The recruiting calendar was altered again Wednesday when the NCAA extended its current mandatory dead period for Division I and Division II schools from April 15 to May 31 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The move means coaches can’t schedule any official or unofficial on-campus or in-house visits with recruits until the end of next month. Coaching staffs are permitted to connect with recruits by phone and digital communication, including email, text and social media direct messages.
The majority of campuses are closed, with universities shifting to online classes for the remainder of the academic year. Some schools, including Ohio State and Duke, have canceled summer school.
The majority of states, including Florida, have issued shelter-in-place orders.
“We’re trying to do as much as we can,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said when asked about recruiting limitations. “Electronic correspondence, text messages, having guys call us and FaceTime our staff to get as much of that face-to-face interaction as possible. We continue to try and build on the content that we can show kids online and showcasing all aspects of our program.
“But the thing that these kids want to see is our staff. They want to get a chance to be around us and to get a sense of who we are and what we’re all about.”
The first few weeks of April typically would be considered a quiet period in football recruiting, during which high school prospects can only schedule on-campus recruiting visits. For basketball, most of the month of March and April are heavy recruiting times, with coaching staffs able to make in-house visits.
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