I sat down with longtime Notre Dame head Volleyball Coach Debbie Brown in her office, as she shared powerful insights on recruiting during a 75 minute conversation. Though this is volleyball centered, it also has points that apply to all sports.
Brown has a Top 25 program. As a player at the University of Southern California, she was on some of the greatest teams ever, and was the co captain of the 1980 US Olympic Volleyball team.
This is what she had to say about a variety of Volleyball Recruiting Topics:
“Charlie, I think Volleyball is the most accelerated sport in recruiting, more than Football or Basketball. We are not completely done with our 2011 class (current 11th graders) but all are offered. Most top D1 programs are that way. Most parents of 11th graders think it is the time to begin the recruiting process. It’s not. Now, there are top D1 programs, mid D-1′s and lower D1′s. The timelines can be different.
There is a huge emphasis for coaches to be on the courts at Club events evaluating the 16 year olds. Five years ago, you’d never see us on the 16′s. It would be all 17 and 18′s.
(As we were talking in her office, one of her assistants was leaving to fly to Denver to evaluate 9th and 10th grade players at an event)
Charlie, the recruits that mean the most to us are the ones that contact us personally and tell us WHY they are interested in us, what they can bring, vitals, height, jump and so on. The last two weeks we got over 50 emails or calls letting us know what tournaments they will be in. It doesn’t have to be long. What we do is tag it with the University Athlete device we carry to events. We make an effort to see them in person.
Some parents get concerned about their kids being on Club teams that aren’t good. To me, that’s not as much of an issue as playing, getting good instruction, and playing the game. I do think the Club season is too long, but volleyball players do need to be working to get better. The analogy I use is our Admissions Department wants students to always be working on getting better academically. Same with us. Athletes should continue to get better.
A myth in volleyball recruiting is that you have to play for one of the Clubs that competes for a national title. However, if you want to be recruited nationally, you need to play on a Club team that plays more than a regional schedule. If you want to play College in your region, then a regional team would work.
On Grades:
Charlie, in our case at Notre Dame, you need to be above 3.5 but most are around 4.0 with all the Honors and AP courses they take. Class rank, reputation of the school, all of those are important. The thing young people need to know is the higher their GPA, the more doors will open for college sports opportunities! A misconception for athletes wanting to come here is that they will say they have a 3.0 GPA and that’s good. Well, it’s good, but not for here.
If I get a letter or email from a prospect and it doesn’t have a GPA, my assumption is ‘not good.’
On Sizes:
For top D1′s, height above the net is huge! Your reach. Vertical jump is important but it comes down to how high you can play above the net. An outside hitter would be 10 feet or above, maybe 9′ 10″ range. When we look at sophs, a lot may be in the 9’4″ range, and we can project to when they will be seniors. Middle hitters, 10’2″ and above.
The Commitment it takes to play a high level of D1:
You have to play volleyball because you love it at this level, because of the time you will spend at it. If you don’t love it, it’s not worth it. You will spend the minimum of 20 hours of week that the NCAA allows, plus to and from practice, to the training room. For kids that understand that, they have a great experience. For young people that are interested in the ‘quote unquote’ college experience of going out three to four nights a week, it wouldn’t be for them. Our players understand it, and love the commitment. It’s like walking by the basketball gym here and seeing a player shooting free throws on his own. He is driven by excellence. He wants it.
On Video:
A Recruiting Coordinator for us will look at it, and let me know if I should look at it, and then we would want to see the person live. A short skills portion is okay, highlights. There absolutely has to be some continuous game film. Anyone can look good on highlights. The skills part can be in practice. Sometimes that part is too long. Five reps of each skill would be fine. If possible, game vid should be shot from behind the court and not moving. I know that’s hard to get elevated at Club events sometimes, but we don’t like the side court moving shot. From behind the court, make sure you are on the near court, and not shooting vid of your athlete where they are through the net.
Signs a Recruit Knows Notre Dame is interested:
We can send out Questionnaires freshman and sophomore years, but of course they can’t be personal. From there, it’s up to them. They can stop by our office (unless it is a Dead Period). One piece of valuable advice is if they are going to a Club event, or traveling in general, call a coach ahead, set up a visit, stop and see them.
When they get to be juniors, the letters or emails can be personal back and forth. We do more email because you send it on Sept. 1, it gets there on Sept. 1 (first day of Jr. year coaches can write). We have a top group, a second group…
July 1st before the senior year, that’s when they can call us. Again, recruiting is so accelerated at our level of Volleyball, we’re done! That call is to talk about the details of what is to come with their scholarship offer.”
*******************
Thank you, Coach Brown. One of the things we talked about is that there are even different levels of Division One. A School like Notre Dame or Florida would have different timelines than say, an Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, which is also Division One.
A school like Valparaiso University is Division One, but is it the same level as Penn State? No. That’s one of the reasons families need to have a realistic evaluation of where their volleyball player fits in the recruiting process.
Editor’s Note: If you have questions on recruiting or would like to bring Charlie Adams in to speak at your Club, High School or Event, email cadams@ncsasports.org
