NCAA suspends all recruiting in Division I through April 15
The NCAA is suspending on-campus and off-campus recruiting for all Division I sports through April 15.
In the wake of the coronavirus threat, the NCAA has taken measures to mitigate any risks associated with the virus, and that now includes recruiting. The NCAA recently canceled remaining winter and spring championships, while some conferences have made decisions to further cancel competition.
That includes the Big Ten, which has suspended all athletic competition through April 6.
The decision was made by the Division I council coordination committee. Other divisional membership groups are meeting Friday and are expected to announce their individual decisions.
Suspending Division I recruiting is one more measure the NCAA is putting in place to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. The suspension eliminates unofficial visits through at least April 15.
If the suspension is lifted on April 15, the football recruiting calendar would then go into an evaluation period, as planned, where coaches will be able to travel off campus and conduct in-person evaluations.
The football recruiting calendar is currently in a quiet period, which means prospects are normally allowed to visit campuses but coaches are not able to make any contact off campus. That has changed because of the suspension, as have the rules that would normally allow junior recruits to take official visits in the first two weeks of April.
Men's and women's basketball, cross country and track, men's golf, lacrosse, women's volleyball and baseball are currently in the middle of a contact period, while softball is in an evaluation period.
The Under Armour Camp Series, which is annually hosted in multiple cities across the country and hosts some of the top football recruits in the nation, has also been postponed amid coronavirus concerns.
The combine-style event allows invited football prospects to compete in a series of athletic tests and also allows players to compete in 1-on-1 settings. Each year, a handful of players who participate in the camps are invited to play the prestigious Under Armour All-America Game each January.
Intersport, the company that runs the camp series, is hopeful it can reschedule the events at a later date. The camp series has already conducted events this year in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Orlando and Miami. The camp series was originally scheduled to continue in Dallas on Sunday and Houston on March 22. Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Baltimore are also among the remaining cities that were scheduled to host the camps before the coronavirus outbreak.
ESPN's Sam Khan Jr. contributed to this report.
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