NCAA and NAIA Eligibility Information

NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association.

College-bound student-athletes preparing to enroll in a Division I or Division II school need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center to ensure they have met amateurism standards and are academically prepared for college coursework.

Follow the checklist below to ensure you are meeting all the requirements of a potential Division I or II student athlete.

• Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

• Download and read the Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete  on the NCAA website.

• Work with your house counselor to ensure you are meeting all academic eligibility requirements.

  • A list of NCAA approved core courses offered at Legacy HS and Midland HS can be found here (LHS school code is 444743 and MHS school code is 444740).

• During your junior year, send your official test scores (SAT or ACT) to the Eligibility Center (if you have taken one).

• Once registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center, your need to request that your official transcript be sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center once at the beginning of your junior year and again at the end of your senior year. 

• We encourage families to view the presentation given by the NCAA Eligibility Center March 2023.

  • You can find the recording of the presentation at this link (https://on.ncaa.com/Recording_03302023). Here is a frequently asked question with response from NCAA:

    • “Does taking a year off in between high school graduation and your first year in college affect the number of years you can play in college?”

      • On the amateurism side, if this prospective student-athlete continues to compete in their sport during their gap year, they need to abide by all amateurism rules which can be found in the attached Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete. I will mention specifically the sport of men’s and women’s tennis, which, in Division I, has a 6-month grace period after the high school graduation date when they can continue to compete. If they continue to compete after the 6-month grace period, they risk using one or more of their seasons of competition and may have to sit a year-in-residence once they enroll at the Division I institution.

         

      • To be eligible to compete on the academic side, the prospective student-athlete has to achieve the Division specific initial eligibility academic standards, which we discussed in the presentation and can be found in this link to our online brochure.

         

      • Provided the student-athlete satisfies all necessary academic and amateurism certification/eligibility requirements, their NCAA eligibility time clock doesn’t begin until they attend full-time at any collegiate institution in the world.  Once full-time enrollment begins, NCAA DI operates under a strict 5-year time clock to play 4 seasons of your sport, whereas Divisions II and DIII operate under a 10-semester/15-quarter time clock to play a maximum of 4 seasons in your sport.

NAIA