The Spring evaluation period has already been cancelled due to Covid-19 and it’s unclear how this pandemic will affect the rest of the summer.
As the July recruiting period hangs in the balance, there are many athletes unhappy with their current offers.
Here are 3 steps that you can take to be proactive during this time:
1. Research/Know your fit and make a list
When looking at schools that you want to attend, create a list of things that you want out of your college experience. Do your homework and make sure that the academics and athletic program aligns with your wants.
There likely won’t be a perfect match but if you come up with your non-negotiables (ex: Engineering program, uptempo playing style, within 5 hours from home) you will be able to come up with 8-10 schools that you could envision yourself playing for, maybe more.
Once you’ve made this list, organize the schools starting with your top choices.
Quick tip: Make sure your list is realistic. If you are being recruited mostly at the D2 level, then creating a list full of D1 programs isn’t the best way to spend your time.
Unless you’re planning on going pro, don’t get too hung up on level. Go where you’re wanted, where you can have an impact and great experience on the court, campus and classroom.
2. Gather and Send
Now that you have your list, you need to get all of the contact information of the coaching staff, you can usually find all of this on the athletics website. It’s best to send your email to all staff, giving it a higher chance to be opened.
You will also want to gather recent full game film, a highlight video if you have one, your stats, any awards you received and your GPA. Once you have all of these, it’s time to draft your email.
Keeping the email to 5 to 6 sentences is ideal. Do your best to leave out your life story (save that for the recruiting calls). You want to make the email easy to read and to the point. Throw in a quick compliment of the program, why you’re interested and let them know you’re excited to speak with them.
Quick tip: If you’re being recruited by anyone that they compete with, let them know. It helps to quickly give coaches perspective on what level you are and may intrigue them more.
Once you’ve drafted your email, make sure to include the game film(s), your contact information (include social media ex. Twitter handle), your coach’s contact information and links to any articles that feature you.
Try to personalize these emails as much as possible. Triple check to make sure that when you’ve created your template, you’re not putting in the wrong school name or coach’s name in the message :)
Finally, the subject line. This is very important. It will be the first thing they see so make sure to include your full name, year and position.
3. Don’t be shy - Follow up!
You want to stand out from the competition? Get on the phone. We all know how many kids are awkward and don’t enjoy being on the phone but one way to separate yourself is to actually reach out to the coach and introduce yourself.
Nervous? Here’s a little script to give you some guidance:
Hey Coach ______, this is Mya Hooper. I’m a 2021 and I’m very interested in your program. I sent you and the coaching staff an email last week with some game film that I would love to get your feedback on.
Here are some potential scenarios:
They haven’t watched: Let them know you’ll send another email with it attached when you get off the phone.
They watched and are interested: See if it’s possible to set up a virtual tour with your family. FaceTime is your best friend during these unique times!
They watched and it’s not a good fit: Cool, use it as an opportunity to get some free advice to get better!
They don’t answer: Leave a voicemail or shoot them a quick text once you’re off the phone.
Your goal with this phone call is to see if they are recruiting your position in your class. Some schools would be a great fit but they just don’t have a need for your position.
If that’s the case, great, move on, there’s plenty more out there. It’s better to find that out now so that you can put more time into pursuing other opportunities.
No response to your email and no phone number to call?
No problem, keep emailing! You have to understand that coaches are receiving close to one hundred emails a week from athletes interested in their program so it’s likely they just missed yours.
Give it a few days to a week between and keep reaching out until you get a response. Persistence is key!
--- Happy recruiting!