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What Is Real Interest?
- Jason
- Oct 4, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 18, 2024
I have been knocking around this idea for awhile now. With the changes in the recruiting landscape over the last few years that include the new recruiting rules and the addition of the transfer portal, interest is still as important as ever. Maybe even more so. But what is interest? (For more on a similar topic, take a look at "Good Response, Bad Response")
I have always said that interest is probably the most important piece to the recruiting process. That goes for coaches and athletes. If one side isn't interested, then it can be a really pointless pursuit by the other side. This is why the answer to the question, "Why are you interested in this school?" is such an important one. How you answer that question can make all the difference in your recruiting process. That answer will potentially be moving you above or below another athlete on the recruiting board.
But what is real interest? Athletes get asked to fill out a questionnaire all the time, does that mean that schools is really interested? Athletes get sent camp invites all throughout club season, does that mean the school is really interested? On June 15th an athlete might have a great phone call with a coach! But how interested are they?
These are the questions that I get asked ALL the time by parents. Going into Nationals this past club season I sat down with a 15s team to talk what to expect at Nationals, what the summer might look like and what to expect throughout the fall high school season. One of the things that I told them was this:
"It doesn't matter who sent you a questionnaire or a camp invite. Next club season you need to start from scratch. Don't hang on to that one piece of mail that you got 8 months ago. Be excited that these schools sent you something this club season. Be excited for whoever is going to send you mail this upcoming season."
It might be true that a school is interested in an athlete and so they send them a questionnaire or a camp invite. But HOW interested are they based on that little piece of mail? We really don't know. This honestly comes in stages. Emails, to phone calls, to texting, to making visits and finally, making offers.
All of that has lead me in the direction of this thought:
Real interest in an athlete is communicated by the coaching staff wanting you to come on a visit.
Now, should you a expect a visit invitation on the first call? No. My point here is that realistically you should do all you can to communicate with college coaches for as long as possible. Whether the athlete or the coach brings up a visit, I don't necessarily think it matters. The idea is that phone calls and texts are great, but a visit is a REAL line in the sand between interested and not-interested schools.
Everything prior to the visit is necessary. It also could be fluff. One phone call or one email doesn't make a school interested. They can show interest that way and it's certainly a step in the recruiting process, but making a campus visit should be your goal. That's how you know they are really interested.
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