Once you register with the NCAA Eligibility Center you will be assigned an NCAA ID. The institution recruiting you will add you to their Institutional Request List (IRL). Your NLI will be declared invalid by the institution's conference office without an NCAA ID. This is a requirement for all NLI signees, incluiding junior college signees.
When you sign an NLI, you agree to attend the institution listed on the NLI for one academic year in exchange for that institution awarding athletics financial aid for one academic year.
You fulfill the NLI in one of two ways:
No. Completing the playing season alone does not fulfill the NLI obligation. You must complete the entire academic year at the school with which you signed.
No. Signing an NLI does not guarantee you playing time or a spot on the team. Rather, by signing an NLI, the institution with which you signed agrees to provide you athletics financial aid for the academic year..
The true issue is not whether a school is a Division I or Division II institution but whether an institution is a member of the NLI program. With more than 600 participating institutions, the NLI program is truly national in scope. All Division I institutions, with the exception of the Service Academies and schools in the Ivy League, are members of the program, and most fully-active Division II institutions participate in the program. No Division III institutions, NAIA schools, preparatory school or two year colleges participate in the NLI program.
If the head coach leaves the institution or the sports program (e.g., not retained, resigns) before you trigger attendance (full-time enrollment attending classes in a regular academic term) at the signing institution or participate in preseason practice, whichever is earlier, you are no longer bound by the provisions of the NLI. You would need to formally submit an NLI release request if you no longer want to attend the institution due to the head coach departure and the institution must grant you a complete release.
Yes. The NLI would remain binding if you quit the team. You have to remain at the institution for one academic year to fulfill the NLI agreement.
Yes. If you do not show up for preseason practice or fall enrollment, the NLI remains binding.
Yes. If you do not complete the admission or initial eligibility process through the NCAA Eligibility Center, the NLI remains binding. The NLI will be declared null and void if you have a written denial of admission or are declared a nonqualifier by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Yes. Your NLI remains binding while a waiver is pending. The NLI should be declared null and void if the waiver is denied. The NLI will remain valid if the waiver is partially approved (permitting athletics aid) unless otherwise stated on the institution's athletics aid agreement that you must be eligible for competition to receive athletics aid.