NCAA to Scrap the Need for National Letter of Intent

On3 reported that the NCAA is making a major change when it comes to recruits signing with schools.

Florida Gators' signee Gavin Hill (far right) signs with the Florida Gators alongside high school teammates Jaren Hamilton (Alabama), Creed Whittemore (Mississippi State), Ja'Carree Kelly (Delaware) and Buchholz head coach Mark Whittemore. / Doug Engle / USA TODAY NETWORK

On Wednesday, news came out that the NCAA Division I Council is making yet another change to high school and college athletics by agreeing to scrap the use of the National Letter of Intent (NLI), per On3’s Pete Nakos.

Instead, it looks like they will pivot to just using financial aid, scholarship agreements and similar agreements going forward. Additionally, Nakos states that because of the introduction of revenue sharing in 2025-26, a new binding agreement for student-athletes and college was needed. 

The NLI is a binding agreement between school and student athletes. According to NCSA College Recruiting, it “indicates the student-athlete has agreed to attend the chosen college for one academic year and the college has agreed to provide athletic financial aid for one academic year.”

However, if the student-athlete decides that they want to enter the transfer portal and enroll at a different school after just one year, they can. When this happens, most sign an athletic aid agreement anyways, according to On3. 

If it actually comes to fruition and there are no late, unexpected changes, then National Signing Days could look very different. But then again, maybe not. The ceremonies for high school athletes will most likely still take place, it would just be different documents being signed and sent over to the schools.  

As for the governing body who is/was looking over the NLI that would be the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA), which advocated for the change.

According to Nakos, the CCA held talks as recently as September about the idea of ridding the NLI, and while this would be removed, according to the proposal, the NCAA would still use like-minded aid offers in its place. 

This is definitely a big change from the NCAA, but it seems like there’s going to be constant reworking of the sporting legislature from the NCAA with how Name, Image and Likeness was introduced and all the side effects that came with it. 

If that is the case, buckle up everyone because it could be a bumpy next couple of years for college and high school athletics.