The Division I Council announced Thursday evening that all Division I sports will return to their normal recruiting calendars beginning June 1.

This comes after the NCAA entered a recruiting dead period back on March 13, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. From there, the dead period was extended multiple times until the announcement from the NCAA today that recruits will be able to now visit schools in-person.

“We are delighted to announce that as of June 1, all sports will return to their normal recruiting calendars,” Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania, said. “We want to thank all prospective student-athletes, their families, coaches and current student-athletes for their patience as we determined the best way to move forward safely with recruiting in Division I.”

Along with the dead period being lifted, the Council made several adjustments to football recruiting, which includes issuing a waiver to allow on-campus evaluations during unofficial visits during camps and clinics in June and July with some restrictions.

Additionally, the Council approved a waiver allowing telephone calls during a prospective student-athletes’ junior year of high school. The waiver becomes effective August 1, and the calls are to follow this schedule, released by the Division I Council, in 2022:

• In January, beginning the Sunday after the American Football Coaches Association Convention, one call per week.
• No calls in February.
• One call per week in March.
• Calls at the school’s discretion in April and May.
• One call per week in June and July.
• Aug. 1 through the Saturday after the AFCA Convention:
  • Additional calls to prospective student-athletes or their family are not permitted before Sept. 1 of the beginning of their senior year in high school.
  • After Sept. 1, calls are limited to once per week outside a contact period and may be made at the school’s discretion during a contact period.

The Council also granted a waiver for any sport saying that school staff can participate in calls with an unlimited amount of uncommitted prospective student-athletes.

Additionally, a blanket waiver was approved allowing full-time institutional staff members and current coaches and students to initiate recruiting calls to prospective student-athletes whom an institution is permitted to call. The blanket waiver is in effect from June 1 to December 31.

As far as COVID-19 is concerned, the Council, at the recommendation of the Legislative Committee, advised the student-athlete reinstatement staff to provide flexibility to spring sport student-athletes when it comes to potential season-of-competition waivers. This waiver pertains to a potential extra year of eligibility for student-athletes.