TCU’s Dixon says extending recruiting dead period will create ‘new opportunities’
TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon finds himself front and center for every issue facing college basketball as the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
From the NCAA’s decision allowing players to earn money from endorsements to the one-time transfer proposal to handling the coronavirus pandemic, Dixon hasn’t had much free time these days.
“These are probably the three most impactful events in college basketball,” Dixon said. “They’re all unique. They’re all different. There’s no connection between the three. I don’t know if I enjoy being a part of this, but I just happened to be in the seat when it occurred.”
Dixon made his first notable stance during his presidency on Tuesday, focusing on the coronavirus pandemic. The NABC and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association recommended to the NCAA that it extend the recruiting dead period through July 31.
As of now, the recruiting dead period extends through the end of May. If the recommendation is used, it would cancel June and July evaluation periods for coaches, as well as ban in-person recruiting and campus visits.
On Tuesday, the NCAA canceled its College Basketball Academy that had been scheduled for July 20-26. That event started last summer and brought in more than 1,000 prospective student-athletes to four college campuses. This year’s host sites were to be Utah, Winthrop, Wichita State and UConn.
“We’re looking toward creating new opportunities and new events, whether it be scholastic or non-scholastic, and putting our efforts into that going forward for the class of 2021 and beyond,” Dixon said. “I don’t think anybody thinks we’re going to be doing much [recruiting travel] this summer. We really want to put our efforts into finding the times when we will be able to see the kids and they will have opportunities to be seen and evaluated in person.”
Both organizations pointed to health and safety concerns with most college campuses shut down for the time being. Additionally, several schools have eliminated non-essential travel and reduced travel budgets over the summer months.
At the end of the day, Dixon and the organization believe there is little incentive to lift the dead period on May 31. Extending it through the summer months evens the playing field as much as possible.
However, it’s worth noting that this recommendation would not decrease the number of scholarships available.
“Instead, it would simply necessitate a restructuring of the traditional recruiting process — some of which is already underway through virtual methods,” the NABC wrote in its proposal to the NCAA. “Moreover, if the status of the pandemic allows it, alternative scholastic and non-scholastic events and campus visitation opportunities should be instituted in August, September and beyond to make up for summer cancellations.”
Dixon’s hope is that these temporary measures lead to permanent revisions to the recruiting calendar. It’s been a constant evolution for years and the pandemic has given coaches more time to evaluate it.
“It’s going to give us an opportunity to look at different things in the fall,” Dixon said. “If they’re successful, once again we’ll make adjustments to the recruiting calendar, which is what we’ve been doing for years. I would be surprised if there wasn’t something gained from these adjustments and becomes something of the future recruiting-wise.
“We’re going to do the best job we can to come up with good opportunities and they may end up being better than what we had.”
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 2:59 PM.
