I know a male tennis player who is interested in playing tennis at college, at either varsity or club level
Currently a junior in high school
Interested only in division three schools, because he likes the particular schools for academics and other reasons-- he is not picking them by sport
Is good enough to play well on varsity team in high school but does not excel in USTA
Is very strong academically- Typical of other applicants at the schools to which he is applying
Will try for varsity team; would prefer varsity or club to intramural or nonorganized tennis, because he has been playing since age 5 and plays five times a week year round and wants intensity and competition
Wants to be considered for varsity team and show interest, but does not expect to be a top recruit or have it give him a big boost in admissions
So- when should he reach out to the coach? This year before his school tennis season? Summer? Fall of senior year? Wait until after he has been admitted?
How should he reach out- just fill out the recruiting form online, or email the coach?
Should he send a videotape?
Please advise.
For tennis, coaches are going to be looking at rankings. Has he played in enough tournaments where he has a ranking? For intramural or club, no need to reach out to a coach. You just try out or join those once you get there.
It seems that this male tennis player has some interest in varsity play at the D3 level. Not all D3 athletic programs or tennis teams are created equally, so I think a good place to start is to scour the rosters of the schools at interest. Some schools tell more than others about the pre-college accomplishments of their players, but that may give a means for comparison of this person’s achievements with those currently playing for the college. A word to the wise – some schools exaggerate the accomplishments of their players. One kid I knew was described as a four year high school varsity starter when I knew he had been on the varsity team for only two years.
I would then send emails to the coaches at schools of interest. If possible attach a tape or a link to the posted location of the tape.
Then I would call the coaches and set up a meeting. Bring your tape, unofficial hs transcript (can be obtained via request to hs registrar), and college cv to the meeting. See how it goes. D3 schools have very little in the way of budgets for recruiting, and often coaches rely on athletes approaching them. I would be sure to come off as confident, not as if club is the only real option. I assume that there are plenty of ranked players who want to play at the collegiate level, but when push comes to shove, there likely are some unranked players that make the grade at a given college. The only way to know for sure is to give it a try.
From there, you can fill out the questionnaire. I have been unable to see any direct connection between recruiting questionnaires and coach communications. You still need to fill it out, but there are so many things to do, I would put it lower on the list of imperatives.
Start the process now – don’t wait. In recruiting, decisions get made for people who wait.
In addition to what has already been mention in previous posts, the tennis player could research the colleges on his list on the website Universal Tennis. Universal Tennis assigns a Power Rating for every team. The player could compare his Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) to the team Power Rating to determine if he would be a good fit for the team.
The UTR Team Power Ratings vary drastically in Div III tennis. Many of the top academic Div III schools also have the highest Power Ratings.
In addition to a player’s UTR, the college coaches will also want to know the player’s Tennis Recruiting Star Rating.
Do you know if your player would have a shot at the lineup?
Or are you looking at top D3 with a roster full of 5-star/4-star players?
If your player doesn’t have much USTA experience, then they may not have a UTR, so that might be tricky to compare your player’s UTR to the UTR of the players on the college roster.
At the very least, I would pay for and set up your player’s profile on TRN, and add his academic achievements under the high school section of the player bio.
PM me for more details.