NCAA recruiting dead period expires

FORT MYERS, Fla.– For FGCU Head Men’s Basketball Coach Michael Fly, recruiting new players to his program over the last 15 months has not been easy. 

“The last year and a half really we’ve been recruiting guys and taking commitments and signing guys without ever meeting them in person” said Fly. 

At the onset of the pandemic, the NCAA instituted a ban known as a dead period on all in person recruiting. Coaches could not leave campus to recruit while prospective recruits could not visit campuses. 

“It’s hard because you’re not spending that kind of quality time with them,” said Fly.

“They’re not spending quality time with your players, which I think is an important part of the recruiting process.”

Instead, coaches gave virtual tours to their recruits while they relied on game film to evaluate them. 

Throughout the last 15 months the NCAA continued to extend its dead period until finally allowing it to expire at midnight, on Tuesday morning. 

With the dead period now over, coaches immediately welcomed recruits back to campus, such as North Fort Myers High School sophomore Levontai Summersett. 

“It’s a totally different feeling from talking over the phone,” said Summersett. 

Just days after the NCAA’s dead period expired, Summersett was in Atlanta taking an unofficial visit to Georgia Tech and to meet with the Yellowjackets’ football coaches. 

“I can’t explain it. It was just exciting to see them in person than over the phone,” Summersett said.

Summersett’s excitement is shared by Fly and his new class of recruits. 

“One of our signees’ moms called me last night and told me it is finally going to be nice to meet me in person because he has been signed with us for a while and we’ve never met face to face,” Fly recalled

Right now, however, Fly and other NCAA coaches cannot leave campus to recruit, only welcome players for official visits. 

Fly and his coaching staff will officially be allowed to leave campus to recruit in July. 

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