Division I programs have to figure out ways to increase their budgets for luxury hotel rooms, airline tickets and swanky dinners after the NCAA announced Thursday that effective July 1 there will be unlimited official visits for prospects instead of the five visits that have been the norm for years.
Here are the key points:
· Prospects will no longer be restricted to five official visits but they will be limited to one official visit per school.
· In men's basketball, prospects still will be able to complete a second official visit to the same school provided the visits do not occur in the same academic year.
· If there is a coaching change after an official visit, another official visit to that school may be taken.
· The rules will take effect July 1.
“I think it’s great,” one college coach said. “It gives the kids a lot of options. I wonder if the NCAA will give us unlimited visits.”
Another coach: “I think five [official visits] a year is enough. I do think that with the transfer portal we [schools] definitely need unlimited visits.”
With unlimited visits, prospects will have an opportunity to visit more schools at no expense to their families. Now, when a prospect drops a Top-10 list, that list will carry more weight since that prospect may take official visits to all ten of those programs.
Since thousands of these kids will end up in the transfer portal anyway, make sure you stay up-to-date with all of the transfer portal coverage on the Rivals.com Network.
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Official visits may last no longer than a two-night stay, during which schools will be permitted to cover travel costs, transportation, meals and reasonable entertainment for up to two family members accompanying a prospect on that visit.
WHAT THE NCAA IS SAYING
"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, executive associate athletics director at Florida and 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."