Recruiting Rundown: Takeaways From Calendar Changes

What are some key points to remember as the Division I council revamps the calendar?

Recruiting is in for a big change as the D-I council approved several changes to the recruiting calendar on Thursday. It was first reported by ESPN's TomVanHaaren.

VanHaaren said that the changes "were implemented in hopes to modernize the recruiting calendar and adapt to the ongoing changes that coaches and recruits are experiencing in the current recruiting landscape."

It's been a while since the calendar has been updated, and recruiting itself is rather archaic in some respects. While there is a lot of nuance and changes regarding when and in what fashion schools can contact recruits, here are some of the main points recruiting fans need to know.

Official Visits

This part wasn't in VanHaaren's reports, but directly from the NCAA media center. In short, prospects are no longer limited to five total official visits. Instead, recruits are limited to one official visit per school, but they can officially visit as many schools as they please.

Two elements jump out with this change. First, it allows for more schools to showcase their campus to top prospects who previously didn't want to use an official visit. If a player has six schools on his list, and one of those schools is on the other side of the country, he now can visit without the fear of wasting one.

Time

Another addendum is that instead of 168 days, programs now only have 140 recruiting days.

This is where it might get dicey. The window that programs have to perform recruiting duties has shrunk by almost a month. How much of a difference it'll make is to be determined, but the idea of having less time to do your job is rarely welcomed with open arms. If violations were to occur within the new policies, it'll likely be related to the smaller timeframe.

Contacting Sophomores

This might be the most impactful of the three; all activities will now be allowed on June 15 at the conclusion of a prospect's sophomore year of high school.

Basketball could already directly contact sophomores, but football had to wait until Sept. 1 of a player's junior year for the same privilege. The consequences of this may be untold; how many more recruits would commit early? Does it give more leverage to out-of-state programs? How much of a risk is it to engage with a 15 or 16-year-old with two more years of high school football left?

Tide-bits

• Even though all of the major programs have staff members solely dedicated to handling recruiting logistics, it wouldn't be a surprise if a program makes a mistake as everyone gets acclimated to the new rules

• The two offensive linemen in the 2025 class are both from Georgia. Mason Short and Dontrell Glover, are far from the only great lineman prospects, but to consistently recruit in Georgia's backyard is impressive.

Recruits to Remember

• RB Caden Durham (2024) - 5 feet, 9 inches, 180 pounds, Duncanville (Tex.) High School, consensus 4-star recruit

• OT Nicolai Brooks (2025) - 6 feet, 8 inches, 330 pounds, Buford (Ga.) High School

• DL Travis Jackson (2024) - 6 feet, 4 inches, 230 pounds, Tyler (Tex.) Legacy High School

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