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Recruiting Information/Links
* Answers to all of your recruiting questions!
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* NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse - All athletes who intend on attending a NCAA institution need to register with the clearinghouse. The sooner the better!
* Eligibility and Recruiting information from the NCAA
* NCAAsports.com - Women's Volleyball
Taken from prepvolleyball.com:
If you have not already,
you still have a couple of months to attend a local college match. You should
definitely do so and with a purpose, when it comes to recruiting. Consider the
following when you attend:
Take a campus visit before
the match.
If you have the time, plan to get to the
campus an hour or so before you want to go into the arena. Use this time to take
a walk around the campus. As they will be preparing for their match, you will
not be able to get a guided tour from a coach at that time, but it is often
productive to take your own walk around a campus. Obviously, on campus visits
coaches try to ‘sell’ you their school. Taking a visit on your own will allow
you to take in what you like or dislike without that perspective.
Watch the
players to see the level and consider where you might fit.
If you have
never seen the team(s) you are interested in, watch the match while thinking
about where you would fit. Are you going to have a good opportunity to
contribute as a freshman? Are you likely to have to improve to get playing time?
For your position, are the players going to be graduating before you get there?
These are some of the questions you can try to answer while evaluating the play.
Often you will know a player or two on the court from club or high school
volleyball. This may help you evaluate as well. Keep in mind who they are
playing behind or in front of (who is on the court ahead of them or on the
bench).
Watch the
coaches during the match
Seeing the coaches in action at a match is a
good time to get a feel for what they are like. Certainly the day-to-day
practice may be different, but coaches will reveal much of their personality at
a match. Some arenas have seating such that you can sit close enough to the
bench to hear the coaches during play and/or at timeouts. If you can sit in
seats which allow for this, take advantage of the opportunity for at least a
game or two. Try to get a feel for what the coaches are like when the team is
being successful, but also when the team is struggling. Try to watch the
coaches during some of the points, rather than following the play on the court.
Visit with
a player or two after the match.
For the home team, if you are able to wait
around long enough, you will usually have an opportunity to meet some of the
players. Whether or not you have previous relationships with the players, you
should try to have some dialogue with them. Do not be shy about introducing
yourself and let the player(s) know who you are and that you have an interest in
the school. You should be able to get some questions answered whether about
volleyball or the school, but most importantly, it is an opportunity to get to
know the players on the team who could potentially be your teammates in the
future.
Talk to the
coach of the school whose match you are attending.
Going to a match is a great
opportunity to get a quick visit in with a coach. You will have to wait until
after the match, but to get a brief ‘hello’ in, can only help your visibility
with the program. Keep in mind that for NCAA schools, the coach of a visiting
school cannot talk with you unless you are a senior. Even in this case, the
coach may not want to talk to you at that time as they are only allowed to have
off-campus contacts with you three times. They may prefer to wait for a time
when they can have a longer visit.
Every year, volleyball players (and
their parents) go through this song and dance called “Recruiting.” For the
relatively small group of players who are considered the top recruits in that
class, the process can be limited to
their
pick of a few schools. For the rest of the players in that class (an extremely
large number, by the way), their opportunities may stretch from the Atlantic to
the Pacific and number in the hundreds. Either way, the recruiting process can
be fun
and
taxing. Enjoyable
and
stressful. Clear cut one day
and
confusing the next. I’m hoping that I can help out, even just a little bit,
with this article and future ones.
There are a lot of questions, misconceptions, myths and other things that may
cause players and parents to worry about the recruiting process. I’m not going
to lie; the recruiting process can be stressful at times. Choosing a college is
a major life decision by itself and throwing choosing a volleyball program on
top of that makes the decision even tougher. However, the recruiting process
should also be enjoyable and, when done correctly, can be a blast. You’ll hear
from schools that you never knew about. You’ll find out quirky things about
some schools that aren’t in their pamphlets. You’ll meet coaches who love the
game and have made it their career. You may even discover some things about
yourself that you didn’t know about as you research more and more schools. The
keys to handling the recruiting process are knowing the basics, being as
efficient as possible and going into it with an open mind.
First things first (well, where else would the “first things” be?), to the
players reading this….to the moms and dads reading this….take a nice, deep
breath in….hold it….now exhale very slowly….rinse and repeat three times.
RELAX!! As I said above, the process will be stressful at times, but you’ll add
to that stress if you:
I am
a firm believer that there is a place for everyone out there. There are well
over 1,000 volleyball programs across the Division I, Division II, Division III,
NAIA and NJCAA ranks. As long as you don’t restrict yourself with too many
things, there’s a good chance you can find a place to get your college education
and continue your volleyball career.
Next, go to the NCAA website and download the “NCAA Guide for the College-Bound
Athlete”. This is a fantastic source for information about the recruiting
process. It sums up the NCAA academic requirements, the NCAA Clearinghouse, and
many of the other key rules that make up the NCAA Rules Manual that college
coaches need law degrees to understand. Additionally, it’s updated each year to
reflect any changes in legislation the NCAA may adopt. Club and high school
coaches should download a copy to have for your teams.
As mentioned, the NCAA Rules Manual is a huge tome filled with legalese,
sometimes contradictory language, phrases like, “It is impermissible, unless
stated in Bylaw 13.4.6.7.3.1.1.1 (a, but not c) or unless under Bylaw
15.7.1.2.9.1.4.2.3.7.4 Appendix MCMVII or if there is a full Harvest Moon during
the evaluation/contact period…”, and legislation that may have changed twice in
the past five minutes. I’m not going to go into detail about the NCAA rules
since it’s the college coaches that need to worry about the majority of them,
not the prospect. I will list what I consider the main ones that make up the
skeleton of the recruiting process:
1.
September 1st
of the Junior Year:
the magical date when college coaches can start Written Correspondence with a
prospect. Before that date, the only things that can be mailed are a
questionnaire and camp brochures. Written Correspondence consists of letters,
note cards, media guides, emails, instant messages, and text messages. A
prospect can write a college coach at any time before 9/1, but a college coach
cannot reply back (except to say they can’t reply back).
2.
July 1st AFTER
the Junior Year: the
magical date when college coaches can initiate phone calls to prospects on a
once-a-week basis AND can have in-person, OFF-campus contact with a prospect.
Prospects can call college coaches at anytime before 7/1 at their own expense,
but a college coach cannot return a missed call pre-7/1. The in-person,
off-campus contacts are limited to three per year and cannot happen while the
prospect is involved in competition.
3.
Unofficial Visits:
a visit to a school that is paid for by the prospect. There are no limitations
on the number of unofficial visits a prospect may take to a school and they can
happen at any time the prospect wishes (except a Dead Period). The only things
that can be provided to a prospect during an unofficial visit are three
complimentary tickets to an athletic event, except a post-season tournament
(conference or NCAA). Keep in mind also, that unless the visit occurs after the
July 1st date above, all contact during the unofficial visit is
restricted to on-campus.
4.
Official Visit: the
Granddaddy of them all! This is a visit where the college picks up the tab for
transporting the prospect (not her parents, unless they’re driving her to the
visit), meals during the visit and entertainment. An official visit cannot
happen until after the first day of classes begin of the prospect’s senior year.
5.
Quiet/Dead Periods:
these are two things that are a part of the NCAA Recruiting Calendar to be aware
of. Quiet Periods are days when college coaches cannot do any off-campus
evaluations. Basically, they’re NCAA-assigned “days off” from recruiting so we
can find our brains again to jump back into the fray when they are over. Quiet
Periods do not affect prospects if they would like to visit a school during that
time. On the contrary, Dead Periods are just that, dead. Nothing between a
college coach and prospect can happen during a Dead Period, including on-campus
contact. There are three Dead Periods each year. The first in November (M-Th
surrounding the Wednesday NLI Signing Date), the second in December and the
third in April (again the M-Th surrounding the Wednesday NLI Signing Date)
There are a ton of other rules college coaches
have to follow, but these are the main ones that I feel prospects should be
aware of as they go about their recruiting process since they are the ones that
directly affect the recruit.
NCAA rules aside, the biggest question I hear/read about the recruiting process
is “How in the heck do we do it?!?”
Problem is, there isn’t one answer for that question. The process is different
for every single player and what one recruit goes through may not be what
another goes through. I wish I could write an article that says, “Follow These
Simple Rules For A 100% Guaranteed Scholarship!” but I can’t. Anyone saying
anything close to that is lying. What I can do is pass along what I consider a
good outline of how to start up your recruiting process and then let you take it
from there.
Be aware of some realities that exist out there. Not every program is looking
for each position each year (except middles, we’re always looking for middles).
Not every Div. 1 program is fully funded with scholarships and there are
differences with scholarships in Div. II, III and NAIA.
The first thing in my outline quite possibly may be the hardest thing to do, but
I think it’s the most important thing to make your recruiting process
efficient. Ready?
The first thing you need to do is make an honest evaluation of
yourself as a player.
Everyone would love to be on the National Champs’ roster, but not everyone can
play at that level. The best way to evaluate yourself is to see as much college
volleyball as you can (across all divisions/conferences/etc) and project
yourself onto that court. If you’re an outside hitter, can you do what the
outsides on the court are doing? Are you a 5-9 middle for your high school, but
the one university you’re really interested in has middles who have to duck when
they walk through the door? If you can figure out who you are as a player,
you’ll be able to be more efficient as you’re looking at schools.
Then, make a list of the things you want in a school. What kind of academics do
you want? Does the location matter to you? Is it a city school or is it in the
middle of a small town? Do you want to be one of many students at a big school
or is a small school more for you? Research the schools. What do you want to
study? Do the schools you’re looking at have that major and are they nationally
ranked in that academic area? What’s the off-campus culture like? If
volleyball were taken away, would you still want to attend that school? After
you’ve made your list and done some research on the schools, it’s time to look
into the volleyball programs. What positions will they be graduating? Did they
just sign players in your position the year ahead of you? All of these
questions, about the school and the volleyball program, can get answered while
you’re sitting in your living room via the Internet. By doing this step in the
process, I bet you will already start taking schools off your list and add
others you may not have considered in the beginning.
Once you’ve gotten your list of interests and questions nailed down and have
what you feel is a good list of schools, it’s time for the hard work. Remember,
when compared to the actual number of prospects in each class, it’s a relatively
small number of “top kids” each year. The rest of the prospects in that class,
a huge number, are the ones who need to be very proactive in their process.
Unless your mail carrier is using a forklift to bring you your mail on September
1st, you are probably going to have to be the one doing most of the
communication. Proactive communication is a necessity for the majority of
recruits in each class. Create a volleyball profile, type up some letters,
update the schools you’re interested in regularly on your season, and then make
up some form of video to send to the schools on your list.
A quick note on a volleyball video: Technology today makes it very easy to make
a quality video to send to schools and I highly suggest every player making
one. I’ve never met a college coach that has said that they preferred
professionally done videos over one made on iMovie at home, so save your money
(sorry, recruiting video production companies). All they’re looking for is
seeing the player on film, not pretty graphics and effects. Put some skills on
the video and follow it up with a great match where you played well, regardless
of the outcome (we have no clue what the score is anyway).
OK, you know the basic rules. You think you’ve figured out yourself as a player
and what schools you would be interested in. You’ve got a fantastic video ready
to mail out. You’ve tried out for your club (two years in advance of the
season) and know which team you’ll be on. Now, what else is there? Oh yeah,
HOW DO I KNOW IF THEY’RE INTERESTED IN ME?!?
Well, the simple answer to that is to pick up the phone and call that coach.
College coaches need to be just as efficient on their end of the process as you
are on yours. Depending on the school, there could be hundreds of recruits in
their database for your class and, just like you, they are going to focus their
attention on who they consider as their best recruits. There’s a BIG difference
between getting a questionnaire and “being recruited.” That’s not to say that
if you haven’t heard from a school right away then they aren’t interested in
you. There are a few things that could be happening:
1. OK, they aren’t interested in you. It’s not great to hear and stings a bit,
but after finding out you can move on rather than spending wasted time and
energy on that school.
2. They don’t know about you, Tournament Version. Remember, when you go to a
qualifier, you get to spend half a day, on one court, only dealing with three
other teams. College coaches go from 8am to late into the night trying to watch
a million courts across age groups and divisions (where you at Dallas for Lone
Star last year?!?). Come Sunday, we’re walking around in a fugue state
realizing that we just marked down the convention center janitor as our next
“stud outside” because we felt he had great potential. Unless a coach is coming
to “camp” on your court, you may get seen for only a few points, if at all.
Another thing to realize is that not all colleges make every tournament. A
school you may be interested in might not have attended the tournaments you did,
so you’ll need to make them aware of you another way.
3. They don’t know about you, Location Version. You’re from Sticksville , USA
and are really interested in Big City U., which is 1000 miles away. They may be
surrounded by recruits and it’s easier for them to focus their attention on
those players, so you’ll have to make them aware of you.
4. There are differences in how colleges handle the correspondence part of
recruiting. Some schools write handwritten letters every day, some fire off
cute crossword puzzles once a week, others do more email communication, while
others avoid technology all together. Either way, how much “stuff” you’re
getting isn’t always the best barometer of how interested a school is (it’s
pretty easy to have a database spit letters out on a regular basis). Remember,
the fall is also the college volleyball season. Recruiting is important to
college coaches, but wins and losses are more important so their focus is going
to be on that.
Picking up the phone and calling will, most likely, get you one of these answers
and then you’ll have a better idea of that school’s interest in you. It’s scary
at first, I’m sure, but college coaches expect these calls every year and are
very willing to talk to any and all recruits.
How many schools should you be in contact with? How many unofficial visits
should I take? How often should I contact the schools I’m interested in? The
answers to those questions are entirely up to you. Be in contact with as many
schools as you’d like to be, as long as you’re interested in all of those
schools. Take as many unofficial visits as you logistically, and financially,
can. If it’s within a reasonable distance, visit a school more than once to get
a better feel. Technically, attending a match can be defined as an unofficial
visit. However, there’s no one way to handle the recruiting process but your
own way.
When all is said and done with the recruiting process, the goal is to be able to
look back and congratulate yourself for making the right decision. Did you get
all your questions answered? Where you able to compare a variety of schools
rather than rushing to pick the one who wanted an answer immediately? Will you
be attending a school that you want to earn a degree from? Will you be in a
college environment where you are going to enjoy those 4-5 years of your life?
Will you be playing for a volleyball program that you will be happy with,
regardless of your role on the team? It’s not WHEN you make the decision that
matters; it’s making the right decision when it’s right for you.
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