Significant changes are coming to the men’s college basketball calendar.
The NCAA Division I Council met this week to approve a litany of NCAA-wide legislative changes, all of which are scheduled to take effect in January 2024. Those changes range from elevating requirements to apply to be a Division I institution, to updating punishments for college athletes who gamble, to new protections and protocols for name, image and likeness endeavors.
In college basketball, the most pertinent reforms pertained to a major makeover of the recruiting calendar and changing the transfer portal window.
Calendar overhaul coming in 2024
In July, CBS Sports reported on a proposed recruiting calendar that was significantly updated for the transfer portal era. The calendar received near-universal support and was the endeavor of Baylor coach Scott Drew. After previous endorsement from the men’s basketball oversight committee, sources told CBS Sports that the D-I Council on Wednesday approved the majority of that calendar (with some minor tweaks to be made official soon).
April will no longer have an evaluation period for college coaches to scout high school prospects. Because there are so many transfers in the modern game, that month is now being prioritized by coaches to re-establish their rosters and use their recruiting time to either host transfers or fly to visit them in their home areas. It’s a major change, but a necessary one, according to coaches and support staff.
In May, there will be one non-scholastic recruiting weekend in addition to an elongated dead period that will not permit coaches or recruits to see each other. What’s more, holidays such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Juneteenth and the Fourth of July will also be dead days.
In June, sources said, two scholastic recruiting weekends were likely to remain instead of a proposed consecutive five-day period. This, per one source, is…
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