Beginning August 1, 1998
August 1 through September 8, 1998: Quiet Period
September 9 through September 26, 1998: Contact Period
September 27 through November 8, 1998: Quiet Period
November 9 through November 12, 1998 (The National Letter of Intent cannot be hand delivered during this time; it must be mailed.): Dead Period
November 13 through November 18, 1998: Quiet Period
November 19, 1998 through March 15, 1999 [except for (1) below] - 40 evaluation days selected at the discretion of the institution and designated in writing in the office of the director of athletics; institutional staff members may not visit a prospect's educational institution on more than one day per week during this period: Evaluation Period
March 16 through March 22, 1999: Contact Period
March 23 through March 24, 1999: Quiet Period
March 25 through March 30, 1999 (noon): Dead Period
March 30 (noon) through March 31, 1999 (8 a.m.): Quiet Period
March 31 (8 a.m.) through April 4, 1999: Contact Period
April 5 through April 8, 1999 (The National Letter of Intent cannot be hand delivered during this time; it must be mailed.): Dead Period
April 9 through April 14, 1999: Contact Period
April 15 through July 7, 1999: Quiet Period
July 8 through July 31, 1999: Evaluation Period
Recruiting
You become a "prospective student-athlete" when you start ninth-grade classes. Before the ninth grade, you become a prospective student-athlete if a college gives you (or your relatives or friends) any financial aid or other benefits that the college does not provide to prospective students generally.
You become a "recruited prospective student-athlete" at a particular college if any coach or representative of the college's athletics interests (booster or representative) approaches you (or any member of your family) about enrolling and participating in athletics at that college. Activities by coaches or boosters that cause you to become a recruited prospective student-athlete are:
Division I
In addition to general recruiting regulations, no alumni, boosters or representatives of a college's athletics interests can be involved in your recruiting. There can be no phone calls or letters from boosters.
The restriction doesn't apply to recruiting by alumni or representatives as part of a college's regular admissions program for all prospective students, including nonathletes.
You (or your family) may not receive any benefit, inducement or arrangement such as cash, clothing, cars, improper expenses, transportation, gifts or loans to encourage you to sign a National Letter of Intent or attend an NCAA college.
Letters from coaches, faculty members and students (but not boosters) aren't permitted until September 1 at the beginning of your junior year.
Telephone Calls
In all sports other than football, phone calls from faculty members and coaches (but not boosters) are not permitted until July 1 after completion of your junior year. After this, in sports other than football, a college coach or faculty member is limited to one telephone call per week to you (or your parents or legal guardians), except that unlimited calls to you (or your parents or legal guardians) may be made under the following circumstances:
You (or your parents) may telephone a coach at your expense as often as you wish.
Coaches also may accept collect calls from you and may use a toll-free (1-800) number to receive telephone calls from you on or after July 1 after completion of your junior year.
Enrolled student-athletes may not make recruiting telephone calls to you. Enrolled students (nonathletes) may telephone you as part of a college's regular admissions program directed at all prospective students. Enrolled students (including student-athletes) may receive telephone calls at your expense on or after July 1 after completion of your junior year.
Contacts
A college coach may contact you in person off the college campus only on or after July 1 after completion of your junior year. Any face-to-face meeting between a college coach and you or your parents, during which any of you say more than "hello" is a contact. Also, any face-to-face meeting that is prearranged or that occurs at your high school or competition or practice site is a contact, regardless of the conversation. These contacts are not permissible "bumps."
Currently in all sports other than football, coaches may contact you off the college campus no more than three times. However, a college coach may visit your high school (with the approval of your high-school principal) only once a week during a contact period.
Evaluations
An evaluation is any off-campus activity used to assess your academic qualifications or athletics ability, including a visit to your high school (during which no contact occurs) or watching you practice or compete at any site.
Basketball coaches have five "recruiting opportunities" to utilize on you during any year. In using those five opportunities, a basketball coach may use any combination of contacts and/or evaluations that equal five; however, not more than three of the opportunities may be contacts. In all sports, competition on consecutive days within a tournament (and normally at the same site) or that involves a tier of a tournament (e.g., regional) counts as a single evaluation. In addition, once you sign a National Letter of Intent, you may be evaluated an unlimited number of times by a college coach from the college with which you have signed.
In football and basketball only, there are certain periods (see below) when a coach may contact you off the college campus and/or attend your practices and games to evaluate your athletics ability. In all other sports, contacts and evaluations may occur anytime except during a dead period.
The National Letter of Intent is administered by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, not the NCAA. There are restrictions on signing a National Letter of Intent that may affect your eligibility. These restrictions are contained in the letter of intent. Read it carefully. If you have questions about the National Letter of Intent signing dates or restrictions about signing, contact the conference office of the college you are interested in attending. Please note that some conferences don't subscribe to the National Letter of Intent program.
Remember, do not sign any institutional or conference letter of intent (or financial aid agreement) before the National Letter of Intent signing date.
1998-99 National Letter of Intent Signing Dates
(Approved by Collegiate Commissioners Association)
Basketball (Early Period)
Basketball (Late Period)