There have been some significant changes to the rules for NCAA Division II coaches when it comes to contact and communication. College coaches at the Division II level are now able to call, email, text, and use social media with potential recruits beginning June 15th of their sophomore year. I want to clarify, this is not June 15th of your Freshman year going into your Sophomore year, it’s June 15th of your Sophomore year going into your Junior year. Division II college coaches are also allowed UNLIMITED on or off campus contact with you.
Prior to these changes, Division II college coaches were unable to reach out to you until September 1st of your Junior year in high school. They were limited to 1 phone call per week beginning June 15th before the beginning of your Senior year. They were also only allowed 3 in-person contacts with a student athlete during a senior academic year of high school. They were unable to text or instant message you until after you had signed a National Letter of Intent.
A Division II coach is now able to take you on an off-campus tour around the city when you visit their school and take your family to lunch or dinner. They are also able to come to visit you in your home.
When it comes to the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, the college coaches are not able to post anything on your wall or mention you on Twitter, or the use of chat rooms and message boards. They are restricted to using the direct messaging or email functions only. The coaches may not contact you during games. However, the fact that they can use any social media site is a concern and I suggest having a very serious conversation with your student athletes about there posts. Be sure that all your “updates” on your student athletes wall are positive! Do not say anything negative about your team, coach, teammates or your personal life. Just because you are having a bad day doesn’t mean you need to share it with the world.
Your Facebook page, Twitter page, and all other social media websites should be a professional representation of who you are as a student athlete! Remember, college coaches are potentially investing up to $250,000 on your future! They want to recruit role model students who can make a positive contribution to their team and university.
The changes to the rules do not affect the rules to members of NCAA Division I. College coaches are still restricted to contacting you until September 1st of your Junior year. This does not mean that as a student athlete you cannot talk with a coach at a Division 1 program. The NCAA guidelines state that as a student athlete you can call, or email a coach at anytime and the college coaches suggest you reach out to them. For further information on understanding college recruiting please do not hesitate to call me at (714) 323-8088 or email me at Kara@myrecruitingsolutions.com .