Technology, scheduling and competition have changed the recruiting process significantly. The recruiting scenarios of a parent’s generation are archaic compared to the fast paced world most players are facing today. The following article identifies the top three ways recruiting has changed.
- The Internet has completely changed the way coaches recruit.
- Camps and combines are now essential to the recruiting process.
- Unofficial visits are absolutely crucial to building relationships with coaches early on in the process.
It is, however, crucial to understand that these points are a bit of a Catch 22. While they are all true, simply doing all three wont make a recruit any more likely to receive a scholarship. Recruits need to go about accomplishing all three tasks the right way.
Recruits can’t just have a profile on a website. Coaches aren’t able to find a needle in a haystack on the Internet any more than they were able in the old days. What the Internet does is provide coaches an efficient way to quickly evaluate the recruits they have heard about from a trusted 3rd party. There are many programs, such as NCSA’s Recruit-Match database that accomplish both the task of verifying every athlete as legitimate and allowing coaches to quickly evaluate their athletic and academic qualifications.
Camps and combines are also essential to the recruiting process. However, choosing the right camp can be just as important. It is important to realize if you are you padding a coaches salary or being evaluated.
Finally, visits are key to establishing relationships. However, setting up a beneficial visit requires first getting a coach’s attention and then executing the visit properly. Doing both requires work and execution.
Editor’s Note: Thank you to NCSA for this informative article.
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