By Alan Yost
Communicating and establishing relationships with college coaches is the most important aspect of the recruiting process. It is vital to remember that you can call and email a coach at any time to build and maintain a relationship. Unofficial visits are also a great way for a coach to get to know you as a person, and you are allowed unlimited unofficial visits. It is important to build a relationship with coaches because there is no coach that will give an athletic scholarship to just any student-athlete. A coach doesn’t want to have to worry about their athletes going to class and staying out of trouble and will not recruit a student athlete that might be a liability. As a student-athlete you will be representing the college/university, the team, and the coach, and it is important that you prove to the coach that you are capable of representing the program in a positive manner.
NCSA can not stress enough how important it is for any student-athlete to respond to every college coach that sends you information regardless of division. Your opinions may change throughout your high school career and the more coaches in your pool, the more leverage you create. By researching colleges/universities you will be able to make educated decisions. Make sure you are researching the academic, athletic and social aspects that each college/university has to offer. After you have researched all the institutions that have contacted you, compose a list and rank them from favorite to least favorite. Start by contacting the schools of least interest to you. Communicating with coaches at schools you are not excited about first will prepare you for interactions with your top choices.
