Rockhurst University Athletics

Rockhurst University is happy to provide you with some general information regarding the rules surrounding recruitment by an NCAA Division II institution of prospective student-athletes. You can click on the following link for the current version of the NCAA Guide for College-Bound Student-Athletes. Good luck in the process and feel free to contact our Admissions Office if you would like more information about Rockhurst University and all it has to offer outside of athletics. If you would like to send information to our coaches and Admissions Office of your interest in Rockhurst University and Rockhurst Athletics, please fill out for the sport or sports in which you are interested. Prospective Student-Athlete Questionnaire for the sport or sports in which you are interested. Most of the information below is general information on what is applicable for all NCAA DII schools and not necessarily what Rockhurst actually provides.

NCAA Recruiting Rules Summary

NCAA Initial-Eligibility Center

• You should initiate registration with the NCAA Eligibility Center by completing an NCAA student release form during your junior year. You should see your guidance counselor as soon as possible for forms and to evaluate your eligibility status and what you need to accomplish in your coursework to be deemed a full qualifier by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
• All prospective DI or DII student-athletes must complete an Amateurism Questionnaire through the Eligibility Center. If the student-athlete is a 2-year or 4-year transfer from a non-NCAA Division I or Division II school, the Amateurism questionnaire is still required before he/she is eligible to compete.
• After April 1st, the Eligibility Center will make active the "Request Final Amateurism" button on your profile. Even if you have completed all of the questions concerning your amateurism before April 1st prior to your enrollment at an institution, you will need to go back into your NCAA profile and click on this button for the Eligibility Center to know they can finalize their review and certify your amateur status. Refer to this document for assistance if necessary.
• For all incoming student-athletes that will be evaluated for academic eligibility to compete after August 1, 2023, you no longer must submit a standardized test score.  Rockhurst University is also a test optional admissions school, so submitting a test score is not required, but may help in achieving a higher academic scholarship if your high school GPA does not meet the minimum level.
• If you would like to submit a standardized test score, the college code for the Eligibility Center is "9999.”   The college code to have your scores sent to Rockhurst is "2342” for the ACT and “6611” for the SAT.

Transfers from 4-year Institutions

• An athletic staff member or other representative of the institution’s athletic interests may not make contact with a student-athlete of another NCAA institution without confirming that the student-athlete has been placed on the NCAA Transfer Portal. For a Division III transfer, if their current institution has elected not to use the portal, those student-athletes must provide a tracer from their current institution providing confirmation that they are aware the student-athlete is exploring a transfer opportunity.
• An athletic staff member or other representative of the institution’s athletic interests may not make contact with a student-athlete of an NAIA collegiate institution without first notifying the current institution that it plans to continue contact with the student-athlete. If you reach out to a coach, the school (a coach or administrator) must send a note to your NAIA school first before they can return any communication.
• Even if you are not currently enrolled at a 4-year institution, you are considered a transfer from a 4-year institution if you have attended that institution within the past academic year.
• Even if you are not a participating athlete at the 4-year institution, Rockhurst must get confirmation from the previous 4-year school to verify you are not an athlete.
• You should request from the compliance officer at your school to be placed on the NCAA Transfer Portal if you attend an NCAA institution. Once you send notification to your compliance officer of your request to be placed on the portal, you must be placed onto the portal within 7 days. For Division II student-athletes, you must request to be placed on the portal by June 15^th each year. If you request after June 15^th, you will not have access to the one-time transfer exception to allow you to be immediately eligible in the next academic year. You will be required to sit a year of residency at your new school before you will be allowed to participate in competition with outside teams. If you are a spring sport student-athlete and you do not request to enter the portal until after June 15^th, you can return to your current institution for the fall semester, request to re-enter the portal at the beginning of the next academic year, and then would be allowed to transfer at midyear and be immediately eligible in the spring semester.
• If you attend an NAIA institution, please note that we will notify your current school that you are inquiring about a transfer opportunity. It is not possible to inquire about transfer opportunities without your current school being notified. Permission is not needed from the previous institution for communication, but notification that communication is occurring is necessary.
• For all transfer students, you must have passed 9 hours of transferrable credit (accepted by the institution you are transferring to) in the last semester of full-time enrollment.
• If you cannot get assistance from your current school, contact Mike Koehler, the compliance officer at Rockhurst by email at michael.koehler@rockhurst.edu

Transfers from 2-year Institutions

• Restrictions on contact are the same for a 2-year college transfer as they are for a prospective student-athlete from high school. See individual elements below regarding visits and tryouts.
• A two-year college transfer that has graduated from the two-year college is immediately eligible for competition, practice, and may receive athletics aid as long as you’ve attended the two-year college for at least two full-time semesters and at least 25% of the credit hours used to fulfill the degree requirements are from the two-year institution that awarded your degree.
• A student who transfers from a four-year college to a two-year college and graduates from the two-year college while only being enrolled full time for one semester can still be eligible for competition, practice, and athletics aid immediately upon transfer to the certifying institution.
• A full qualifier (as deemed by the NCAA Eligibility Center upon graduation from high school) who has not previously attended a four-year school and has only attended a two-year school for only one semester can be immediately eligible for competition, practice, and aid as long as the prospective student-athlete has a minimum GPA of 2.200 and has completed at least 12 hours that are transferrable and acceptable toward any baccalaureate degree at the certifying institution.
• For all other qualifiers, partial qualifiers, and non-qualifiers (as deemed by the NCAA Eligibility Center upon graduation from high school) that attend a two-year school, you will be immediately eligible for competition, practice, and athletics aid if

1. The student-athlete has attended the two-year college full time for at least two semesters;
2. The student-athlete has completed an average of 12-semester credit hours of transferrable credit toward any baccalaureate degree at the certifying institution;
3. The student-athlete has satisfactorily completed 6 semester transferrable credit hours in English, 3 semester transferrable credit hours in math, and 3 semester transferrable credit hours in natural or physical science; and
4. The student-athlete has a cumulative GPA of 2.200 for all courses that would be transferrable to the certifying institution.

• NOTE – RESTRICTION ON PE COURSES: No more than TWO CREDIT HOURS of physical education activity courses may be used to fulfill the transferrable degree credit and GPA requirements. (Classroom based PE courses teaching theory are not included in this restriction for Rockhurst transfer students.)
• For all transfer students, you must have passed 9 hours of transferrable credit (accepted by the institution you are transferring to) in the last semester of full-time enrollment.

Correspondence / Recruiting Materials

• Letters/printed material are permitted from coaches (or others in athletics) beginning June 15 immediately preceding the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.
• E-mail, fax, text messaging and traditional mail are considered correspondence.
• A coach may send Electronic Media to a prospective student-athlete beginning June 15 immediately preceding the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.
• All electronically transmitted correspondence shall be sent directly to the prospective student-athlete (or relatives, legal guardians or coaches) and shall be private between only the sender and recipient (e.g., no use of chat rooms, message boards, posts to “walls,” or open tweets). Only direct messaging via social media sites can be used.
• There shall be no limit on the number of electronic transmissions sent by institutional staff members to a prospective student-athlete (or the prospective student-athlete’s relatives or legal guardians).

Phone Calls

• Phone calls initiated by coaches or other athletics staff may begin June 15 immediately preceding the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.
• You may initiate a phone call and speak with a coach before June 15 preceding your junior year in high school. The coach will be able to provide information about making an unofficial visit (see section below for more information) to visit with the coach on campus only. Coaches are unable to return any messages left by anyone before June 15 immediately preceding their junior year in high school.
• There shall be no limit on the number of telephone calls made by institutional staff members to a prospective student-athlete (or the prospective student-athlete’s relatives or legal guardians) after June 15^th preceding a prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.
• Enrolled collegiate student-athletes may not make recruiting calls.
• You may telephone enrolled collegiate student-athletes at your own expense.
• If you are a freshman or sophomore (any student that has not reached June 15 before your junior year), you may contact the Admissions Office to arrange for an on-campus visit and are allowed to meet with a coach as part of an unofficial.
• An athletics staff member or other representative of the institution’s athletics interests shall not make contact with a student-athlete from another NCAA or NAIA institution unless it follows the guidelines outlined the four-year transfer section above.

Contacts

• Definition - Any face-to-face encounter during which dialogue occurs.
• A college coach may contact a prospect or parent(s) off campus beginning June 15 immediately preceding the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school.
• There is no limit on the number of off-campus contacts a coach may make.
• A coach may not contact a prospect during competition or once a prospect has become involved in competition-related activity (e.g. travel to an away-from-home contest).  Contact can only occur after the competition is complete each day. Only after the prospective student-athlete has been released by their coach/institutional authority may a coach contact the prospective student-athlete.
• Contact can be made to a prospective student-athlete at any site during days of competition if the prospective student-athlete has signed a National Letter of Intent or a written athletic aid agreement.
• A coach may contact parents during competition.
• Any contact made at a prospective student-athlete’s educational institution must first be approved by the executive officer (or their designated representative) of that institution.

Evaluations

• Definition - Any off-campus activity designed to assess athletics and/or academics.
• There is no limit to the number of evaluations an institution may conduct in Div. II.

Tryouts

• Division II institutions may conduct one tryout per prospect per sport on its campus, not to exceed two hours in length.
• NCAA rules make it possible to participate in a tryout beginning June 15 preceding your junior year in high school as long as the tryout is not held during your school’s traditional sport season. Even if you are not an athlete on your high school team, the tryout cannot be held during your school’s traditional sport season. The "traditional season" is defined as the first date of practice to the last date of competition. You must check with your high school association to see if participation in this tryout would endanger your high school eligibility.
• If you would like to take part in a tryout with Rockhurst University, please print this Tryout Form which serves as a checklist for what documents you need to submit to be able to participate. Please submit this form and all necessary documents at least 48 hours before your tryout so we can determine if they meet NCAA requirements and you will be allowed to participate.
• Prior to participation in a tryout, a prospective student-athlete is required to undergo a medical examination or evaluation administered or supervised by a physician (e.g.; family physician, team physician). This examination must be completed within six months of the tryout. A copy of this exam must be provided to the Athletic Department prior to participating in a tryout.
• Prospective student-athletes may use a physical that was conducted within six months of participation in practice, competition, or out-of-season conditioning activities during their current academic year as long as it was accepted by their high school, two-year institution, or four-year institution for their participation in athletics for the current academic year.
• For all physicals submitted by a prospective student-athlete to participate in a tryout, the physical must have been conducted or supervised by a physician (an M.D. or a D.O.) and the form must be signed by the physician. Physicals performed by nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, chiropractors, or physical therapists will not be accepted and you will not be allowed to tryout with an NCAA institution.
• The physical exam must include a Sickle Cell Solubility test (SST) conducted on the prospect as well. SST results from a previous test may be submitted in lieu of being tested again as part of the required physical exam. In fact, most states have required SST testing on newborns for many years, and you should check your birth records to see if you have a result to submit.  If you need to get a test and need a form for your doctor to provide the results, you can use this Sickle Cell Test Result Form, but this form is not necessary to use.  Any test result page can be submitted.  Common sickle cell trait testing can be referred to as Sickle Cell Trait Solubility Test, Hemoglobin Solubility Test, Sickle Cell Anemia Test, Hemoglobin Electrophoresis Test. Verify with your healthcare provider you are receiving the proper test for sickle cell trait verification.
• Prior to participation in a tryout at Rockhurst, you must sign a WAIVER.  Any prospective student-athletes who are minors (e.g. under 18 years of age) must have their parents sign the waiver as well.
• Prospect's strength, speed, agility and sport skills may be tested; Ice hockey, football and men’s lacrosse tryouts may not include any competition.
• During the academic year, competition is permissible against the member institution's team in a tryout.
• An institution may provide clothing and equipment to a prospect if it is returned at the conclusion of the tryout.
• It is not permissible for a prospective student-athlete to compete in competition with an outside entity or institution (Alumni game, scrimmage, etc) during a tryout.
• Tryouts are also permitted for transfer prospective student-athletes from 2-year and 4-year institutions. Tryout regulations for transfer students differ from those of high school seniors and are handled on a case-by-case basis.
• If you have tried out for an institution as a high school prospective student-athlete, you are allowed one additional tryout as a prospective student-athlete coming from a collegiate institution.  That tryout can only occur after Sept. 1 after your high school graduation.
• For a two-year college student, a tryout can be held after the conclusion of their sport season, or any time after the prospect has concluded his/her eligibility.
• For a four-year college student, a tryout can be held after the conclusion of their season, provided the student has been placed onto the NCAA Transfer Portal if currently attending an NCAA institution, or if notification of contact has been provided to an NAIA or other four-year, non-NCAA institution.
• Questions regarding tryouts can be directed to the sport head coach or by contacting the compliance office.

Unofficial Visits

• Definition - A visit made to the institution at the prospect's own expense.
• A member of the coaching staff or Athletics Department is not allowed to provide transportation to or from any form of mass transportation.  You must arrive on campus yourself for a visit to be considered unofficial.
• You may make an unlimited number of unofficial visits at any time during your high school career.
• If you are a freshman or sophomore (any student that has not reached June 15 before your junior year), you may contact the Admissions Office to arrange for an on-campus visit and are allowed to meet with a coach as part of an unofficial visit.
• You may make unofficial visits any time except during NCAA mandated Dead Periods. Please contact a school’s coach, Admissions Office, or NCAA Compliance Officer before making an unofficial visit so you can verify it will not be during a Dead Period.
• It is permissible to provide a prospective student-athlete (and the prospective student-athlete’s parents or legal guardians) with one meal during an unofficial visit.
• It is permissible to provide up to five complimentary admissions to a campus athletics event to be used by the prospective student-athlete and those accompanying the prospective student-athlete to the event. Any additional persons accompanying the prospective student-athlete must purchase an admission to the event.

Official Visits

• Definition - A visit made to the institution's campus in which any expense beyond one meal is provided by that institution.
• Expenses to be covered will vary by sport and institution.
• An official visit may not occur prior to June 15 preceding a prospective student-athlete’s junior year of high school.
• In order to make an official visit, a prospective student-athlete must provide the institution with a current transcript (official or unofficial).
• There is no limit on the number of official visits that can be made to Division II institutions overall, but you can only make one visit per institution.
• Official visits are limited to a 48-hour window.
• Prospects may receive transportation.
• Prospect and parents (or legal guardians) may receive meals, lodging, and admission to campus events. It is permissible to provide up to five complimentary admissions to a campus athletics event to be used by the prospective student-athlete and those accompanying the prospective student-athlete to the event. Any additional persons accompanying the prospective student-athlete must purchase an admission to the event.
• If lodging is provided for a prospective student-athlete or their parents or legal guardians, additional persons (brothers, sisters, friend) may stay in the same room as long as the costs associated for lodging those additional persons is not paid for by the institution.
• A prospect visiting an institution may participate in physical workouts with currently enrolled collegiate athletes (pickup games, etc.) provided the activities are not organized or observed by members of the coaching staff. Otherwise, it would be deemed the one tryout allowed for the prospect at that institution and all requirements listed above would need to be followed.

Participation in Outside Competition before Initial College Enrollment​​​​​​​

• You are allowed a one-year grace period after your high school graduation in which to enroll in college full time before any competition in which you participate would reduce the number of years of eligibility you have to participate in collegiate athletics. The grace period runs from the date of your high school graduation to the first opportunity to enroll in college full time. For example, if you graduate high school in May, 2023, your grace period would end in August, 2024 for Rockhurst University as regular classes begin in August. The ending date of the grace period would be the first date of classes of the institution with which you are enrolling.
• You may participate in outside competition during this grace period without penalty of using a year of collegiate eligibility. After your grace period is exhausted, you will lose one year of eligibility for each 12-month period after the conclusion of your grace period in which you participated in outside competition.
• Outside competition is defined as any competition in which ANY ONE of the following conditions exist:

(a) Competition is scheduled in advance;
(b) Official score is kept;
(c) Individual or team standings or statistics are maintained;
(d) Official timer or game officials are used;
(e) Admission is charged;
(f ) Teams are regularly formed or team rosters are predetermined;
(g) Team uniforms are used;
(h) An individual or team is privately or commercially sponsored; or
(i) The competition is either directly or indirectly sponsored, promoted or administered by an individual, an organization or any other agency.

• There are exceptions to the Outside Competition legislation for those that take part in competitions as part of the national Armed Forces and while representing your country as part of National/International competition. Contact the Compliance Coordinator at the institution if you have questions about these exceptions.
• The guidelines listed above pertain to whether competition alone will affect the number of years you have available to compete in collegiate athletics. Awards and benefits received during outside competition, regardless of whether it is during your grace period year, could have an effect on your amateur status and could affect you eligibility in other ways. Please consult with the NCAA or other resources regarding these rules.

Signing with an Institution to Participate in Collegiate Athletics

• If you are invited to join an institution’s athletic team and will receive athletically based financial aid, there are two options open to you for “signing” with an institution.
  • The National Letter of Intent (NLI): The NLI program is managed by the NCAA but is governed by Collegiate Commissioners Association. Visit the NLI website for complete information on the program.
    1. It is a voluntary program.
    2. By signing an NLI, the institution commits to providing the agreed upon athletically based financial aid for a minimum of one academic year.
    3. The prospective student-athlete is committed to attending the institution for a minimum of one academic year or risk effects on his/her eligibility. Note: You are signing with a school and not a coach. 
    4. Once a prospective student-athlete has signed an NLI, all recruitment by other institutions must cease, and you will not be bothered by continuing recruitment contacts
  • You may also “sign” with an institution through an athletic aid agreement.
    1. That athletic aid agreement is the same document that accompanies an NLI and states the amount of athletically based financial aid that a prospective student athlete has agreed to with the institution.
    2. By providing an athletic aid agreement, the institution commits to providing the agreed upon athletically based financial aid for a minimum of one academic year.
    3. The prospective student-athlete is not committed to attending the institution.
    4. Recruitment by other schools is not prohibited and can continue even after an athletic aid agreement is signed. It is the prospective student-athlete’s responsibility to make all other institutions aware of their commitment and request that recruitment stop.

If you have any additional questions about these items, please contact the Rockhurst Compliance Officer. For transfer student-athletes, you should contact the Compliance Officer at your institution first if at all possible.
 
Rockhurst University Compliance Officer:
 
Michael Koehler
Associate Director of Athletics
 
Email:  michael.koehler@rockhurst.edu                        Phone:  816-501-4331