National Harbor, Md. — They may be two years away from starting high school, but seventh-grade basketball players are now officially on the NCAA’s radar.

Under a new recruiting rule adopted this week, male basketball players in the seventh and eighth grades are now defined as prospective athletes, a move designed to prevent overeager college coaches from recruiting them.

NCAA rules previously defined a prospective basketball athlete as any student who had begun classes for the ninth grade. But in the intensely competitive world of Division I basketball recruiting, some coaches work in their off season at elite, privately run camps and clinics for seventh- and eighth-grade players to gain early access to talented young athletes.

The result was a recruiting advantage for coaches that the NCAA felt compelled to rein in, officials said today here at the group’s annual meeting.

“For the good of the sport of men’s basketball, this was something that needed to be implemented at this time,” said Joseph F. D’Antonio, associate commissioner of the Big East Conference and chair of the Division I Legislative Council. The council approved the new rule on Wednesday and gave it final approval today.

The measure, which takes effect immediately, had strong support from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which has strongly opposed the recruitment of young athletes.

“It’s scary,” Mr. D’Antonio said. “The fact that we’ve gotten to this point is really just a sign of the times.” —Libby Sander