Big Changes in Baseball Recruiting in The NCAA Division 1

Looking into factors that have led to this decision and what the new rule means for players and recruiters.

Changes have been made for college baseball recruiting at the Division 1 level, as the NCAA made clear this month. 

A recent decision for the division includes a baseball recruiting model that limits contact between recruiters and players. No contact with the recruit or with their family is allowed until August 1st of their junior year.

There are a lot of potential reasons for this rule needing to be added, however, this is how division one softball has been doing it for years. The only sport where this rule is not in place is in D1 football.

Lots of players tend to commit to a school incredibly early. They are good, talented, and young. The high school standouts are excited. Because of this, a lot a cases have happened where players decide they actually want to play for somewhere else, have better offers after they commit, or are injured before their career starts.

According to the Legislative Services Database, this type of contact includes phone calls, and each player is limited to seven offers from schools. This is helpful for star athletes in narrowing down their options without being overwhelmed.

This rule has a lot of potential to be beneficial for young athletes early on in their careers as it keeps them being bombarded with calls during their freshman year of high school -- a time crucial to development.