The last eighteen months have brought with it a wind of change in the world of Division I college baseball. We will cover the changes here in this blog along with the proposed changes for the future of college baseball at the Division I level.
Contact Rule Changes
The first change that we saw was the legislation around the contacting of potential student athletes. The current rule only allows college coaches at the Division I level to contact recruits starting on August 1st proceeding their junior year of high school. Previously coaches could get in touch with potential student athletes through third parties and get them to campus for visits and extend offers to anyone. The updated rule has closed the loop hole and does not allow any Division I college coaches to talk to, message, or offer any potential student athletes until August 1 before their junior year. Prior to this date the only contact coaches can have with recruits are at their own on campus camp. It should be noted that coaches can respond to emails; however, they can only reply with a camp invite and no recruiting conversations can be had. Also under this rule, potential student athletes cannot visit campus until the above date - this does not preclude you from visiting campus through admissions or on your own, however, you will not be able to meet with a member of the coaching staff until your junior year of high school.
Roster and Scholarship Increases
In 2024, the NCAA announced roster limits and scholarship increases across all sports in NCAA Division I sports. Baseball went from a roster limit of 40 down to 34; however, scholarships were increased from 11.7 to 34. While this rule change does increase the number of scholarships available, it does not mean that every program will get to 34 full scholarships nor will they be able to under Title IX. With the changes in revenue sharing and NIL, athletes are eligible to get more money that they can effectively become full scholarship players. Not every DI program will be able to afford the scholarship increase in all sports so look to see what conferences decide as the maximum schools can allot for baseball. One rule that has also changed within scholarships is that the 25% minimum is no longer a rule. Programs will be able to use their money as they see fit and it will take on the same look as the DII model.
12/1 Roster Deadline and Fall Rosters (Proposed)
The most recent update to the rule changes surrounding rosters is the December 1st deadline to declare the 34 man roster. In December of 2024 DI coaches agreed on the 12/1 deadline to declare their 34 man roster as it is opening day for the transfer portal. The second part of this is what the fall roster will look like for DI programs. At the ABCA Convention in early 2025, college coaches agreed to a 38 man roster in the Division I meetings. To be extremely clear, this 38 man number is proposed and needs to be approved by athletic directors, conferences, and ultimately the NCAA. What is clear is that unlimited rosters in the fall will not be allowed and there will be a hard cap on the number of players allowed on the roster in the fall.
In subsequent blogs we will go into more of the changes and what they mean for potential recruits in the college baseball landscape. We will also go into what we think could happen or the cause and effect nature of what these rule changes are doing. Follow along and thanks for reading!