NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

 Making phone calls to college coaches is an extremely important part of recruiting.  Recruits need to able to effectively reach out to coaches to initiate contact and to follow up effectively.  In order to be adequately prepared for a call with a coach, there are a couple things you must do.  

1. Most importantly, you need to make sure that you are enthusiastic when talking to coaches! 

2. Before you have your first live call with a coach, you need to have a couple practice runs.

- Role play with a teammate, friend, or parent and go over the questions you are planning to ask as well as the questions coaches usually ask.

- Practice leaving voicemails for coaches on your cell phone or house phone. 

- Listen to your voicemails and see how you do! 

3. Make sure you have a list of questions to ask the coach written down.  Also be sure to have a pen and paper ready.

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 The current economy is affecting families across the country.  Many businesses across America have been reining in costs to combat lost revenue.  The business of college sports is no different.  Athletic departments are being forced to trim costs in any way possible therefore recruiting budgets are taking a hit.  However, since a coach’s job is still tied to their winning percentage rather than cut back, coaches are getting creative.  Today’s New York Times outlined how some schools are changing their ways:

At Amherst College, coaches have been asked to be more selective when sending out a bulk of recruiting letters and encouraged to send e-mail messages to recruits instead of worrying about telephone bills.

Amherst, a Division III college in Massachusetts, is mobilizing its alumni in an effort to have select graduates monitor their local newspapers and academic honor roll announcements to identify potential recruits. The college’s athletic director, Suzanne R. Coffey, said the alumni recruiters might meet on conference calls with coaches to discuss their findings.

“Before the financial crisis occurred, we were talking about ways to identify prospects outside our normal channels,” Coffey said. “Then in the past couple of months, we said this is the type of thing that will make even more sense with financial constraints even more prevalent.”

The Associated Press also put out a story on cost cutting efforts by schools and the NCAA:

The San Jose State football coach says he’ll avoid hotels when possible on recruiting trips. The athletics director at George Washington is wondering whether it’s time to turn out the gym lights earlier each night to save on electricity and heating bills.

Like the rest of the country, college sports is in economic meltdown mode, and not even a grand locale for the NCAA’s annual convention – along the Potomac River just south of Washington, D.C. – can mask the belt-tightening that is under way.

“It’s going to affect travel,” George Washington AD Jack Kvancz said. “It’s going to affect lodging. It’s going to affect all those things that you would obviously think it’s going to effect. You’re going to see schedules affected.”

With coaches cutting back on travel, phone calls, and letters it is more important than ever for recruits to take matters into their own hands and give coaches a vehicle to evaluate their talent.  It will be vital for athletes to use tools like NCSA’s Verified Scouting Report to give coach’s a cheap yet extremely effective tool to evaluate their athletic and academic credentials. 

It will also put more responsibility on families to follow up aggressively.  If you haven’t gotten a phone call from a coach it is up to the athlete to make sure they call directly.  Even if they don’t get an immediate call back athletes will not to continue to stay on the offensive to make sure coaches get a chance to evaluate their Scouting Report.

In a challenging economy athletes have an opportunity to have their education paid in full, but it’s up to them to give coaches the chance to cheaply evaluate their talent.

NCSA conducted a survey with over 9,000 Takkle.com users to determine the most asked recruiting questions by student athletes.  Here are their questions and our answers.

How do I get my information to scouts to look at and evaluate?

College coaches depend on verified information from trusted sources to find talent.  Most coaches attend tournaments, games and camps with a set list of student athletes they intend to evaluate, not with the hopes of discovering prospects.Take advantage of credible sources to get your name in front of college coaches!Unless you’re a “top-1%-in-the-nation” athlete, you will most likely not be “discovered” by a college coach. You need to be pro-active in getting your name, academic scores and athletic achievements in front of coaches.

I run track and I was wondering, are recruiters at the big meets such as regionals or do they look at your stats and records online. If I’m hoping to go to a college far south from where I live, how would recruiters see or find me?

College coaches do a majority of their initial evaluation by looking at video – requested or received from credible sources – often delivered online or via e-mail. After watching video, a coach may decide to have a member of his or her staff make an in-person evaluation.Make sure to have your highlight video online in a format that can be easily distributed to college coaches.What is a good size for a division 1 athlete?

Take a look at NCSA’s Sport Specific Recruiting Guidelines. They take our entire Recruit-Match Database and average the size and speed of players at every single division level for every sport.

Do you have to be a certain age to be recruited?

Academic performance/requirements count from Day One of freshmen year. College coaches can begin sending letters to potential recruits as early as freshmen year, and potential recruits can write, call, and visit college coaches at any time. Bottom line – recruiting starts freshmen year!

Is there any way I can reach out to coaches and take the initiative? Am I guaranteed to be heard by them?

Absolutely, unless you’re a “top-1%-in-the-nation” athlete, you will most likely not be “discovered” by a college coach. You need to be pro-active in getting your name, academic scores and athletic achievements in front of coaches. That means sending out RecruitMe Sheet, following up with phone call and sending out game tapes.

What should I do if college coaches are not responding to my emails or website links?

College coaches are extremely busy. If they don’t get back to you right away, don’t give up! It can take several phone calls and follow up attempts before you reach a coach.

As a potential collegiate athlete or an avid fan of volleyball, you are always searching for the most up to date and comprehensive information available on the sport.  I put together a short list of the ultimate indoor volleyball websites.  These are must haves in your favorites!        

USAVolleyball.org: USAV is the governing body for the sport of volleyball in the US.  This free site is great for national tournament information, regional data, high performance information, listing of rules and regulations, educational articles    

Prepvolleyball.com: cost is $25 a year.  Includes recruiting articles, a college coach “needs” list, covers high school and club programs nationwide.  Player lists for every recruiting class, message boards.  This is a must-have site for a prospective collegiate athlete.   

Richkern.com: This site runs pretty slow, but is probably the greatest collection of data about college volleyball that exists.  This site offers a free listing of the most recent college recruits, college rankings, volleyball related articles, recruiting registry, college contact information. 

The premium service costs $25 per year, which is nothing compared to the amount of data you are given access to.  It offers a ton of historical data about everything volleyball.  It offers a comprehensive listing of past and current recruiting classes, college rosters, rankings, and stats.  For example, I could find out the average height of a University of Wisconsin recruit over the past 5 years.       

Middlehitter.com: This is a great site for a men’s volleyball player.  There are videos of different levels of play, which is a great resource for student-athletes.  There is a top player listing by club with historical data.  This is a free site.      

What do you think of these sites and what are some others?

Every coach in college football continues to fight to keep his top in state recruits, while always pushing into new states and high schools for potential student athletes.  Arizona State Coach Dennis Erickson spoke to The Arizona Republic on his teams ever expanding recruiting strategy.

“Arizona has grown so much,” said Erickson, who first began recruiting Arizona while at Oregon State from 1999-2002. “I’ll bet you back then there were six, seven (prospects) in the state. Now there are probably 25, who knows, maybe more than that. The high school coaching here is so good, and the players are prepared when they come out.

“This is the key for us then we go to Southern California and Vegas and others places to get our players.”

Many might think this national recruiting strategy is limited to only big time college football and basketball.  Think again.

The University of Delaware Volleyball team is comprised of 14 players from 11 different states.  Their roster features players from California, Oregon, Serbia and Australia.

“We have to recruit nationally,” said Coach Bonnie Kenny added, “and we have to try to attract a good person, a good student and then we hope they’re going to be a great volleyball player, in that order.”

If you are a recruit who is truly serious about paying at the next level expanding your search to look at schools in other geographic regions can increase your options exponentially.  Increasing your options, means increasing your scholarship dollars and most importantly increasing your chances of finding the perfect school for you!

The athletic recruiting process is never easy.  Many athletes lean heavily on their parents and coaches to help them evaluate which school provides the best fit, but what happens when a coach or parent is reluctant to offer advice?  Athletes are forced to make an extremely and important decision themselves.  Kayla Lommori recently made that difficult decision by signing a letter of intent to play volleyball for Santa Clara.  Here jopurney was recently chronicled by the Reno Gazette Journal.

Still, the recruiting process wasn’t always fun for Lommori, who got frustrated at times when her parents didn’t offer much input, saying it was up to her.

“That’s why it got frustrating,” she said. “They (parents Scott and Leslie) wouldn’t tell me which one they wanted the most. They didn’t say anything”. They wanted me to make the decision.”

For athletes like Leslie NCSA provides the guidance they are desperately seeking.  Our expert Recruiting Coaches work with student athletes all over the country to provide the objective 3rd party objective that so many athletes crave.  If you are looking for that type of guidance I urge you to get an evaluation today!

NCSA caught up with rising volleyball star Alex Martin to talk about her high school and club seasons, and the opportunity to compete at the next level. 

NCSA: How did your high school team do this year?

Martin: This year was a pretty good year. We stood our ground with teams that should have beaten us and we beat teams that we out-hustled. Although this year was a rebuilding year I would say that we played pretty good. We learned a lot about ourselves and hopefully all the good energy will transfer over to next year.

NCSA: Were you recognized by your team or anyone else for your performance this year?

Martin: Surprisingly, yes.  I was in the paper every game I played. Which really was shocking because I only got to play 3 matches due to TSSAA rules (I switched High Schools). It felt great knowing that I was chosen out of all these talented girls I played with and against.

NCSA: How do you handle club tryouts? Are you nervous? If so, how do you get over your nerves?

Martin: Club tryouts for me are so fun! I have always felt pretty confident, because I know that if I get out there and leave110% on the floor and out hustle everyone and just play the game I know how to play that I will be fine. But I mean everyone has the jitters the first few drills and I just remember something my coach for club used to always tell us, “Heart is the difference between believing and achieving.” Then I just take a deep breathe, remember my fundamentals, and leave everything out on the court.

NCSA: What are you looking forward to most during this club season?

Martin: Where to start… This year is a very different year for me because I’m playing up an age group with Choo Choo 17-1’s.  I love a challenge and having to push myself to the limit, simply because I want to improve. It’s going to definitely be a challenge this year, but it’s a challenge I’m ready to overcome.

NCSA: What type of recruiting contacts do you have so far?

Martin:  Several contacts from SEC schools and also SoCon. I have reached out to many more schools and received questionnaires back from maybe half of them.

NCSA: What are your recruiting plans over the next 6 months?

Martin: I plan to continue contacting the schools I would like to attend, and continue to update my scouting report with stats, grades, strength and performance training achievements, all that.

NCSA: What is best advice you have heard about recruiting so far?

Martin:  Start early and stay organized. Stay on top of the things that colleges send you and keep sending them things to make you stand out to them, so that when they can contact you they will have knowledge about your prior achievements.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week about the new player conduct rules implemented by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. 

This sweeping new personal-conduct policy, which was announced before the 2007 season, allows the NFL to quickly and summarily fine and suspend players; not just for committing crimes, but for any act that’s deemed harmful to the NFL’s “integrity and reputation.” To guard against these unpredictable suspensions (there have been 10 so far), NFL teams are hiring former police officers and FBI agents as security chiefs, ordering up extensive background checks, installing video-surveillance systems in locker rooms, chasing down rumors and sometimes forbidding players from talking to the press.

Many NFL players feel the policy is an over reach, but the it appears here to stay.  This strict policy also outlines how recruits need to carry themselves at all times.  Just like the NFL is refusing to let character risks damage the league’s image, universities will continue to investigate a players background to ensure solid character.  If you plan on fulfilling your athletic scholarship potential, I recommend making sound decisions.

Many recruits have to make a difficult decision between choosing a university where they may have a chance to play early or program with a winning tradition where early playing time is unlikely.  But can’t you have both?  Look at the example of the Saint Louis University women’s volleyball team. In 2005 new coach Anne Korde’s sold top recruit Whitney Roth on her vision for the program.  When Roth signed on, others took notice and soon the Billikens had a top recruiting class.  This season they have defeated their first top 10 opponent, and have entered the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 rankings for the first time.

I generally advise players to make their own decisions in the recruiting process, however this example show how a few top recruits can turn a program around.  Current recruits considering scholarships from multiple schools shouldn’t automatically dismiss a program because of a losing record.  It always makes sense to consider as many universities as possible!

As the season comes to an end you may be thinking about putting away your kneepads to collect dust for another year…STOP!!   That is the last thing you should to do.  Now is the time for you to start improving your skills and work on your recruiting process.  Here are some suggestions about what you should be doing in the off season:

1)  Follow-up with Your College Contacts:  Let them know how your high school season ended and what your plans are in the off season.  See if they want you to set up an unofficial/official visit in the winter or spring.

2)  Attend Pre-Club Tryout Clinics:  These give you an opportunity to brush up and tweak your skills.  If you are looking to find a club team this gives you a chance to find out more information about the club, and if you may want to tryout for the team.  

3)  Find a Competitive Club Team:  I can’t stress enough how important it is to play club volleyball.  This is where the majority of college coaches recruit.  You need to find a team that attends national tournaments such as JO Nationals, Reno Volleyball Festival, National Qualifiers, JVDA sponsored tournaments, and the AAU Championships.  Playing club will not only give you exposure, but it gives you the opportunity to keep improving your game.

4)  Research New Schools:  Not only do you need to follow-up with schools you have been talking to, but you need to create new contacts.  The more schools you are communication with when it comes to making your decision the more options you hopefully have to choose from. 

I know this may seem like a lot to do, but if your dream is to play volleyball in college these are some appropriate measures you need to take. There is just no rest for the weary.