5 Helpful lessons on the recruiting process

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful college program, and while coaches do it every day many prospects are thrown into it with little formal preparation. As someone who spent over a decade as a college recruiter, I’m sharing some of the lessons that I think prospective athletes will find most beneficial.

Lesson One: You (the athlete) need to do a lot of work.
Playing college volleyball puts you in a very select group. According to www.scholarshipstats.com roughly 5.8% of female high school athletes will play in college at any level (2 year or 4 year). To put that in perspective, pretend that the average high school team plays 19 different teams, and that each team (yours included) has 3 seniors. Of those 60 seniors, less than 4 will play in college, and about two thirds of those that play will go DIII, NAIA or JUCO meaning that about once every other year a player will go DII or DI (obviously this is on average, not factoring in volleyball hotbeds that produce significantly higher averages).

So how do they do it? A lot of work. A lot of work on the court, and for an increasing number of high school players in the weight room as well. A lot of work researching which schools will meet both their academic and athletic goals, sending out e-mails to schools they are interested in, visiting a variety of campuses, sharing videos, schedules, and updates with college coaches, calling back coaches who happened to seem them play, filling out full page questionnaires individually for each school, etc… the list goes on and on. The point is, it doesn’t happen by chance. Yes, some athletes are found by colleges, but many, maybe even a majority, find their college before their future coach finds them.

If you want to play in college, do the work. Research schools and initiate contact, build relationships and go on visits. Show resilience when you get told ‘you don’t fit here’ and initiate more contacts with schools that fit your athletic, academic and personal needs.

Beyond controlling your own destiny, your work ethic will do something else. It’ll endear you to coaches who recognize your authentic effort and desire to play in college. The reality is that most coaches are looking at many players with similar ability, for a small number of spots. Personality, attitude, work ethic, attention to detail, and determination make a huge difference in what players become, and coaches will recognize it when you demonstrate it throughout the recruiting process.

Lesson Two: Start Early
How early is early could be an entire book itself the way college recruiting is going these days, but all-in-all I think most athletes should start early in their sophomore year (or the summer before). Note, I’m NOT saying to make a decision sophomore year or to even narrow it down. Just start looking and start reaching out. For those that attend college, picking it is one of the biggest, most consequential decisions a young person will make. The seriousness of this decision financially, personally and professionally is huge, so why not take extra time to be thorough and search through options.

As a college coach I always appreciated PSA’s (prospective student-athletes) who would setup a visit or initiate contact during their sophomore year because it meant they probably have their stuff together. They are being proactive and coaches like proactive kids. So send out some e-mails, fill out some online questionnaires, visit some schools while you’re driving through on your way to a club tournament, visiting grandparents or taking a vacation, and upload some game tape to YouTube that you can share with coaches. You don’t have to have everything figured out you just have to get your feet wet.

SIDE NOTE:
At this stage in the game think very big picture when trying to identify majors and colleges. You are more or less trying to figure out what type of school you like (big or small, urban or rural, liberal arts or not, etc…) and what types of programs see you as fitting in (there is a lot of overlap between divisions). The more colleges you see, coaches (and admission staffs) you talk with, the more you’ll start being able to narrow in what you want – and it may be very different from what you initially thought.

Lesson Three: Be Prepared
There are a few things that always stood out when an athlete came to visit, one of which was their preparation. In my opinion it goes a long way to bring a notebook and pen, and have at least a few questions written down before you get to campus. Take notes on things that are important, or things that you hear that you want to ask other coaches about. It shows that you, the athlete, own the process. You are actively thinking about what you want in a school, volleyball program, coach, teammates, academic programs, etc…

Questions also reveal your priorities, so think carefully about the questions you ask. If all of your questions revolve around sororities, night life, parties, and social life, that’s a pretty good way to let a coach know where your priorities lie. Those can be important questions, but they shouldn’t be your focus. Likewise, if you want to know how a coach runs practice, what characteristics they are looking for in players, what the coach’s goals and expectations are for their players in the gym, classroom, etc…, how they see you fitting in, what are things you can improve on, how they help their students balance academics and athletics, it shows that your priorities are likely aligned with the coach’s. Asking questions about what majors athletes are allowed (or encouraged) to take, how athletes balance internships with athletics, what the program’s graduation rate is, etc… again shows you are focused on the right things.

Another key to being prepared is knowing a little bit about the program and school. It doesn’t have to be in depth research, but take a look at their roster and school website. If you’re a 5’7 OH/DS and all of their outsides are 6’+ you probably want to have some questions about that when you meet with the coach. Explore the website and especially the majors they offer. You may know they offer a major you like which is why you’ve decided to visit, but see if anything else sparks your interest or poses a potential problem (like they only have 1 of the 5 majors you’re currently considering) so that you can raise that issue and see if there are alternatives you’re not aware of. A lot of times there are solutions you’re not aware of, or that aren’t easily found on the website.

It’s also never a bad idea to request an itinerary for the visit if the coach doesn’t offer one up front. The itinerary will tell you who you will meet, and what to expect. Then you can develop questions for each group of people (admissions, players, coaches, professors, etc…). It also allows you to request something they didn’t include, or to add on to your visit on your own (such as an admissions interview, meeting with a professor, etc…).

Lesson Four: Don’t Take It Personally
There are a lot of factors that go into whether or not a player is recruited at a specific school. For scholarship programs, positional need is a huge factor in terms of who they can offer. For example, DI volleyball programs are limited to providing 12 scholarships. A simple breakdown may be 2 setters, 3 middles, 4 outsides, 2 right sides and a libero. So you could be a setter that they love, but if they don’t have a setter graduating the same year as you, there is simply no opportunity.

Another factor is that every coach sees the game differently. One coach may prefer athleticism over height, while another coach may prefer extra height over athleticism. Some coaches feel more confident in their ability to develop certain positions, so they may want a player with a little more upside versus the more refined player. Some will lean towards more well-rounded players while others will lean towards those with more developed specialization but limited versatility.

As an athlete this can be difficult to hear. Your favorite school may not have a need for your position. The school with your positional need may be looking for a different type of player. 

Don’t take the rejection personally, and instead focus on finding the right fit.

Lesson Five: Be Open Minded
It is very easy to stereotype schools as “too big” or “too small”, “not enough opportunities” or “I’ll just be lost on that campus” based on what you think you know about a school or type of school, or the experiences someone else shared with you. I think it’s important to visit at least a couple of schools that don’t initially appeal to you on paper, to see if they are what you think they are. This is a huge benefit of starting early. Every school has its own identity. Not all small schools are on tiny campuses, and some urban schools don’t have what most would even consider a campus (i.e. their buildings are completely integrated into the city). Many ‘rural’ schools have beautiful towns surrounding them that add to the experience while others are surrounded by cornfields.

You never really know until you visit. So while I wouldn’t drive cross country to visit a school that you don’t think is what you want, I would encourage you to take a short detour when you pass near one on your way somewhere else. Take a campus tour, meet with admissions, or contact the coach so you have someone knowledgeable help show you more than just what meets the eye (you may miss a key portion of campus that isn’t front and center).

In summary put in the work, be proactive, start early, and ask a lot of questions. The more you do those things, the less stress you will feel throughout the process because you have time to make a decision, and when you do, you will have enough experiences to feel confidence in the decisions you make along the way.