Postcards from sunny, resort locations such as the Bahamas or Hawaii. Pictures of the team smiling and enjoying team bonding activities. Glossy and elaborately designed letters with bold, eye-grabbing text.
During the recruiting process, a student-athlete can receive a variety of types and forms of recruiting material. However, it’s important to not get mesmerized by the flash and focus on the essential. Additionally, these can be factors used to separate college basketball coaches who are actively recruiting you.
Here are four ways a college basketball coach will show high interest during the recruiting process:
Handwritten Correspondences
Certainly, if you are being recruited or even college basketball coaches have offered scholarships, there’s no question that you will receive a lot of mail and other various forms of correspondence from coaches. The correspondences can be filled with eye-popping graphics, vivid colors, and other ways to grab your attention. An initial sign that a college basketball coach has high interest is if the text is handwritten from the head coach or computer-generated & typed text. If a college basketball coach sends you handwritten correspondences, then the coach has taken his or her time to write something just for YOU! A computer text correspondence can be created and typed by anyone. When receiving and reading correspondences, don’t just check for the signature to see if the coach has personally signed the correspondence - check the text and see if the coach wrote the text by hand.
Ask Yourself: “Which coaches are taking time to send me handwritten correspondences?”
Consistent Invitations To Games and Camps
College basketball teams will have lots of games, and college basketball coaches love using their games as huge recruiting tools. If a coach is consistently inviting you to games, it is a positive sign that the coach is eager to show you the program’s electric game atmosphere, including the enthusiastic & supportive fans. More than likely, you will receive great seats, which will enable you to see how the college team plays and the coaches coach during games. This is a great opportunity for you to evaluate whether you would fit in with the style of play and thrive under the coach’s coaching style. If a college basketball coach is consistently inviting you to camps, especially “Elite Camps”, it is a sign that the coach is highly intrigued and would like to see you play in their facilities in front of their coaching staff. Additionally, you might receive an unofficial tour of campus and meet with the coaching staff afterwards. This could potentially lead to a basketball scholarship offer afterwards!
Ask Yourself: “Which college coaches make the most effort inviting me to games and camps?”
Contact Max Times Allowed
The NCAA has recruiting rules, which mandate the number of times a college basketball coach can contact recruits and the dates when a college basketball coach is allowed to contact recruits. These rules are extremely varied depending on the division level. As a result, it is imperative that you know and understand the recruiting contact rules and time periods for the division level of the school you are being recruited by! If during a Contact Period, which is defined as contact between student-athletes and college coaches via ways which include, but not limited to: email, phone calls, text messages, direct messages, school & home visits, a college coach is allowed six in-person contacts, a college basketball coach who uses all of the max number of contacts with you in a sign of high interest. This is a sign that you are a recruiting priority for the coach!
Ask Yourself: “Which coaches have gone out of their way to contact me the max number of permissible times?”
How quickly a coach contacts you under NCAA Recruiting Rules
Once again, keep in mind that recruiting rules and time periods vary based on the division level. However, a key sign that a college basketball coach is highly interested in you is how quickly a coach makes permissible contact with you, within a given NCAA recruiting schedule parameter. For instance, if a coach is coming off of a Dead Period, which is a given period when a coach can not have contact or communication with a recruit, how quickly does the coach contact you when the Dead Period is over? If a coach is able to make phone calls to a recruit on August 1 before a recruit’s junior year, does the coach call you on the first day permissible…or wait days, weeks, or even months afterwards? Has a coach dropped hints that he or she will be in contact with you on the first day permissible? These are clear signs that you are a high-priority recruit for a college basketball coach. A great thing about recruiting calendars and rules is that it can create a sense of urgency for college basketball coaches, who are extremely eager and urgent to be among the first college basketball coaches to contact you, provide information about their program, and build a personal relationship with you!
Ask Yourself: “Which coaches are among the first to contact me when permissible under NCAA Recruiting Rules?”
During your recruiting process, it’s imperative that you don’t get caught up in flashy tactics college basketball coaches might use. Instead, focus on the coaches who go the extra mile to show that you are a high priority for their program; doing so will help you sift through coaches & schools and find the program that will be the right fit for you to achieve optimal success!
