Recruiting 101 – Contacting College Coaches
I’ve spent 13 years in the world of recruiting and have been able to see it from a variety of different sides. In 2010 I started my own scouting service, the Indiana Recruiting Guide, going into my freshman year of…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingI’ve spent 13 years in the world of recruiting and have been able to see it from a variety of different sides. In 2010 I started my own scouting service, the Indiana Recruiting Guide, going into my freshman year of college. Over the course of three years the service grew to a place I never could have imagined as a 20-21 year old. College coaches at all levels from the Big Ten to the Ivy League, from in-state Division III schools to Junior Colleges in Arizona, and everyone in between would contact me when looking to recruit the great state of Indiana. Then, over the next six and a half years I was on the coaching side of things at IUPUI, Hanover College, Defiance College, and Wabash College. After getting out of coaching, I worked for national recruiting service NCSA helping athletes and their families across various sports reach their collegiate goals. Finally, in June of 2021 I settled back in to the scouting service game when I took over Prep Hoops Indiana from Eric Gardner. Having had 13+ years of experience from all different sides of the recruiting scene has helped me deeply understand the process. I’ve personally recruited student-athletes, helped families with the recruiting process, and work closely with college coaches now to identify potential targets.
For many people, the recruiting process can be overwhelming. Many parents and families have never experienced it before and find it nearly impossible to know how to best navigate it all. Over the next week or so I’ll be doing my best to answer any and all questions to give you a starting point as you pursue your goal of playing college basketball. In this edition, let’s dive into how to contact college coaches.
Part of getting ahead of the recruiting process is becoming your own best salesman. There is a level of marketing that goes along with “winning” the exposure game and we are here to share some of those secrets. How often should you reach out to coaches? What do you do if they don’t respond? What do you need to send when contacting a coach? These are some of the most common questions from families on the topic of reaching out directly to college coaches. Here are some of the Do’s and Don’ts to follow when reaching out to coaches in an attempt to get recruited.
- Don’t be shy. Trust me, coaches receive hundreds and hundreds of emails from prospects all over the country every year. If you are afraid of bothering them, don’t be, because it is very literally part of their job. In coaching, there is a common saying when recruiting that the best thing a coach can hear is “yes” (a commitment), but the second best thing they can hear is a firm “no.” Being able to move on and narrow the search can sometimes be nearly as valuable as receiving interest. The same can be said from the point of view of you, the prospect. If you never reach out though, you’ll never know. Go ahead and send the email because the worst thing you can hear is “we are not interested.” At least at that point you know you can move on.
- Persistence can go too far. Okay, I just said don’t be shy, but that doesn’t mean you should be annoying. There is a fine line between being persistent, making sure you get your name in front of a coach, and then becoming the annoying player or parent that gets talked about behind closed doors. If you send a handful of emails to a coach and they have never contacted you or your coach then it is probably safe to move on. That doesn’t mean you should never reach out again, but you should give it a rest. Instead of sending an email or DM every weekend with an update, maybe wait a couple months and give a larger update. Coaches will READ every email. They will take a LOOK at your highlight tape. However, if they aren’t interested, unfortunately, they often times simply won’t reply. That is simply the nature of getting so many emails. If they were interested though, you would have heard back after a couple of emails.
- Personalization. Yes, you might wow a coach by doing your homework and including some very personalized content for that specific school. This can be a good tactic for a couple of places you realistically might gain interest from and you REALLY would be interested in attending. Otherwise, it isn’t worth the time. Write a well thought out, generic template and just MAKE SURE you get the coach’s name and school right. Those are the only things that need to change from email to email. “Dear Coach Ramsey, I am writing to you in order to express my interest in Prep Hoops Indiana University…”
Here is a quick checklist of what exactly your email to a college coach should include.
- Your Full Name.
- Upcoming Schedule.
- The high school you attend and city, state you live in.
- Cell Phone Number.
- ACCURATE academic information. Cumulative GPA (not just the most recent semester). Test scores. If you have it, MAJOR bonus points for attaching a copy of your transcripts.
- Link to your highlight tape with the offer to follow up with a couple of all game tapes.
- High School and AAU coaches contact info. ***If you ONLY include the contact info of your AAU coach it is likely that a college coach will assume there is a red flag and you have an issue with your high school coach.***
- ACCURATE Height and Weight.
- Relevant statistics. Go beyond points, rebounds, and assists. Include shooting percentages and your team’s record.