As we continue to navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some NCAA rules that are getting tweaked.

On Wednesday, the Division I Council Coordination Committee made some moves to make things a bit easier for schools during the pandemic.

Per the report, the restrictions on contacting recruits via video calls have been relaxed:

For example, any school staff member may participate on recruiting calls between a countable coach and a recruit. In normal circumstances, only coaches, and a few others in limited situations, may communicate with uncommitted prospective student-athletes via telephone or video calls.

The committee also lifted the restriction on the number of uncommitted prospective student-athletes (and their family members) who may participate in a recruiting call with a countable coach.

Additionally, the NCAA will allow committed players to take part in team meetings, even if they haven’t enrolled at the school yet.

Finally, the committee gave blanket waivers — applicable for 1 year — to provide relief during the pandemic:

The committee voted to grant blanket waivers for all Division I members for one year to allow:

  • Basketball and football student-athletes to participate in currently defined summer athletic activities without being enrolled in summer school.
  • Schools to provide less than the currently legislated minimum financial aid requirements to maintain membership in Division I. This waiver does not provide relief from other financial aid rules, including financial aid commitments to prospective and current student-athletes or regulations related to the cancellation or reduction of financial aid.
  • Reclassifying schools to count as Division I opponents in the first year of the reclassification process, whether or not the school meets Division I scheduling requirements.

The current recruiting dead period goes until May 31. In today’s article, the NCAA committee said it would rule on May 13 whether or not the dead period gets extended to June 30.