CONTACT DATES, INTENT & LIKELY LETTERS
Contact Dates
College coaches are not allowed to call you until July 1 before the start of your senior year. You are permitted to call or e-mail a college coach as often as you like, but do not abuse this privilege and acquire the dreaded “nuisance” tag. After July 1, a coach is limited to one outgoing phone call to you per week, except during these situations:
· 5 days before your official campus visit.
· On the day of a coach’s off-campus visit with you.
· On the initial date for signing the National Letter of Intent and two days after that.
Letter of Intent
At the NCAA D-I level, there is an early signing period and a late signing period where a coach will try to persuade his top recruits who have been offered athletic scholarships to sign a National Letter of Intent. This letter is a binding contract that guarantees the recruit will enroll at their school.
NCAA D-I and D-II schools must wait until September 1 of your junior year before sending you promotional items like school or team publications, media guides, and playing schedules.
Additional information can be found on the NCAA's National Letter of Intent website, http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/nli
Likely Letters
If you are offered an athletic scholarship, you must inform the college in either November or April if you are going to accept it. Since you will not hear from the admission or financial aid office until mid-April that you have been accepted to the school and offered a financial aid package, you will receive a “Likely Letter.”
This states whether you are likely or unlikely to be accepted to the school and receive a financial aid package. The “Likely Letter” allows you to make an informed decision about where to go to school, without forcing you to void the scholarship.
Back to Table of Contents | Chapter Section List | Next essay

