What a College Coach Looks for in Recruits…
March 24th, 2009 - byNotre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw knows a lot about recruiting. She has signed America’s top girls high school basketball player, Skyler Diggins of South Bend Washington, to a national letter of intent. Muffet coached Notre Dame to the 2001 national championship with a first class group of recruits.
In the book “Courting Success” Muffet shares insights of what she looks for in recruits. In her case, they would be girl’s 
basketball players, but you can take a lot of these principles and apply them to all recruit able athletes. Here is part of what Coach McGraw says she looks for:
“So what impresses me on a home visit? I expect a prospect to look nice. She should be in appropriate attire, dressed neatly. I want her to make eye contact with me. I want her to ask questions. That shows interest. I want her to be assertive enough so that her parents don’t do all of the talking. And, of course, she should hide her trophies!
I really get a good picture of the kind of person I’m recruiting when I get to see the recruit interact with her mom and dad. I am interested in how much she respects her parents. I want to know whether or not she’s spoiled. I can learn a lot about how a recruit will be on our team just by looking at that relationship she has with her parents. I don’t think the parents should be waiting on the daughter all the time. I remember being in a home once when the doorbell rang and the daughter said, “Mom, are you going to get that?” And I was thinking, “Geez, you’re 18 years old, get off your butt and answer the door!”
Here’s one thing I always notice when a player and her parents visit us at Notre Dame. When they’re on campus, they always go to the bookstore to buy a souvenir, and I notice which ones ask, even demand, a credit card from their parents. A recruit who says, “Thanks so much, Dad, for the sweatshirt” or “No thanks, Mom, I really don’t need a sweatshirt” impresses me. It shows how much she appreciates what she has and shows what kind of person she is. These are just some little things I pay attention to that are cues into what kind of people they are, and the cues I’m sure they have no idea I’m noticing.
In terms of skills, I look for intensity. I also look at how they play defense. Young players rest on defense. I like players with pride. I look at a recruit’s face after someone scores on them. I hope it bothers her, because I guarantee it will bother me.
We look at ball handling and aggressiveness. Does she dive on the floor for loose balls? Does she crash for rebounds, or just sort of hang around the outside? Does she sprint the floor every possession? Is she willing to take a charge? This is something that tells me she is a team player, she’s aggressive, and she’ll sacrifice her body for the team. This is the most unselfish act in basketball. At any summer game, if a player takes a charge, you’ll see all thecoaches in attendance take out a pen and make note of it. A lot of great players don’t want to take a charge because ‘it’s not their job.
‘We look closely at attitude. What happens when the coach yells at her? Is she making eye contact? Is she sulking? Is she pouting? When a player gets in foul trouble, is she complaining to the referees? How is she when the team is losing? Is she yelling at her teammates?
Actually, I prefer to see a recruit’s team lose. When a team wins by 20, that’s easy. There’s no adversity. I like to see a player get into foul trouble. How does she handle the frustration? Does she possess self-discipline? I’ve noticed that with girls you have to see them play a lot to get a feel for them. They can be up and down. You can see a player on a great day, and on a bad day. The difference is striking. It can be the difference between offering her a scholarship and wondering why she was on my list in the first place.”
Head Coach Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame Women’s Basketball
from the book ‘Courting Success‘ (Taylor Trade Publishing)
