Plain definitions of recruiting terms.

Amateurism certification is the Eligibility Center's review of an athlete's sports history to confirm they have kept amateur status under NCAA rules. It looks at things like competing with professionals or accepting certain benefits. Name, image, and likeness activity is allowed and does not by itself end amateur status, but the athlete must still be certified.

See also: The NCAA Eligibility Center for parents

A contact period is a stretch when a college coach may have in-person contact with a recruit and family both on and off campus, and may watch the athlete compete. It is the most open part of the recruiting calendar. What a coach may do shifts between contact, evaluation, quiet, and dead periods.

See also: When coaches may first contact your athlete

Core courses are the specific high school classes in required subject areas that the NCAA Eligibility Center reviews to decide academic eligibility. They accumulate across all four years of high school, starting in ninth grade. Families should plan them early with the school counselor and track which classes count.

See also: The NCAA Eligibility Center for parents

A dead period is a stretch of the recruiting calendar when coaches may not have in-person contact with recruits or their families, on or off campus. Coaches can still write and call during a dead period. Dead periods change by sport and year, so confirm the current NCAA calendar.

See also: When coaches may first contact your athlete

The NCAA Eligibility Center is the office that certifies whether an incoming athlete is academically and amateur eligible to compete at Division I or Division II. It reviews core courses and amateurism. Division III does not use it for certification, and the NAIA runs its own separate eligibility center.

See also: The NCAA Eligibility Center for parents

An equivalency sport is one where a program can divide its available athletic aid among many athletes, so partial scholarships are common. Coaches in equivalency sports often combine a partial athletic award with academic aid to build an offer. Most college sports are equivalency sports.

See also: Division I · Scholarships by division

An evaluation period is a stretch when a college coach may watch a recruit compete or visit their school to assess them, but may not have off-campus in-person conversations with the athlete or family. Coaches evaluate during this window and save in-person recruiting for a contact period. Calls and messages are still allowed.

See also: When coaches may first contact your athlete

A headcount sport is one where a program awards full scholarships to a set number of athletes, and each scholarship athlete counts as one against the limit. There are far fewer headcount sports than equivalency sports. In a headcount sport an offer is generally a full scholarship rather than a fraction.

See also: Division I · Scholarships by division

A highlight film is a short edited video that shows an athlete's best and most representative plays, usually with the athlete clearly marked. It is the single most important recruiting asset in most sports, since coaches watch film before they invest more time. A good film leads with the skills coaches at the athlete's level ask for.

See also: How to email a college coach

A junior college is a two-year college where athletes can compete, often in the NJCAA, before transferring to a four-year school. It offers a route to develop, raise grades, or gain playing time. NJCAA Division I colleges may offer full athletic scholarships, Division II is limited to tuition, fees, and books, and Division III offers no athletic scholarships.

See also: Junior college recruiting

The NAIA is a separate association of mostly smaller four-year colleges that compete outside the NCAA. NAIA schools offer athletic scholarships on a sport-specific equivalency basis, so awards can be split among athletes. The NAIA runs its own eligibility center, separate from the NCAA's, so athletes considering NAIA schools register there.

See also: NAIA recruiting

A National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a signed agreement in which an athlete commits to attend a specific college for one academic year in exchange for athletics aid. Signing an NLI is binding and ends recruiting from other schools. It is the formal step that follows a verbal commitment.

NIL stands for name, image, and likeness, the right of college athletes to earn money from their own identity, such as through endorsements or appearances. NIL activity is allowed and does not by itself end amateur status. Athletes should keep clear records of NIL earnings, since it can be part of what amateurism certification reviews.

An official visit is a campus visit where the college is allowed to pay for some of the athlete's costs, such as travel, lodging, and meals, within NCAA rules. There are limits on how many official visits an athlete may take and when they may take them. An official visit usually signals that a program has real interest.

A preferred walk-on is an athlete a coaching staff actively recruits and guarantees a roster spot, but without an athletic scholarship. It sits between a scholarship offer and an open tryout. Preferred walk-ons are counted on by the staff even though they are not on athletic aid.

A quiet period is a stretch when a college coach may have in-person contact with a recruit only on the coach's own campus. Coaches may not watch the athlete compete or visit them off campus during a quiet period. Calls and messages are still allowed.

See also: When coaches may first contact your athlete

A recruiting questionnaire is an online form on a college athletics website where a prospect enters their contact, academic, and athletic information. Filling one out puts an athlete into a program's recruiting database. It is a first step that shows interest, though it is rarely enough on its own to start a real conversation.

See also: How to email a college coach

A redshirt year is a season an athlete sits out of competition while still practicing and receiving aid, which preserves a year of playing eligibility for later. Athletes redshirt to develop, recover from injury, or wait behind older players. A redshirt still uses a year of enrollment but not a year of competition.

A roster limit is a cap on how many athletes a team may carry. From July 1, 2025, Division I schools that opted into the House v. NCAA settlement replaced sport-by-sport scholarship limits with roster limits and may put any rostered athlete on scholarship. The roster limit now sets the ceiling on squad size at those schools.

See also: Division I · Scholarships by division

A showcase is an event where many athletes perform in front of college coaches and scouts, often organized by sport or region. Showcases give coaches an efficient way to evaluate a lot of recruits at once. They work best when an athlete has already reached out to the coaches who will attend.

See also: The recruiting timeline by grade

The transfer portal is the NCAA's database of college athletes who have entered their name to signal they intend to transfer to another school. Once an athlete is in the portal, other programs may contact them. It has made college rosters more fluid, since coaches recruit experienced players from it as well as high school recruits.

An unofficial visit is a campus visit the family pays for themselves. Because the college is not covering costs, athletes can make unofficial visits earlier and more often than official ones. It is a low-pressure way to see a school and meet a coaching staff.

A verbal commitment is a spoken agreement between an athlete and a college that the athlete intends to attend and compete there. It is not binding on either side, so a verbal commitment can be changed by the athlete or the program. It becomes formal only when signed paperwork follows.

A walk-on is an athlete who joins a college team without an athletic scholarship. Walk-ons compete and train with the team and can sometimes earn aid later. The path is common at every level, and at Division III all roster spots are effectively walk-on since no athletic scholarships are offered.