By Brandon Hall
North Carolina Director of Scouting

The term “visit” is thrown about a lot in the recruiting world.  It is a term that is used to show sincere interest from both prospective student-athletes and college coaches.  The word itself has different meanings and uses in the world of recruiting

The NCAA defines a visit as any trip onto a college campus by a prospective student-athlete.  The NCAA goes further to discuss and define an unofficial visit and an official visit.  In the next couple of weeks, we will look at visits, both unofficial and official. 

Unofficial Visits

Rule 13.02.17.2 states “An unofficial visit to a member institution by a prospective student-athlete is a visit made at the prospective student-athlete’s own expense. The provision of any expenses or entertainment valued at more than $100 by the institution or representatives of its athletics interests shall require the visit to become an official visit, except as permitted in Bylaws 13.5 and 13.7.” (NCAA Division 1 Manual, August 2016 – 2017, http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D117.pdf)

In simple terms, an unofficial visit is ...