I attended some unofficial visits and had some nice candid conversations with coaches who all expressed interest in keeping the lines of communication open, but having tried to make contact with them since the visits I haven’t gotten a word… It has been about a week now and not a peep. What should I do?
I’m not involved in athletic recruiting at all, but a week does not seem like very long. I thought you were going to say months. Give it way more time and don’t bug them.
Many coaches are gone during July and the first part of August is spent getting the team info, meetings, etc. together. Plan on contacting them again maybe mid-August. What year are you in school?
Knowing the sport and level of college would be helpful. I think it’s like dating. if the other is not responding, they are by not responding. Month of July has no limitations on contact for coaches.
Also if you never dealt directly with the HC, that speaks for itself.
A week is not fatal, coach could be on the road, or on vacation with family, before school resumes. Or, coach could be showing that a prospect is not top of the list. For what it’s worth, my D3 kid had plenty of coaches say “we want to keep the recruiting conversation going” – which he did by providing game updates etc. through his season, and it became pretty clear which ones were interested in recruiting him vs. which ones were hedging their bets, keeping him on the list but not actively pursuing him.
My advice would be, be polite – don’t inundate them with nagging “why haven’t you called” kinds of messages. In a few more weeks, if there is a credible reason to provide an update – on your training, competition schedule, film etc., then write again. Be patient, but also try to be realistic in continuing to identify schools and programs that express strong interest in you, in addition to the ones which want to “keep the lines of communication open.”
I am a junior and the colleges are D1. I am a wrestler. They both offered official visits in the fall as well… do coaches usually lead athletes on? If they were not interested wouldn’t they just say so?
If you are a junior how are they able to offer OV? Unless wrestling has different rules OV are offered to seniors in the fall.
If you are a rising senior most schools will start scheduling visits for the fall in August/September after they meet with the athletic department coaches etc. I think it is harsh on your part to assume the coaches are “leading you on” this early in the process. Wait until mid-August and then reach out again…
Wrestling signing dates are early fall and usually done during senior year… verbal commitments usually come much earlier. OVs are done early fall as well. (Sorry I can see the confusion… I am a rising senior. )
I know neither wrestling recruiting nor D1, so take this with a grain of salt – but if they have offered official visits for the fall, then I would probably interpret the silence as simply busy/unavailable, and not a drop in interest. Coaches will bring in more athletes for OVs than they will make offers to, but sounds like you are still in the “funnel” of prospects. From their perspective, it is keeping the process moving forward, and keeping options open.
Keep doors open at a range of programs, both academically and athletically, so as coaches narrow their list further, you continue to have good options. But, I completely defer to folks with experience in wrestling recruiting and/or D1 recruiting, as my kid was D3.
OP, you’re getting great advice here. My son, like you, is a rising senior wanting to wrestle in college. Maybe I can help by giving you some insight into our experiences so far. I don’t claim to have too much, as he is my second child to be applying to college but the first one going thru the recruiting process. First, you are correct to an extent that wrestling has a fairly early timetable in terms of verbal offers and acceptances. We know juniors who got scholarship offers early in their junior year. My son has cast a wide net, at least initially, and is trying to whittle that down as it sounds like you are doing. He has five or six schools still on his list, both very small and very large, and they span D1 scholarship, non-scholarship, Patriot league and D3 including NESCAC. He is a pretty good student with ACT/SAT in the 90 percentile range or so. May I ask what your stats are and what types of D1s you’re pursuing? Are they Ivys or selective schools, or less so? That makes a difference. Are you a state placer or nationally ranked? I think you’ll see offers going out now to kids that are nationally ranked and/or who have performed well at big national meets - Fargo, Super 32, Beast of the East, etc.
Are you keeping the lines of communication open as well? If you’re looking at more selective schools, have any asked for a pre-read with admissions? My son has a few doing pre-reads now though it’s been a month with little news. A couple of them mentioned mid-August as a response date with those. As far as the other(s), he’s not sure what to think but continues to make contact with that coach. He has also heard the words “official visit” and “visit” from a few of the coaches. Like you, he is wondering whether these will come to fruition, particularly with his top choices. I do no think coaches are leading you on, but I think they may be “hedging their bets” as another poster put it. You should absolutely continue to express interest. Make sure they have the info they need, check in with any new development. Don’t hesitate to be a squeaky wheel, and if there’s a school that you really love, let them know they’re high on your list. Just like this makes you feel good to hear, coaches like hearing it too! There are no guarantees as you know - my son may be “reaching” too high - but as long as you have a range of schools you’re looking at that you’d be happy to attend and wrestle at, go for it. Be polite, but don’t hold back either. Some of the quiet, which I can say my son also experienced in late July, may be because coaches are returning from summer recruiting trips such as Fargo and are getting ready to welcome their teams back. But as you suspect they may also be (probably are) honing in on their prospect lists. So don’t hesitate to reach out again, and soon!
Im remembering when we went through this. As I recall, all coaches eventually responded to emails. But i dont think he received any offers from coaches who delayed communications a week or more by late summer of junior year. This is crunch time for recruiting in most sports. If a coach is letting you hang for more than a week that is generally a sign of lack of interest IMO.
As a general rule, coaches will not offer an official visit as a brush off. I would take the offer as a strong sign of interest and not take the silence personally.
Much more likely they are busy with a camp, getting ready for incoming freshman, taking vacation, on recruiting trips. Keep updating them with your info and always cc the assistant/associate coaches - each coach is assigned different recruiting tasks so if you are emailing the head coach, it might take him a day or two to forward to the assistant who is assigned to keep track of recruits and he takes a couple of days to get back to you.
Don’t start worrying yet.
I am with Missouri and Midwest. Sometimes a coach goes on vacation and wants to spend some time away from recruiting. Sometimes a coach sees a kid as not a recruit or low on the list. It can be difficult determining which is taking place.
Speaking of which, I can’t determine what the OP means by the coaches wanting to keep the lines of communication open. That could be a “yeah, sure, kid, keep in touch” or it could mean “I want to have a serious dialogue with you about recruiting.” I think only the OP can think that part through.
Missouri alludes to one strategy. You might want to ask if the coach could do an admissions pre-read (if it hasn’t already been done). The pre-read is a litmus test of sorts for coach interest. I don’t think a coach is going to ask for a pre-read for an athlete that he or she has no interest in. By contrast, a coach (or the assistant) will usually meet with an athlete during an unofficial. It doesn’t cost much – just time – and part of the coach’s job is to encourage non-recruits to apply. If the coach declines or does not respond, you may have your answer. If the coach agrees to a pre-read, you have a very different kind of answer. No guarantees, but an indication of where you stand.
Be patient. My son’s a recruited athlete. First contact in June, and final YES in November.
Some said No, then maybe. Others said yes then maybe, all over a period of months, as they progress in their recruiting process. I would express continued interest but not after a week. Contact them to find out how you can see them again (camp on their campus, at some other location).
I have heard back from both coaches, one seems rather short, but from our interview and another blue chip recruit’s experience with him that may just be who he is. The other agreed to get me a academic pre-read and I will be asking the other soon! Wrestling is my only way into college (academically I am sound but money is a problem) and so I have been naturally on edge for this.
That is good news about the pre-read. From everything I’ve read on CC, it’s an important first step and shows the coach truly has interest. My son continues to wait on those. He may check in by mid-August to see if coaches have a timetable in mind. It’s possible some hold their cards closer, while many others may be at the mercy of admissions.
The whole process can put kids (and their parents) on edge. I completely sympathize with your situation regarding money being the looming factor. I’m wondering whether you have other schools you’ve reached out to as well? Other than the two you mentioned? One of them, while I think you can be optimistic, sounds a bit more lukewarm than the other. (By the way, we find that coaches have vastly different recruiting styles, so I wouldn’t be too put off my the coach being “short”. Some are really all business.) It would be helpful to know whether you’re looking at D1 Ivys or scholarship programs to provide any advice in terms of ensuring you will get money. As you probably know, unless you’re a blue chipper, a full ride is unlikely. But a tier just below can see significant dollars. However, since many scholarships are partial, and you need the money, have you looked into any D3 schools? There are several that might be happy to have a high caliber wrestler that also has the grades and scores. It’s possible you’ll find the merit money to be better than what a D1 can offer. Unless perhaps it’s an Ivy and you qualify for excellent financial aid.