompanying the prospective student-athlete on the visit. Please note that in all sports except basketball and football, an individual cannot make an unofficial visit to any NCAA Division I institution until September 1 of his or her junior year in high school.

Third party payment of visit expenses. 

The NCAA enforcement staff has indicated its intent to more closely monitor activities of prospective student-athlete unofficial visits to campuses.  With very little exception, NCAA rules do not allow individuals other than family members or legal guardians to finance unofficial visits.  The Compliance Office is happy to answer any questions relating to this topic.  You can email questions to   [email protected] .

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How to Ace Your College Visit – Mastering the Official and Unofficial Visit

Updated on Aug 8, 2023

For prospective college athletes, choosing a college can be similar to buying a car… you first begin with a list of options, do research to narrow down the list, and visit in person to find the best fit. 

For student-athletes looking to play college sports at an NCAA school, completing virtual campus tours and visiting campuses close to home can help narrow down the list of colleges before deciding on which campuses to put on your visit list.

The NCAA allows high school student-athletes to meet with the coaches and teams on campus, but there are limitations. In some cases, college coaches will pay for your transportation to the campus, as well as accommodations for an overnight stay (known as an official recruiting visit), while other times your family pays (unofficial visit). 

The timing of allowable unofficial and official visits varies based on the sport played, your year in high school, whether the school is NCAA Division I (DI) or Division II (DII), and the specific time period for your sport’s recruiting calendar. The recruiting calendar generally allows unofficial visits to occur earlier than official visits. 

Failure to follow the rules could result in a violation of the coach (and you!) receiving penalties, and it is important for recruits to familiarize themselves with the NCAA’s sport and division-specific recruiting calendars .

Whether you are a high school female basketball player (who is eligible to take an unofficial visit the moment you enter the 9th grade) or a high school male baseball player (who must wait until September of your junior year to visit a college campus) — you want to be ready. 

Let’s plan ahead and get you ready for your visit long before you pack your bags and jump in the car. Buckle up!

The first thing we need to do is set expectations. Most college programs have small recruiting budgets and may not be able to pay for official visits, cutting-edge athletic facilities, or expensive recruit photo shoots. You must look past the superficial expectations and consider the most important factors when choosing a college: academic fit, campus fit, and athletic fit . 

What is the Difference Between Official and Unofficial Visits?

What is an official visit.

Any visit to a college campus by a college-bound student-athlete or their parents that is paid for by the school. Before taking an official visit, a recruit must provide the college with their high school transcript and complete registration for a Certification Account with the NCAA Eligibility Center .

Beginning July 1st, 2023, student-athletes looking to compete at an NCAA Division I school are now allowed to take an unlimited number of official visits to NCAA institutions. It’s important to note that each school allows only one official visit per student-athlete, unless there’s a change in head coach after their first visit, allowing them to go on a second official visit. However, in the case of men’s basketball, a second visit is only permissible if it falls in a different academic year.

Additionally, all prospective DI and DII recruits must be placed on each school’s Institutional Request List (IRL) in order to take their official campus visit, receive an athletic scholarship, or sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) .

What is an Unofficial Visit?

College campus visit paid for by student-athletes or their parents is considered an unofficial visit and an unlimited number of unofficial visits are allowed regardless of division level or sport.

Let’s dive deeper into the visit details…

Unofficial visits can be initiated by a prospective student-athlete, as well as the college coaching staff who can suggest dates and times to visit the campus – taking into account the NCAA rules regarding quiet and dead periods . Taking an unofficial visit is best when a college coach is able to meet with you on campus and high school student-athletes are allowed to take as many unofficial visits as they wish.

Official visits are typically more structured and coaches may have a list of dates reserved for official recruit visits. Scheduling and expenses (including travel, meals, and lodging) for official visits are always arranged by the college coaches. During your visit, you will either stay with your family at a hotel or in a dorm with a student-athlete host while your family stays in a hotel.

Official visits may not last longer than a two-night stay.

Honest Insight : If allowed, choose visit dates that overlap weekdays with weekends. Weekday visits typically allow you to attend a class and give you the chance to see how student-athletes balance their weekday routine of class, practice, study hall, and strength workouts – while also allowing you to experience the campus on a weekend.

Regardless of the visit type you choose to take, it is important to plan ahead and give yourself (and the college coach) ample time to create the best college visit. Take into consideration that the team may be traveling during your (unofficial) visit, or the coach may only have a small window of time to meet with you. Having an organized plan for visits and communicating clearly will help in the recruiting process. 

Now that you understand the difference between official and unofficial visits, let’s start planning your trip!

What to Know Before Your College Visit

As you narrow down the list of potential schools, you should research each school using free online resources, such as virtual campus tours and online tuition calculators. You don’t want to waste invaluable time during your visit seeking answers that you can find online. Make sure to research the following questions in advance of your visit:

• Research the athletic department – what conference do they compete in? Are their other sports programs successful?
• Research the team – do they compete nationally or regionally? Where are the players from? What are the team members majoring in? How long has the coach been there and do they have a contract with an expiration date?
• Research the school – have they cut sports recently? Are they adding sports? 

Your campus visit should serve to strengthen your interest in the school and provide you with a sense of campus life. It will also give an insight into the team atmosphere and what it is like to be a student-athlete at that school.

Before your visit, you should think through the conversations you might have at the school to how to prepare for your visits and show your best self when talking with a school’s coaching staff.

You should also prioritize and plan out your visits by listening to each response from a coach during your pre-visit conversations. Do they have a recruiting timeline in mind? Are they hoping you will commit during your visit or shortly after? How many scholarships are available? Do they only have one scholarship, but are having multiple recruits visit the campus? All of these are things that you should pay attention to. Waiting too long to schedule a visit or delaying your final decision after you’ve visited the campus can result in missed opportunities.

Whether you’re traveling to campus during an unofficial or official visit, you should request an itinerary and ask if you’d like something to be added. If you want to do undergraduate research while in college, ask to see a lab. If you are curious about the surrounding community, ask for meal options off-campus. If you have specific physical, learning, or social/emotional needs, ask to meet with professionals on campus while you are there. These are all items that are difficult to schedule once you’re on campus, but if you request them ahead of time, a school should be able to accommodate your needs.

Some sports have recruiting cultures where students will verbally commit after an unofficial visit, long before they are able to schedule an official visit or sign a National Letter of Intent .

Honest Insight : Make sure you are 100% confident in your school choice! The more research you’ve done before your visit, the more prepared you’ll be to decide.

What to Pack for Your College Visit

With an itinerary in hand, you’ll be able to plan what you will need to pack for your recruiting visit. Comfortable walking shoes are key as you will likely be walking the campus for hours and you want to be comfortable. Are you joining the coaches at a nice restaurant? Pack restaurant-appropriate clothes. Are you meeting with the Athletic Director or Dean of Admissions? Make sure to pack business casual clothes for a professional impression. Will you be invited to train with the team? Add athletic training clothes and shoes to your bag.

What to Expect During Your College Visit

You’re on campus! Now is the time to open your eyes and ears to take it all in! Remember, you are recruiting the coaches and college just as much as they are recruiting you. Can you see yourself on campus? Are you ready for the climate? Is it close enough to home or a nearby airport or train station? While you are checking all of these things out, the Athletic Department and coaching staff will also be evaluating if you will provide value to their campus/program. Conduct yourself in a way that would make your family and high school coaches proud.

Your official visit should ALWAYS include one-on-one time with the coaching staff where the coaches should be honest about their commitment to you. Are you expected to make a decision by a certain date? Is an athletic scholarship offer on the table? Would a scholarship be a dollar amount or will it be a percentage of your total bill?

During your visit, make sure to speak about your academic needs and make sure you meet with an Academic Advisor to further understand the expectations for the student-athletes at the school.

Academic preparedness carries a lot of weight in the recruiting process – the academic advisor’s professional opinion of your academic ability could weigh heavily in a coach’s recruiting decision. Even if you only have a short time with the academic advisor, make it count! It’s important for the academic advisor to see how you answer questions and speak about your own academic needs and goals. 

Honest Insight : The best recruiting visit, from an academic advisor’s perspective, is one in which the parent or coach allows the student and advisor to get to know each other. This time is crucial in two ways – first, the academic advisor must learn how to best support the student-athlete, and second, this is a crucial time for the student-athlete to learn about the academic expectations of that school. Is study hall mandatory? Do they check attendance at class and what are the repercussions for missing class? Will tutoring be required or is it optional, or even offered at all?

Be sure to have your Honest Game CARE® (College Athletic Report on Eligibility) or a high school transcript on hand during your visit. Having a plan will show that you are aware of what you will need to complete in your final semesters of high school and that you take your academic eligibility seriously .

While you’re busy picturing yourself as a student-athlete on the team, remember you will also be a member of the campus community one day. What would it be like if you couldn’t play sports? Eat in the cafeteria, stay in the dorms (or at least visit the dorms if the official visit has you staying in a hotel near campus), and look for events happening on campus to get a good understanding of campus life. 

You also want to observe coach/player interactions. 

If you are lucky enough to stay longer than a morning or afternoon, you’ll get a good sense of how the team interacts with each other, and how they feel about their coaching staff. These moments with the “host” athletes will help solidify your awareness of the culture and can often be one of the most important factors when deciding on schools. It is important to consider how the team interacts with each other, their coaches and with professors.

Wondering what you should ask current players during your visit? To get you started, here are a few sample questions to ask your host or players on the team:

• What does a typical day look like?
• How do you manage balancing classes with practice?
• How do professors react when you have to miss class due to traveling or games?
• Do the athletes do workouts together during the offseason?
• Are you close with other athletic teams? Are there opportunities to meet other athletes?
• Do you live with teammates, with athletes in other sports, or is it randomly selected?
• What is your favorite thing about the school?
• If you could do it all over again, would you choose this university?
• Any advice for me?

Coaches try to incorporate social activities into a recruiting visit, away from the athletic department and sports facilities, to give you a chance to get to know the team, and for them to get to know you. Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression, and making good choices while on your recruiting visit is a wise decision. Follow the rules set forth by the NCAA   and hold yourself accountable to team and campus rules. One bad choice on a recruiting visit could cost you your collegiate athletic opportunities – not only at the school but at other schools. Coaches and players talk, and news can travel quickly. 

What to Do After Your College Visit

Once you leave campus and are able to sit back and reflect, make a pros and cons list while it’s fresh in your mind. Did you like the team? What if you couldn’t play sports anymore – would you want to stay at the school? Did the coaching staff talk about you using a redshirt year and how did that make you feel? 

What you need to remember is a visit is just that, a visit. It’s a moment in time when you get to experience all that the team and school want to show you. However, that may not be the case every day for the next four years. Think about life on campus outside of the recruiting dinner with coaches – that won’t be an everyday occurrence once you’re a member of the team. Maybe you visited on a warm summer day but winter in the region is typically snowy and very cold. Think about life on campus the other 363 days of the year.

Choosing a college may be a family decision for you. Have open and honest conversations with those in your support circle to help you make your college decision. If you are used to your family being at every game, will you be upset if you are going to a college far from home? Do you have the financial ability to fly home or take the train during breaks if your sport allows, or will you remain on campus? Are others on the team in the same situation? Do they go to teammates’ homes for holidays?

Honest Insight: One of the most important steps you can take after your visit is to thank the coaching staff with an email or a handwritten note, as they took time out of their schedule and possibly money out of their budget to host your visit. 

If you have decided to cross the school off your list of possibilities, make sure to tell the coaching staff as soon as possible. They most certainly have other recruits waiting on your decision and telling them your plans early is the right thing to do. 

Once you have committed to a school, you should email and/or call the programs that have scheduled future visits letting them know you’ve made your decision.

Do not have your family or high school coach do this for you. These are hard conversations but it’s always best to be upfront and open about your plan. You never want to burn bridges on the recruiting trail… one day you may decide to transfer to one of the schools you previously visited.

Have more questions about the recruiting visit process? Honest Game Counselors are available to provide one-on-one assistance to support student-athletes in navigating post-secondary opportunities athletically and academically. Schedule a time to meet virtually with our experts .

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Official vs. Unofficial Visits: What’s the Difference?

Whether you’re an aspiring college athlete or not, one of the most effective parts of the college application process is visiting a campus. It’s the best way to find out if you like or don’t like a campus and why.

Every college admissions office puts together a laundry list of visit opportunities for prospective students on a yearly basis, but there is an extra wrinkle for prospective student-athletes. That comes in the form of official and unofficial visits. While everyone understands that one is official and the other isn’t, what are the differences and how do they apply to those impacted?

Official Visit vs. Unofficial Visit

Official visits are any trips to college campuses by a prospective student-athlete that’s paid for by the college they’re visiting.

Unofficial visits are completely paid for by the prospective student-athlete or their family.

The benefit of official visits is that they allow a college to really “wine and dine” a recruit. When hosting someone for an official visit, college programs can pay for the transportation needed by the recruit to get to and from campus, their housing and three meals per day for both the athlete and a parent. Colleges can also include tickets to a home sports event.

There is no flexibility for college athletic programs to pay for anything when it comes to an unofficial visit, but they’re still able to reserve tickets for the recruit and their family to a home sports event.

As one can imagine, the NCAA enforces some regulations on official visits. At the Division I and II level, student-athletes are allowed just one official visit per school, and five total. So if you find yourself being asked to go on several official visits, you need to be thoughtful of how you spend them.

There is no limit at Division III or NAIA schools with regard to total official visits made by a recruit, but they can only make one visit per school. If you’re taking unofficial visits, though, recruits and/or their families can visit as many colleges as many times as they want.

What Doesn’t Change

The big, overarching concept that’s the same between both official and unofficial visits is how one evaluates the school itself. Don’t forget, it’s important to like more things about a school than solely the athletics program. Asking yourself the same questions regardless of what type of visit you’re on is crucial to making an informed decision when the time comes.

• How are the dorms?
• Is the food any good? Hey, this is important! You have to eat least three times a day for four years, ya know.
• What are the academic buildings like? Are you a fan of the campus layout? What about the surrounding area? Would you be excited to attend this school even if sports weren’t a factor?
• Don’t forget about academics. What majors, advising programs, and internship opportunities are available? What resources are available to help you succeed?

This is just the start. Head over to the bookstore, ask current students (both athletes and non-athletes) as many questions as you can, and try to research any unanswered questions after you get home.

A Secret Tip: Act Natural

Here’s the thing—you’ll probably feel like a high school student during these visits. That’s OK because, well, you are a high school student. But I have a secret to tell you: as long as you’re not walking around with your parents or a bunch of other recruits and aren’t on an official tour of the campus, you’ll look just like just all the other college students there. It’s true. Nobody will know the difference.

This is an awesome opportunity to wander around campus by yourself and get a sense of what your experience as a student could be like.

You might be thinking, “But that’s weird! I don’t want to do that!” I get it—I would’ve thought the same thing as a high school junior or senior. However, you’re going to have to do this for real (like meet other students and speak to campus administration) sooner than you think, so there’s no better time than now to give it a try.

When you go on official visits or do admissions-sponsored tours/programs, you’re going to see the best and most wonderful things about that school. That’s literally their job. There are plenty of awesome colleges out there, but no place is all sunshine and rainbows. Exploring the campus by yourself is an opportunity to get a sense of what potential downfalls there are, and it’ll give you a chance to decide whether any of them are deal-breakers or not.

See if people hold doors open for you. Are students walking around campus with a smile on their face? If you get something to eat in the cafeteria, can you sit down with a random person to eat without feeling like an outcast? Is it easy to set up a meeting with the dean of students? Whether your experiences are positive or negative, it’s a decent indicator of what your experience at that college/university could be like.

Visits are an integral part of the college admissions process, regardless of whether you’re a recruited athlete or not. When you get the opportunity to visit a campus you’re potentially interested in, take full advantage of the time you have there.

Photo Credit: Andrei Stanescu/iStock

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NCAA AND NAIA SPORTS RECRUITING

Ncaa national collegiate athletic association recruiting guidelines and rules.

Click here to learn about the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Breaking down the campus visit. A guide for student-athletes.

Practical tips for unofficial visits.

High school Freshman and Sophomore year. these rules also apply until September 1 of your Junior year.

Coaches are allowed to: Send you athletic or sports camp brochures, NCAA Educational Information and Questionnaires.

A coach can also accept phone calls from you as long as they are at your expense but remember that if you leave a message on an answering service the coach is NOT ALLOWED TO CALL YOU BACK.

Coaches are not allowed to:

To call you on the phone. A coach cannot send you any written recruiting information.

NCAA Recruiting Guidelines, Unofficial Visits:

You can make unofficial visits to a college campus. It is also permissible for you to receive a maximum of three complimentary tickets to a college sporting event. You can talk with college coaches but this must be on campus.

NCAA Rules. Contact Visits.

Junior year from September 1

College coaches are allowed to send you information about their athletic program and about their school. this can include: media guides, schedule cards, personalized letters, photocopies of newspaper clippings and official university admissions and academic publications. The college coach is now allowed to answer your emails and send emails to you as well.

Junior year from July 1

A college coach is only permitted to contact you in person off the college campus only on or after July 1st when you have completed your junior year of high school. If the coach meets with you or your parents and says anything to you or them then this is considered a contact. Anything more than a very basic hello is a contact.

College coaches are permitted to make one telephone call each week to you or your parents. You can call the coach as often as you wish. Senior Year

You can make up to five Official – expense paid visits to college campuses. the visit to the campus cannot be longer than forty eight hours in duration. you are are not allowed to have an official visit until after your first day of classes of your senior year.

College coaches need to have an official ACT or SAT score and a copy of your official high school transcript before you can make a visit.

Coaches can make telephone calls and send written correspondence as per the rules for your junior year.

if your at a tournament and the coach does not talk to you don’t take it personally. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has specific recruiting rules that puts limits on communication at tournaments.

A college coach can sit down with a guardian or parent at a competition site. This is counted as one of the three in-person off-campus recruiting contacts a coach is permitted.

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The Division I Council Thursday introduced several proposals into its legislative cycle at the recommendation of the Modernization of Rules Subcommittee, including recommended changes to coaching limits and recruiting visits. 

The Council is expected to vote on these proposals in January. If approved, most of the changes will take effect July 2023. Additionally, members approved a recommendation from the Student Athlete Experience Committee to introduce legislation into the Council's legislative cycle that would bring mid-year softball transfer rules in line with those in baseball. The Council introduced the proposal for an April vote and, if approved, an effective date of August 2023. 

The Council also approved a request from the  Football Oversight Committee to make adjustments to the football recruiting calendar , effective immediately.

Official and unofficial visits

If the recruiting proposal is adopted in January, prospects will no longer have a limit to the number of official visits they can make to NCAA member schools. Prospects would be limited to one official visit per school, unless there is a head coaching change after an official visit, in which case prospects would be able to complete a second official visit to the same school.

Schools would be permitted to cover travel costs, transportation, meals and reasonable entertainment for up to four individuals accompanying a prospect on their official visit. Those guests could include family members, their high school or club coach, or any other individual who helps the prospect with the college decision-making process.

During unofficial visits, schools would be permitted to provide complimentary admissions to a home athletics event to prospects and up to four guests.

Coaching limits

The proposals for coaching limits would remove the voluntary coach designation and proportionately increase countable coach limitations so that schools can maintain the comparable number of coaching staffs. In FBS football, graduate student coaches would be redefined.

Another proposal would increase the number of permissible countable coaches in baseball, softball and ice hockey to five.

The Council also will consider allowing schools to employ two individuals in basketball who could provide tactical or technical instruction to student-athletes but would not recruit off-campus.

NCAA removes cap on official recruiting visits in basketball to deal with unlimited transfers

T he NCAA has approved a waiver that will allow men’s and women’s basketball programs to pay for unlimited official recruiting visits to help teams deal with roster depletion caused by transfers, according to a memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Athletic first reported the approval of a blanket waiver by the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees.

Currently, men’s basketball programs are allowed 28 official visits over a rolling two-year period. The number for women’s programs is 24.

The waiver will cover a two-year period, starting Aug. 1, 2023, and run through July 31, 2025. The NCAA Division I Council in June will consider proposed legislation that would lift the limit on official visits in men’s and women’s basketball permanently.

Last month, the NCAA changed its rules to allow all athletes to be immediately eligible to play no matter how many times they transfer — as long as they meet academic requirements. The move came after the association fast-tracked legislation to fall in line with a recent court order.

Several states, including West Virginia, sued the NCAA late last year, challenging rules requiring undergraduate athletes to sit out for a season if they transferred more than once.

With what amounts to unlimited and unrestricted transfers, player movement in basketball has increased and forced programs into a bind created by unusually high levels of roster turnover.

In some cases, coaches are replacing almost an entire team. The scholarship limit in Division I for men’s basketball is 13 and 15 for women’s teams.

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2023–24 NCAA Volleyball Recruiting Rules and Calendar

Volleyball is well known for its accelerated recruiting timeline. While the NCAA is trying to crack down on early recruiting, the reality is that the volleyball recruiting process is incredibly competitive and coaches are looking to lock down top talent as soon as possible.

The NCAA volleyball recruiting rules and calendar are in place to regulate how and when coaches can start proactively contacting. The NCAA provides Division 1 coaches with the strictest rules, as they tend to start the recruiting process the earliest of all the divisions. Division 2 coaches also have a specific set of rules around when coaches can start reaching out to recruits, but they are slightly more relaxed than at the D1 level. Division 3 and NAIA coaches have the most freedom in their recruiting timelines and are able to contact athletes at most times. 

READ MORE: NCAA’s new rules will grant student-athletes the opportunity to earn money from their name, image and likeness (NIL) .

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How do the ncaa volleyball recruiting rules and calendar impact your recruiting process.

We can’t stress this enough: The NCAA volleyball recruiting rules and calendar regulate when coaches can proactively reach out to prospects. These rules are in place to prevent elite athletes from getting bombarded with recruiting interest at a young age and provide some relief from recruiting contact at certain points throughout the year.

However, athletes can—and should—reach out to college coaches at any point. Once an athlete has decided that they are committed to playing college volleyball, they should do their research, figure out which schools she’s interested in and then start proactively contacting coaches. The athlete should fill out the program’s recruiting questionnaire (usually available on the school’s volleyball website) to get on the coach’s radar and start getting alerts from that coach. She can also send initial emails with information about who she is as a student-athlete, and she can call the coach.

When can college volleyball coaches contact you?

NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 volleyball coaches can contact athletes starting June 15 after an athlete’s sophomore year of high school. This includes extending verbal offers, electronic communications (such as emails, texts, instant messages, etc.) and phone calls are acceptable at this time.

NCAA Division 1 volleyball recruiting rules

The NCAA Division 1 volleyball recruiting rules restrict when and how D1 volleyball coaches can actively start communicating with prospects. The most important date for D1 volleyball players is June 15 after their sophomore year. At this point, coaches can extend verbal offers and are allowed almost all forms of communication.

• Recruiting questionnaires, camp invites, NCAA materials and non-athletic publications : Any time
• Verbal Scholarship Offers: June 15 after sophomore year
• Private correspondence (phone calls, emails, texts, instant messages, DMs, faxes) : June 15 after sophomore year
• Official and unofficial visits:  August 1 before junior year
• Off-campus contact : August 1 before junior year

NCAA Division 2 volleyball recruiting rules

The most important date in the NCAA Division 2 volleyball recruiting rules is June 15 after sophomore year of high school. At this time all contact is permitted.

• Recruiting questionnaires, camp brochures and non-athletic publications : Any time
• Unofficial visits : Any time, unlimited
• Private correspondence (phone calls, emails, texts, instant messages, DMs, faxes): June 15 after sophomore year
• Official visits: June 15 before junior year
• In-person, off-campus contact: June 15 before junior year

NCAA Division 3 volleyball recruiting rules

D3 volleyball colleges have the most relaxed NCAA recruiting rules of all the division levels. Most contact is allowed at any time and recruits are only restricted in when they can start taking official visits and have off-campus contact with coaches.

• Recruiting materials : Athletes can receive recruiting materials at any time.
• Phone calls and electronic communications : There is no limit on when college coaches can call or digitally message athletes.
• Off-campus contact : After the athlete’s sophomore year, college coaches may begin to conduct off-campus contact.
• Official visits : Athletes can begin taking official visits after January 1 of their junior year.

NAIA volleyball recruiting rules

The NAIA gives a lot of freedom to its coaches in the recruiting process, and it does not restrict when or how coaches can reach out to high school athletes. Though there are fewer rules, NAIA coaches do tend to start the recruiting process a little later than NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 coaches. 

2023-24 NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar

The NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar works in coordination with the NCAA volleyball recruiting rules. The rules explain when coaches can contact recruits based on the recruit’s year in high school. The calendar explains what type of contact is permitted throughout the school year.

For example, imagine it’s November 10 of a D1 recruit’s junior year. The NCAA volleyball recruiting rules show that the recruit can be contacted by college coaches, as well as go on unofficial and official visits. However, according to the NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar, November 10 falls in a dead period, so that recruit shouldn’t plan on taking a campus visit, because D1 coaches aren’t permitted to have in-person contact with recruits during dead periods.

The D2 NCAA volleyball recruiting calendar is much less restrictive than the D1 calendar . For D2 volleyball, all dates not specified as part of the dead period should be treated like a contact period. D3 volleyball doesn’t have a recruiting calendar, with the entire school year treated like a contact period.

Contact Period : During this time, coaches can email, text, call, direct message and contact athletes and their parents through any NCAA-approved method.

• Division 1: September 1 – November 30, 2023; February 16 – July 31, 2024 (except dates listed as quiet period).

Evaluation Period : Throughout the evaluation period, coaches are allowed to watch an athlete compete in person or visit them at their school or home. However, there are some specific rules about where coaches can evaluate athletes, so pay close attention to whether coaches can evaluate athletes at school events, non-school events or both.

• Division 1: Thursday of the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Championship through the Sunday immediately following the championship (December 14-17, 2023), a college’s coaching staff is allowed to evaluate on one day only and may attend only one event on that day, as long as it’s within a 30-mile radius of the championship site. However, coaches cannot attend events that occur at the same time as any games associated with the NCAA championship. 

Quiet Period : The quiet period is a time when coaches may not have face-to-face contact with recruits off the college campus, such as at an athlete’s school, or at an athlete’s games and tournaments. In other words, the coach can only talk to recruits on the coach’s campus or through any other approved electronic means of communication.

• Division 1: August 1-31, 2023; December 1, 2023 – February 15, 2024; May 1-30, 2024
• Exception: Coaches attending the American Volleyball Coaches Association annual awards banquet may have incidental contact with two-year college prospective student-athletes being honored at the banquet, provided no recruiting conversation occurs.

Dead Period : During the dead period, coaches may not have any in-person contact with recruits or their families. Coaches can still keep in touch with recruits via phone, email, social media and other approved electronic means of communication.

• Division 1: November 6-9, 2023
• Division 2: November 6 (7 a.m.) to 8 (7 a.m.), 2023, (during the 48 hours prior to 7 a.m. on the initial date for the signing of the National Letter of Intent)
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