How the extended recruiting dead period affects Arizona Athletics

With the Corona Virus stuff still not reaching it’s peak, the NCAA extends its recruiting dead period, and here’s how it that may impact Arizona Athletics.

With all athletic seasons essentially done until the fall, there isn’t much news out there, and more specifically, not much regarding Arizona Athletics.

There’s no doubt it’s a wild time in sports right now, and still with growing concern and uncertainty regarding the Corona Virus, the NCAA announced on Wednesday that it would be extending the recruiting dead period. 

Arizona Wildcats

Certainly a cautious move on their behalf, and while it may not seem like a big deal at the moment, however, it will surely have an impact on Arizona Athletics (mostly Arizona Basketball) in a fairly significant way I feel.

So what is a dead period? Well, basically it just means no face-to-face contact for coaches and student athletes and their parents. However,  coaches may still be able to write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during the period.

With the changes, seemingly unmoved is Arizona Football, who’s signing period isn’t until February of 2021 technically. We are a long ways until that date, and while the school can’t host any visits at this time, a lot can be made up in the fall, assuming activities resume to normal.

It’s also worth mentioning, that a lot of the other programs within the school have their respective recruiting classes wrapped up too. So the odd man out here seems to be the Arizona Basketball team at the moment.

To recap for you, the program has just two commits for the class of 2020, not including the incoming transfers of James Akinjo and Jordan Brown. Right now is a crucial time for them to hit the recruiting trail, hosting visits, trying to solidify the class.

With the restrictions in place it makes sense, and I’m surely not stating the NCAA is wrong here in protecting the student athlete, but the timing of it all certainly does put the Athletic Department in a challenging spot.

Hopefully things get settled and resume for everyone’s sake!

At Zona Zealots, we’re hoping the Wildcats can bounce back quickly and are seemingly unaffected by this! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!