What to Expect on Signing Day 2024: New Rules & Big Celebrations!

National Signing day is sneaking up on the 2025 class. November 13th is national signing day for volleyball players all over the country. Signing day has been done the same for the last 60 years+, but you can expect to see something new this year. Here is a quick guide from some research I have found about what to expect on November 13th 2024!

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For starters the big change of the year is that the National Letter of Intent (NLI) will no longer be used. This is the big news as of early October. The NLI was a legally binding agreement between student athletes and the university they were signing to. Once a student signed the NLI the university was agreeing to give them financial aid through a scholarship for one year. The original purpose of the NLI was to keep other universities from recruiting an athlete after they had signed and to lay out clear guidelines for both parties.

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This might sound like a really big change but for right now, there isn't much difference for the student athletes. The only real difference for the 2025 class is that nobody will be signing the NLI, instead athletes will sign a financial aid agreement that will outline their scholarship and financial aid for the following year. This agreement means two things; 1) you have signed for some kind of outlined scholarship for 1 year and 2) your recruiting process is complete! Once it’s signed no schools can contact or recruit you after that. 

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There are so many changes happening in college sports especially along the lines of name, image, and likeness and revenue sharing. I won’t even pretend to explain where either of those are going and the impact they are going to have on college volleyball right now, but these changes are what impacted the decision to get rid of the NLI. The NCAA and college sports are preparing for the craziness that is to come (we’ll get to that some day).

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Other than those changes the signing period starts and there will still be a National Signing day on November 13th. This day will still be a huge celebration for athletes all over the country accomplishing their goals and finally making an official commitment to their schools. High schools will do celebrations, families will make table decorations, student athletes will live stream their big event! This is and should be a huge day for student athletes. Make sure you talk to your Athletic director or club coaches and understand the plans before the day to make sure it is celebrated the way you want it to be! This is a huge accomplishment and the next step to becoming a college athlete!

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