*Originally posted 10/18/2021 - please keep in mind that while this post is still relevant to finding out if a school is interested in you, it was originally written in the fall season of 2021 so the context of what I'm talking about might seem a little different then where we are now in the Summer of 2024.
Club season is starting to ramp up and that means that high school and college volleyball seasons are nearing their peak of the playoff season. Once college coaches are finished with their season, we should see an increase in interactions with prospective student-athletes. There will be a couple things that happen:
1) Coaches will hit the transfer portal aggressively
2) They will search out for unsigned seniors to fill spots for next season
3) Coaches will look longterm to see if any 2023 (Junior class) match what they need
4) Coaches will begin to evaluate the 2024 class (Sophomore class) in person
#4 is what I want to focus on the most here. This will hopefully be the first year we get to see how the new rules REALLY affect recruiting. We already saw this summer that despite the inability of college coaches to watch athletes live until June, that offers still came fast and furious on June 15th and after. I would imagine that it will be much the same this year if not worse. With college coaches being given an entire recruiting season to evaluate athletes, it could get interesting. Probably the hardest thing to figure out for the 2024 class (Sophomores) during this time is whether or not these schools are actually interested or HOW interested they are. The difference between being #1 and #9 on their recruiting board can make a huge difference. I've written about this a little bit HERE, but it's something I will continue to address this club season.
I've shared with lots of people the story about a D1 school that sent 70+ t-shirts to recruits in the 2023 class. You might get really excited if you got a t-shirt, until you learn that 70 other athletes got the same shirt. So where do you sit on their list? Are you in their top 5 or are you in their top 50? Emails and even snail mail to athletes that are in a schools top 50, and even outside of that range, are unfortunately very normal. My frustration with this is that it takes the focus OFF of the schools where athletes might actually be a good fit and ON schools that are basically out of reach.
So how can you tell?
Ask. Not every athlete or club has someone like me that can sift through all of the information and help them figure it out. Also, some athletes and families want to hang on to the hope that they can play in a Top 25 or Top 50 program in the country and you can't do anything to dissuade them. Hopefully you have people around you that are willing to have an honest and realistic conversation about where you are going to be a fit. If you don't have people like that around you, here are some things you can do:
1) Take a look at the roster - do you fit?
2) Do some research on their next recruiting class - do you match up?
3) How competitive is your club team regionally? How do you compete at Qualifiers?
4) Are you one of the top 1,000 athletes in your class?
Remember it might be great for you to be in a school's top 10, but you really should be focusing on school's where you are going to be in their top 3. In my opinion, a lot of this research and navigating the recruiting process can be done PRIOR to the June 15th phone calls. Set up a time to meet with me and I can help get you started!
Want to know more about communicating interest? Check out this link!
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