What Does "Recruited Athlete" Mean?

quote:

Does calling a kid a "recruit" trigger any special rules with the NCAA?

In a word, no. But, you'll want to make sure you are registered with the NCAA Clearinghouse.


The NCAA Guide for the College Bound Athlete defines a prospective student athlete when someone starts the "ninth grade or before your ninth grade if a college give you or your relatives any financial assistnace or benefits that the college doesn't provide to student generally". That is it. So no difference between recruited athlete, recruit or prospect from the NCAA officially.

I think it may trigger some restrictions if attempting to transfer from the original school.

Does it have any meaning in Division III?

For D3....The same NCAA definition of prospective student athlete applies however you don't have to register with the NCAA clearinghouse for D3.

There is a free download for the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete. Click on the PDF icon for the download.

NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete

Very helpful. Thanks.

Herodotus,
The rules for all three NCAA divisions go to the trouble of defining the criteria that cause a prospective student athlete to become recruited. (D1: 13.02.13.1; D2: 13.02.10.1; D3: 13.02.8.1). As mentioned above, being recruited can cause a player to need to sit out a year if transferring to a D1 school from any 4 year school. It also affects companions on official visits and whether a student may be employed by the school prior to enrollment. As a practical matter, it affects the timing of signing the drug-testing consent form. I suspect there are other ramifications.

But probably fenwaysouth has interpreted your question correctly: for most purposes, being recruited isn't significant to the rules.