The DI men's coaches voted by a resounding show of hands Friday afternoon to significantly limit early recruiting, supporting a ban on contact between coaches and recruits prior to September 1 of prospects' junior year of high school, members of the IMCLA's Executive Board told Inside Lacrosse.

The vote, which took place at the annual IMLCA Convention held at Baltimore's Marriott Waterfront hotel, is a sizable step forward for an organization that's undergone significant bylaw and leadership changes over the last 24 months.

"This is a monumental day for us," says IMLCA Executive Director Phil Buttafuocco.

The proposal will require approval from the NCAA.

An advisory committee chaired by Princeton coach Chris Bates that included Richmond coach Dan Chemotti and St. Joe's coach Taylor Wray led the more than a year long discussion, which culminated in a pair of two-hour long sessions Friday, building consensus among the 70 programs and more than 200 DI coaches.

"I think we are all excited to have made such big strides in our meetings," Bates says. "We as a coaching body decided to do the right thing and take a very positive stand. Now hopefully we can fundamentally change the recruiting landscape in our game."

Penn coach and IMLCA Executive Board member Mike Murphy summarized his thoughts on the decision succinctly.

"We collectively did what is right for our sport and for our college coaching profession," he says.

"We can only hope the NCAA sees the need for change and supports the proposal," Wray says.

As for next steps, IMLCA leadership will explore the prospect of joining the proposal that the IWLCA put forward in September, which is poised to enter the NCAA's legislative review process in January. If that happens, the larger consensus is likely garner more significant consideration from NCAA officials. If the IMLCA is unable join the IWLCA's proposal, the men's organization will draft its own proposal for consideration in January 2017, the next opportunity to put forward such a comment.

"I am very pleased to see that the men’s coaches have taken action on this. I have repeatedly said that this is the most important issue in lacrosse right now. I think the men supporting our effort sends a strong message that we need to inject some sanity back into the recruiting process for the kids, most importantly, and our coaches and programs as well. Given that this is an issue in other NCAA sports, I think it's a great that both men’s and women’s lacrosse are taking the lead with this very important issue," Duke women's coach Kerstin Kimel wrote to IL on Saturday. Kimel and Penn’s Karin Corbett co-chaired the IWLCA Recruiting Issue Committee.

"We will need to hear in some official IMLCA capacity that the men want to formally support our proposed legislation. Once we do, we will need to contact the liaison with the SAEC (Student-Athlete Experience Committee) to see what the protocol would be to have them added to the proposal. Given that the SAEC wanted to vet out interest from other coaches organization on our proposal, I would assume they would welcome this support from the men’s coaches and give them an avenue to formally join our efforts. The feedback we have received from the SAEC has been very positive, and I am certain that our position will only be strengthened by having the men on board," she continued.

IMLCA President and Limestone head coach J.B. Clarke said that the decision was a credit to Bates, Chemotti and Wray, and was pleased with the way it demonstrated an improvement in the organization's communication and workflow.

The vote comes as a surprise given that, as recently as yesterday, expectations for the most substantial changes to the recruiting rules involved additional restrictions to the calendar. If a ban on contact prior to high school players junior years were implemented, it'd all but eliminate the wave of sophomore and freshman verbal commitments that have gained momentum in recent years, going so far as to prohibit coaches from speaking to high school sophomores that approached them during an unofficial campus visit.