Membership Newsletter
February 2021

DI Dead Period Extended to May 31

NCAA Division I Council has extended the recruiting dead period for all sports through May 31, continuing a ban on in-person recruiting that has been in place since the coronavirus pandemic began last March. The council said it will provide an update on a potential return to in-person recruiting no later than April 15, meaning there's a chance coaches will be able to attend events during the June and July live periods in men's and women's basketball. With the dead period potentially ending in June, it will have been at least 14 months since there were official campus visits for prospects or in-person evaluations by coaches. For basketball, the announcement means there will be no in-person evaluation during the two scheduled April live periods.

On the football side, the evaluation period from April 15 through May 31 will be off-limits to coaches. Watch for additional information available on ncaa.org and through the Eligibility Center’s social media channels and this newsletter.

DII Elimination of Nonqualifier Status

At the 2021 NCAA Convention, DII membership voted to eliminate the nonqualifier status and allow all PSAs access to athletics aid and practice through the partial qualifier status. This new legislation is applicable to student-athletes enrolling in Division II institutions on or after August 1, 2021. Click here to review the related FAQ.

Contacting the Eligibility Center

Did you know the Eligibility Center has dedicated phone lines for NCAA compliance administrators, PSAs and their families, high schools and the general public? Providing the membership call line to others can cause hold times and prevent us from prioritizing compliance administrators on that line. Below is a list of our Eligibility Center contact numbers that you can share with PSAs, their families and high schools:

NCAA Compliance Administrators (domestic or international inquiries): 877-544-2950.
PSAs and their families (Eligibility Center account inquiries): 877-262-1492.
PSA/Parents/General Public (legislative questions): 317-917-6008.
High School Administrators: 877-622-2321.

Please don’t provide the membership contact line to anyone who is not listed on your school’s list of NCAA contacts. Thanks for your collaboration as we work to ensure your calls can be answered promptly.

Updated Educational Resources

Some of our most popular resources have been updated recently. Please feel free to share with your coaches, PSAs and any high school administrators you work with!

Watch for additional updates and new resources in the coming months. Critical updates will also be posted via an MI Portal announcement as well as in this newsletter.

Regional Rules 2021

We want to hear from you! The Eligibility Center will be presenting our “Hot Topics” session at Regional Rules this spring. If you have suggestions on topics you would like to see addressed please send those to ecupdate@ncaa.org with “Regional Rules” in the subject line.