We spend a
lot of time discussing how to begin the recruiting process. It can be difficult
to get the attention of the coach and universities that are right for you.
Whether you are emailing coaches on your own or using our online profiles to
get discovered, the first step is to have 5-10 coaches that are actively
recruiting you. Once you have accomplished that, it is not as straight forward
on what to do next. The goal is
to find a school you want to attend, a team that fits your expectations and if
possible get it all paid for through an athletic scholarship. Getting to that
point takes a lot of work and it is easy to misread a coach’s response or
interest for more than it is.
Please Send Us Your Summer Schedule
and Call if You Have Questions
If you hear back from a coach, this is the typical response.
Coaches use profiles and film to make initial evaluations. If they like
what they see, they make time in their summer recruiting to come watch you play
in person. This can be at a travel tournament, their summer camp or third party
combine. When a coach has told you they want to watch you this summer, you are
still a long way from a scholarship offer. As a general rule, I say 100-200
recruits have received this same response “that a school will come watch them
play” and it is up to you to take advantage of the opportunity giving coaches
what they have asked for.
Also, if a coach asks you to call them, CALL THEM! This is
how you show a coach you are interested. If you don’t call, another recruit
will and they will have a better relationship with the school.
Great Communication but No
Scholarship Offer
Coaches will recruit a walk-on just as hard as a scholarship
athlete. Just because you are having great conversations and the coach says
things like “I am really looking forward to having you on our team next year”
doesn’t mean they are planning on offering you a scholarship. Most college
athletes are non-scholarship athletes and the majority of scholarships are
partial scholarships. If you are communicating regularly with the coach, making
visits to their campus and feel like you have made it clear you really like
their school, maybe it is time to discuss a scholarship with them.
Being Asked to Verbally Commit but
You Aren’t Sure
Some athletes run into a situation where a coach offers them
a scholarship and is asking them to make a verbal commitment very early in the
recruiting process (their junior year or earlier). For families this can be an
uncomfortable situation because they are not sure yet.
Coaches are not doing this to make the process more
difficult for you (coaches don’t like making scholarship offers to
underclassmen either), but because this is just the way recruiting has evolved.
In the competition for the best recruits, schools take the chance of committing
scholarships to an athlete in their sophomore or junior year in order to get
that athlete on their team. Their fear is if they don’t offer, someone else
will and they will lose you.
As a recruit, it is your right to ask for more time before
making a decision. You should always ask a coach who has offered you “how long
do I have to decide on the offer?” After you get timeline for your response,
you can plan out your decision making process accordingly. The difficult truth
is, there will probably not be a perfect time to commit and ultimately you are
going to have to just make a decision based on the options available to you.
This is not an exhaustive list of situation’s you face as a
recruit but was written to address some of the most common things asked in
regards to recruiting.
No comments:
Post a Comment