yes it is
These statement are surprising coming from these posters, who I consider two of CC’s best. For most sports, including track and field, NCAA rules forbid telephone contact until after July 1st following the student’s junior year. For sports other than football, basketball, and perhaps hockey and women’s soccer, most recruiting is actually athlete-driven, especially at the academically elite schools, whose coaches have no idea which prospects might be academically qualified for their colleges. Odd as it may sound, not being heavily recruited means next to nothing regarding potential to be recruited. As an example, one of my kids was the #2 recruit in the nation in their sport, received exactly “zero” coach initiated recruiting contact prior to senior year, but was ultimately pursued by Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Princeton, and more.
Hmmm… thanks for the corrective, @Sherpa. I generalized based on my experience with LAX, FB, BB and hoops. I won’t be so broad in my pronouncements in the future! I don’t want to mislead.
Sherpa makes a good point. Football and a handful of other sports (often called revenue sports but I’m not sure if they’ actually produce net revenue in the Ivies, though they certainly do in some other conferences) have more resources for recruiting - more assistant coaches, alumni groups that raise substantial funds for the team, etc. - than other sports. For example Harvard football has 14 coaches/staff.
In any sport, athletes who are proactive are more likely to be recruited, but that’s especially so in sports that don’t have the resources to do the kinds of things Ivy football staffs do - send questionnaires to thousands of high school players, review game film from large numbers of players, go out and visit high school players in their schools/homes, etc.
Actually a HS athlete can initiate contact with a coach via a phone call to their campus at anytime. Only the timing of coach initiated contact is restricted.
^^ A good article on the subject: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/2014/10/23/ncaa-rules-loopholes-for-contacting-coaches.htm
The athlete calling the coach demonstrates interest. My DD was specifically told by a D1 coach that they expect phone calls from players that have an interest in their program. We were told by a former college coach that the big programs can receive 400 emails prior to national tournaments. You must stand out in your communication. Unless of course your are Olympic/National team level…
Yes there are complicated rules, that vary by sport, about how and when coaches can contact athletes, but as noted above and in the article gibby linked, for the most part coaches can still pick up the phone if a student calls them.
Lots of athletes competing in college today wouldn’t be there if they hadn’t taken initiative in reaching out to coaches.
2 brief comments:
- A top international competitor might not be on Division I coaches' radar to the same degree as a top U.S. competitor in some sports, so showing interest could be helpful.
- The Universal College Application still has an athletic supplement, and I believe that is an option for Harvard.