NCAA Announces Significant Change to Official Visit Rules for Recruits

Official visits are going to be looking much different for future recruiting classes across college athletics.

The NCAA’s Division I Council met this week and tackled a host of topics, including one wide-sweeping change that affects recruiting across college athletics.

Effective July 1, there will be new recruiting rules for official and unofficial visits. Prospects will no longer have a limit on the number of schools they can visit on official visits. However, prospects will be limited to one official visit per school. The only time that prospects will be allowed a second official visit is if there is a coaching change that takes place after the first official visit has been taken.

In men’s basketball, prospects will still be able to take a second official visit as they usually have, but the visits can not occur within the same academic year.

In addition, official visits may last “no longer than a two-night stay” per the updated rules. Schools are permitted to cover travel costs, transportation and meals, as well as “reasonable entertainment” for up to two family members who accompany the prospect on a visit.

“For young people considering where to go to college, visits to campus - both official and unofficial - are an integral part of the decision-making process,” said Lynda Tealer, the chair of the Division I Council. “This was an opportunity to modernize NCAA rules in a way that provides greater and more meaningful opportunities for prospects going through the recruitment process.”