Evaluations & Official Visits

Evaluations:

Any off-campus activity designed to evaluate the academic qualifications or athletics ability of a prospect, including the observation of a practice or competition.

Division I: Institutions are limited to seven recruiting opportunities (nor more than three of which can be contacts). Evaluations made during the summer do not count against the limit. An evaluation at a contest counts as an evaluation for all prospects competing in that contest.

Division II: There is no limit to the number of evaluations an institution may make.

Division III: There is no limit to the number of evaluations an institution may make.

Learn more about what coaches look for in lacrosse players here.

Unofficial Visits:

A prospect may visit an institution at the prospect’s own expense any number of times, and may visit a particular institution unofficially as often as they like.

Official Visits:

A prospect may accept an offer from a coach to make an official (paid) visit to their institution. The visit is limited to 48 hours in length, must occur after the opening day of classes of their senior year, and all meals and entertainment must be comparable to that of normal student life.

Division I/II: A prospect can make a maximum of five (5) official visits, but not more than one to a particular institution.

Division III: A prospect may make an unlimited number of visits, but not more than one to a particular institution. Official visits to Division III schools do not count against the maximum number of visits in Division I and II.

• What is an offical Visit?

  Any visit that is financed in whole or in part by an institution or in Division III by a representative of athletics interests (booster) is an official visit.

• When can a prospect make an offical visit?

  An expense-paid visit may not be provided until the opening day of classes of the prospect’s senior year in high school.

• How many visits may a prospect take?

  An institution may finance one visit to its campus for a prospect. A prospect may take five total official visits.

• Who else can finance an official visit?

  In Division III, any person may transport or pay the transportation costs of a prospect to visit the institution’s campus provided that person accompanies the prospect on the visit.

• What are the rules and regulations for transportation?

  An institution may pay the prospect’s actual round-trip transportation costs provided a direct route between the prospect’s home and the institution’s campus is used. It is permissible to pay a prospect’s actual costs for reasonable expenses (e.g., meals, lodging) incurred while traveling to and from campus. Also, any member of an institution’s athletics department staff may provide transportation for a prospect between the campus and the bus or train station or the nearest major airport.

• Who may receive transportation expenses?

  A prospect’s friends or relatives may receive cost-free transportation to visit an institution’s campus only by accompanying the prospect at the time the prospect travels in an automobile to visit the campus. However, the trip shall count as an official paid visit for each recruited student-athlete in the automobile.

• How long can an offical visit be?

  An official visit shall not exceed 48 hours and begins when the prospect arrives on campus. At the completion of the 48 hour period, the prospect must depart the campus immediately; otherwise, the institution may not pay any expenses incurred by the prospect upon departure.

• Where can a prospect stay?

  A prospect can be provided lodging as regular students would. Local commercial facilities may be used but at a scale comparable to that of normal student life. Additional persons may stay in the same room of a prospect, but the institution may not pay the costs resulting from the additional occupants.

• What type of entertainment can be provided?

  An institution may provide entertainment, which may not be excessive, for a prospect and a prospect’s parents or spouse and only within a 30-mile radius of the institution’s main campus. It is not permissible to entertain other relatives or friends of a prospect at any time at any side.

• Can a prospect receive cash for entertainment purposes?

  An institution or a booster may not provide cash to a prospect. However, the institution may provide $30 for each day of the visit to a student-host. These funds are to cover all actual costs of entertainment, excluding meals and admission to athletics events.

• What else can a student-host receive?

  It is permissible to provide the student-host with an additional $20 per day for each additional prospect the host entertains. Also, the host may receive a complimentary meal and a complimentary ticket provided the host is accompanied by the prospect.

Author: Janine Tucker, Johns Hopkins University