Recruiting

With July 1, 2005 fast approaching, it might be a good idea to talk about common recruiting rules, situations, mistakes, and pointers: Would hope all knowledgable coaches, parents, softball gurus, and players will chime in with their views. I am just going to list a few items and hope that others will add to the thread, if not I will come back and give a list of items to read and become familiar with as U enter the recruiting process;

First and foremost, to even get started, the HS player must register with the NCAA Clearinghouse which can be done online at a cost of $35, I believe. U will receive an ID # which will prove U are an eligible recruit. Of course, U must meet the academic standards of the NCAA and the school for which U have interest or has interest in U.

D-1 schools contact and avaluation period is Jan. 2 thru July 31, 2005 except for April 11-14 and May 31-June 9, 2005. They should not talk to a recruit till a tournament is complete.

Parents and recruits can e-mail coaches concerning a desire to attend the school, can ask general questions about the softball program, its needs, etc. Can not ask, "how would I fit in to your program". It is critical that a player e-mail the coaches of schools they feel they want to attend. They should also physically visit the schools and watch a game or two if at all possible. U want to see how the coach handles a game and how respecful they are to their players, the umpires, and other coaches. U can see quickly if U will fit into a program.

Go to NCAA.org for complete rules and guidelines for potential recruits, parents, and coaches. It talks about clinics (various kinds), scouting services, and other noninstitutional Privately owed camps.

This same site gives U the Core Courses required as a 2005 -2007 recruit and the changes coming in 2008.

I have just given a few items in hope NSR and all the other travel coaches will chime in, don't want anyone to feel I am trying to be the expert.

 

NACC Clearinghouse is for potential student athletes who what to play at a DI or DII institution.

There are a number of NCAA publications that can aid the student-athlete in their quest for an athletic scholarship. The link to these publications is here:

http://www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/ncaa_publications/general_interest/

The July 1 date is the date in which rising seniors can be contacted by DI and DII coaches concerning their interest in them coming to their school.

 

since most likely have a top 5 - 10 recruiting list, would lead me to believe that it might take a little while to contact all of those. question: if you are contacted by a coach that is of interest to player how long should that player wait on other contacts before jumping on the first coach?

 

Question

If U are a rising senior and have not heard something from schools U have sent information, chances are they are not interested or may not need a particular position that U play. Many want to have the 2006 kids locked up by the end of fall season 2005. It never hurts to talk to coaches and see what they are thinking, then U have to decide do I verbally commit or wait for maybe a college which is higher on my list. It is tough as if U turn them down, they may move on to the next player and no other schools on your list come through. Believe me I have seen almost every situation in the past several years. Best of luck.

 

Be Patient and Take those official visits!

My dd had D1 offers before she had completed her junior year in HS (as a result of taking self-paid unofficial visits). To those coaches credit they did not pressure us and, in fact, encouraged her to take her visits. Even so she was very tempted to commit before the start of her senior year but we insisted she take official visits. Ironically, in the end, she committed to a school that was last to get involved in the recruiting process. The official visit sold her. All her choices were good ones (two of the coaches involved were named "Coach of the Year" in their respective conferences in '05). Did she make the correct choice? Only time will tell but we couldn't be happier with the school or coaching staff thus far. July 1 till signing week is a stressful time but patience and persistence pays off!

 

dukedog: how far into your dd's senior year did she make her choice? and did all the coaches give her the same amount of time to make up her mind or did she take a chance for a coach to move on?
appreciate your post about your experience!!! are there others out there?

 

Decisions

Understand that we were very aggressive in getting our dd on campuses. She took her first official visit the last week of August. That coach gave her till Oct 1 to decide. Visits 2 & 3 were in mid sept. After those visits she decided to eliminate school #1 and called her. The other schools gave no deadline but we told them we would let them within one week of her last visit which was the first weekend in October. This is what we did so she was 'verbally committed' and all coaches informed well ahead of the November signing date. Important to note that our daughter chose the campus on which she felt the most comfortable not the best (winningest) softball program. Find several softball programs you're comfortable with then make it about the school not ball! Key question: Is this a place I'd want to go to school if I'd never thrown a pitch in my life?