HUDL
Hudl is a performance analysis company that hosts game footage for athletes trying to be recruited. Ohio Premier provides an account where players can upload game footage and create highlight reels to share with different college coaches. Each player must join Hudl using their own email address and keep their profile up to date. If a member on the team films a match, that footage can be uploaded to the Ohio Premier page where each player featured in the footage can use clips to create their own highlight reel that they will feature on their page. The club has a limited amount of storage space available forplayers to share, so we will need to work together to ensure we donʼt upload duplicate footage. HUDL.COM
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FIELD LEVEL
Field level is an additional (free) service that can aide in the recruiting process for a student athlete. Players can create a profile where they can list information and have their club/high school coach verify that information for prospective coaches. Field level also makes it easy for your highschool/club coach to communicate with college coaches of schools you may be interested in. FIELDLEVEL.COM
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UNIVERSITY ATHLETE
UA combines the convenience of an online database with powerful mobile software to assist coaches' recruiting efforts at tournaments. At a tournament, colleges can instantly find any player, identify new players, evaluate and take notes without losing valuable time needed to watch the action. More than 300 Div I and more than 500 Div II, III, Juco and NAIA programs use University Athlete. You can create a free profile on UA with the following link. UNIVERSITYATHLETE.COM
NCAA.ORG
Recruiting information and resources: NCAA.ORG/STUDENT-ATHLETES/FUTURE
List of DI Schools: NCAA.ORG/ABOUT/DIVISION-I-SCHOOLS
List of DII Schools: NCAA.ORG/ABOUT/DIVISION-II-SCHOOLS
List of DIII Schools: NCAA.ORG/ABOUT/DIVISION-III-SCHOOLS
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NEXT COLLEGE STUDENT ATHLETE (NCSA)
Much of the information on this page was found at the NCSA website. You can find even more information about the student athlete recruiting process - including eligibility information, recruiting calendars, tips on contacting college coaches and more on the NCSA site. NCSASPORTS.ORG
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DIVISION I NCAA RECRUITING RULES:
In an effort to streamline communications and cut back on early recruiting, coaches will have to wait on giving scholarship offers to athletes until after their sophomore year of high school.
OFFICIAL VISITS: Recruits can now start taking official visits starting August 1 before their junior year of high school. In the past, official visits weren't permitted until September 1 of the athlete's junior year of high school, so this rule is actually bumping them up!
CAMPS & CLINICS: Recruits and college coaches are not allowed to have any recruiting conversations during camps prior to June 15 after sophomore year of high school. Previously, there weren't really any rules that prevented coaches from talking about recruiting to underclassmen during camps. In fact, it had become common practice for college coaches to extend verbal scholarship offers to top recruits during camps.
UNOFFICIAL VISITS: College athletic departments—this includes college coaches—are not allowed to be involved in a recruit's unofficial visits before August 1 of a prospectʼs junior year. Quick refresher: Unofficial visits are any campus visits paid for entirely by the recruit's family. Before the rule change, unofficial visits were an easy way for underclassmen to visit a college camps, meet with the coach and get an early verbal offer. However, if athletes want to take unofficial visits now, they cannot schedule them with the coach—they should treat the unofficial visit just like any other student would. If the recruit happens to bump into the coach on campus, they can't have any recruiting conversations at that time.
AT ANY TIME: Athletes can receive non-recruiting materials from college coaches, such as questionnaires, camp brochures, nonathletic institutional publications and NCAA educational materials published by the NCAA.
AFTER JUNE 15 OF ATHLETE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR: Coaches can extend verbal scholarship offers, call athletes and send athletes all forms of private electronic correspondence, including text messages, instant messages, direct messages and emails, as well as all recruiting materials.
AFTER AUGUST 1 OF ATHLETE’S JUNIOR YEAR: Athletes can begin taking official visits, and they can also arrange unofficial visits with a school's athletic department and meet with the coach while on campus. Coaches can begin conducting off-campus contact with athletes at their residence or school.
Athletes can always communicate with college coaches through their club or high school coach and send emails and texts to coaches. They just will not get a direct response from coaches until their sportʼs contact period begins.
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DIVISION II NCAA RECRUITING RULES:
The NCAA Recruiting Rules for Division II schools are slightly more relaxed than those for Division I, and the rules are the same across all sports:
NON-RECRUITING MATERIALS: Athletes can receive brochures for camps, questionnaires, NCAA materials and non-athletic recruiting publications at any time.
PRINTED RECRUITING MATERIALS: Starting July 15 after an athleteʼs sophomore year, coaches can begin sending recruits printed recruiting materials.
TELEPHONE CALLS: Starting June 15 after an athleteʼs sophomore year, coaches can start calling athletes. Off-campus contact: Coaches can conduct off-campus communications with athletes and/or their parents starting June 15 after an athleteʼs sophomore year.
UNOFFICIAL VISITS: Athletes can take unofficial visits at any time.
OFFICIAL VISITS: Athletes may start taking official visits starting June 15 after an athleteʼs sophomore year.
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DIVISION III NCAA RECRUITING RULES:
DIII schools have the most relaxed NCAA recruiting rules of all the division levels. Similar to NCAA DII, they are the same for all sports:
RECRUITING MATERIALS: Athletes can receive recruiting materials at any time.
TELEPHONE CALLS: There is no limit on when college coaches can call athletes.
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS: There is no limit on when college coaches can contact athletes digitally.
OFF-CAMPUS CONTACT: After the athleteʼs sophomore year, college coaches may begin to conduct off-campus communications.
OFFICIAL VISITS: Athletes can begin taking official visits after January 1 of their junior year. Unofficial visits: Athletes can make an unlimited number of unofficial visits at any time.
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WHEN SHOULD I START CONTACTING COLLEGE COACHES?
The recruiting process is starting earlier each year, with recruits as young as 12 or 13 years old getting interest from college coaches. However, that doesnʼt mean every athlete is ready to start reaching out to coaches as an 8th grader. Start researching schools and understanding the level of play expected at each one. Then, when you have developed your skills to be able to stand out to the coaches at those schools, start your outreach. For athletes who play up on varsity their freshman year of high school, they may be ready to start contacting college coaches then. For athletes who hit their stride later in their sophomore year, this could be a better time to initiate contact with college coaches.
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Itʼs advisable to try to reach out to coaches before the athleteʼs junior year, but this isnʼt a hard and fast rule.
For athletes who hit a later growth spurt or mature later, junior year may be the best time to start contacting college coaches.
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Thereʼs a common misconception that athletes canʼt start contacting college coaches until their junior year of high school. In reality, athletes can reach out to coaches at any time—and they should take advantage of this. However, the NCAA limits when college coaches can communicate with athletes. Current NCAA recruiting rules prohibit all phone, text and email communication between athletes or their parents/guardians and Division 1 coaches until June 15 after their sophomore year or September 1 of their junior year, depending on your sport.
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WHEN WILL COLLEGE COACHES START CONTACTING ME?
For most sports in the NCAA, coaches can start contacting recruits starting either June 15 after their sophomore year of high school or September 1 of their junior year. The NAIA has more relaxed rules and coaches can generally contact athletes at any point. However, because NAIA schools tend to have smaller programs with more limited budgets, they usually donʼt start the recruiting process as early as NCAA Division I and Division II schools.
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CAN PARENTS CONTACT COLLEGE COACHES?
Throughout the recruiting process, the athletes—not their parents—should be contacting college coaches. Coach Taylor White, an NCSA recruiting expert who has coached baseball at the DI level, explains, “Iʼm not recruiting the parent—Iʼm recruiting the student-athlete. The second I feel the parent is overstepping their bounds, I start to raise a red flag, especially early on.” He adds that, especially at the beginning of the recruiting process, itʼs crucial for coaches to get to know the student-athlete. Emails, phone calls, texts, etc. should all come from the athlete. Not only will it help the coach get a better understanding of who the recruit is as a person, but it will show the coach that the athlete is responsible enough to manage their own recruiting process.
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Coach Taylor does point out a few times when parents can step in and contact college coaches. At the end of the recruiting process, when the conversation turns to financials and logistics, coaches usually expect parents to be highly involved in the conversation. During an official and unofficial visit, parents should ask their questions related academic or logistical concerns. Coach Taylor recommends that parents take this opportunity to address their concerns related to classes, dorm rooms, housing, meals, work out programs, study halls, tutors, etc. Once their athlete has received an offer, parents can start asking financial aid questions.
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KEY STEPS TO CONTACTING COLLEGE COACHES
Start your outreach by gathering all the information you’ll need to include in your communications to college coaches. When communicating with college coaches, donʼt forget to include a link to your profile so they can easily view everything they need to see to conduct their initial evaluation of you. Key information includes:
YOUR HIGHLIGHT OR SKILLS VIDEO
YOUR BEST ATHLETIC STATS: Verified, third-party stats from a combine or other event are preferred
ACADEMIC INFORMATION: GPA and ACT/SAT scores if applicable
CONTACT INFORMATION: For you, your parents and your club/high school coach, plus any trainers you may have
SCHEDULE: Where and when youʼll be competing throughout the upcoming season
Next, youʼll need to research coach contact information. Check out the schoolʼs athletic staff directory on the institutionʼs website to find coachesʼ phone number and email. Look for the contact information for the assistant coach. If you canʼt find that, you can start with the head coach; however, the head coach is going to be a little more difficult to get ahold of initially.
Find something that stands out to you about that school. Coaches want to see that you are engaged and interested in their program. Including a personalized sentence or two about why you would like to join their program goes a long way. Once youʼve gathered all the information you need, youʼre ready to start reaching out to college coaches.
STEP 1: AN INTRODUCTORY EMAIL TO THE COACH
The best way to start communicating with coaches is through an introductory email. While the role of email in recruiting has lessened somewhat, itʼs still an important first step in the process and is a great way to initially send your key information to college coaches. Read more about how to write an introductory email that will capture a college coachʼs attention.
STEP 2: FOLLOW-UP WITH A CALL TO THE COACH
If the contact period has started for your sport (June 15 after sophomore year or September 1 of junior year), following up with a phone call to the coach is an important step. Since DI coaches arenʼt allowed to talk to you before the contact period, there isnʼt much value in giving them an early call. Read more about how to call college coaches—as well as how to leave your best voicemail.
STEP 3: RESPOND TO RECRUITING LETTERS FROM COLLEGE COACHES
Though recruiting relies primarily on digital methods, coaches may still send different types of recruiting letters to athletes. And recruits should respond back. Learn more about the different types of recruiting letters you may receive—and how to respond.
STEP 4: KEEP IN TOUCH WITH COACHES AND UPDATE THEM WITH NEW STATS
Sometimes the most difficult part of the recruiting process is keeping the lines of communication open with college coaches. A few great reasons to reach out to a coach include: when you have new athletic or academic stats, youʼre planning on visit their school and want to set up a meeting, or you have an upcoming tournament youʼd like to invite them to. Learn more about texting college coaches or direct messaging coaches through your social media platforms.
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