Recruiting Lingo
NCAA Eligibility Center Through a required registration process, the Center determines whether you are academically eligible to participate in Division I or II athletics. You must be certified through the Center before you can receive an athletic scholarship, and, consequently, practice or compete for the college or university in your initial year of enrollment.
Competition site Facilities where athletic competitions are held, including locker rooms or meeting spaces that are used in conjunction with a tournament, match or game.
Contact Extended face-to-face dialog between you or your parent/legal guardian and an institutional staff member or representative of an athletic department.
Contact period Head or assistant coaches may make in-person, off-campus contacts with recruits during this time.
Quiet period Shhhh. This is when college athletic department staff cannot leave their campus to make in-person recruiting contacts. However, they can make recruiting contacts with you if you happen to be wandering around their campus.
Dead period Period during which you may not officially or unofficially visit schools, and coaches may not make recruiting contacts with you, by any means of communication [e.g., phone, email, post, etc].
Evaluation period D-I and D-II head or assistant coaches are permitted to visit your high school to assess your academic qualifications and observe your playing abilities in practice and/or games. They may not make any contact with you during this period.
Equivalency sport A sport [e.g., soccer, baseball, volleyball] with a fixed number of scholarships that can be divided among two or more athletes on a team. Example: a D-I soccer coach can distribute 10.5 scholarships to any number of athletes on the team, which mean most players will receive partial scholarships.
Headcount sport A sport [e.g., football, basketball] with a maximum number of athletes that can be on scholarship in any given year. Example: men’s D-I football may award only 13 scholarships each year. So if you receive a scholarship, only 12 of your teammates can get one in that year.
Official visit An all-expenses paid trip where the school picks up your tab. This can only occur after your first day of class as a high school senior. Choose your visits wisely—you only get five.
Unofficial visit A visit to a college/university that you pay for. Unlike official visits, you can take an unlimited number of unofficial visits before your senior year.
Representative of athletics interest An independent agency, corporate entity [e.g., apparel or equipment manufacturer] or individual who is authorized by a university to participate in promoting the school’s athletic program, contribute financially to the athletic department and assist in recruiting prospective student-athletes.
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Recruiting Lingo
NCAA Eligibility Center Through a required registration process, the Center determines whether you are academically eligible to participate in Division I or II athletics. You must be certified through the Center before you can receive an athletic scholarship, and, consequently, practice or compete for the college or university in your initial year of enrollment.
Competition site Facilities where athletic competitions are held, including locker rooms or meeting spaces that are used in conjunction with a tournament, match or game.
Contact Extended face-to-face dialog between you or your parent/legal guardian and an institutional staff member or representative of an athletic department.
Contact period Head or assistant coaches may make in-person, off-campus contacts with recruits during this time.
Quiet period Shhhh. This is when college athletic department staff cannot leave their campus to make in-person recruiting contacts. However, they can make recruiting contacts with you if you happen to be wandering around their campus.
Dead period Period during which you may not officially or unofficially visit schools, and coaches may not make recruiting contacts with you, by any means of communication [e.g., phone, email, post, etc].
Evaluation period D-I and D-II head or assistant coaches are permitted to visit your high school to assess your academic qualifications and observe your playing abilities in practice and/or games. They may not make any contact with you during this period.
Equivalency sport A sport [e.g., soccer, baseball, volleyball] with a fixed number of scholarships that can be divided among two or more athletes on a team. Example: a D-I soccer coach can distribute 10.5 scholarships to any number of athletes on the team, which mean most players will receive partial scholarships.
Headcount sport A sport [e.g., football, basketball] with a maximum number of athletes that can be on scholarship in any given year. Example: men’s D-I football may award only 13 scholarships each year. So if you receive a scholarship, only 12 of your teammates can get one in that year.
Official visit An all-expenses paid trip where the school picks up your tab. This can only occur after your first day of class as a high school senior. Choose your visits wisely—you only get five.
Unofficial visit A visit to a college/university that you pay for. Unlike official visits, you can take an unlimited number of unofficial visits before your senior year.
Representative of athletics interest An independent agency, corporate entity [e.g., apparel or equipment manufacturer] or individual who is authorized by a university to participate in promoting the school’s athletic program, contribute financially to the athletic department and assist in recruiting prospective student-athletes.
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