College Recruitment
Printable Recruitment Information
Recruiting Services & Websites Eligibility Centers
General Recruitment Tips
Target Schools of Interest - Cast a Wide Net
- ⊲ Contact any schools that meet your criteria -- Distance from home, geographic area, academic majors etc.
- ⊲ Have target, stretch, and fall back schools (both athletically & academically).
- ⊲ Don't discount or ignore DII, DIII, NAIA, NJCAA opportunities. There is so much more out there than just Division I.
- ⊲ Know that more athletes are assisted by academic scholarships and grants than by athletic scholarships.
- ⊲ Coaches have options outside athletic money, your school work and test scores are important!
Communicate with Coaches
- ⊲ Fill out each schools "Prospective Athlete" form (usually found on their team page).
- ⊲ Personally email coaches, do not have mom and dad do it for you! Coaches like to know they are engaged with the actual player.
- ⊲ Personalize your emails
- » Use the coaches name (make sure you have the correct name and spelling).
- » Why you like that particular school or program etc.
- ⊲ Include video clips or links with email
- » Make sure you are easily identifiable in the video
- » Keep videos short (clips 1-2 minutes, videos 3-5 minutes).
- » Video does not need to be elaborate, it just needs to highlight your skills.
- » Have a video of a full set available in case a coach/school requests it.
- ⊲ Provide your Club Tournament Schedule in emails.
- ⊲ Include club contact info in all communications
- ⊲ You should reach out more than once to any schools of interest.
- ⊲ There are rules on how, when, and where coaches may contact you directly. The rules vary by division and are constantly changing.
- ⊲ Coaches have a general projection of their needs by each graduating year.
- » If you don't hear back from a school of interest, don't sweat it, keep working.
- » Coaches receive hundreds of emails each week/month depending on school and time of year.
- » There are typical recruiting timelines by division, but there are always exceptions.
- » Feel free to contact schools until such time they indicate they are not interested .
Get Seen
- ⊲ Showcases:
- » Plan to attend 1 or 2 showcases each year.
- » Review the list of registered coaches and contact those of interest (see "Communicating with Coaches" above) letting them know you will be at a particular showcase.
- » Don't put negative pressure on yourself at showcases, enjoy the game and let the process take care of itself.
- ⊲ Tournaments:
- » You will not always know when a prospective coach/school is watching you. You are always "on-stage" and in a "job interview".
- » Coaches are watching how you interact on the court and off the court.
- » Do not put pressure on yourself; be genuine. Enjoy the game; be a good teammate; and display good sportsmanship
- » Parents .... Coaches are watching you as well, evaluating the dynamic and fit for their school.
Recruiting Services & Websites
University Athlete (UA) » Free to athletes - college coaches pay for access to tournament rosters
Next College Sports Athlete (NCSA) » Both free and paid options (various levels) - Used by coaches at all levels to varying degrees
Be Recruited (BR) » Both free and paid option (reasonable price) - Used by many DII, DIII, NAIA & JNCAA Coaches
Eligibility Centers
NCAA Eligibility Clearinghouse: Division I and Division II (also Division III)
