The recruiting calendar is built around contact periods — defined windows when college coaches are, and are not, allowed to communicate with prospects or watch them compete. Knowing the shape of the year stops you reading silence as rejection.
The shape of the year
- Contact and evaluation periods: coaches may email, call and watch you compete.
- Quiet periods: coaches can talk to you but not evaluate you in person off-campus.
- Dead periods: little to no contact, often around exams and championship dates.
- The college season itself runs through the autumn, so coaches are busiest mid-season.
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Why timing matters more than talent
A coach who goes quiet in October is often simply in the middle of their season, not losing interest. Equally, rosters fill early at competitive programmes, so a delay in starting your recruitment can mean a class is already full before you make contact. Map your plan against the calendar, not against your emotions.
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Dates shift each year and differ by division. Treat this as the shape of the timeline, then confirm exact windows for your target division before you plan around them.
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