Unlimited Contact
Friday, June 15th was the day marked on the calendar when all the rules would change.
The date holds special significance every year because it signals the first chance coaches are permitted to contact prospects in the rising junior class (2014), but this year’s date holds double impact because it also marks the day the NCAA’s recently passed legislation becomes effective.
If you’re not familiar with the rule changes here is a simplification – college coaches now have no restrictions on the amount of times they can call or text a prospect whereas there were previous limitations on calls and text messages was totally banned.
The implications for coaches are straight forward, they get more direct access to the players they’re recruiting and ideally a better chance to cultivate a relationship with them. For prospects, the new legislation isn’t quite as simple.
On the surface it might not seem to have much of an impact, but the reality is that unlimited contact can be potentially overwhelming if prospects, their families and their coaches don’t do something to regulate their own recruitment.
ESPN published two pieces on Thursday both of which dealt with the potential implications for prospects and strategies they can use to set up appropriate boundaries. Click here and here to read those pieces.
Ultimately, the NCAA has stepped aside and so now it falls on prospects, and their core unit, to define what, if any, contact limitations are appropriate for them.
Hopefully they all will.