Being Recruited as a Student Athlete
If you’re a high school student-athlete considering playing a sport in college, knowing the steps you should take to successfully be recruited is essential. Check out the information and guidelines below to learn more about the recruiting process, how to prepare, and what to consider.
Focus on your GPA
As a student-athlete, it’s essential to focus on your grades in your core classes starting from 9th grade. Having a strong Grade Point Average (GPA) will not only ensure you meet the minimum GPA requirements for college athletic recruitment but also help you stand out to coaches and potentially earn more scholarship money.
GPA requirements for each division
For example, if you are interested in playing a Division I sport, you are required to have a 2.3 core course GPA, while you are required to have a 2.2 core course GPA for Division II. There are also specific core courses that you are required to take in high school.
The NCAA website can help you learn more about GPA requirements, required courses, and other critical academic factors influencing your recruitability.
It’s important to remember that you are always a student first and an athlete second. When you play a sport at the college level, you are expected to maintain a minimum GPA while competing on the field, court, or otherwise.
Use your high school years to learn the skills and habits necessary to succeed in college, your career, and beyond. If you need academic support throughout high school, communicate with your teachers and counselors, take advantage of opportunities such as tutoring or study halls, and practice managing your time and schedule (this is also great advice for college students, too!).
Understand the difference between the NCAA & NAIA
Speaking of the NCAA, there is another athletic association, the NAIA, to remember as you prepare for your journey as a college athlete. Both the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) are significant associations to consider.
The NCAA
In summary, the NCAA has three divisions: DI, DII, and DIII. A school’s assigned division is determined by its size and athletic program resources. If you are hoping to be awarded athletic scholarship money, DI offers the most, while DII can also offer some specific athletic scholarships.
DIII schools cannot offer athletic scholarships, but students often receive other forms of financial aid, such as merit scholarships, grants, and more. Regardless of your college’s division, if you are eligible for federal or state aid, you can receive this money in addition to institutional and athletic scholarships.
The NAIA
NAIA is an association for smaller college athletic programs similar to NCAA DIII programs. NCSA College Recruiting adds:
“While NAIA programs typically have smaller recruiting budgets, the NAIA has awarded over $800 million in athletic scholarships. Student-athletes struggling to find scholarship opportunities with an NCAA program may have a better chance of securing financial funding from an NAIA program.”
Get noticed by coaches & recruiters
Knowing the recruitment process well, starting the process early, and being consistent are the keys to being noticed by coaches and recruiters.
Register with the NCAA
If you are interested in playing at a Division I or II school, you need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center to ensure you have met amateurism standards and are academically prepared.
Ask your coach for introductions
Coaches may be proactive about recruiting, depending on the sport you play. For example, if you play a popular sport such as football or basketball, you may have coaches watching your games starting from freshman year of high school, depending on the high school you attend.
However, if your sport is less visible, ask your coach to reach out to their contacts at various universities.
Create a professional athletic profile
You may also consider making a professional athletic profile with videos demonstrating your skills to make yourself known to coaches.
Play in tournaments or attend a summer camp
If it's financially viable, sign up for a summer camp or play in tournaments to improve your abilities and exhibit your talent to coaches and scouts.
“Playing on a traveling team for your respective sport is one of the best ways to meet different schools that you may otherwise not be aware of,” explains Becca Mayhew, Associate Director for Enroll360 Technical Care and former basketball and softball athlete at Mary Baldwin College, as well as Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President.
“There are rules about how early a coach can begin recruiting a player. If a student-athlete has a school in mind where they want to play, early outreach on behalf of the student is helpful. The coach will know your name longer, giving the student more time to prepare for their future.”
Email college coaches
If you're an athlete in a less popular sport, you must do more than just showcase your abilities. You’ll need to do some self-promotion. Start by email college coaches at schools you're interested in attending.
There are no written rules concerning the timeline of contacting coaches, but generally, students begin writing emails to coaches the summer before their junior year or shortly after that.
Messages should include your personal details, athletic experience, statistics, awards, and academic achievements. Don’t forget to include a link to your sports reel or athletic profile if you have one.
“Be ready to reach out to the coaches and be proactive about it. Sometimes it takes seeing your name several times for them to remember you because they see so many students,” says Payton Batchelder, Connectedness Manager at EAB and former DIII lacrosse player.
Make the most of campus visits
If a school decides to recruit you, they will invite you to campus for a visit. The details of this visit will depend on the school and team.
They might put you in a hotel room or pair you with an existing team member to give you a sense of university life. Whatever the case, this is an opportunity to gauge how comfortable you feel with your potential teammates and how you like the college or university in general.
Ask questions
Asking the right questions (to other student-athletes and the coaches) while on your campus visit can help you assess if the athletic program is a match for you, explains Becca Mayhew. For example, consider asking:
1. How does the coach consider class schedules when planning practice times?
2. What surprised you when you first joined the team or came to this college?
3. Are there any academic majors that conflict with playing sports? (for example, some majors require practicums during junior/senior year that cannot fit around practice and game schedules)
Evaluate each school for an academic and cultural fit
Additionally, while you may focus on athletics during your college visit, you should also make sure the college or university is a strong fit for you academically, socially, culturally, and financially.
If you are recruited to play your sport at the college level, athletics will be a significant part of your life. However, choosing a college that will set you up for success in all areas is imperative.
Accept your offer & sign your letter of intent
Once you complete the formal recruiting process, which includes a campus visit and conversations with your future coach, you’ll receive a scholarship and/or an enrollment offer from the school.
Next, you will sign a National Letter of Intent, a binding agreement stating that you'll enroll at a college or university and provide athletic aid to the sports program. Find out more about these next steps here!
Use Appily to research colleges
With a free Appily account, you can search our expansive database of colleges and discover schools you might not otherwise consider. Then, you can compare them on points like their athletic conference and association, tuition costs, average scholarship awards, application deadlines, and even acceptance rates.
Simply click the button below to access all the tools you need to plan, decide, and apply for college.
