NCAA National Letter of Intent – Should you sign…Or maybe not?
We get many phone calls this time of year asking about the NCAA National Letter of Intent. This article provides basic facts about what the NLI and athletic scholarship are and how they work together. I also touch on an issue that some athletes may want to consider – whether or not they SHOULD sign a National Letter of Intent.
Basic facts about the NCAA National Letter of Intent
- The NCAA National Letter of intent is not the same thing as an athletic scholarship agreement from an NCAA university. While the two documents go hand-in-hand, they are not one and the same.
- A National Letter of Intent can’t be issued to a recruit unless that recruit is being offered an athletic scholarship. However, it is not a requirement for a recruit to sign a National Letter of Intent at the same time that they sign the university scholarship agreement being offered.
- When a prospect signs an NLI, they are committing to attend that school for at least one full academic year in exchange for their scholarship. Once a prospect has signed an NLI, other DI and DII programs are to stop recruiting that prospect.
- While NCAA DI universities are permitted to offer multi-year scholarships, the majority of DI athletic teams only offer one-year scholarships which are renewable each year. NCAA DII athletic programs are prohibited from offering multi-year scholarships.