<p>So today, I received a letter in the mail from the Yale Basketball program. Inside the letter was a typed letter with a copied signature (not personally signed) and a bright yellow sheet asking for my AAU tournament schedule, high school schedule, etc. So my question is, is this a big deal? Does this mean I'm being recruited by yale? Do they send many of these letters out? I am a rising junior, current sophomore in HS. </p>
<p>Should I include a letter of my own telling them I am very interested when I return the yellow sheet? </p>
<p>That letter and invitation means that you are one of 75 - 150 kids in your class that have identified as having enough potential to attempt to see during the Open Period in July. June 15 was the first day D1 coaches were permitted to make one call a month to rising juniors. Ivy programs top 10 - 20 candidates in the Class of 2013 received calls.</p>
<p>If you did, great. If not, they are interested in coming to see you this summer. This is an opportunity to catch their attention. Make sure that you have filled out their recruiting profile on their web site. Have your high school coach and AAU contact their staff and fill them on our your ability and interest. They will not get serious until they have your junior year grades and SATs so they can calculate an AI estimate and determine if you are admitable. If you are serious, plan on attending their camp next summer. This July, attend the Hoop Group All Academic Camp.</p>
<p>We had much of this discussion several months ago. You are on track. Keep on working and get in front of the coaches.</p>
<p>i thought the Ivies could nto call a rising junior until Sept 1 of their junior year. is this earlier date you note here sports specific to bball?</p>
<p>Men’s basketball is permitted recruiting material June 15 after sophomore year. Womens basketball is Sept 1 (junior year) for recruiting material. No one said the NCAA is equal or makes sense. ;-)</p>
<p>Congrats on getting the Yale recruiting letter xAxBxC. Stay after that and reach out to some additional schools. If you play your cards right, you may have offers by next summer.</p>
<p>WOW guys this is great stuff! Knowing that I am in the top 75-150 players has REALLY motivated me to get it done this summer. Now, when I send the information back to Yale, should I include a personal letter telling them I have a strong interest?</p>
<p>**…should I include a personal letter telling them I have a strong interest? **</p>
<p>xAxBxC,</p>
<p>This is a great question for the board. Because my first thought was YES, a personal letter would be perfect. Now, after thinking about it an email may be better. Here’s why.</p>
<p>1) A personal letter may reach the coaches office, but it might not reach him. It may get filed, and viewed later. I think it is best to keep in front of the coach.</p>
<p>2) Emails get replied to, and most coaches that we’ve dealt with like email because they travel.</p>
<p>3) Possibly an intro email to the coach including a message that you are sending the material via USMail may do the trick. The coach can reply to the email telling you he received the material.</p>
<p>4) Email is easier to track, log and file. Once you’ve done this a hundred times it is important to track who you’ve talked to, emailed, etc…Email is great way to keep all of that straight using electronic folders and contacts.</p>
<p>I guess in the end it is preference. My preference is email and automation. But I’d like to hear what others think as well. Best of luck xAxBxC.</p>
<p>I agree with you fenway. A personal letter is a nice gesture but if a secretary is handling the information returns, the coach may never see it. Email is much more likely to be seen by the coach.</p>
<p>We sent letters, hi-lite dvd and nicely done resumes to every school of interest, and I’m not sure it counted for much. Email is, IMO, better for the reasons outlined above. Daughter put hi-lite DVD on youtube and created a google doc resume and made the links for both part of her email signature. With every new coach or school she had contact with she closed her emails with something to the effect of “if you have time I’d appreciate it if you check out my hi-lite video and resume that are attached at the end of this email”. Lots of coaches got right back to her with nice complements. For her it seemed like an effective way to get a dialogue established.</p>
<p>So, you guys think it’s a good idea to send my resume and highlight video in an email, and let the coach know that the form has been sent via snail mail?</p>
<p>Thanks again for all your help! This is such a crazy time with finals wrapping up and stuff like that, and you guys have made this whole letter thing so much easier!</p>
<p>email! because it’s more timely. you want to establish a relationship with the coach. there’s more opportunity to do this with email.</p>
<p>for instance 10 minutes after my daughter finished a race she had received an email from a college coach (actually 3 college coaches:) congratulating her on the win. You can’t build these modern communication interactions with snail mail.</p>
<p>Question: Today, I got another letter from Dartmouth inviting me to their elite camp. However, Dartmouth is a good 10 hours from my home, and is only a two day, one night camp. How important are these elite camps? Will they significantly help my recruitment?</p>
<p>Congrats! That is a tough question and only you can answer…do you really want to go there? Do they satisfy your academic and athletic requirements? It is a great school.</p>
<p>I know players that flew from the West coast and Midwest for an elite (baseball) camp that my son attended at his current Ivy school …which was 8 hours from our house. It was actually a great trip with some awesome memories that we still talk about today. My son’s answer was that he really wanted to go there to see the campus, get to know the coaches better and to get a vibe. He had been recruited & offered by D1/D3 schools but nothing knocked him over like this school. It helped in our case as he was offered while attending the first day of elite camp. They had also previously seen him play at a Showcase event a few weeks earlier, and called us about their elite camp.</p>
<p>IMHO this (attending college) is one of the single most important decisions you will make in your life. If you have the time and means, I think you need to check it out. Finding the right fit is incredibly hard. These opportunities don’t happen every day. This may be an opportunity to add to your short list or cross it off the list. Good luck!</p>
<p>Read fenway’s post. For the past year, you have been quering this board and pm’ing folks regarding your desire for exposure to Ivy League coaches. In the past week, you have gotten a letter from Yale asking for your summer travel team schedule and now Dartmouth invites you to their camp. Every year, Ivy League men’s basketball teams offer likely letters to a total of 40-45 players, all five positions. That means that for a position (Post, wing, point guard), they may take 12 - 14. 75% - 80% of these choices are validated at their elite camps. Its not that it can’t happen elsewhere. It just usually doesn’t.</p>
<p>It’s a lot of money and a lot of time. On the other hand, what are your goals. You are a rising junior. You want the schools that you are interested in to clearly identify you as a priority and to follow you during your junior year, and close the deal after there camp next summer. This is Yale’s process, as well as that for other Ivies.</p>
<p>Worst case - you go and you are not identified or the competition is too steep. That at least gives you the chance to reposition yourself for a high academic D3.</p>