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New Lacrosse Recruiting Rule Poised To Make September 1 “A Mad Dash”

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By LeagueApps
April 24, 2017
2 min
Credit: Sarah Michaels / Pretty Instant

Credit: Sarah Michaels / Pretty Instant

It’s been a little over a week now since news broke about NCAA proposal 2017-1, which prohibits recruiting contact with prospective student-athletes and their families before September 1 of their junior year in high school. After some initial frenzy, it appears things on the recruiting trail are beginning to slow down.

The purpose of the new recruiting rule is to curb the recently accelerated recruiting process that has seen PSAs as young as middle-school-age “verbally commit” to colleges.

The proposal was submitted jointly by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLCA). It was also endorsed by US Lacrosse.

The proposal passed on April 14 and went into effect immediately. The most immediate effect comes for prospective student-athletes in the classes of 2019, 2020, and 2021.

“The new recruiting rule is great for the game and will give players more time to develop and coaches more time to evaluate the talent and have a better idea of what kids really like both on and off the field,” LeagueApps Director of Lacrosse Ned Crotty said.

Read Why Ned Crotty Believes Playing Multiple Sports Will Better Help Players Get Recruited.

LeagueApps partner and Ultimate Lacrosse director Michele DeJuliis agrees. However, there was some initial confusion after passing.

“There are some kids that unfortunately are caught in the middle. Some of those ’19s and ’20s were in the process of visiting and potentially committing that now have to hold off. The bottom line is now they don’t have to rush to get to this visit and that visit before they get into the summer and that frenzy. We did think it was going to be a madhouse trying to scoop up the remaining ’19s and ’20s before that rule went into effect. I think it threw everybody off that it was immediate.”

“College coaches are sending email blasts out saying that, ‘The kids we were watching, we’ll continue to watch you and go through the process the right way,’” Ultimate coach Jenny Duckenfield said. “There will still be communication through the coaches and still through the club coaches.

“The process is going to slow down, but it’s not going to be immediate because I think you’re going to have coaches that want to get their kids and line them up to keep them.”

This summer might be slow. But, one date that Ned believes will stand out on the calendar is September 1.

“It puts 2019’s and 2020’s that were talking to coaches in an awkward spot because they were talking to coaches and some were getting closer to commit, and now they’re left in limbo, which is why I think September 1 of this year will be a mad dash,” he said.

To view more reactions, read this US Lacrosse Magazine article here.