NCAA Contact Period Begins Friday
Today marks the beginning of the NCAA contact period, meaning division I college coaches are permitted to conduct “in-person, off-campus evaluations and contacts.”
Essentially, that means coaches are permitted to attend school workouts and meet with prospects and their families for in-home visits.
For New England in particular, this means it’s the beginning of “open gym season.”
While the contact period allows coaches to evaluate prospects, they are only allowed to do so at the prospect’s high school gym and only when they are playing solely with students from that high school.
In other words, division I coaches are not permitted to attend AAU tournaments, showcases, or other fall exposure events. Further, they aren’t even permitted to attend school workouts unless 100% of the players come solely from that school.
Unfortunately, NCAA rules don’t mesh very well with most high school association rules, which often times prohibit out of season workouts. That’s not to say public schools are never able to host college coaches in the fall, but because the respective high school coaches aren’t able to organize and/or coordinate the workouts it becomes much more difficult.
By contrast, the beginning of the contact period means most prep schools are about to start their open gym schedules, which typically consists of prospects simply playing pick-up while college coaches look on.
As in years past, the New England Recruiting Report will be hitting the prep circuit hard this fall, not just reporting on the whereabouts of college coaches but also updating on all of the new talent that comes into the region.
Earlier this week we got a sneak peak at Marianapolis Prep, Putnam Science Academy, and Worcester Academy. This weekend, we’ll head to Northfield Mount Hermon and Vermont Academy with several other trips already scheduled for next week.
Of course while the New England Recruiting Report covers the prep scene this fall, we’ll also continue to provide recruiting coverage, recaps, and other news on all of the region’s top prospects.