introduction - prepvolleyball.com...introduction prepvolleyball.com is thrilled to introduce its...

Copyright © 2015 Advanced Sports Media Group ii

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ iv

LEVELS, LEVELS, LEVELS! ...................................................................................................... 1

Division I ................................................................................................................................. 2

Division II................................................................................................................................ 2

Division III .............................................................................................................................. 2

NAIA ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Junior College .......................................................................................................................... 3

GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................ 4

CRITICAL DATES ...................................................................................................................... 7

NCAA Division I ...................................................................................................................... 7

NCAA Division II & III ............................................................................................................. 7

KEYS TO BEING RECRUITED ................................................................................................... 8

FIVE RECRUITING MYTHS & TWO TRUTHS ............................................................................ 9

ATHLETE RECRUITING TIMELINE ..........................................................................................11

Things to do as a Freshman: ......................................................................................................11

Things to do as a Sophomore: ....................................................................................................11

Things to do as a Junior: ...........................................................................................................12

Things to do as a Senior: ...........................................................................................................12

GETTING STARTED .................................................................................................................13

Identifying goals ......................................................................................................................14

Beginning to compile a college list .............................................................................................15

Completing a recruiting profile ..................................................................................................16

Preparing a skills video .............................................................................................................17

CONTACTING COACHES .........................................................................................................19

The Initial Email ......................................................................................................................19

Getting the courage to make that first call ...................................................................................19

Questions to ask .......................................................................................................................22

Continuing Communication ......................................................................................................25

TAKING AN UNOFFICIAL VISIT ..............................................................................................26

SEPTEMBER 1: YOUR JUNIOR YEAR…THE MAIL IS COMING ...............................................28

For Those Who Receive Letters: ................................................................................................28

What If You Do Not Receive Any Communication? ....................................................................28

GAUGING INTEREST ...............................................................................................................29

Copyright © 2015 Advanced Sports Media Group iii

RESPONDING TO A SCHOLARSHIP OFFER .............................................................................30

MAKING THE DECISION ..........................................................................................................31

SIGNING YOUR NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT ....................................................................32

Who participates in the NLI program? ........................................................................................32

What does the NLI do for the student-athlete? .............................................................................32

When can you sign the NLI? .....................................................................................................32

What if I change my mind? .......................................................................................................33

What if I’m not one to sign in November. Is there still an opportunity for me? ................................33

RECRUITING SERVICES ...........................................................................................................34

A PARENT’S ROLE ...................................................................................................................35

ASKED AND ANSWERED .........................................................................................................38

CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................................................49

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................50

Copyright © 2015 Advanced Sports Media Group iv

INTRODUCTION

PrepVolleyball.com is thrilled to introduce its B.R.I.D.G.E.™ to Recruiting, a manual intended

to help volleyball hopefuls and their parents navigate the vast and often confusing recruiting

scene. The word BRIDGE, as you can surmise, is an acronym, and stands for “Bible, Reference,

Instructional Directory, Guide and Enchiridion,” all words that essentially describe a text

designed to offer assistance. The term BRIDGE itself is illustrative of the transitional crossing-

over required to go from the world of junior volleyball to the life of a collegiate athlete.

We hope our B.R.I.D.G.E.™ will aid your journey.

***

Why am I, John Tawa, writing a recruiting guide for volleyball when I have proclaimed, loudly,

since PrepVolleyball.com’s inception in 2003, that recruiting is the least interesting part of my

job?

The reason is threefold.

1) Recruiting, as it turns out, is a principal reason many of you subscribe to PrepVolleyball.com.

(Weird; I thought it was for my puns…);

2) I have first-hand experience in the recruiting world; and

3) My new employers at Advanced Sports Media Group have encouraged me to share the

personal and professional experience in recruiting that I have gained over the past decade.

In this intro, I want you to get to know Timothy Tawa, who is a junior at West Linn HS in

Oregon, a member of the Class of 2017 and the reason for my first-hand experience.

At age 7, Tim was a better baseball player than I could ever have dreamed of being and his

footspeed in our town was legendary. I can’t tell you how many strained hammies and quads his

old man suffered trying to keep up (You really do have to stretch your muscles before using

them as you get older!).

Having the “Who’s that!?” kid was a wonderful ego stroke for a guy who played DIII hoops ever

so briefly and whose greatest sports claim to fame was winning the University of Virginia Law

School Softball Invitational.

But it also got me thinking…could he be “good enough?”

Copyright © 2015 Advanced Sports Media Group v

IMPORTANT TIP FOR PLAYERS

Dream big. No, dream biggest, as big as the

ocean, blue (thanks Ryan Shupe). I do not care

if you have never started a varsity high school

game or are considered too short or too slow to

play college ball. I want you to dream

enormous. Why? First, because it’s fun and

gets you excited. Second, because big dreams

will motivate you, not just to put in the hard

work to get better on the court, but also to do

everything that’s required to maximize your

chances of finding the right college fit.

Your biggest dreams may never materialize or

they might morph into new dreams, but if you

dream huge, and have the right perspective,

you’ll never have to ask yourself “What if?”

Let’s face it: you’re reading this BRIDGE because, at some point, the same thought entered your

mind about your daughter and volleyball.

Is she good enough, not just to make the YVBA team

and pound ultra-lights at the curly-haired pre-teens on

the other side of the net; not just to start and perhaps

star on her high school team…is she good enough to

play college volleyball AND earn an athletic

scholarship to do so?

I mean, that’s the dream, right?

Because I worked in the sports world, where every dad

thinks his daughter is scholarship good, I had more

perspective than most. I thought Tim was fantastic, but

knew I was in no position to judge. So I sought advice

from people who knew and, much to my delight, they

affirmed what I hoped would be true: Tim was a high-

level prospect in both baseball and football, not just for

high school but also for college and beyond.

When Tim was 14, he was offered a baseball scholarship to a Pac-12 university. We really didn’t

do much to solicit the interest, but his travel ball coaches were VERY well connected (which

helps) and the offer came before he’d ever tried out for his high school team.

Tim did not accept that offer. He was too young, in my mind, and couldn’t know what he truly

wanted. Besides, what mattered at the time wasn’t committing to a school; it was knowing he

was good enough to be wanted at that level.

I thought the recruiting process would last well into Tim’s high school years, but Tim ended up

committing six months later, in November of his sophomore year, to the school he’d dreamed of

attending since he was 13. Again, it was nothing we pushed. I’ve never seen a kid so happy – he

said it was the greatest thing to ever happen to him.

We ALL want that for our children. We want them to be happy, we want to have our financial

burden of paying for college eased in whole or in part, and, yes, we want to wear that hat or

sweatshirt that tells everybody that our kid did good, that we, as parents, did good (Improper use

of the word “good” intentional).

Copyright © 2015 Advanced Sports Media Group vi

IMPORTANT TIP FOR PARENTS

Remember, the college dream has to be your daughter’s, first and foremost. It is your job to help her realize her dream, not for

her to enable yours. It is essential that you understand the landscape of volleyball recruiting before you begin the process.

If you read PrepVolleyball.com actively, or your daughter plays on a high-profile club team, obtaining a scholarship to play

volleyball at the highest level, or even being asked to walk on to a Division I team, may appear commonplace. It is anything but.

According to the most recent participation data, 429,634 girls played volleyball in high school last fall. For the sake of this

discussion, we will assume that number is divided evenly among each of the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes.

That makes 107,408 volleyball players in each class. We’ll also assume that those numbers remain relatively constant for the

upcoming season.

In 2014, there were 334 NCAA Division I programs competing. Let’s make the huge assumption, for math purposes, that every

one of those 334 volleyball programs was fully funded with 12 scholarships (they’re not, they’re not, they’re not!). Let’s now

evenly divide those 12 scholarships across four classes of college volleyball players and now you have each program having 3

scholarships available in any given year. If this were true (it’s not, it’s not, it’s not!), that would mean that in any given year

there would be 1,002 Division I scholarships available.

Now the scary math: Chances of earning an NCAA Div. I scholarship = (Total # of Available Scholarships Available That Year

divided by Total # of Participating VB Players In That Year) yields 0.00933, less than a 1% chance.

Consider this as well: the 1% chance only holds true if:

1. Every NCAA Division I program is fully funded, which isn’t the case at all. There are many Div. I programs that do not

have the full allotment of 12 scholarships, so the 1,002 available scholarships in any given year is not true.

2. Your daughter considers attending ALL 334 universities, which we all know doesn’t happen. There are always

parameters that eliminate schools from recruits’ lists. It’s too far from home. It’s too big/small/cold/hot. It doesn’t have

the major I’m interested in. I can’t get in because I decided to skip all my classes during my sophomore year and now

have a 1.9 GPA.

The foregoing factors alone drop the 1% chance to something far less and we haven’t discussed removing schools from the list

because they don’t need a setter/libero/outside hitter during your daughter’s graduating year!

These are sobering numbers, but that’s the reality of the Division I recruiting world in any given year. As a parent you need to

go into the process with eyes wide open, understanding that the Division I scholarship dream will not be realized for 99 out of

the 100 players who seek it.

Now, I have NO IDEA whether your daughter is good enough. And by “good enough” I don’t

just mean good enough to earn a Division I volleyball scholarship, I mean good enough to play

college volleyball at any level. What I do know is that the recruiting scene is complicated and

confusing. This BRIDGE is intended to help you navigate the waters of the volleyball world in

the hopes that one day, after your daughter finds the perfect fit for her, she’ll tell you that her

dreams have come true.

Copyright © 2015 Advanced Sports Media Group 1

LEVELS, LEVELS, LEVELS!

For most, playing Division I volleyball on scholarship is the ultimate goal, not just for the player

but also for her parents, who have been diligently saving for college (right?) and now can shift

those resources to other uses, like buying a sailboat or turning their beloved’s room into a sauna.

The good news is that Division I volleyball isn’t the only volleyball being played at the next

level. In addition to the 334 schools playing in Division I, there are 294 Division II programs,

433 in Division III, 221 playing NAIA, 308 at the Junior College level and 188 “others,” mostly

Christian-affiliated smaller schools. That’s almost 1,800 colleges and universities in this country

alone suiting up volleyball teams in the fall.

Source: http://www.scholarshipstats.com/volleyball.htm

(1) Varsity Rosters may include junior varsity, redshirt, reserve and/or practice squad players and do not reflect club or intramural team

participants.

(2) Women's NCAA I Volleyball is a headcount sport so there is a limit of 12 players per school that can be under scholarship annually.

(3) High school data is from the 2013-14 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High

School Associations. This data is based on competition at the High School Level during the 2013-14 School Year.

If you are motivated to play at the next level, and work at it, you can find a place to fit your

needs!

Let’s take a look at each of the levels…

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/volleyball.htm


Division I

Division I is the ultimate level in college athletics. Players are not only the most talented, but

also the most driven, and coaches demand the best.

Division I volleyball is a head count sport, meaning that a team is limited to 12 athletes who can

be on scholarship at any one time. For fully-funded programs, a scholarship player receives a full

scholarship, which includes the cost of tuition, room & board and books.

Not all Division I programs are fully-funded. Some may only have eight or nine scholarships, in

which case the school can split money up between players by giving partial scholarships. It can

still only have twelve players receiving athletically-related money, however.

Division I volleyball is a job in many ways. The season starts in August and runs through

December, with off-season training through most spring and summer months. Playing at the DI

level requires a lot of time and commitment. Time management is a very important skill to have

if playing at the DI level. If you have the option to play Division I, you need to decide if you can

handle the commitment required of you.

Division II

Division II schools are permitted to divide the value of up to eight full scholarships among a

larger number of athletes. Many endow far fewer than eight scholarships, however. Division II

programs get creative by stacking academic and need-based aid to get close to a full scholarship,

but seldom does a Division II athlete get a “full ride.”

Division II volleyball is demanding, but less so than Division I typically. The season runs from

August to November and there is spring training, though it is less extensive.

Division II volleyball is high-level. Some Division II programs can beat most lower-tier schools

playing Division I and compete well with those in the middle tier.

Division III

Division III schools tend to be smaller and many are focused principally on academics. There are

no athletic scholarships available, but schools are aggressive in creating academic and aid-based

packages to relieve the financial burden for their most prized recruits.

The season runs from late in August through November. There is a limited spring program for

some, none for others.


The commitment level at Division III is more balanced throughout the year. There are rules in

place that only allow coaching on so many days throughout the year and the travel schedule is

more local, so athletes miss fewer classes.

NAIA

The NAIA stands for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and was formed in 1952.

Most NAIA colleges and universities have some sort of religious affiliation. They are generally

smaller than Division I schools.

More than 90 percent of NAIA institutions do offer athletic scholarships, but full scholarships

are rare. The combination of an athletic scholarship, school grants, and financial aid usually

makes attending an NAIA school affordable.

A top 25 NAIA program will generally be competitive with all NCAA Division III colleges,

most in Division II and even many Division I universities.

Junior College

The National Junior College Athletic Association consists of two-year colleges divided into three

levels like the NCAA: Division I, II, and III. Division I JCs typically have 8-12 scholarships to

give. Those in Division II can offer tuition-only scholarships. Division III schools have no

athletic scholarships.

Going the JuCo route for two years is a good idea for players on the margin academically, those

who have yet to reach peak physical maturity or their volleyball potential or those who want to

reduce the financial burden of college for the first two years, as junior colleges are typically

more affordable.

Junior college graduates earn an Associate of Arts degree and become eligible to transfer to

NCAA or NAIA schools at all levels thereafter.


GLOSSARY

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of recruiting, let’s define some important concepts. Feel

free to come back to this section time and again.

Prospective Student Athlete (PSA)

A Prospective Student Athlete (PSA) is an individual who has started ninth grade classes. A PSA

would like to participate in college sports and is also known as a "recruit" or "prospect."

Contact Period

During this time, a college coach may have in-person contact with a PSA and/or the PSA’s

parents on or off the college’s campus. The coach may also watch a PSA play or visit her high

school or club facility. PSAs may visit the college campus and coaches may write or telephone

students during this period (provided the PSA is at least a high school junior).

Quiet Period

The college coach may not have any in-person contact with a PSA or the PSA’s parents off the

college campus during a quiet period. The coach may not watch the PSA play or visit the PSA’s

high school during this time. The PSA and her parents may visit a college campus during this

time. A coach may communicate, whether in writing or by telephone, with a PSA or her parents

during this time (provided the PSA is at least a high school junior).

Evaluation Period

A period of time when a college coach may watch a PSA play or visit the PSA’s high school.

The coach cannot have any in-person contact with the PSA or her parents away from the college

campus.

Dead Period

During a dead period, a college coach may not have any in-person contact with a PSA or her

family. The coach may write or call the PSA or the PSA’s parents during this time.

Contact

A contact occurs any time a coach has any face-to-face contact with a PSA or her parents away

from the college campus, including the PSA’s high school or competition locations.


Evaluation

An evaluation includes a coach’s review of a PSA’s academic and/or athletic ability. This can

include visiting the PSA’s high school or watching her compete.

Unofficial Visit

Any visit to a college campus paid for by a PSA or her parents. The only thing a college may

furnish to a PSA on an unofficial visit is three complimentary admissions to a home contest.

Official Visit

Any visit to a college campus by a PSA paid for by the college. Official visits are permitted, at

present, only in a PSA’s senior year of high school.

Scholarship

Money received from a college or from another source is considered a scholarship. Some

scholarships are for athletics; others are for academic achievement or are based on other factors.

Verbal Commitment

A verbal commitment occurs when a student-athlete verbally accepts an offer, whether

scholarship or preferred walk-on, to play sports for a college or university. A verbal commitment

is not legally binding for the college or the student, but is usually honored by both parties to it.

Walk-on

A walk-on is a student who does not receive an athletic scholarship but is otherwise a member of

a college athletics team.

NLI (National Letter of Intent)

An NLI is a legal, binding contract where a student-athlete agrees to attend a college for one

academic year. In return, the college agrees to provide the student with an athletics grant-in-aid

for one academic year. The web address for the NLI is: www.national-letter.org.

http://www.national-letter.org/



Clearinghouse

The NCAA Clearinghouse is the organization responsible for certifying the academic eligibility

for practice, competition and financial aid of all prospective student-athletes for Division I and

Division II. The web address is www.ncaaclearinghouse.net.

Redshirt

A redshirt is a student who does not play in ANY college game or scrimmage in a given

academic year despite being enrolled at a school and part of a sports team. A redshirt does not

lose a year of eligibility in her redshirt season. If a student plays even one point of one game as a

college athlete, she can’t be a redshirt.

http://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/



CRITICAL DATES

NCAA Division I

July 1 before a PSA’s junior year – Off-campus contacts are permitted on or after that date.

Sept. 1 of a PSA’s junior year – On or after that date, colleges may make unlimited telephone

calls to a PSA, engage in electronic correspondence (including text, email, Facebook messages,

Twitter direct messages, etc.) and mail general printed correspondence (like media guides,

newsletters, notecards, articles, and all kinds of other fun stuff). Before that date, the coach may

only send PSAs camp brochures and recruiting questionnaires to complete.

Early Signing Period – This is the earliest that a PSA can sign a National Letter of Intent and

occurs for one week in mid-November of her senior year of high school.

Late Signing Period – The second period for NLI signing during a PSA’s senior year begins in

mid-April and runs through August.

NCAA Division II & III

Division II coaches may call a PSA beginning on June 15 before a PSA’s junior year of high

school and begin to send printed recruiting material on that date.

Division III coaches may call a PSA at any time.

Division II and III coaches may have on-campus contact with a PSA after her junior year of high

school is complete.

Here is the Women’s Volleyball Division I recruiting calendar for the 2015-2016 year.

The Division II calendar, will help you appreciate that the recruiting rules are less stringent for

non-Division I institutions.

http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Women's%20Volleyball.pdf

http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/DII_Other%20Sports%20Recruiting%20Calendar%202015-16.pdf


KEYS TO BEING RECRUITED

Work Ethic & Attitude: College coaches spend a lot of time assessing the intangibles. They are

constantly watching your effort, communication skills, leadership qualities, court demeanor,

attention to detail, and problem-solving skills. They watch the way you treat your teammates,

officials, opponents, and your parents. They want players who are coachable, willing to take

feedback, and able to make rapid and productive changes.

Academics: The NCAA starts tracking and calculating your grades in your freshman year. Poor

grades early in your high school career DO NOT disappear and can negatively affect your

eligibility to play college sports. Beyond eligibility, there are VERY FEW professional

opportunities after college to play volleyball. Academics will lead the way to successful life

opportunities.

Ownership: For the most part, recruiting doesn’t just take care of itself. Unless you are one of

the most sought after student-athletes in the country, you will need to be accountable and active

during this process. Take control, be diligent, return interest and correspondence, do your

research, take time to make visits, be prepared when speaking to coaches, ask questions and

develop relationships.

Realistic Expectations: A realistic evaluation of your abilities as a player is critical to your

having a successful recruiting experience. Call college coaches, take a deep breath, and ask for

an honest appraisal of your talent level. You don’t want to spin your wheels seeking those few

Division I offers when your skill set is better suited for Division III or NAIA.

Knowledge of the Process: “I didn’t know” isn’t a good excuse for losing valuable

opportunities. Make the effort to be educated. Know what the academic requirements are for

eligibility; read and understand the recruiting rules and definitions; do your best to understand

recruiting timelines; and talk to people who have been through the process before or have helped

other people with the process. There is no substitute for knowledge and preparation.


FIVE RECRUITING MYTHS & TWO TRUTHS

1. Thinking that you are good enough and college coaches will seek you out.

There are so many girls that play volleyball that there is no possible way for college coaches to

evaluate each one of them. Only the top tier of players are being actively “recruited” in the sense

that they are being independently evaluated by college coaches who are in constant

communication with them and their club coaches. This is not the same as being on their “list.”

Being on the “list” means they have your information. It is up to you to pursue communication

with the coaches of the schools that you are interested in playing for.

2. Thinking only the top players earn scholarships to play college volleyball.

This is simply not true. There are many levels of opportunities to play college volleyball AND

receive an athletic scholarship to do so. If you find yourself without a Division I opportunity,

there are other levels out there—most with some form of athletic aid and an incentive to satisfy

your financial need with other assistance—that might need a player just like you.

3. Waiting until your junior year to start the recruiting process.

With the accelerated recruiting timeline these days, the once-accepted notion of waiting until you

are a high school junior to jump on the recruiting trail now means you are likely to get left in the

dust by go-getters in your class who started earlier and have snatched up offers that might have

been good fits for you. There will still be plenty of opportunities out there, but it may not be at

your No. 1 choice of schools. With colleges starting to look at players as young as 14, it never

hurts to start contacting college coaches in your freshman or sophomore years. This way, they

can evaluate you over the next couple of years, track your improvement and see if you would be

a good fit for their program and if their institution would be a good fit for you. If you have

schools you are interested in, start contacting them and get the ball rolling.

4. Ask your HS and Club Coach/Director to market you to their college contacts.

There are many things that your high school, club coach, or director can help you with

(especially since they can communicate with college coaches at any time), and they can be an

excellent resource for your recruiting process:

● Talk to them about former players who have played in college. Don’t forget your coach

may have recently played college volleyball.

● Use them for their expertise in helping you figure out what level you are best suited for

and be ready to hear their answer.

● Ask them to write letters of recommendation or to invite college coaches to practices or

matches.


Use them as a resource, but do not rely on them alone. You need to do the bulk of the

correspondence and legwork yourself.

5. Since you received a letter in the mail from a college coach, you are being recruited and

will have scholarship opportunities.

If you receive a form letter in the mail your freshman or sophomore year from a college, you are

on its “list.” There are usually 100+ athletes on that “list.” Usually the school is requesting your

contact information, physical stats, academic information, etc.

Does this mean you are being recruited? No. What this does mean is they will evaluate you,

usually during the club season, and it goes from there. It is your job as a PSA to follow-up with

them to gauge their interest level.

Remember…

The athlete needs to take the initiative in contacting college coaches. Don’t wait for them to

contact you; you may miss out on a great opportunity. If there are schools that you are interested

in playing for, and you have the ability to play for them, then contact the coach to see if there is

an opportunity.

Be proactive and aggressive in your recruiting process. There are a lot of opportunities out

there to play college volleyball. The big name school may not be the place for you. Pursue other

institutions. You never know if they will be a good fit for you athletically, academically, and

socially. Just because you are not being “recruited” doesn’t mean you can’t play college

volleyball. It is too hard for the coaches to find all the talent.


ATHLETE RECRUITING TIMELINE

Things to do as a Freshman:

Academic Plan: Speak with your Guidance Counselor and let her know that you would like to

pursue athletics after high school (make sure you develop a four-year plan to meet NCAA

academic eligibility requirements).

Criteria: Start thinking about some of the broad aspects that are important to you in selecting a

college.

Correspondence: Send initial letters and e-mails to college coaches at schools you may be

interested in attending, introducing yourself and making it known that you have an interest in

pursuing volleyball at the collegiate level.

Profile: Compile an athletic resume/profile that includes name, address, phone number, email

address, coaches’ contact information, height, position, GPA, honors and accolades, etc.

Basically, if you think it’s important, include it! Make your profile available on a website, either

your own (very cool) and/or one that college coaches frequent (like UniversityAthlete.com,

which is highly recommended; richkern.com and, in the near future, PrepVolleyball.com).

Development & Recruitment: Start attending summer camps that meet your broad-based

criteria.

Things to do as a Sophomore:

Continue Academic Plan: Add some more detailed criteria to your list of important factors in

selecting a college.

Research Schools: Start doing research and begin putting together an initial list of schools that

fit the criteria that you have established.

Recruitment Plan: Start putting together a recruitment plan beyond academics (research

volleyball staffs, rosters, schedules). Taking a look at the PrepVolleyball.com Needs List, which

details the recruiting needs for a few hundred schools willing to share, is also a good reference

tool.

Visit Campuses: Start taking unofficial visits.

http://prepvolleyball.com/articles/college-articles/college-needs-list/13423


Resume: Put together an athletic resume, send e-mail updates and start making phone contact

with coaches.

Engage Coaches: Send your playing schedule to college coaches. Put together and distribute a

skills video. Invite coaches to come watch you play.

Target Camps: Become more selective with your choice of summer camps based on schools

that will be recruiting your position and institutions that you may like to attend.

Things to do as a Junior:

Step-Up Contact: Continue to send schedules and updates and begin more consistent

correspondence with the college coaches. Become more aggressive with phone contact.

Clearinghouse: Register with the Clearinghouse (can also be done as a sophomore).

Visits: Continue taking unofficial visits.

Self-Presentation: Update skills video, personal website, and stats.

Narrow Your Focus: Narrow your list of schools to a top 5-10 list. Only attend summer camps

of schools where you are a top 2 or 3 recruit.

Things to do as a Senior:

Contact Programs: Continue to do what you did as a junior, showing ongoing interest and

enthusiasm.

Visits: Take Official Visits, limit of five.

Update Profile: Update your profile with standardized test scores, athletic or academic awards,

and competition/showcase schedule for the season.

Showcase: Attend a PrepVolleyball.com Unsigned Senior Showcase.

Relax: Make and celebrate your commitment.


GETTING STARTED

Now that we’ve gone over some important terms, dates, and timelines, let’s talk about the

process of actually getting recruited. For everyone other than the super blue chippers (“I don’t

need your BRIDGE to get my full ride!”), having a successful recruiting experience really comes

down to one principal thing: COMMUNICATION!

Communicating is hard. For one thing, if you don’t communicate you don’t have to hear the

word “No.” You can pretend like everyone wants you and isn’t that wonderful? It’s kind of like

buying that lottery ticket and thinking about its potential power to change your life. Until, that is,

you find out the numbers and realize that all you did was waste two bucks.

Recruiting is like dating. You’re attracted to some. Others are attracted to you. Finding that love

connection – where the subsets intersect – requires communication on both sides. It also requires

thick skin, because you might hear “no” a few times and others might hear “no” from you a few

times as well. Only when both sides agree that “I like you; you like me” will the relationship

develop.

The issue in recruiting is that colleges must wait to communicate directly until, as we noted

above, September 1 of a PSA’s junior year of high school.

You can’t wait that long!

That means you have to make the first move in the recruiting relationship. It’s Sadie Hawkins

Day!

Here’s what one of our recruiting experts once wrote about athletes who were afraid to begin the

process for fear of getting hurt:

“Us coaches aren’t looking for timid players. We want to find players who are confident and sure

of themselves in life and especially on the court.

“The truth of the matter is that, unless you are one of the top recruits in the country, you are

going to hear ‘No’ more than you will hear ‘Yes.’ And I do mean top recruit. There are plenty of

the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces who heard ‘No’ from schools. Now, the good news is that

the worst thing that can happen is that they say ‘No, thank you’ and you move on to another

school. I know hearing that may not be the best thing ever, but it actually will help you focus

more on the programs that are a better fit for you.”


IMPORTANT TIP FOR PARENTS

Players, NOT PARENTS, must drive the

recruiting process! Said one college coach:

“We recruit the player, not the parents, so we

want to hear from her. We'll answer questions

from mom and dad, but we don't want that

letter that starts off with, ‘Hi! My name is

John Smith and I'd like to introduce you to my

daughter Whiney McWimpbutt.’ Think about

it, this is collegiate athletics and we want not

only the best players we can get, but also the

most competitive, outgoing, assertive young

women we can find. Communicating with

college coaches can be very, very

intimidating, but I bet she'll find that there are

a TON of coaches out there who are easy and

fun to talk to. Once she gets past that first

step, I bet she'll enjoy the recruiting process

and learning about all the different kinds of

programs out there.”

Okay, so you’ve made the pledge as a PSA to take

control of your recruiting experience and to be the one

communicating to college coaches. Good for you!!

Now what?

BEFORE you pick up the phone to call a coach or

compose the email or put pen to paper and write a

letter (what is that?), there is work to be done. You

must begin to identify your goals for your college

experience, research those schools that fit within those

goals and, preferably, have already created an online

recruiting profile and skills video.

It also helps to go to the NCAA website and download

the “NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Athlete,” a

fantastic source for information about the recruiting

process. It sums up the NCAA academic requirements,

the NCAA Clearinghouse, and many of the other key

rules that make up the NCAA Rules Manual that

college coaches need law degrees to understand. Additionally, it’s updated each year to reflect

any changes in legislation the NCAA may adopt.

Identifying goals

Remember, if you want to dream enormous, go for it! Just be sure to have a contingency plan.

Part of that contingency plan might include a realistic evaluation of your abilities as a player.

That doesn’t mean having your parents tell you how great you are. You should go to local

college matches, at all levels if possible, and determine how those players compare to the player

you are now and the player you hope to be. You also should ask your high school coach, club

coach and/or club recruiting coordinator to share their opinion of the level you are capable of

playing. Use that evaluation as a guide as you begin to traverse the recruiting landscape, but

don’t ever forget to trust your own view of your abilities. It might mean you hear “no” more than

most, but it only takes one to say “yes” to meet your personal goals!

The first question you must ask is whether you truly want to play in college. It has to be what

you want, not what your parents or coaches want. It is YOUR GOAL!

This is a critical point, because college volleyball, even at a lower level, is almost assuredly

faster, higher, stronger than the highest level you’ve ever played. It’s more draining

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA16.pdf


psychologically than anything you’ve ever been through, especially if you are moving far from

home and won’t see mom and dad every night when you come home. School work provides an

additional stressor that, while everyone tells you it’s difficult, you just don’t comprehend until

you’ve been through it. And yes, they may pay you for playing in the form of a scholarship, but

sometimes that makes this “game” much more like a “job.”

When establishing the criteria for your college experience, BE HONEST. Don’t say academics

are your number one priority if you only want to wake up near the ocean every morning! Don’t

claim to want a national championship if you really don’t feel like training and traveling year

round. Do you want to be active on the party scene, pledge a sorority, experience the seasons,

stay close to home so your parents can watch? Do you want a big school or small, an urban or

rural setting, male or female coach? Do you know what major you’ll choose or your intended

career path after college? You should strive to learn as much about yourself, your wants, and

desires before you move on to the next phase, which is…

Beginning to compile a college list

This list may come from what you are familiar with: local schools, schools where your friends

have gone or, of course, schools that fit your wants from the standpoint of academics, size,

climate, etc. Get an initial list together and know that for most people this list will change during

the course of the college search.

Gaining most general information can be done via the Internet. With each school you are

considering, some time should be spent reviewing the school’s website. To find these there are a

number of resources, but if you simply type “college websites” into Google, you will find a list

of sites that have links to all the schools (many of these are lists compiled by colleges

themselves).

For each school you should review the links for academics and student life, and find a page that

has general information about the school (including size, location, etc.). There will be academic

information that tells you about the majors offered and what special programs are available.

Many sites actually have a section titled “Student Life.” Within this section will be information

about student services, the residence halls, intramurals and, of course, athletics. Each school’s

specific site structure is different, but you will be able to find a wealth of information that will

give you a good foundation about each school. If you want a brief overview of each school, you

can also purchase one of the large paperbacks (Barron’s, Peterson’s, etc.). These give a profile

on each, including data such as enrollment, average SAT, and population breakdown, as well as

a brief overview of the school itself. You can find these books in any major bookstore.


When making this initial list, try to ignore the volleyball at first. It is an old cliché, but true, that

you should be going to a school where you would be happy without the sport. What happens if

there is an injury that prevents you from continuing your volleyball career? Will you be

comfortable at the school when not participating in activities related to volleyball? These are two

of the standard questions that most people would suggest an athlete think about in making any

decision.

Once you have a broad list, you can use volleyball-specific criteria to narrow it somewhat. The

goal is to try to determine if you continue to have a fit when volleyball enters the equation. For

instance, ask yourself, “Am I good enough to play at the school that is traditionally in the top ten,

or would I have enough of a role there to pique my interest if I wouldn’t start?” “Do the schools

at the lower levels fit more comfortably what I am looking for from a collegiate volleyball

experience?”

These are the types of things that you will sort out as the process continues.

Completing a recruiting profile

A recruiting profile is your athletic resume and a quick reference guide for college coaches to get

a feel for who you are and what you have accomplished. It may be a starting point for college

coaches to determine whether they are interested in recruiting you, or a place they can go after

making an initial evaluation.

As stated above, there are many places to create a profile. Some clubs will let you create one on

their site, you can have a website devoted just to you or put your profile on one of several

national platforms. Be sure, however, to complete a profile on UniversityAthlete.com. University

Athlete is the premier communication tool connecting collegiate coaches and prospective student

athletes. Created by college coaches, UA is the database that college coaches use most and has

been used, according to the site, by more than 1,100 colleges to evaluate more than 150,000

athletes.

Submitting a profile on UA is FREE. You need only register and fill it out!

Regardless of where you build your profile, here are the things that should be in it:

Personal Info:

Name

Contact info, including phone numbers and email address

Link to personal website if you have one


Academic Info:

GPA

Class Rank/Class Total

High school

Courses taken to meet eligibility

Probable major

ACT/SAT scores

Volleyball Info:

Height (be truthful!)

Standing reach, approach jump, block jump (be truthful!)

Positions played

Uniform number (HS/Club)

Dominant hand

Playing history - HS & club

Present club team

NCAA Clearinghouse number

Honors:

Academics

Athletics

References:

Coaches

Teachers

Preparing a skills video

The video should include both individual skills and game footage.

The skills portion of the video should be approximately 5-8 minutes long.

Make a brief introductory statement about who you are and what your goal is. Include

your height, primary position, high school, and club affiliation.

Have coaches involved to help manage the drills for better efficiency.

Focus mainly on filming position-specific skills.

Do something within the first minute that will catch the college coach’s attention and

hold her interest.

Individual game highlights are encouraged; but also include footage of at least one

complete unedited game.


Make sure that you are easily identifiable in the video

Now, about game footage, our Recruiting Insider, who’s been answering questions from

subscribers for almost a decade, weighs in:

“I think parents think way too much about video. It’s relatively easy.

1. First and foremost, film from the BACK of the court—preferably, on the side where

your daughter is playing. Set that camera up on a tripod, put the whole court in the viewfinder,

and LEAVE IT ALONE! Don’t pan, don’t zoom in on your daughter, don’t track the ball. If you

must, you’re allowed to say the score into the microphone for your own purposes, but we college

coaches don’t really care about that. Other than that, you’re only allowed to protect your camera

from the ball hitting it. Do NOT film from the side of the court, especially from those sideline

chairs at tournaments. There’s a reason everyone battles for space behind the baseline chair.

Throw some elbows and claim your spot early.

2. If you can’t film from that ideal position, like at high schools, get as close to that angle as

you can. Please zoom in as much as possible. If you want us to evaluate your daughter, she can’t

look like a pedestrian viewed from the top of the Empire State Building. If you can’t get close

enough for her jersey numbers to be clear, just make sure to let us know where she is on the

court at the beginning of the video. We’re pretty good at following people moving around the

court in a circle.

3. As for game footage, I always recommend picking a game/match where your daughter

felt like she played really well, regardless of the end result. Remember, you’re trying to

attract the attention of college coaches, so she wants to put her best play out there. Getting a

video where a middle hitter only takes 4 swings doesn’t really give us an idea of what she can

do.

4. Music, cool graphics, 2 minutes of scrolling text are all things we skip through or mute.

Don’t put your entire recruiting profile on your video; just have the video and email your profile

along with the link. If anything, just include some basic information on your video. Personally, I

mute the music but if it makes you feel better to add "Remember The Name" by Fort Minor, then

go ahead.

Remember, a video alone isn’t going to be the thing that gets you the offer. Think of it more as

the "Hey! Come check me out!" process. College coaches want to see players live, and several

times if possible, before anything close to a scholarship offer happens. A recruiting video lets us

get a quick glance at a player and then decide whether we are going to want to see her during the

HS or club season.”


CONTACTING COACHES

The Initial Email

While you are going to want to call college coaches sooner rather than later, an email

introduction is an easy and relatively stress-free way to get the process started. The first email

should include your name and contact information, a link to your profile and skills video (if

available) and something they will remember.

The email should be personal and not a cookie-cutter message where you simply change the

coach’s name. It should let the coaches know of your interest in attending their school and that

you would appreciate it if they would come to watch you play. Show that you’ve done some

research into the school and be unique, personal, and even quirky in your delivery.

How do you get contact information? There are all kinds of ways. Your club may even have a

full list. But every college website works essentially the same way. Let’s say you want to email

William & Mary head coach Melissa Shelton. Go to Google and type “William & Mary official

athletic site.” Click on the link and scan the toolbar on the top of the page. It’s pretty easy to spot

the one you’re looking for. It says “Inside Athletics” or something similar. There’s usually a

drop-down menu that will include “Staff Directory.” From there it’s simply a matter of going to

women’s volleyball and, voila! [email protected]. Her phone number’s there, too. You’ll also

find contact info for assistant coaches John Lucas and Monica Marlowe.

Try to identify which coach is the lead recruiting coordinator. That’s the coach to whom you

should probably send your initial email.

Getting the courage to make that first call

After that introductory email, it’s time to pick up the phone and call. Yes, it’s scary, but the more

you communicate with a coach the easier it is to figure out if you have a connection with that

coach, if you feel comfortable, and if you could envision yourself playing for that coach.


IMPORTANT TIP FOR PLAYERS

Unless you are 6-4 with a million-dollar arm, there are hundreds of other players out there who play at or about

your same level. You have to find a way to distinguish yourself from the rest. A phone call can help with this

because it says to the coach that you are sincerely interested in that particular program because you are taking time

out of your day to make a phone call. A phone call also speaks to your leadership ability. All college coaches are

well aware that the majority of recruits are intimidated or uneasy about making a phone call. It makes perfect sense

to feel intimidated about calling an adult you have never met before. Because of this, college coaches are very

impressed by recruits who take the initiative to make a call. It says you have the guts to step out of your comfort

zone and that is what coaches want in their players.

Remember, you are trying to make yourself stand out among all the other players out there and one major

difference between you and everyone else is your personality. Maybe a hundred other girls out there can play at the

same level as you, but do they have your attitude? Your competitiveness? Your drive? These are the attributes

coaches are looking for to help them figure out who is the best match for their team. If you call, it gives you the

opportunity to display to the coach what might make the biggest impact in the decision they make: your

personality.

Think about it: if a college has one spot left and 10 players on its list, it is MUCH more likely to give it to the

player who has been calling regularly, the one the coaches have built the best relationship with, the player they

want in their gym every day for four years.

It’s hard, but make those calls and let your personality shine!

It’s important to note that in order for a coach to get to know you, you have to talk to them about

your personality. If you call a coach and simply discuss your past few matches, your upcoming

tournaments and your stats, then they leave the call without a sense of the kind of person you are.

Remember, coaches are people too and they have interests that stretch beyond volleyball. On top

of it, they coach a group of young ladies and I am sure they have many of the conversations with

their players that you have with your friends. So, bring up a recent movie you saw and say why

you liked it or not, talk about an upcoming dance or some fun activity taking place at school, ask

coaches what they like to do with their time off, or their favorite city to visit within the

conference they play in.

Remember, the majority of college coaches are clued in to the fact that you are nervous to make

that call, so as soon as you say hello they will take over and make you comfortable. If you have

been in touch more with the assistant, then call him or her first, then the next time make a call to

the head coach.

The phone calls can last anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, but you certainly don’t want to stay on

longer than that.


How often do you call? As freshmen and sophomores, if you are being heavily recruited, then

you will want to check in with your schools often. Coaches might even tell you, “I want you to

call every Monday,” like they did with my Tim.

If you are not being recruited, you may want to call a coach every month or two. Obviously, you

would call more as the club season is in progress to see if the coach was able to watch you play

and get feedback. Juniors will want to start using phone calls more consistently. If there is

interest from the coach, you should call once a month. Once again, it should be more frequent

during club season. “Unsigned” seniors should be calling at least every 2-3 weeks to the

programs that have interest. Remember they can call you at this point, too.

When is the best time to catch a coach live? First, I would find out when the team practices.

You may want to set up a call later in the evening if a coach says it’s okay. You can also email

the coach ahead of time and tell her that you plan on calling at a specific time. You may also

want to contact her administrator to determine when the coaches are usually in the office.

Sometimes, trial and error will be the best way to find out. First start out in the morning, then at

lunch, then in the early afternoon, evening and so on. Remember, if you do not get them live and

you leave them a message, NCAA coaches have rules as to when they can return and initiate

phone calls.

Okay, so now we have the fundamentals about the call down. Let’s get into an example of the

first phone call – the “Get to Know You Phone Call.” You should have already emailed the

coach with all of your information, so that she has a general idea of who you are and what you

have to offer. Give the coach a heads up on when you will call, so she can have your information

available. Remember, the coach cannot possibly know every recruit out there; so the more you

prepare her before the phone call, the better.

Here’s how the call might go:

PLAYER: Hi, my name is __________ from __________ and I’m a junior outside hitter for

_________ club or HS. I just wanted to follow up with the email I sent you last week.

COACH: I remember getting your information. Let me get it in front of me. So, how is your

season going?

PLAYER: Good. Our team is 10-2 and we are facing our toughest rival this weekend. I am really

looking forward to it. It will be my toughest match-up on the outside. You have been doing

really well in your conference schedule and it looks like you have a tough match-up this

weekend as well with __________ University.

COACH: Yes, it will be a tough weekend, but we are really working hard to prepare and I know

our girls are really fired up for these matches. Everyone is healthy and I know we can pull out

both matches this weekend if we play like we can.


PLAYER: Well, I just wanted to get a feel for what are you looking for in my recruiting class.

And where are you with recruiting for my class?

COACH: (Will answer the question), then may ask: So looking at your information here, what’s

important to you for your future team? What do you like/dislike about your current team?

PLAYER: (You should respond the way you really feel, not guessing as to what they want to

hear. Is it closeness of the team? Success of the team? Competitiveness?) Then you could ask –

what do you look for in a recruit?

COACH: (Will answer the question), then may say… What are your interests in academics and

how important is that to you? (If you are local) Are you looking to stay close to your family or

get away? (If this school is far from home) How do you feel about the distance away from home?

PLAYER: (You should answer honestly)

COACH: I am so glad that you called and since we’ve gotten to know each other a little, I hope

you feel comfortable calling me with updates throughout the year and good luck this weekend.

PLAYER: Thank you for making me feel comfortable, I certainly will. I’ll look forward to future

contact with you. Good luck to you as well this weekend.

Now obviously, this is a scripted phone call and they will go much more naturally than this

appears on paper, but this will give you an idea of what questions you can ask and what

questions the coach may ask. Compare this phone call to the first call you would make to

someone that you like. This phone call is used to get to know that person and see if there is

interest. Most of the time you would not go for the kill and ask for a date – okay these days,

maybe you would, but for our purposes, it’s more of a get to know your personality phone call.

The next day you can write a quick email to the coach saying that you appreciated the time she

spent with you on the phone and that you look forward to getting to know her more.

Only positive results can come from calling a college coach and it might be the reason you put

yourself in a more favorable position during the decision-making process. So, get over that

nervous feeling, pick up the phone and give a coach a call! Trust me, it will be a lot easier than

you think and I would venture to guess you will even enjoy it!

Questions to ask

Here are the kinds of questions you might ask during a phone call or on a college visit. This is by

no means exhaustive. You are trying to get coaches to know you but you also are trying to get a

feel for the school to determine if it fits.

Athletics:

What does a full scholarship entail?

Are student-athletes guaranteed a four-year scholarship?


How much is the room and board reimbursement when an athlete decides to move off

campus?

Is there any kind of fundraising required?

When does the team practice?

Where does the team practice?

Does the team have to share the practice facility with another team?

Where are matches played?

What is the average attendance?

What athletic facilities are available for volleyball players? (Examples: gym, weight

room, locker room, team room, training room, dining facility, equipment room, pool, etc.)

What trainers, doctors, and medical facilities are available?

How does the team travel?

Where do athletes eat?

Can freshmen have cars?

Is payment of apartment rent during the summer months dependent on attending summer

school?

To what extent are the community and media involved in supporting the university and

the student athlete?

Do all team members travel?

What is the off-season schedule?

Academics:

What is the current team’s GPA?

Does an athlete’s GPA affect her playing time?

What is the graduation rate of the volleyball program?

What is the quality of the educational experience the institution can offer?

Can the curriculum accommodate potential changes in my academic major?

How many areas of study does the institution have to choose from?

How many classes are generally missed due to volleyball?

What happens when an athlete has to miss classes or a test due to volleyball?

Do the volleyball players have the opportunity to get summer school paid for?

Is summer school required?

Does the athletic department provide an academic services program that will ensure that I

will have every opportunity to succeed academically?

How closely are grades and classes monitored?

Do players have access to computers, study rooms, library, etc.?

Are tutors available?

Is fifth year aid available?


Coaches:

What is the coach’s basic philosophy and method of coaching?

Has the school or the volleyball program had any issues with respect to NCAA rules

compliance?

Is the coaching staff genuinely concerned about their players’ futures after volleyball and

does its coaching philosophy reflect that concern?

What are the roles of the head coach and each of the assistants?

What are the salaries of the head coach and the assistant coaches? (this will help you

determine if they can afford to stay on for 4 years or if they will have to move on because

of monetary reasons)

How many players have transferred out of the volleyball program during the tenure of the

coach?

Do the athletes have the opportunity to work the summer volleyball camps?

After the initial questionnaire is returned, is it appropriate to continue corresponding with

the coach?

Does the coaching staff prefer written, electronic, or phone calls as a means of

correspondence?

What is the quality of the schedule?

How many years are the players required to live on campus?

Who will I room with?

Where do volleyball players live as freshmen and later?

What is the philosophy on redshirting?

How much would I play as a freshman?

Do you have an open door policy with players? With parents?

To ask of current athletes:

What team rules do you have during the season?

What team rules do you have in the off-season?

How do you manage your time? Schedule?

How many class hours are too much?

How is the team chemistry?

Does the team usually hang out together, or does everyone do her own thing?

Who is the leader on the team?

How does the coaching staff interact with the players?

What is a typical road trip for a match like?

What typically happens during a home weekend?

What about camaraderie with other sports teams on campus?

How involved is the athletic director, compliance and other athletic department staff with

the program?


The recruit who can get over the fear of calling, and learn to ask intelligent and concise

questions, will be elevated in the eyes of the coaches and have an advantage. It is simply a matter

of statistics. If two recruits of equal abilities begin to market themselves, and one calls 100

schools while the other only calls five, the one who is more diligent will stand a better chance of

being rewarded with a spot on a team and scholarship money.

Continuing Communication

Once the initial coach contact has occurred, you will want to communicate on an ongoing basis

for as long as you are interested in the school or until you have made a final recruiting decision.

On the other end of the phone you may find a coach conveying one of three things:

1. The school is interested.

2. The school isn’t sure of its interest level.

3. The school has no interest.

One recruiting expert thinks what the school thinks is largely irrelevant.

“If an athlete is really interested in a school, it does not really matter what the perspective of the

coach is until the athlete makes a final decision,” he writes. “Things often change, so continue

the marketing/communication process in getting to know the coaches and the program, until you

get some clarity if it is a school you want to consider, or one where you have an opportunity you

wish to consider.”


TAKING AN UNOFFICIAL VISIT

To begin to get “inside” a program, the starting point is to visit each school. Sometimes location,

time, and cost of travel will make this a challenge. However, for the investment of four key

developmental years of your life, it is well worth it.

How do you schedule an unofficial visit?

Well, you pick up the phone and call that coach to announce you'd like to visit! Said one

assistant coach: “We're nice people. We like it when players want to visit us, especially when it's

the players we're interested in. The contact rules affect us, not you, so pick up that phone and let

those coaches know you're coming to campus.”

Be sure to give the coach some notice. The coach will then be able to show you around and you

will get both a feel for the campus, and information about the volleyball program on your visit.

Giving the coach advance notice and doing so before you make your own plans (certainly if

airline travel is required) is important, as they may be on vacation, on a recruiting trip, or subject

to a “Dead Period.” If you can plan your visit when the coach is available, you will get more out

of your “live” research.

For a campus visit, you should try to attend when school is in session. If you are taking a

weekend to make your trip, you should use the Friday or Monday to be on the campus. Try to sit

in on a class, see what the activity is like on campus when students are active there, and see the

living environments (dorms, sororities/fraternities, apartments). If it is okay with your parents,

try to spend the night with a current student. Most importantly, ask questions to get a feel for

what a typical day is like at the school both on a weekday and on the weekend. More

specifically, ask about the typical day for a student-athlete.

For many PSAs, spending a night with a current student is easy in that they have developed

friendships through club or high school and know athletes at the schools in which they are

interested, often members of the volleyball program. When such a person is accessible, this is

your outlet to get information about a school. If you have no acquaintance at the school, the

coach will often make it possible to stay with current players.

If it is possible to take a visit while the team is practicing and/or has a match, this is another

important step to getting a true feel for the program. If you have the opportunity to watch a

practice you will see what that school’s program is like on a daily basis. Obviously, if you can

watch more than one, you will get a better sense of what the practice environment is like. In

addition to attending practice, make sure to find out what additional requirements there are,

including weight training, study hall, etc.


Recruiting Insider adds this about the Unofficial Visit:

“You need to spend as much time as you think you'll need to get your questions answered, but

keeping these questions in mind may help:

How long will you need to get a feel of what life is like at that school?

Are you able to catch a practice or a match?

Are there any non-VB things going on (football, basketball, etc.)?

Can you spend some quality time with the current players to ask them questions?

Will you have time to check out the off-campus environment?

What is the coach's schedule on the day(s) you'd like to visit?

In my experience, the average length has been around a day. Whether that's morning to evening,

or afternoon to the next afternoon depends on when the recruit arrives. Since no off-campus

contact can occur during an unofficial visit, most visits consist of a campus tour, checking out

the VB facilities, chatting with the coaches and seeing the team in action (if they are in action at

that time of year). That schedule can easily fit in a day. Of course, if you're located near the

schools you're interested in you can always make more than one unofficial visit. If you're not

located near the schools, try to plan out a longer trip where you're hitting a few schools within

that time period.”


SEPTEMBER 1: YOUR JUNIOR YEAR…THE

MAIL IS COMING

If you are a high school junior, many of you will begin to receive mail and/or e-mail from

colleges starting September 1, the date the NCAA allows Division I schools to send you

recruiting materials.

Let’s address the September 1 date in a little more detail.

For Those Who Receive Letters:

Generally speaking, you should respond favorably to as many as you can. Do not reject schools

unless you have already done thorough research, completed visits, and narrowed your list. A

short response to acknowledge a coach’s interest and your desire to learn more about the

program is wise. For those schools that you happen to have on your own list of desired options,

take the time in any response to add a sentence or two that notes their season or some aspect of

their program. This helps underscore that your interest is sincere.

What do you do if you receive communication from more schools than you feel you have time to

respond to? Use your best judgment. While you can reject schools that you are certain you have

no interest in, a better approach is to keep as many ‘in play’ as possible until you have had time

to do some research and rule out schools based on certain aspects that are important to you (e.g.

academics, size, location, level, etc.).

What If You Do Not Receive Any Communication?

Most importantly, do not panic. All this means is that you need to continue taking the initiative

to communicate with the schools in which you have interest. The first week of September is

actually a good time to communicate, as coaches do give some attention to their recruiting given

the September 1 NCAA date. Normally, the fall is a mixed time with respect to coaches’

recruiting. Certainly they continue the process and maintain communication with recruits.

However, many are delayed in their responses, as they must spend considerable time with their

own team and season. For this reason, don’t worry if it takes a little time for you to get a

response.


GAUGING INTEREST

If you really want to know how interested a college coach is in you, there’s one sure-fire way to

find out. You know what that is! Pick up the phone and call!!!

Mind you, connecting with college coaches can be tough at times because they're not always

around their desks or cell phones (Or, believe it or not, they’re actually making the attempt to

have lives outside of the gym!). Do not take that as a sign of no interest. Keep trying! Coaches

wouldn't give out their phone numbers if they didn't want to talk to recruits.


RESPONDING TO A SCHOLARSHIP OFFER

There are two scenarios where an offer on-the-table creates little stress for either the player or the

college coach:

1. Where a player has a top choice, receives an offer from that school and accepts

2. Where a player receives an offer, takes a short period of time to consider it, then accepts

the offer.

In today’s recruiting environment, however, a player good enough to receive scholarship offers

will likely be asked at some point to make a decision (thumbs up or thumbs down) under a little

duress. That’s because once an offer is extended, there will be pressure to respond to it. Ideally,

players would like to hold on to those offers for as long as possible. But college coaches, with 2-

3 players “on the hook” for one spot and those same players considering 2-3 other finalist

schools, sometimes just “need to know.”

The best advice here is to make a decision only when you are ready. If you find yourself faced

with an ultimatum, in almost all cases the best decision should be to let the option go. If you are

not ready, you are not ready.

Communication, again, remains the key. If you are telling the college coach where you stand

with the offer and she is telling you where she stands with other players she is still recruiting for

that offer, everyone will have a sense of the timeline necessary in which to make a decision and

the likelihood that this particular offer will end up being accepted.


MAKING THE DECISION

Choosing to accept a scholarship offer is a big deal. Make a family decision without outside

influence, and do so only when you are comfortable. On the issue of when to commit or where,

do not be influenced by what your teammates are doing or the wants of your coaches or club.

Everyone’s recruiting process and timeline is different. Own yours.

In an ideal world, you commit, when you’re ready, to the place that is the best overall fit for

YOU. That means you have done all the research, have visited the campus and know in your

heart that this school - considering academics, social life and volleyball - will be best for you.

About 10 years ago, a talented middle blocker committed to an ACC school as a sophomore in

response to her club teammate committing weeks before to a Big Ten school. She felt the need to

commit to “tell the world” she was as worthy of a scholarship as her teammate. The problem was

she had never set foot on campus and did not appreciate that the school’s primary academic foci

were science, technology and engineering, even though the word “Tech” appeared in the

school’s title. She de-committed as a senior because that was not the academic protocol that best

suited her.

Once you make the decision to attend a college or university for the purpose of playing

volleyball, you will want to contact, preferably by telephone, all other schools that were actively

recruiting you, to tell them about your decision. Only after this is done should you alert the local

media and send emails to PrepVolleyball.com and richkern.com announcing your commitment.


SIGNING YOUR NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT

The NLI must be signed by the institution’s Athletic Director, or authorized representative, the

prospective student-athlete and her parent or legal guardian if she is under the age of 21. It must

be accompanied by a written offer and details outlining the athletic financial aid applicable for

the entire academic year from the institution named in the document.

Who participates in the NLI program?

The NLI program is administered by the Collegiate Commissioners Association. There are

currently 55 conferences and over 500 institutions that participate in the NLI program. All

NCAA Division I schools, with the exception of the Ivy League, which does not award athletic

scholarships, the Service Academies, and some schools in the Patriot League, are NLI members.

All fully-active NCAA Division II institutions are NLI members. No Division III, NAIA, junior

colleges or community colleges participate in the NLI program as these schools have their own

institutional or conference letters of commitment.

What does the NLI do for the student-athlete?

First, it gives you peace of mind that you will receive an athletic grant-in-aid for one academic

year. Remember that it is renewable and reviewable each year. Second, it ceases all NLI member

schools from recruiting you. You are officially taken off the recruiting market. It is up to you to

notify everyone that you have signed the NLI. Third, once you do sign the NLI, you are no

longer subject to recruiting contacts and call rules. You may now communicate openly with your

future college coaches and teammates.

When can you sign the NLI?

You must be entering a four-year institution for the first time as a full-time student, or be a four-

two-four transfer student graduating from junior college. (A four-two-four transfer student is one

who initially enrolls in a four year institution, transfers to a two-year junior college, and then

attends a second, four-year institution.) Volleyball players can sign either during the Early

Signing Period or Late Signing Period. College coaches may not be present at the time of your

signing the National Letter of Intent. They may send it to you via mail, express package, fax or

give it to you while you are on campus for an official visit, but they may not hand deliver it to

you off campus.


What if I change my mind?

Signing on the dotted line is an important decision to make. If you decide that you do not want to

attend the university you signed the NLI with, and you enroll with another NLI member

university, you are subject to the basic penalty, which includes:

1. Loss of one season of athletic eligibility; and

2. You cannot represent the latter institution in competition until after you complete one full

academic year in residence, which is two semesters or three quarters.

There is an appeals process you may go through to avoid these penalties.

What if I’m not one to sign in November. Is there still an opportunity for

me?

YES! There are still plenty of opportunities to play collegiate volleyball and receive an athletic

scholarship even if you do not sign in November. Many of the upper level Division I schools do

most of their signings in November, but there are still plenty of good volleyball programs

looking for athletes throughout the following club season. They wait to see who signs early so

they can evaluate the talent that is still “unsigned.” They may not have the budgets or personnel

to compete with the larger budgeted schools, but still have a lot to offer. Don’t count yourself out

if you’re not signed during the Early Signing Period; just stay aggressive and keep

communicating with those coaches!

For more information about the National Letter of Intent Program, frequently asked questions,

information regarding the appeals process, etc., visit their website at: www.national-letter.org.




FUNNY STORY

Back in 2008, USA Volleyball announced that

it had signed a deal with PTP Red

(PrimeTimePlayer Recruiting Enhanced

Directory) to be an official sponsor. For $99,

you could build a profile on the site and the

information would be extracted and sent to

more than 500 colleges and universities. Better

yet, the schools also would get a personalized

letter from Deion Sanders, the former NFL

and MLB star and an owner of PTP Red,

recommending you as a volleyball player of

distinction worthy of consideration.

This news was received with a chuckle in

some volleyball recruiting circles, with a

guffaw in others. The deal with USA

Volleyball was not renewed. PTP Red no

longer operates.

RECRUITING SERVICES

There are many recruiting services out there, but they can be lumped into two general categories:

those that are free to the athletes and those that charge the athletes.

As a general rule, we do not recommend recruiting

services that solicit athletes to use their company for a

fee to "ease the recruiting process." They are doing

little more than you can already do in your own home.

At the simplest level, they take your resume and send

it to their mass mailing list and/or post it online on

their website. Does that make life easier for the

recruit? Sure, since I'm positive that not many people

have a database of college coaches' addresses on their

home computers. There aren't many "paid" recruiting

services that do much more than that. Unless those

people are in your gym watching you play, they can't

give coaches any more feedback on you as a player

than what you typed up yourself.

Recruiting Insider shares his experience following up

with these types of services after receiving an initial

letter.

Me: "I'm trying to get some more information on Jane Doe. You just sent me her profile."

Them: "Who? What sport does she play?"

Me: "Jane Doe, from Any Town. Volleyball player. Same kid your "expert opinion" said would

take our program to the next level."

Them: "Let me see if I can find her information."

Me: "Wouldn't you think the kid that would take a program to the next level would be someone

you know right away?"

Them: "Do you know how many recruits we have in our database?"

Me: "No, but I'd just think the ‘next level’ kids would be a pretty special population. Speaking of

that, how do you know she'd bring my program to the next level? Have you seen us play?"

Them: "No, how could I? I'm five states away. Anyway, I'm the basketball guy mostly."

Me: "Ah, I see. You have a great day."

Do all paid recruiting services operate like this? No, but the grand majority that I have

experienced throughout my years of coaching do. With technology today, you can do everything

that they do from your living room. It just takes time and some elbow grease.


A PARENT’S ROLE

Parents, there’s really only one thing that you should absolutely, positively do at club

tournaments: WATCH AND CHEER ON YOUR DAUGHTER’S TEAM!

That’s it. It’s pretty simple, but something that sometimes gets forgotten in the insanity of

recruiting when droves of college coaches are wandering through the narrow spaces in between

courts. The thoughts of scholarship dollars change some parents from fans to raving lunatics.

OK, maybe not raving lunatics, but they do change into personas that all of us college coaches

recognize.

Recruiting Insider entertains with a story of…

The Guy Who Just Doesn’t Get It:

“It’s usually a dad, but I’m talking to all parents right now. Per Division I NCAA rules, unless

it’s after July 1st (June 15th for D2) prior to your daughter’s senior year in high school, we

CANNOT talk to you. Lemme repeat, we cannot talk to you. Can. Not. Talk. Non possiamo

parlare con te. No podemos hablar con usted. мы не можем говорить с вами. Possumus vobis

loqui. Eway antcay alktay otay ouya. (all translations done through Google, don’t blame me if

they’re wrong). That means we can’t speak to you…at all. It’s verboten (didn’t use German

before). Sure, we’ll most certainly say hello if you say hello to us, but please don’t try to extend

the conversation beyond that because it just puts us in a bad position. Don’t be this guy (actual

conversation):

Dad: Hi there!

Coach: Hello

Dad: I see you’re watching this court, which happens to be the court my daughter is playing on.

Coach: (silence)

Dad: So, how does this whole recruiting thing….wait what school are you from?

Coach: State Technical University A&M College

Dad: Ah, couldn’t make out the logo there, my glasses got stuck in this net. So, how does this

whole recruiting thing work anyhow?

Coach: Sir, I’m sorry but NCAA rules don’t allow me to talk with you at tournaments.

Dad: Oh, I know, I know. Yeah, certainly wouldn’t want to break any

rules….(pause)….certainly wouldn’t want anything to jeopardize the recruiting

process…(pause)…my daughter, she’s #15 right there who just passed that ball into the next

court, would certainly want her recruiting process to go smoothly. So, what’s your campus like?

Coach: Sir, again I’m not allowed to talk with you.


Dad: Right, right, I know. Gotta follow those rules…(pause)…my daughter, she’s the one that

just hit the wall with her last swing; she would be interested in a medium-sized

campus…(pause)…nothing too big…(pause)…now I know you can’t talk to me, rules and all,

but tell me what a typical day is like at your school.

Coach: (takes out stylus and in plain view of The Guy Who Just Doesn’t Get It removes his

daughter’s name from his list of recruiting targets, then walks away)

In closing, Mom…Dad…just enjoy the tournament. Cheer on your daughter and her team. Enjoy

watching other great teams play against each other. Come up with funny songs and dances with

the other parents in your club. Start the wave the next time you’re watching one of your

daughter’s matches.

Yes, there are going to be college coaches at these tournaments and, yes, they may even catch a

glimpse of your daughter while she’s playing. Here’s the simple thing to remember: If we like

what we see, she’ll hear from us after the tournament. It’s that easy. So, just relax and focus your

attention on your daughter’s court because if you’re focused on us, you might miss an

opportunity to yell out ’POINT!’ when the girl at the scorer’s table doesn’t flip fast enough.”

Here’s a little more from Recruiting Insider on “the Parent Problem:”

Dear Recruiting Insider:

I’m an unsigned senior with a problem that may or may not be unique. It’s my father. He’s a

psycho-dad who thinks there’s no one better than me. He’s been very involved in my recruitment

to put it mildly and I think his presence is stopping colleges from taking a closer look at me.

Do colleges make scholarship decisions based on parents? If so, what do I do, both with my dad

and the schools I am interested in?

Dear Daddy’s Girl:

I was wondering if this question was eventually going to surface. It’s a simple one to answer:

you better believe we take parents into account in the recruiting process. If we have a small

group of recruits in the same class we are looking at in a certain position and one has a "psycho

parent," that player is moving way down the list.

If a scholarship is involved, you can think of it as a 4-year investment or a 4-year hire of

someone for your company. Do you really think we want someone to come into our program

who has potential problems coming along with her? Personally, I have crossed kids off our

recruiting lists who had the talent to play for the programs I’ve been involved with solely


because of their parents. It could be because of a phone call from dad or overhearing mom at a

club tournament, but there are definitely things a parent can do to negatively affect their

daughter’s recruitment.

Chances are, unless you are one of the few elite players in each class, there are plenty of players

out there who can have the same impact on our programs. We’ll always pick the ones who will

cause us the fewest problems when they arrive on our campuses.


ASKED AND ANSWERED

Since PrepVolleyball.com’s inception 13 years ago, our recruiting experts have responded to

many questions posed by our subscribers. Below are some of the most interesting and

informative questions and answers, which have not been previously addressed:

Liberos and Scholarships


Having talked to several-to-many parents of club DS/Liberos over the last few years, it looks like

scholarship money will be pretty much out of the question. Several well-known liberos in our

area are called "walk ons" by their D1 schools.

Dear Dionne Warwick:

The one thing I will say is not to automatically assume that ALL liberos are walk-ons at the Div.

1 level. Are there coaches who would rather put all their scholarships into the offensive

positions? Absolutely, but there are also coaches who feel that the libero is an important position

and put a scholarship into it. My libero was recruited solely for that position and is on a full

scholarship.

The one thing some people don’t take into account with the libero position is that it isn’t an every

year thing that we need. I can’t answer for all college coaches, but I can tell you that my libero

recruiting situation is one every 4-5 years. I’m perfectly fine bringing in a true freshman in that

position, giving her the scholarship my graduating senior libero just finished. I’m OK with that

situation because there are a ton of great liberos each year who can step onto the court as a

freshman and be good in that position at the college level. It’s not a position where a lot of depth

is needed. Because there is very little impact (meaning, not a lot of jumping or swinging), the

position is relatively injury-free (with the exception of literally running into a wall to get a ball),

so we don’t need a group of three players in that spot.

BUT, the reality for most programs is:

It’s not a point-scoring position. (Yes, I know you have to pass in order for that

terminating hitter to score)

If you do give a scholarship, you truly only need one on scholarship every 4 years. If

every D1 school gave a scholarship to a libero, that’s only 334 liberos a year on

scholarship.

Not all programs are fully funded, so available scholarships go to point-scoring players.


Some coaches just don’t see it as a scholarship position at all, or only as a 2&2 situation.

The basic economic principle of supply and demand rules. There are tons upon tons of

kids, every year, who can play libero/DS. Supply is way up, so costs go down.

Walk On Now, Scholarship Later


If scholarships are renewable every year and a high school senior is promised a scholarship but

only after she walks on the first two years, has the coach really offered anything that is binding?

Dear In A Bind:

The quick answer to that is "Nope!"

The only "binding" thing that is recognized by the NCAA is the National Letter of Intent, which

walk-on players do not sign during their senior year in HS. The "1 For 3" or "2 and 2" deals that

get thrown around during the recruiting process are non-binding and are only worth the word of

the college coach offering it. Besides his/her word, and a public relations hit if he/she doesn’t

hold up his/her end, there is nothing holding a college coach to that scholarship offer. Nor is

there anything holding a school to that offer if that coach ends up leaving prior to when the

scholarship was supposed to be awarded.

Now, the grand majority of these offers are upheld, but I wanted everyone to know that there

isn’t anything binding except the NLI in the eyes of the NCAA.

Dream School But…


My daughter took her unofficial visit to a school she has always wanted to go to. The coaches

loved her and offered her a scholarship. My daughter loved the school itself and everything

about it except for the team and coaches. So she has a scholarship to her dream school but the

volleyball isn’t dreamy. What should she do?

Dear Dreamer:

Picture going into an office for work, EVERY DAY, where you like the building, your favorite

lunch place is right around the corner and you can always find a parking space BUT you can’t


stand your co-workers or your boss. Pretty soon, you forget how nice the building is, lunch

doesn’t taste as good anymore, and now you feel like you’re parking a mile away…in the rain.

The players are the people who your daughter is going to spend the most time with and the coach

is the person who’s going to be pushing your daughter on a daily basis to be better. These are the

people she will be working with in the gym every day. They are the people she will be with on a

bus, or van, for hours at a time. If your daughter doesn’t like them, she’s going to be miserable,

regardless of how much she likes the school.

Colleges “Playing Games”


My daughter is a junior. She has gotten the questionnaires since freshman year and has been

invited for unofficial visits since before her sophomore year. We went on some visits starting

early sophomore year. Some had lost interest by then. Now, even some that have asked for an

unofficial visit don’t seem interested by the time you get there.

Are you supposed to go as soon as they ask? It is hard to fit visits in with school, club, holidays,

etc. You also want to research the school first. It seems like schools are "hot and cold" on you.

Some send lots of emails (general and personal) and then drop off fast. The pile of books is huge

but the pot of actually serious schools seems lean to choose from. No offers yet.

Is this how they all "play the game?" They seem interested and then not. It’s so hard to know

where you are in their process. When you ask, some tell you, but the bigger schools say they

want to see you play more. We’d like to not waste time visiting and emailing a school that will

grow cold later. We have gone on about six unofficials. How do you judge the sincerity of the

school?

Why do they play games? What is the purpose? Some schools that have shown early interest

didn’t even have her position open for her year. What’s up with that? Why get someone going for

nothing?

Dear Questioner:

Please know that there isn’t a college coach out there who is "playing a game" when it comes to

the recruiting process. If there is one thing that we all take very seriously, it is recruiting, and if

there is a coach who doesn’t take it seriously I guarantee they don’t have a great win percentage.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of our programs and the best trainers still need good players to work

with in order to succeed.


Now, that’s not to say that a school that initially shows a lot of interest won’t drop that interest

later on in the process. The top programs in the country are focused on a very small pool of

players in their recruiting processes. The majority of all the other schools cast a big net in the

beginning of each recruiting cycle and then start paring down their list as the process goes on

(some more quickly than others). The paring down of a school’s recruiting list may occur for

several reasons:

It may have recently gotten a commitment from another player in that position in that

class.

It may have gotten a commitment from a player in that position in a DIFFERENT class,

which changes what it’s looking for in your daughter’s class.

An injury (or return from injury) might have occurred on its current roster to change its

recruiting.

It might go into the recruiting cycle thinking it needs a certain position but then someone

on its roster steps up/drops down to change its minds.

There are many reasons why a school may start off contacting a certain position and then change

its mind.

Keep in mind that EVERY school is constantly recruiting players in certain positions each year

until one of them says "yes." So, a school might be very seriously recruiting three outside hitters

in this class. That coach is constantly emailing them all and sending out all kinds of great

information in the mail each week. Those kids call that coach and he/she says they’re the greatest

thing ever (because he/she likes all three and feels any of them will make his/her program

better). Kid #1 comes for a visit before the others and the coach loves her now that they’ve

gotten to meet face-to-face. Coach extends a scholarship offer and Kid #1 surprises him/her and

accepts immediately. Even though Kids #2 and #3 were planning on visiting later on in the

spring, the next email they get from the coach is "Thanks, but we have gotten a commitment.

Good luck!" This situation happens all the time, every year.

Another reason why communication might drop off quickly is that the coach may have finally

had the opportunity to see a player in action only to discover that she does not fit the program’s

current needs. There are many players that a program contacts each year that the coach has never

seen on the court. Maybe that player wrote the school first, expressing her interest and thus

getting her name in that school’s recruiting database. A player may have been mentioned on

some accolade list and that program’s coach likes to write all the players who end up on those

lists (again, casting a big net). A player’s name may have been passed on by another coach.

Those are just a few reasons why a player’s name may end up on a recruiting database. Then,

that coach finally gets on the recruiting trail and realizes that player doesn’t fit the program’s

needs in that class.


I am a coach who fully believes that I should let a recruit know where our recruiting process is

right away. If we’re done recruiting her position, or not recruiting her position at all, we let her

know. Some schools might not do this and decide to just stop communicating altogether. As I’ve

mentioned before, the best way to gauge a school’s interest is to have your daughter pick up the

phone and call the coach. Have her ask her questions, especially the "Where are you in the

recruiting of my position in my class?" question. Most of us will be very upfront with our

answers and your daughter should start learning who has a true interest in her.

Off-Campus Contacts


My sophomore daughter has made several unofficial visits to various schools. She has met and

spoken with the coaching staff during these visits but when she then sees the same coaches

during tournaments she is unsure how to act. She feels awkward ignoring them when she sees

them in passing and does not want them to think she is stuck up or something like that. But she

knows the rule is she cannot speak to them off campus. Is it OK for her to smile and say "Hi" to

the coaches she has met personally during unofficial visits? Or should she continue to ignore

them? What is the proper etiquette under these circumstances?

Dear Miss Manners:

The NCAA rule book states that a "contact" is "any dialogue in excess of an exchange of a

greeting." In-person, off-campus contact is impermissible before July 1st and not allowed at any

time during the recruit's competition. So, your daughter saying "Hi!" at tournaments is perfectly

fine when she sees the coaches she's met during her visits; she just needs to leave it at that and

not continue into a conversation. Keep in mind that this rule does not change after a verbal

commitment (college coaches, that's for you to read as well since some of you seem to forget

this).

Playing on the Best Club Team


My daughter will be entering her fourth season of club volleyball this fall. The first two seasons,

she played with her grade level (she's young for her class) on average local teams. This past

year, she traveled a bit to play at her age level with an incredible coach/team that ended up

finishing tied for 5th at Nationals in 15 Open. She is a junior this year and is coming up on what

we think will be her most important year of club ball. My question, from a recruiting standpoint,


is she better off moving back up with her graduating class and playing for a good team or

staying at her age level and playing for a great team that has a better opportunity to play open at

Nationals?

Dear Deanna:

I always think it's better to play on the better team. If you've been in the club circuit for four

years, then you probably have clearly noticed that we college coaches wander down to the

younger divisions. Actually, you probably see more of us down at 16's than you would at 18's.

Playing on a "great" team, as you say, will probably also put her against better competition

which means she'd be heading to college with experience in playing in big matches. That

experience will help her adjust to the college game a little faster.

Just make sure to let the schools she's interested in know that she may be playing "down" a

division so they're aware that they need to be looking for a junior playing in the 16's division.

Trust me, she won't be the only HS junior playing in that age group.

Club Hopping


I have a 14-year-old daughter who is 6-1 and showing great promise as a volleyball player. As

parents, my husband and I have decided to allow her to switch to a different club next year for a

variety of reasons, all of which we believe are in her best interest. It is something she’s wanted to

do for years. We just haven’t been ready to make the extra commitment until now. In a past

conversation with a reputable coach from her last club, I was told that colleges frown on “Club

Hoppers.” Is this true? We’re switching her as a freshman in high school. When it comes to

recruiting, do college coaches really look at your club history that far back?

Dear Kermit:

I think the issue here is the definition of a "Club Hopper". As a college coach, if a recruit I’m

communicating with tells me she’s switching clubs I don’t really think too much about it unless I

hear it’s because of selfish reasons. Choosing a club is a financial decision and a player should

get the best product for the amount of money being paid. If she and her parents discover a better

option for them out there, they should have every right to change their minds. Every year, we

receive a lot of recruiting profiles that list a player who has changed clubs at one point in her

volleyball career.


The kid I would define as a "Club Hopper" is one who changes clubs as often as she changes her

clothes. A player who has played for a new club every year raises a red flag because it’s apparent

that nothing will make that person (or her parents) happy. Chances are that player faced some

adversity (like the realization that she isn’t as good as she thinks she is) and decided that it was

easier to just quit that situation rather than work through it. On top of that, chances are that

player has parents who tell their child that it’s easier to quit than to work through something.

College coaches don’t want to deal with either one of those situations.

Fudging Your Height


I am a junior outside hitter playing for a prominent club. They list me at 6-0 and report my jump

touch at 9-10. Both of these stats college coaches have repeated to me when we talk. The

problem is they are not true. I am 5-10 with shoes and jump 9-7 at best. Should I tell the college

coaches? I’m still the same player they see.

Dear Short Changer:

You should most certainly tell college coaches and you should have your club change your

information right away. I’d rather have a recruit let me know the information is incorrect and

provide me with the right numbers than go to the court of a player based on what a club coach

tells me, only to find out it’s wrong. That makes me not want to believe that club coach the next

time they tell me about a kid.

I know plenty of people that want to inflate numbers on a piece of paper to make a player seem

higher/taller/better to a college recruiter. We’re a pretty smart group though and figure things out

quickly. For example, we know that EVERY net out there is set at 7’4" so it’s pretty easy to

figure out where a player is jumping in relation to the top of the net. When we get profiles that

list, or hear a club coach tell us, a player is touching around 10′ and then watch that player

struggle to get her elbows near the top of the tape, we know it’s false information being given to

us.

So, contact those schools you’re interested in and let them know that the club information is

incorrect. Tell them you wanted to make sure you provided them the right information because

you didn’t want them to think differently of you as a player. Then get your club to change your

information to the right height and jumps because you don’t want them misrepresenting you as a

player.


You Might Not Think This Helps But…


I am in charge of designing/ordering uniforms for a big club that would like to become more

prominent. I see all types of uniforms, many black and understated, others with the kids’ names

in screaming letters front and back. As a college coach, are you aided in any way in the

recruiting process by how a uniform looks or whether names are on it?

Dear Guy from Jersey:

Congratulations! You are the first ever person I've ever heard ask a college coach's opinion on

club uniforms and boy do I have some opinions! Nothing major, but they'd sure be a great help.

1. What's MOST IMPORTANT is that your roster is 100% correct in University Athlete so that

it is 100% accurate on our smart phones. There's nothing worse than coming up to a court, loving

what #12 just did and there not being a #12 on the roster. Names on the backs of jerseys certainly

would help with that problem and they especially help when UA isn't involved with the

tournament. Names and numbers on warm up or spirit shirts help, too, since coaches love to

watch hitting lines almost as much as the match itself.

2. Even in UA tournaments, having a legible, recognizable club name or logo is a huge help.

Especially one that can be read from the other side of the net so we don't have to ask each other,

"Which team is that over there?"

Good at More Than One Sport


My daughter plays three sports at a high level. Recruitment for two happens much later than

volleyball. The problem is my daughter may want to play one of the other two in college, but the

recruiting process in volleyball is NOW. How can my daughter politely tell volleyball recruiters

“not now thanks” but “don’t forget about me?”

Dear Triple Threat:

Your daughter has every right to take her time and choose the sport that she feels is the one she

absolutely wants to pursue at the college level. College athletics is a year-round commitment of a

lot of an athlete’s time, so it is very, very important that she likes what she’s doing or she could


be miserable. However, she also needs to know that many volleyball coaches may move on to

other players and not wait for her to make up her mind.

This isn’t a knock against her, but it’s more the reality of the recruiting world. Unless she is one

of the select few top recruits, those players who have no equal, chances are that there are several

other players out there that a coach may feel are just as good for their program. That coach may

just choose to pursue those players instead of waiting to see if your daughter decides to play

volleyball over the other two sports she participates in. Those coaches may also have the

assumption, no matter how false that assumption is, that your daughter isn’t fully committed to

being a college volleyball player if she is up in the air with what sport she wants to play, which

may also lead them to recruit other players.

Having the Stats


How important are stats to college recruiters? My daughter is a three-year starter for her high

school and hopefully will start for her senior year also. While she is not the stud of the team, it

seems that her stats are either under-reported or not reported. Should this be a concern? I would

also add that the coach does not like to be approached about these matters.

Dear Playing a Numbers Game:

Personally, I don’t look at high school stats though there may be other coaches who do. I know

that, in many cases, HS stats are incorrectly reported and are not great as a recruiting tool. As

I’ve mentioned in a previous article, we look at how high someone jumps, how good of a

volleyball player that person is, and then try to find out about the recruit’s character from her

coaches.

When I get a 10-page report of a player’s high school statistics, I don’t even bother reading those

pieces of paper. If I get a MaxPreps link via email, I rarely click on it. The only time I might pay

attention to a recruit’s stats is if she put up great numbers during a tough match or in the state

tournament when I know the team she is playing against is a big challenge. I’ve been doing this

for a long time and I’ve never recruited a player because of statistics.

Completing an Application?


I've just spent the last several evenings reading NCAA Guides, various advice columns and


message boards, and your own series of articles. The impression I'm left with is that after a

successful recruiting program of correspondence, visits, and evaluation the athlete gets an offer

to play and bing, bang, boom she's on the team. But what about the college application? I

thought schools get applications in the late fall and notify applicants around the April time frame

about whether or not they've been admitted to the school. How does this reconcile with all of the

accepted offers I read about by Juniors or Seniors in the fall?

Dear Slacker:

At nearly every college/university out there, student-athletes in all sports go through a process

completely different than the general student population (and it's definitely NOT bing, bang,

boom). Incoming student-athletes still do have to fill out the school's application, but usually it's

just a formality. This doesn't mean that athletes can just flake off and stop going to high school;

they still need to be approved for admission. However, their applications will be looked at

differently than the others that get submitted to the Admissions Office.

Here might be a typical path through this aspect of the recruiting process: Coach from University

A sees a kid (“Player”) during her junior year and really likes her. The normal recruiting process

occurs with mailings, emails, phone calls from Player, evaluations at tournaments, and an

unofficial visit. Coach really likes Player, enough that she wants to offer a scholarship. Coach

then collects Player's academic information (transcripts, test scores) to determine whether she

feels like Player would be admitted. Some schools require high academic scores, some just want

a human being with a pulse. Either way that coach probably has a good handle on what it will

take to be admitted. Some schools even have a process where these early grades and test scores

are presented to the Admissions people for an early approval or denial.

If the coach feels that Player will be approved (or is actually approved in the "early read"

process), the scholarship offer may be extended. Player jumps up and down, and then accepts the

offer. Hopefully, she keeps up her grades during the rest of her junior year and senior year. When

the time comes for applying to that school, Player fills out the application just like any other

student but probably puts "Volleyball" on top of it, marks it in some other way, or the

Admissions Office of that school is on lookout for that application via communication with the

Athletic Department. As long as the student has upheld what was expected of her, she's accepted

and then a full-fledged member of that school's volleyball team.

This might be time to mention that while athletics has some pull when it comes to admitting

student-athletes, it doesn't have the pull that many people may think is out there. First off, we're

not football and our student-athletes are not going to get the same consideration as the 300-

pound lineman who may not be able to spell CAT but can hit people really, really hard. The

highly academic schools out there across all divisions still need highly academic students. An


Ivy League school is not going to admit a 2.5 GPA student, no matter if she's 6'5" or not.

Schools have different admissions requirements and what a player has grade-wise may get her

into one school but not into another.


CONCLUSION

When all is said and done with the recruiting process, the goal is to be able to look back and

congratulate yourself for making the right decision. Did you get all your questions answered?

Were you able to compare a variety of schools rather than rushing to pick the one who wanted an

answer immediately? Will you be attending a school that you want to earn a degree from? Will

you be in a college environment where you are going to enjoy those four or five years of your

life? Will you be playing for a volleyball program where you will be happy, regardless of your

role on the team? It’s not WHEN you make the decision that matters; it’s making the right

decision when it’s right for you.

IMPORTANT WEBSITE LINKS:

NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete: www.ncaa.org

NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse: www.ncaaclearinghouse.net

National Athletic Intercollegiate Association: www.naia.org

USA Volleyball: www.usavolleyball.org

Rich Kern: www.richkern.com

University Athlete: www.universityathlete.com

Prep Volleyball: www.prepvolleyball.com

http://www.ncaa.org/



http://www.naia.org/

http://www.naia.org/

http://www.usavolleyball.org/

http://www.richkern.com/

http://www.richkern.com/

http://www.universityathlete.com/

http://www.prepvolleyball.com/


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Because I’m no expert on recruiting, many of the concepts were appropriated from articles that

have appeared on PrepVolleyball.com over the first 13 years of its existence. In some sections,

the work is not original but taken in whole or part from something previously published on

PrepVolleyball. To that end, I am indebted to Dan Kaplan of CBound, Scott Carter, Craig

Vlietstra, Former DI Coach and especially Recruiting Insider for their boundless wisdom in this

area. This B.R.I.D.G.E.™ would not have been possible without all of your contributions.

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