INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Administrative Committee adopted emergency legislation to implement a quiet period following the current recruiting dead period that runs through May 31 for all sports. During the quiet period, which will run from June 1-30, 2020, it will be permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution’s campus.
The Division II Administrative Committee’s action to enter a quiet period differed from the Division I Council Coordination Committee’s decision. Division I extended its temporary recruiting dead period for Division I coaches until June 30.
During a quiet period, a college coach may have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents on the college’s campus. Coaches also may write or telephone college-bound student-athletes or their parents during this time.
With the decision to move to a quiet period, Division II institutions will be permitted to host camps and clinics in June.
The Division II Administrative Committee emphasized that schools will still be subject to local and state health guidance and institutional and conference decisions regarding holding camps and clinics. As institutions begin to allow on-campus recruiting for all prospective students as their respective COVID-19 restrictions loosen, the committee stressed the importance that similar recruiting opportunities in athletics are allowed.
“While schools in some parts of the country will inevitably be able to open and bring prospective student-athletes on campus sooner than others, this decision was made in the interest of assisting our institutions with enrollment management during a challenging time for higher education,” said Sandra Jordan, chancellor of South Carolina Aiken and chair of the Division II Presidents Council.
The committee also issued a blanket waiver to permit a committed prospective student-athlete and current student-athletes to participate in voluntary, nonphysical team entertainment activities at the direction of a coaching staff member until the start of the institution’s fall 2020 term. A committed prospective student-athlete is someone who has signed a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid, or for whom the institution has received a financial deposit in response to its offer of admission.
In addition, the Division II Administrative Committee approved a blanket waiver for the 2019-20 academic year regarding progress-toward-degree requirements for all continuing Division II student-athletes due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within its decision to issue a blanket waiver for progress-toward-degree requirements for the 2019-20 academic year, the Administrative Committee waived the following requirements:
- NCAA credit-hour (term-by-term, academic year and annual) requirements.
- Grade-point average requirements.
- Transferable nine semester/eight quarter hours for student-athletes whose last full-time term of attendance was spring 2020.
- Average of 12 transferable credit-hour requirement for transfers with one season or two semesters/three quarters remaining, provided the student-athlete was on track to meet that requirement before the spring 2020 term.
Student-athletes must still be in good academic standing to be eligible for competition in the fall 2020 term, per institutional policy, and also meet all applicable progress-toward-degree requirements during the 2020-21 academic year. Institutions are still required to complete an eligibility list form for the 2020-21 academic year.
“We did not anticipate anything like COVID-19 impacting Division II this term, which is why we believe this scale of immediate relief is necessary now,” said Chris Graham, commissioner of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and chair of the Management Council. “Meeting progress-toward-degree requirements is still a priority for Division II’s mission. We remain committed to the established requirements moving forward.”
The Administrative Committee is composed of the chairs and vice chairs of the Division II Presidents Council and Management Council and one additional member of the Presidents Council. The committee is tasked with handling important Division II business in between quarterly meetings of the Presidents Council. It will meet next by teleconference May 20 to consider further action in response to COVID-19 impacts.
The actions were approved during the May 13, 2020, teleconference of the NCAA Division II Administrative Committee related to regulations and policies impacted by COVID-19. Go to the NCAA Division II Compliance page for more information.
Information courtesy National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
