College Recruiting Tips and Timeline (Grades 8+)

The process of getting recruited by a college can be overwhelming. Most of the confusion from an athlete and their family point of view is due to the lack of exposure to proper information and understanding the  recruiting timeline for all college coaches, no matter the level.  

First things first, make sure your athlete is registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center (NCAA EC). Before making a list of schools, contacting coaches, or anything similar, creating a profile with the NCAA EC should be your first step.  The NCAA EC ensures an athlete is meeting the NCAA academic requirements and ensure that an athlete holds their amateur status. This step should be completed going into your athlete's freshman year and can be done by visiting the link here. I recommend starting with creating a free profile page and registering for a certification account if your athlete is being actively recruited by NCAA DII and NCAA DI institutions. Here is a checklist of how to use your NCAA EC account.

The second step is coming to terms that college level coaches are hired and fired based on their ability to WIN college games, they do not have the same responsibilities as high school and youth program coaches. Understanding this will help the recruiting timeline make sense when comparing it to your athletes recruitment journey. 

Most Division I-II coaches have 2-3 years and sometimes 1 year to show they can win games and field a competitive collegiate team on a year to year basis. If they fail to exhibit that then they are out of the job and will be looking for work elsewhere. For a coach that is in that position, it does not make sense for them to recruit spend a lot of time or attention on a player with 3-4 year of high school left, it hardly gives them time to recruit a player with two years of high school left. Some coaches may be in a position where they hardly want to recruit high school players at all and may turn to junior college, college transfers or Prep School (19 year old) players to bring into their program instead. 

Why? The answer is simple, they need players that can come in to compete for a spot and contribute right away, they do not have the luxury to wait 2-3 years to see if a player can figure it out. With only 13 scholarships with maybe 2-3 per year to award to a new player, DI coaches have to distribute those to players that earn it not just to those who want one. 

If you can come to terms with that, then you have to be aware and willing to accept that if your athlete's dream and goal is to play collegiate basketball, they may have to endure a year or two at a junior college or a prep school. There is nothing wrong with this and it does not necessarily mean your child is not good enough. It is more of a developmental route that is better for late bloomers, or players that may not have had the best exposure at the high school level. Going to a legitimate prep school with a good history is a great route especially for high academic players vs going to junior college as players will be able to keep their four years of eligibility with the NCAA. For players that are not as strong academically or may have a reputation for poor coach-ability or behavior issues, going to a reputable junior college to play for a strong well known program will help clear those issues and earn the trust of DII-DI coaches.

You have more time than you may think and the NCAA has made it this way on purpose for the benefit of the athlete! The recruitment calendar has changed drastically over the last 5 years with the sole purpose of having high school athletes gain as much information before feeling the pressure to verbally commit to a school in 8th/9th grade.

Dates and periods you should know;

June 15th: NCAA Division I-II college coaches can begin contacting recruits, sending recruiting materials, emailing, texting, calling and making verbal offers after the athletes SOPHOMORE year. Anytime before this they are permitted to send general recruiting materials, such as brochures and camp information. DIII and NAIA schools do not have such restrictions, however they tend to follow Division I and II leads in terms of the recruitment process.

What this means for you: Coaches may not be able to initiate contact, but they are allowed to do their homework and create a list of their TOP prospects so they are prepared to make offers when June 15th rolls around. Freshman athletes are allowed to call college coaches and talk to them on the phone as long as they are the ones initiating contact. About 60% (per NCSA) of basketball recruits are connecting with coaches before their junior year. Which is why it is better to be proactive in terms of your recruiting rather than reactive. 

Contact Period: A period when college coaches are allowed to talk and visit student athletes (juniors and seniors). This is known to be the most active recruiting period in basketball recruiting, all communication and in person contact is permitted. Coaches can do the following: attend tournaments, visit high schools and homes, high school open gyms, and athletes can visit campuses.

What this means for you: If a school is inviting you on a visit and/or coming to visit you personally, this is a great sign that you are a priority recruit on their prospect list, but this does not always means an offer will follow or that other schools will follow suit. Recruits need to establish relationships before contact period occurs, by being proactive with their recruitment process. 

Evaluation Period: Dates set by the NCAA for coaches to watch and evaluate prospects during the offseason, also known as live periods. It may be confusing but coaches can have no contact with the athlete or their family during an evaluation period. This is actually a great time for AAU coaches and high school coaches to get involved and aid your athlete by making sure the right people have their information and schedules. Not all programs or high school coaches do this but if the athlete is proactive and are playing in the right tournaments with the right teams, they will be okay!

What this means for you: Be proactive!!! Know when these dates are and DO NOT schedule any vacations or time away during these periods and make sure you apply for the NCAA Camp in July as well, to gain an additional period. It is rare for a coach to come to these and discover new talent they are mainly coming with a set list of games and prospects they want to see. Contact coaches as soon as you receive your game information providing them with your schedule and other necessary details such as position, skill set, academic goals, team name so they have what they need to hopefully add you to their prospect list. 

Dead Period: Coaches may not have any in person contact with recruits or parents. However, communication can still occur over phone, email and social media. 

What this means for you: This is great time as these are normally slower basketball times right before contact/evaluation periods. These are the periods when players should be looking to make introductions, provide schedule updates, school open gym information, Christmas tournament, Thanksgiving tournament, AAU live period schedules, and asking to schedule unofficial visits if eligible.

Quiet Period: Athletes can talk to a college coach in person on their campus. The coach is not allowed to watch recruits compete in person, visit their school, talk to them at their home or anywhere else outside of their own college campus.

What this means for you: Nothing, there is really not much to do during these times of the year. Things you can do during these times to stay productive, update highlights, update recruiting profiles on Hudl/NCSA, update school list, and prep for visits.

August 1st sophomore year: Sophomores can take an unlimited amount of unofficial visits. Unofficial visits are visits to a school of interest that the athlete and their family pay for in full. School is not allowed to pay for expenses what so ever. Athlete should bring workout clothes and basketball shoes just in case they are asked to join a workout, this is a good way to meet coaching staff, looks at campus, and see if that school would be of interest for you as a student athlete.

August 1st before junior year: Recruits are allowed unlimited official visits starting August 1 of their junior year. Student Athletes can not take multiple OFFICIAL visits to the same school in the same year unless there is a coaching change. They are allowed to revisit a school during their senior year where they took a visit during their junior year. Official visits are where schools pay for the expenses for the athlete and two family members for a period of 48 hours or the length of the weekend. Official visits are normally the last step before a school offers a scholarship or come after an athletes receives a scholarship offer. Official visits typically take place in a player's senior year. Athletes are currently allowed to take 5 official visits in total.

What should an athlete be doing currently?

Right now what is important is understanding your level as an athlete and what your goal is. If your goal as an athlete is to play at DI level but you are not good enough yet, you may not want to contact DI coaches until you reach that level. If you contact before you are ready you will not get the responses you are looking for. If you feel like your best years are ahead of you hold off and be patient before contacting. If you feel like you are playing at a high level currently and are ahead of your peers then it may make sense to contact now. 

There is nothing wrong with connecting with DIII and DII schools now, and if you are a senior and do not like where you are at with your recruitment it may make sense to reach out to prep schools and junior college programs before your season starts. If you are junior or senior and you are struggling to connect with NCAA coaches , I would suggest to begin researching NAIA schools whom still award scholarships and connecting with coaches at those institutions. 

It is extremely difficult to get recruited in basketball, do not feel discouraged if you are not getting the results you want. Most players do not start getting recruited until the summer going into their SENIOR year. You have time!!!

STEPS TO TAKE FOR YOUR COLLEGE PROCESS

1) Create NCAA Eligibility Center Profile

2) Create a recruitment profile using hudl or a service like NCSA, basic profiles are enough you just need something that you can send as a link to college coaches that displays academic, athletic information, and film that way you do not overload colleges in your emails

3) Create a balanced target school list between 50 - 75 schools across DIII - DI (10-15 being low/mid DI schools), if you talked to a aau/high school coach and feel you are at DI - DII level list can be 50 schools at those levels

4) Clean up social media, make sure social medial handles are appropriate, content on page or profile is appropriate, have athletic profiles where coaches can watch film and highlights. Nothing wrong with having picture just keep it clean! Be aware of what type of content you are liking, reposting and sharing!

4) Send an introductory email to schools you are interested in. Email assistant coaches/directors of recruiting rather than the head coach, Subject line should be "Introduction and Recruiting Overview of [insert name], email should be short and concise no more than 3-4 short paragraphs, include link to film and academic information, write a short story about who you are as an athlete, student and person, and why you think you will be a good fit for their school and that you would like to receive camp information, you can attach an athletic resume if you would like.

5) Try to attend 3-5 college elite camps held by the colleges themselves each summer, the NCAA camp is a great one as well, along with other camps such as Jay Bilas Camp where other college coaches are working the event as well.

6) Update coaches on schedules, important schedule updates would be fall open gyms, high school season schedule, Thanksgiving and Christmas tournament schedules, AAU and Scholastic live periods! keep them short and concise! Do not need to sell your self in these, these are just updates to schools you have already contacted. You should be updating your film and recruitment profiles and attaching a link every time you do this. 

7) By the August 1st of your sophomore and junior year aim to schedule unofficial visits with your top 5-10 schools throughout the fall.

8) By August 1st of your senior year plan 4 official visits each saving an extra one for a school that presents themselves late in the process during your senior year. Try to hold off on officials unless a school ask you to take one.

9) Prepare yourself before going on visits for a school to present you with an offer and practice what you are going to say. Always be honest with schools when the ask you questions especially when they ask about who is recruiting you, do NOT lie! Follow up with how long is the offer good for before you have to make a decision.

10) If you have reached your senior year and you have not had any luck with recruitment get opinions from high school and AAA coaches about your level and see if it makes sense to do prep or junior college.

Conclusion

It is not impossible to get recruited in basketball but it is not a small feat. It requires being proactive, staying ahead, and understanding what is important! If your athlete is currently not good enough they should not be emailing high level programs, it is okay to attend high level camps to see where your skill falls under and to hopefully gain some early college interest. Each process is its own try not to compare, feel proud of where your athlete is and where they are going.

NCAA CALANDER