After a number of schools proactively hit pause with on- and off-campus recruiting on their own, the NCAA is now stepping into the fold.
And instead of just a few schools sitting out recruiting, all of them will. Such is the case after a new directive from Indianapolis.
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman was the first to report the news:
NCAA has suspended all recruiting on and off campus for all sports until at least April 15, source told @Stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 13, 2020
The move will take place in the form of a sport (and sports)-wide dead period. That will result in no face-to-face contact between coaches and recruits. Texting or phoning is still allowed so it’s not like there will be no activity going on, however. Unofficial or official visits, Junior Days, and the like will be halted.
The ACC, SEC, Big Ten and others already implemented such a stop. This is taking one step further into the next month.
The April 15 day this lasts until is notable for college football. On the normal NCAA recruiting calendar, that would be when coaches are free to hit the road as part of the spring evaluation period. It remains to be seen if they’ll still be crossing the country then but decisions about that will be made later as the fallout from the coronavirus continues to impact the sports calendar.