How to Effectively Recruit Substantial College Athletes
When the general public thinks of college athletics, they typically conjure up images of huge Division 1 institutions steeped in tradition, adorned in championship banners, and rife with stellar athletes. Think Alabama football, for example.
How do some universities get so many amazing athletes and what makes the program so damn successful?
In no small part, it comes from great coaching, of course. Alternatively though, is something far more vital to any program’s future and that’s recruiting.
I don’t care how good or bad your team’s record is, if you have an all-star recruiting team, your success is all but assured (kind of -- more on this later).
If you cannot get any high-caliber athletes through the door, the only thing you can do is coach the absolute hell out of the ones you got, and sometimes that’s far more difficult than it sounds.
It’s one thing to get the athletes you want to commit, it’s another thing entirely to keep them interested and see enough progress or success to keep them. There’s nothing worse than putting time, effort, and money into someone you later find in your transfer portal. It not only doesn’t feel good, but it can affect the team as a whole and look bad on you, creating a more pronounced gap.
Successful athletes, kids of celebrities, track records, championships, etc are free recruiting tools you can use. Now that kids can get paid to play to a point, their social media prowess and desire for more money might help bring even more athletes in. While that sounds great, it’s near useless if you can’t get to a point where momentum can help carry some of the workloads.
Big talent can bring up the level of each individual or team in many different ways.
Having talented players changes the physicality, speed, or level at which the sport is played.
It forces other players to push to reach similar heights and not get left behind.
It weeds out athletes you might be better off without (ie, those who don’t put in the work, fill positions taken by players not yet ready to be on the “A” squad, etc).
Talent can bring more attention to a team in dire need of a boost in morale or support.
As stated earlier, big talent helps bring in more big talent.
We know what talent means for a program, but how can we better our skills at enlisting them? That is what we plan to address here, and hopefully, give you some basis of reference on your journey to becoming a superior recruiter and coach.
When can I start recruiting?
First, a refresher for NCAA coaches. Current NCAA guidelines state that you cannot take part in any recruiting talks with potential athletes until June 15 after their sophomore year or September 1 of their junior year of high school, depending on the sport and division.
Different rules apply, so don’t take some of the guidelines below as a defacto template or you might get burned. Be sure to check the current NCAA rules and guidelines per your sport and division.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do a ton of groundwork before then to start the juices flowing for the athlete. Remember that basic marketing dictates you become the thing that sticks in their head. You want to take up precious headspace. When they think about their sport, you want them to think only of you.
Some things you can do before they are eligible to be actively recruited:
Put on camps or clinics for all ages to attend so they have an opportunity to attend and learn from coaches. Awe them with your knowledge and skills.
Do some community outreach and have you/your team actively involved.
Start actively researching athletes on dedicated sport stats sites (Milesplit, Athletic.net, MaxPreps, etc).
Leverage your coaching contacts or student-athletes. Ask if they have or have seen any athletes you should keep an eye out for, or know any looking to attend your school.
Set up a killer social media presence for your team that athletes follow. Follow them back, and make sure you like some of their posts (you cannot comment at this point -- see below)
How to contact eligible recruits
Ok, so now a potential recruit is eligible to be actively pursued, what now? Do you have carte-blanche to do whatever you want?
Kinda.
The most pivotal thing you can do is reach out as soon as you possibly can. Remember that we want to be the first thing they think about and one thing that can give them more confidence in you is knowing they are being actively pursued.
Setting up a calendar event on your phone or Google, or whatever you want to use that has all the contacts you need to reach out to on their eligibility date, is a great way of keeping you organized and ready.
How you wish to contact them is up to you.
Here are a few solid options:
Email
Questionnaires
Reach out to their school coach/administration
Direct phone call
Official visit
In-person after a competition
In-person on a recruiting visit to their school
Social media (only if you have no other way of contacting them at first)
Usually, email or call first, and a great way to make the initial connection. Sending out questionnaires can be useful as well depending on the skill level of the athlete and what division you are recruiting in. They can save you time and grab a lot of good information but aren’t as effective. Regardless, these should all be used in an attempt to ultimately get the athlete face-to-face on an official campus visit.
The official visit is your chance to show off the school, demonstrate to the athlete an experience they can envision when they go there, get in touch with professors in their field of interest, take them to practice, show off the athletic facilities and amenities, take them to a lunch or dinner with some athletes, and much more.
This is a rehearsal, some say a date, and is paramount to supplanting yourself in their mind. You want to get them to picture what it would be like to live and partake in your program.
An official visit can make or break you, so it’s good to try and get to know them a bit beforehand and cater their visit to their interests and what they find valuable. If you sell a good game to get them there but your school doesn’t offer anything of high value to them, you’ll be fighting a terrible uphill battle.
Remember you can always reach out to their school administrators or high school coach to set up a phone call or get their information and is likely the better option than the next one.
Social Media
Other platforms can be utilized to reach out to recruits, such as through social media sites (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc). I would caution against this as much as possible due to the lack of professionalism it can radiate but also because it’s often unreliable and awkward when you don’t know them yet. Now, this is still an option if you have no other way of currently contacting them and you already have a connection with them online, such as if they follow your team on socials.
Be aware that coaches are not allowed to communicate with recruits publicly on social media until after the athlete has committed to your program. In other words, “click but don’t type.” You can like or react to posts but you cannot post on their walls or feed until after you have a commitment from them.
If they follow you on your team’s Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account, you can reach out to them in a private message and ask for an email and phone number so you can speak to them more formally at a later date.
Social media is a great way of determining a person’s character and demeanor. If you have a kid on Instagram that constantly posts pictures of them drinking underage and partying, or boasts on Facebook about tricking others into doing things for their own benefit or skipping practices, well, that’s probably a kid you might want to avoid actively recruiting.
For the athlete, having a team TikTok or Instagram account that shows fun group activities, workouts, instructionals, and the like is a wonderfully powerful way of attracting them. For parents, it can likewise be beneficial, but you’ll need to work harder in person to show the school is more inclined to elevate their child’s academic and financial future.
Young adults want to be sold experiences and things, parents want to be sold value, safety, and education. For this reason, it’s very important to find a balance between the two.
How to speak to potential athletes
When you finally make contact with the athlete, whether that be over the phone or in person, you need to be interested in what they like to do outside of sports and attempt to build a more well-rounded representation or profile of who they are.
Sure, you can still talk about athletics and what it is they like about the sport or what other sports they have played, but don’t pigeonhole yourself into questions related to the area you specifically deal with. It’s one-dimensional and doesn’t help you build a deeper connection with the person.
Emails and text exchanges are fine ways of gathering basic information such as what they plan to study, what academic interests they have, their GPA/SAT, etc, but allow for very limited responses as well as poor emotional feedback.
Here are some ideas of what kinds of things you can ask when speaking with a prospective recruit. Remember to actively listen to things they tell you as you will be able to pick out new and interesting things to talk about.
Be interested in their life outside of sports
Do they like sneakers?
What music do they like?
Do they go to particular places to hang out with friends?
Have any interesting traditions or hobbies?
Build things with their hands?
Cater to their current and future interests
What specifically do they covet?
What do they want out of life/school/career?
Sports
What do they like about the sport?
What other positions have they played or want to?
What other sports have they played?
Who are their favorite pro/college players?
What are they looking for in an athletics program?
In a coach?
School
What are they looking for in a school?
What do they plan to study or have interests in?
What classes do they struggle with?
What other schools have they looked at or been in communication with?
Do not be afraid to go off-topic and ride a tangent if appropriate and keep a good conversational flow. Those are the types of conversations that help build lasting and memorable experiences for all parties.
It never hurts to find an interest that you and the athlete commonly share. Bear in mind that while athletes are young adults you may one day have to coach, they are still people.
What can you, your team, or your university offer of value?
We come to the meatiest and most important piece of the puzzle -- what can you do for them?
It is best to remember that you are a salesman/marketer at the end of the day and if you offer no value to your clientele, then they have no reason to give you anything. If that bothers you to hear, you best get over it quickly.
Always get them to do a face-to-face meeting. It would do you well to remember that most communication is through body language (55%) and tone of voice (38%). Very little (roughly 7%) has to do with the actual content. Non-verbal cues are an entire discussion unto itself, but making a good first impression in person is far more important than anything else you can do at this point.
When in doubt, subtle mirroring will do wonders. We instinctively “vibe” better with those who seem to be on the same wavelength. This is why you think there’s a stronger connection with someone who happened to pick up the water glass and take a drink at the same time as you did (hint: this is a usable option). People want to feel like they are similar to someone they aspire to be more like, and they like people who are like themselves. If they get excited, you can get excited, and vice versa. There’s a lot to be said about matching someone’s tone of voice and cadence.
From a coaching standpoint, you want to be able to first and foremost offer value in the form of athletic success. That can be displaying trophies or speaking on successes you have achieved with previous and current athletes or programs, but also speak on what you’ve learned. People tend to respond better to those who are open about failures just as much as successes because it is humbling and humanizes you. If you speak only of successes, you may be seen as fake. We are salespeople but there’s a line between selling for your benefit and for that of the athlete.
If you were a very high-caliber athlete, that can be a beneficial means of asserting your skills and experience. Perhaps you’re the only coach in the state or conference with a particular offering or skill. Don’t overemphasize or focus too heavily on yourself though. This can come off egotistical, pompous, or braggadocious and make you seem less genuine.
Use tools at your disposal
A fantastic way of building rapport is to take current athletes you have with you to lunch/dinner, etc. Food is the absolute best way to get people to open up, have fun, or relax. Why do you think giving someone bad news or stressful business trips includes a meal? Have the recruits start making connections with them early on. These can be athletes that you trust to make a good impression, ones who are in the same event group or athletic position, an athlete pursuing the same field of study, or any other relevant category.
When you add people who are in their age group who share similar interests, you build powerful trust and confidence because it’s easier for them to visualize themselves in the same position. It’s not drastically dissimilar to their own beliefs, experiences, attitudes, etc. This is called the Similarity Principle and is used all the time in basic psychology. It’s easier to get a child to try something another child their age is already doing rather than if an adult does it. Anyone who has kids can attest to this.
Your current athletes can also be a great way of gathering information from them that they may not tell you. These could be other important values or things that interest them. Your athletes may be a wonderful way of helping boost the recruit’s conception of you, as well as give in-depth insights and first-hand experience into what it’s like to go to school there and practice on the team. They also act as another source of memory recall, if you don’t remember something the recruit had said.
The more unique and valuable offerings you and your program have to offer, the more likely the recruit will be inclined to want to commit. This is mostly due to the fear of missing out (FOMO) or loss aversion. There is nothing more powerful than this concept. Just look at how many people freak out over big coupons or sales on things that aren’t that special. They will spend more money buying more crap during a sale, thinking they are getting a good bargain that was about to expire. By showing just how much there is to lose by not going to your school, it will prompt them to do anything to avoid missing a great opportunity.
I know many big universities and Ivy Leaguers sometimes use a strategy of creating a quick deadline for commitment to put pressure and fear of loss at the forefront. It’s very effective but I’m not a fan and can certainly push specific crowds away from you, so use with precision and caution. It’s not for every personality type or every situation.
This is why it’s so important to take a few minutes and start writing out a list of all the unique pros and cons of your situation and use them as necessary. It’s always good to have them in the back of your mind so you don’t have to awkwardly think of things that might be beneficial to recruits.
Some possible benefits:
We have the number one program for a particular degree of study
We just won conference/national championships
85% of graduates leave with a high paying job in a particular field
On-campus internships or real-world experience is required for graduation
Outdoor recreation is world-class and right outside of campus
Live next to some special tourist location
Off-campus or downtown living/exceptional nightlife
Athlete dorms or large and comfy living spaces
Best on-campus food of any school
Reciprocity
Now, while you cannot outright give gifts to prospective student-athletes one of the most powerful strategies you can employ is reciprocity. When you give someone something unexpected, the human condition is to naturally accept but also to feel obliged deep down to give something back in return. We don’t like feeling like we’re taking and not giving back. We tend to like to balance the scales for karma or moral righteousness.
We’ve all been in a situation where a company gives out freebies to get you to buy something or open an account or sign up with your email, so on. I guarantee you’ve told your significant other you will take out the trash or something in hopes you get something in return for your hard work and kindness.
Be VERY careful how you choose to use such devices because you don’t want to get into any legal troubles, but you also do not want to overstep. They are very powerful when used, and can be used for nefarious purposes.
Some great ways of helping secure your spot with the parents or athlete could be:
Give them a summer workout guide, maybe the same one you give the team so they feel connected.
Create a tailored folder of information, upcoming events, sports calendars, suggestions, step-by-step guides to registering for the NCAA or to becoming eligible to compete on your team, etc.
Impart knowledge
NCAA official visits allow for you to pay for transportation to and from the campus, lodging throughout the visit, three meals per day, and three tickets to a home sports event. Use it.
Offer to walk them through campus and take them to their future classes/professors, or show them unique spots they won’t find on an official tour.
Setup time for them to hang out with members of your team or sit in on a practice
Stay in touch with them and keep yourself in the forefront of their mind (social media likes is one way, calling or texting ever 2-3 weeks, forward them team emails if applicable, etc). Don’t be clingy though!
Closing Thoughts
Some coaches take an approach of dangling guaranteed success in front of a recruit’s eyes. I personally find this tactic juvenile, misleading, and often dishonest. Everyone wants to believe they are born for greatness, and twisting that vision for your benefit is too much. I say that because it’s not something you can guarantee, nor should you ever.
You should get them to visualize a grander life with you in it and want to chase those aspirations, but if you lead them on with false truths or sugar-coated lies, it can bite you in the ass if they don’t attain them. Never lie to your athletes no matter how harmless you think it is.
Telling someone you can without a doubt make them an Olympian or assure them a specific outcome is not possible. You can only control what you can control and even then, health and longevity are never secured.
Displaying how passionate you are about the sport and your athlete’s success, on the other hand, is a much more worthwhile approach and a great way to get them to naturally mirror your enthusiasm. They will begin to weave a vision of your spirit into their view of the game. Again, people want to feel like you share in their passions and dreams.
Lastly, give them a map of what they can expect. Help them anticipate positive growth by creating a roadmap to their success. That may mean making a sheet that outlines a basic approach to the next four years for incoming freshmen. Let them know there’s a plan for them that you are going to lead them through.
Let’s be honest, money is the huge elephant in the room and it’s a topic, along with negotiating with different personality types that is beyond the scope of this article. Perhaps it requires a separate one down the line. That said, I will leave you to determine how much/what to offer depending on your own budgetary constraints for now. If you can sell the experience and the benefits to most, it matters much less. Parents and athletes get caught up in a specific number sometimes not realizing that just because you might offer a smaller number, they end up paying more at another school that offered a larger one.
Remember that even if you miss out on an athlete, and you certainly will, that it doesn’t mean it was for naught. If you execute a solid recruiting experience you will have made a new contact and may see them again in the future.
Perhaps you just couldn’t offer them something financially, or another school had a slightly better biology program, or the athlete wanted to be with their sister at another school closer to home -- that doesn’t necessarily spell doom. There’s even a possibility that if anything goes awry at the other institution, you might be the fallback they want and need next year. That’s never a bad thing.
Like anything else, take this as a way of getting better with each day and learn to perfect this skill. It will likely be the first or second most important thing you will ever learn if you want to build a successful program, so invest in it.
Templates
I want to give just a few quick outlines you can mold into your own. These are only meant to stoke the flames of your own creativity and set an example, not to necessarily be used word for word.
People tend to react more positively when you keep things slightly formal. That does not mean you have to go overboard with GIFs, pet names, or excessive slang terms. That does mean that you can speak in a more relaxed tone if you feel comfortable doing so and, yes, you CAN use emojis but I will limit you to two at max.
Depending on how much you have spoken with them in the past, or where you are in the process, some of, or none of this may apply so adjust accordingly.
Emails
Hey there {student’s name}!
I appreciate you getting back to me/reaching out and showing interest in our program here at {your school}.
I had a chance to look over some of your online athletic profiles and really like how you have been progressing. From what I see, there’s quite a bit of potential to pull out of you. {Perhaps offer a very quick and simple tip for free to help them}.
Finding an environment that nurtures your athletic abilities and fosters academic excellence is always paramount to success.
That said, I’d like to offer you and your family the opportunity to come up and visit our staff and team and get a better feel for what it is you are looking for heading into next year.
If you would, send me a good phone number and time to talk so we can set up a call, and fill out a few questions below so we can get a start on determining if {your school} is a good fit for you.
If you have any questions, shoot me a response with the answers below and I can have responses ready for you when we speak on the phone later this week.
We all look forward to getting to know you a bit more and good luck this weekend at {some competition} :)
Best,
{your name and position}
Phone conversational pieces (some talking points)
How is school going?
How is the sport going/what are you working toward?
What other sports have you done/are you doing?
What are you looking for in a school?
What type of degree are you leaning toward?
What kinds of things do they like to do outside of school/sports?
When can we schedule an official visit?
Keep away from money talk if possible on a first call
No need to spend too much time on the phone unless you have the time and the conversation is free-flowing and strong
Gather any necessary information that hasn’t been collected at this point (ie, core GPA, SAT/ACT scores, FAFSA, NCAA Eligibility Center, etc)
Use these points to draw up a basic profile of the athlete and use them to cater their tour to their particular interests.
