September 29, 2011 in Articles by John

Primary college volleyball recruiting rules

College volleyball recruiting rules can sometimes be confusing. In some cases they don’t make a whole lot of sense. Some only really apply directly to the coaches, but others are important to know for prospective recruits as well. That being the case, here are the rules you are most likely to need to know as you through the college volleyball recruiting process. These are based on NCAA Division I rules, which are the most restrictive.

Campus visits
You are allowed to visit campus any time you like on your own dime. This is called an unofficial visit. With the exception of the designated dead periods, you can even spend time with the volleyball coach while you’re on campus. Official visits are the ones where the school pays for all or part of your expenses. You may only take one of these to any individual school, and five total.

Phone calls
College coaches may not call recruits until July 1st of the summer going into their senior year. There is no restriction on you calling the coach, however. You can do that whenever want and as often as you like. The coach will not be able to call you back, though, if it’s prior to the permissible calling start date. Also, the coach may only call you once per week except during the period immediately around and official visit.

Email
As with the case of phone calls, you can email a college volleyball coach whenever you want and as many times as you like (though I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a bit of restraint). The coaches, though, cannot email you beyond perhaps sending some very basic information and a questionnaire, until the start of your junior year in high school. There are no limits to the number of emails going back and forth after that.

Off-campus contact
College coaches can only have off-campus contact with recruits starting on July 1st prior to their senior year in high school. This goes for the parents as well (but does not apply to on-campus meetings, as noted above). Before that time, the best a coach can do is a basic greeting when a chance meeting occurs. So if you try to talk to a coach at an event and you don’t yet have senior status, they aren’t being rude in avoiding chatting with you. They’re just abiding by the rules.

There are also limits to how many times coaches are allowed to contact and/or evaluate a given recruit. That means you shouldn’t expect to see a given college coach at every one of your high school and/or club volleyball competitions.

Contact during competition
College coaches are restricted from talking with a recruit during competition until the player is released at the end by their coach. In the case of club competitions that run over multiple days, this means no personal contact until the end of the event. This includes the college coach getting messages to the player through their coach. It is permissible, however, for the coach to talk with a recruit’s parents during the competition.

Texting
Quite simply, coaches are not allowed to text or instant message recruits. This is something which is in flux, though, as this timeline shows. In other words, either check with the NCAA or a college coach for the current rules.

For more information…
As noted, the above comments are based on NCAA Division I rules. College volleyball recruiting rules for Division II, Division III and NAIA have some difference. Definitely give Inside College Volleyball a read for more detailed information. Also, feel free to consult the NCAA or NAIA rules applicable to the level of college volleyball you’re targeting.