<p>Hi everyone, I'm currently a junior in high school and I have a few questions about what I am/am not allowed to do with respect to recruiting and unofficial visits. </p>
<p>I'm going to be up at one of the schools I'm looking at for a weekend at the end of February (for a non-sport related activity), and I was hoping to do an unofficial visit (meet with the coach, maybe watch the team practice, something like that) just for half a day, while I'm there. How do I go about scheduling that without breaking rules about contacting the coaches? I know I can email them, but they can't email me back (I think), so how does that get sorted out? Are my parents allowed to talk to them?</p>
<p>Same goes for another school that I'm planning on visiting over spring break. The only difference with that one is that I'm planning on sleeping in one of my friend on the team's rooms for a night; is that allowed if I pay the dorm fee?</p>
<p>My sport is pretty small, and most of the real recruiting commences at a big national event we have at the beginning of July, right after most of the rules peel away. The schools that field teams tend to be those that are stronger academically. I have the academics and sports-related stats to be recruited to the schools above, I'm just not so sure how all the nitty-gritty details work. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s perfectly fine for you to email the coach and ask for an appointment with him. He can email you back, but he shouldl not ask you questions about your athletic performance. You should introduce yourself and offer athletic and academic stats. Athletes can initiate contact, but the coach can’t recruit you yet, so don’t expect him to comment much, if at all about your chances for recruiting. You will know whether you are of interest to him if he makes some time for you.</p>
<p>Yes, your parents can talk to them. You can call a coach right now if you wish. The coach can’t call you.</p>
<p>Yes, you can stay in the dorms. The coach can’t pay for anything, but if you go through the admissions office like any other prospective student, sometimes they will give you meal tickets for the dining halls.</p>
<p>Awesome, thank you so much for all that information! </p>
<p>So (dumb follow up question, I know very little about this) if I were to call a coach right now, they could pick up and talk to me? As long as they weren’t the ones to call me? Or can I only leave a message?</p>
<p>And one last question, when I go to meet with the coach, would it be a good idea to bring a transcript/resume, to supplement what I would already have emailed him? Should I send a pretty formal resume in the first email?</p>
<p>Thanks again riverrunner, this is all really, really helpful :)</p>
<p>The coach can talk to you, he just can’t recruit you. So the conversation is likely to be limited to you asking questions about what the program is like, what he is looking for, etc. He should not be trying to sell you on the program, but informing you. Take a resume when you go. If you are visiting academically selective colleges, be sure to include your GPA, class rank, test scores, and so on. This should probably be on the top half of the page for those kinds of schools, with your athletic stuff on the bottom half. If you can’t pass admissions, you can’t play.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by formal resume, but it should include the things I mentioned above plus contact info for you, and for your coach(es). Once you put your coach’s phone number or email on anything, be sure you let him know that you’re starting this process and that they might be hearing from various schools. Eventually you will want to tell your current coach your college preference list so he can be appropriately enthusiastic with the right colleges, and also screen colleges you don’t have any interest in.</p>
<p>^^The coach can recruit if the candidate is on the coaches’ campus and if they speak on the phone and the athlete placed the call. It is after September 1 of his junior year.</p>
<p>hi keylyme. I guess I need to reread the NCAA definition of “recruiting”. I only have personal experience with my child and the stories of a few friends who went through recruiting, but not much general knowledge. </p>
<p>My sense was the coaches were happy to have us visit, answer lots of questions about the program, but held back on the enthusiastic phone calls until July 1 before senior year. The most they would say was “yes, you are a fit for our program and we will be talking to you in July.” Even in the privacy of the coach’s office that was the extent of it. All coaches were very welcoming, giving personal tours of the facilities, introductions to assistant coaches and current athletes, and giving as much of their time as we would accept. </p>
<p>I’m sure there is some room for interpretation for what coaches feel comfortable saying to a Junior recruit. I don’t presume to know it all, of course, but I was attempting to warn Joe the Plumber that coaches might seem reserved or dodgy if asked if the kid would be a recruit. Some of that reserve may be a strict intrepretation of the NCAA recruiting rules. I’m sure I didn’t communicate that very well above :)</p>
<p>Also, I would recommend finding out when your sport’s dead period is. Coaches can not speak with you doing the dead period even if you are on their campus. Last year we planned a great trip only to find out it was the dead period. Dates varies by sport and are on the NCAA website.</p>
<p>At this stage of the game, you can even expect a financial offer if a coach is interested in you. Good point to note the dead period for your sport. Otherwise, once you’re on campus you can speak freely as can the athletic staff about you and your future</p>
<p>Kate in FL is absolutely right! My son had one official visit to a D1 school, planned by its coach, and the only weekday of the trip turned out to be a dead day! DS could not even step foot on campus that day, so he couldn’t interview or sit in on any classes.</p>
<p>Thank you again to all for the information above. I’ve checked the dead periods (we’re good to go), made a pretty solid resume, and plan on emailing the coach tomorrow. Thanks for all this advice!</p>
<p>Hey Joe…on an unofficial visit to our university you get a tour of the campus from one or two of our current players…we set up an academic meeting with our team academic advisors…set up an overnight stay in the dorms of one of our current players…let them watch a practice, then meet with the recruit and the parents to tell them all about our program, about our university, and about scholarships…and if we have a sporting event, ie bball game we can get them 3 tickets to that game for free…issued through a guest pass list available at will call…you should be, but dont have to be on their recruiting radar…a good coaching staff will give you the decency of making your unofficial visit a good one always to remember! After all, you may end up going to that university and playing for that coach…agreed with others…dont go on a dead period…call in advance to arrange the unofficial visit…coaches cant call you until July 1st…you can call them as often as you’d like to to talk about anything…but they can email you! Unfortunately, you need to get in on this early, as by the time youre a senior, many in your class have verbally committed…Good luck!!</p>