I was encouraged by a longtime HSBBW member and contributor to share the following info which we included in our email newsletter sent out this morning to our clients and subscribers.
"Effective immediately, the NCAA has eliminated the National Letter of Intent Program. Instead, some of the same rules and conditions that had been part of the NLI will now be incorporated into athletic scholarship agreements issued by each university.
The NLI program has been used by NCAA Division I and II athletic programs for many years to sign high school and junior college recruits to a commitment to attend their universities.
Here are a few key points of what that means for high school and junior college recruits and their families.
- Official signing dates will still be determined each year. The initial signing date for this year for baseball (and all other D1 and D2 sports other than football) is Nov. 13.
- Once a recruit signs an athletic scholarship agreement with a university, coaches from all other universities are required to stop recruiting that athlete.
- Unlike the former National Letter of Intent, which athletes had to sign within 7 days of issuance, there is no specific deadline to sign an athletic scholarship agreement with a university. That will depend upon the scholarship policies of each university.
- Also unlike the former National Letter of Intent that required a parent or legal guardian to sign an NLI for any prospect under the age of 21, there is no NCAA requirement for a parent or legal guardian signature on the scholarship agreement. This will also depend upon the scholarship policies of each university (or upon applicable state laws)."
For anybody who has a specific question, you can send me a DM or you can contact me at rick@informedathlete.com.
