<p>Imafan, Here is the info regarding a gap year taken from tennis recruiting website (I don’t see a definition of “gap year”. I am not sure if the NCAA would consider it a gap year if the student was still attending school that 5th year:)</p>
<p>ETA: Before we reclassified my son, I did check with the NCAA. In my son’s case, the only grade level he had was an internal one assigned by me, so my son’s case is probably atypical. The way I understood it in my son’s case was that as long as he completed the NCAA academic requirements in 4 years (ie. not taking 5 years to complete the courses) it was ok to reclassify - especially since there had been nothing official designating his grade level and he would be entering college at 18.)</p>
<p>"Prior to this year there was no rule preventing a player from taking a gap year, regardless of their reason for doing so. In April of 2010, the NCAA voted to reduce the grace period from one year to six months for Division I schools. Here is the exact wording of the Bylaw that is effective August 1, 2012: </p>
<p>14.2.3.2.2 Tennis </p>
<p>In tennis, a student-athlete who does not enroll in a collegiate institution as a fulltime student in a regular academic term within six months (or the first opportunity to enroll after six months have elapsed) after his or her high school graduation date or the graduation date of his or her class (as determined by the first year of high school enrollment or the international equivalent as specified in the NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility and based on the prescribed educational path in the student-athlete’s country), whichever occurs earlier, shall be subject to the following: </p>
<p>(a) The student-athlete shall be charged with a season of intercollegiate eligibility for each calendar year after the six-month period has elapsed (or the next opportunity to enroll) and prior to full-time collegiate enrollment during which the student-athlete has participated in organized competition per Bylaw 14.02.9. </p>
<p>(b) After the six-month period, if the student-athlete has engaged in organized competition per Bylaw 14.02.9, on matriculation at the certifying institution, the student-athlete must fulfill an academic year in residence for each calendar year after the six-month period has elapsed (or the next opportunity to enroll) and prior to full-time collegiate enrollment during which the student-athlete has participated in such competition before being eligible to represent the institution in intercollegiate competition. </p>
<p>The goal of this legislation is to encourage continuity in the educational process and to level the playing field in college tennis based on age and experience. Some years back it was not uncommon in the higher levels of Division I tennis for a 24-year-old player to be competing against an 18-year-old player."</p>