NCAA removes cap on official recruiting visits in basketball to deal with unlimited transfers
South Florida guard Brandon Stroud attempts to knock the ball away from Charlotte forward Igor Milicic Jr. (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. Miličić Jr., one of the top big men in the American Athletic Conference at Charlotte last season, will play his final year at Tennessee. Volunteers coach Rick Barnes on Thursday, May 9, announced the addition of Miličić, who becomes the third transfer to join the team for 2024-25. Credit: AP/Matt Kelley
The NCAA has approved a waiver that will allow men's and women's basketball programs to pay for unlimited official recruiting visits to help teams deal with roster depletion caused by transfers, according to a memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
The Athletic first reported the approval of a blanket waiver by the men's and women's basketball oversight committees.
Currently, men's basketball programs are allowed 28 official visits over a rolling two-year period. The number for women's programs is 24.
The waiver will cover a two-year period, starting Aug. 1, 2023, and run through July 31, 2025. The NCAA Division I Council in June will consider proposed legislation that would lift the limit on official visits in men's and women's basketball permanently.
Last month, the NCAA changed its rules to allow all athletes to be immediately eligible to play no matter how many times they transfer — as long as they meet academic requirements. The move came after the association fast-tracked legislation to fall in line with a recent court order.
Several states, including West Virginia, sued the NCAA late last year, challenging rules requiring undergraduate athletes to sit out for a season if they transferred more than once.
With what amounts to unlimited and unrestricted transfers, player movement in basketball has increased and forced programs into a bind created by unusually high levels of roster turnover.
FILE -Seton Hall's Kadary Richmond (1) looks to pass during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Marquette Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, in Newark, N.J. tar guard Kadary Richmond is transferring to St. John’s from Seton Hall, staying close to home inside the Big East but switching sides in their Hudson River rivalry. Rated the top player still available in the transfer portal, the 6-foot-6 Richmond was a first-team all-Big East selection last season. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
In some cases, coaches are replacing almost an entire team. The scholarship limit in Division I for men's basketball is 13 and 15 for women's teams.
