Navigating the college recruiting process can feel overwhelming at times. Once you get the ball rolling in your recruiting process, staying organized and being proactive is key. When we say being proactive, we mean taking the initiative to communicate with college coaches, attend recruiting events, stay on top of application deadlines, and schedule visits.
Here, we will discuss how to navigate each of these steps and how to use the SportsRecruits platform to stay on top of your entire recruiting process.
Steps to Take Throughout Your Recruiting Process
Once you start the recruiting process, you must stay on top of several aspects. Start learning about these now so that you can get on coaches’ radars early and eventually progress to committing to your dream school your Junior or Senior Year. Below, we will walk through the steps on how to get recruited.
Build Your Target List of Schools
Your initial target list should be anywhere from 20-30 schools. When starting the process, it’s important to cast a wide net and have a good amount of reach, fit, and safety schools both academically and athletically.
Remember that schools you add to your list now can be removed later as you revise your target list with new information, both about the schools and your own interests. Your likes and dislikes in schools will change as you continue through high school. It’ll be important to reflect on your list every few months and discuss it with your athletic advocates. Your advocates can provide valuable insights on whether or not these schools might be a good fit for you athletically.
Update Your Recruiting Video
Video will be critical to your recruiting process. College coaches use video to evaluate you and monitor your athletic progress. You should be updating your highlight reels every high school and club season. Alternatively, if you play well in tournaments or showcases, create a 3-4 minute highlight reel with your best clips. Make sure you add your highlight reel to your SportsRecruits profile so that coaches can see your best plays. When you add video to your SportsRecruits profile, you'll receive real-time notifications when coaches evaluate your skills. Coaches rely heavily on video as they can not be everywhere to recruit prospective student-athletes.
Research Recruiting Events
As you build out your Target List, take a look at the list of coaches attending the events you’re attending. Most event operators make this information publicly available on their sites, and you can use it to see if the schools you’re interested in will be attending. Attending events that offer the best exposure to your target schools is critical
Depending on how far along you are in your recruiting process, you may want to consider specific types of events. For example, if you are a freshman or sophomore in high school and are just starting your recruiting journey, attend events where you will get exposure from multiple programs. This will be more beneficial than attending an event with one program. Check out our article here to learn about how to set yourself up for success before, after, and during an event.
Proactively Communicate with College Coaches
No matter your stage in your recruiting process, you should constantly communicate with college coaches. Being proactive in your communication will set you up for success when college coaches begin having recruiting-like conversations with you. You will stay on college coaches' radar by communicating proactively.
What Should I Email College Coaches?
You should contact college coaches about academic or athletic updates, recruiting events, updated videos, or setting up a visit. Below are several reasons to reach out to college coaches:
- Introducing yourself
- Informing them of an event you are attending
- Informing them of new or updated video on your profile
- Informing them of a new or updated transcript on your profile
- Letting them know you are visiting campus
- Confirming details about your official campus visit five days before you travel
- Coordinating a coach’s off-campus visit with you
- Wishing a coach good luck in a pivotal game/match
- Congratulating them on any new athletic accomplishments
- Setting up a phone call to learn more about the program
Learn how to write these emails (with example templates) here.
How Often Should I Email Coaches?
You should only be reaching out to college coaches with new information. If there is something that they should know, take the time to send them an email with the new information. There is no magic number for how frequently you should contact college coaches. However, we have spoken to coaches in the past, and they have said if they do not hear from a recruit in a 3-4 month time frame, they assume the recruit has lost interest in their program. Therefore, a good rule of thumb is that you should have some sort of information to share with a coach every 3-4 months.
Managing Your Application Process and Deadlines
Staying on top of application deadlines will be important as you near the end of your recruiting process. To ensure you don’t miss any important deadlines, make sure you have completed the list of items below before you begin applying to colleges your Senior Year:
- Have a copy of your official transcript
- Register for the SAT and/or ACT
- Apply for FAFSA and learn about other financial aid options available to you
- Request letters of recommendation from academic advocates
- Start to write essays for college applications
- Complete college applications
- Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center (this is only required if you play NCAA DI or NCAA DII). Note: If you are planning to complete at an NAIA program, register for their NCAA Eligibility Number here
- Sign your National Letter of Intent on National Signing Day
Securing Financial Aid
As you near the end of your recruiting process, you may find yourself with multiple offers from programs. In this scenario, you’ll want to review each offer carefully to choose the best fit for you and your family. This includes filling out FASFA to see if any aid is available to help with the overall cost of college. By filling this out early on, you can see what your family will be expected to contribute to your college tuition. Learn more about how to compare college offers and pay for college.