Signing day graphics.

"National Signing Day" is used loosely, but there is no single date — each sport has its own National Letter of Intent windows, and knowing yours prevents posting a week late.

Football: December and February

Football has an early signing period in December, which is now where the majority of scholarship players actually sign, and a traditional regular period beginning the first Wednesday in February. The February date remains the most visible recruiting day of the year on social media even as the December window has grown. See the football commitment graphics page for more on that calendar.

Basketball: November and April

Basketball signs earlier than football. The early period falls in November of senior year, and the late period opens in April and runs through the spring, catching the players whose recruitment settled late. More detail on the basketball page.

Most other sports: November and April

Baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, wrestling, lacrosse, swimming, and the rest follow the standard NCAA calendar — an early period in November and a late period beginning in April that runs into the summer.

Exact dates shift by a few days each year, so confirm the current window with your coach or compliance office. The periods themselves have been stable for years.

Division III and NAIA sign differently

Division III programs do not use the National Letter of Intent at all — there are no athletic scholarships, so athletes sign a non-binding celebratory form instead. NAIA programs use their own letter of intent on their own timeline. Both absolutely warrant a signing graphic; the ceremony is just as real.

Have the graphic ready the night before

Signing ceremonies happen in the morning, and the post that goes up within an hour gets dramatically more engagement than the one that appears at 9pm. Build the graphic the night before, have it sitting in your camera roll, and post it while your school's account, your coaches, and your teammates are all actively sharing.

Use an action photo, not the table photo

The photo of you at the signing table with a pen is a genuine keepsake, but it makes a weak graphic — everyone is seated, the lighting is a gym or a library, and every athlete's photo looks identical. Use a real action shot for the graphic and post the table photo alongside it in the carousel.

Tag the program, not just the school

Athletics accounts, not main university accounts, are the ones that reshare. Tag the specific program account and your travel or club team; those reshares are how a signing post reaches recruiting media.

Post the story version too

Feed posts and stories reach different parts of your audience. The app exports a 1080×1920 Story version of the same graphic from the same download, so use both on the day.