What to do each year, freshman to senior
Recruiting is not a senior-year event. Here is what actually matters in each grade, and what can wait.
Freshman year
Core courses start counting toward NCAA eligibility the day you walk into 9th grade. Every grade from here is on the transcript a college compliance office will read.
On the field, the goal is a full season line and film. Even freshman team film matters when it sits next to junior varsity film, because coaches want to see the trend.
- ■Play multiple sports if you can. College coaches say it every year.
- ■Take the right classes. Ask the counselor which courses are NCAA approved core courses.
- ■Post the season: team level, position, stats you have, three or four clips.
- ■Add your first measurables: a 40, a vertical, an exit velo, whatever your sport tracks.
Sophomore year
This is the year the page starts to look like a story. Two seasons of growth, a second sport, and film that shows improvement. In most sports college coaches cannot call or write you yet, but they can watch, and many are building lists.
Create a free NCAA Eligibility Center profile this year. It costs nothing to register a profile and it makes the paid certification later much easier.
- ■Register a free Eligibility Center profile at eligibilitycenter.org.
- ■Ask your coach to verify a measurable on your page. A verified 40 carries weight a typed one does not.
- ■Go to one camp at a school you would actually attend. Not five. One good one.
Junior year
Junior year is when the rules open up in most sports and coaches can start contacting you directly. Exact dates depend on the sport and the division, so check the NCAA recruiting calendar for your sport rather than trusting a rumor.
Your page should be complete now: every season, every sport, film attached to seasons, private sheet filled in, transcript link ready. When a coach opens it he should not have to ask for anything.
- ■Take the SAT or ACT in the spring, even if test optional, because some programs still ask.
- ■Send your link directly to coaches at 15 to 25 realistic schools. Include the season, the film, and one line about why that school.
- ■Update the page after every game week. Coaches check back.
Senior year
If you have offers, this year is about choosing. If you do not, this year is about being findable and honest about your level. Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior colleges recruit hard through the winter and spring, and thousands of athletes find a great fit after the D1 noise dies down.
Finish the Eligibility Center certification early in the fall if you are aiming at D1 or D2. Keep the page current through the last game.
- ■Complete the Eligibility Center certification (fee applies) by early fall.
- ■Answer every coach who writes, even the ones you are not choosing.
- ■Keep the page up after graduation. It stays exactly as you built it, proof of every season you played.