When To Contact College Coaches

This question is important and one that I am asked frequently, StudentBlitz is here to try and answer this for you and give you the best advice.

It basically depends on what the athlete has accomplished in his career.  If your son or daughter played varsity basketball as a sophomore and averaged fifteen points per game at the varsity level, you should get their name out to college coaches so that they can track your child’s progress over the next few years. This is of course if you decide to personally take on the recruiting process and contact schools yourself. If given the opportunity, I would definitely recommend that the earlier the better in contacting college coaches and making them aware of what your child has already accomplished. Although I must stress to only do this if your child has accomplished something worth noting to the coach. 

 It is also important to note that mentioning problems you have had with high school coaches, is never a good idea. For example, if 5-foot-7 Johnny loves the in-state school, but is held down by the freshman coach, then that would NOT be the time to send out information to college coaches.  Never mention that you have had problems with your high school coach in any conversation with a college coach.

 It is not a good idea to ever play the blame game about stats. I have witnessed players earn Division I scholarships, averaging less than ten points per game on the basketball court, because they made huge strides in the summer on the AAU circuit. Trust me, in basketball, stats are not what college coaches base their scholarships on.  

After taking all of this into account, if you decide to take it upon yourself and help your child get their name out to college coaches, the first step would be to find what schools would be a good fit.  What you are trying to accomplish is finding a good fit for what your child wants and needs. While they still may be young, this is only to make colleges aware of his or her ability for the future.  

There are several reasons why I feel it is important to get your name out to coaches, as early as possible in the recruiting process. For example, once football Signing Day 2009 finishes, these coaches will be switching their prime recruiting focus to the Class of 2010. While they may have been sending several letters and bringing you in for invites, if a football program is considerably interested in you, this is when the recruiting process should pick up. If they are already aware of you because you contacted them early, they will already have you on the list of possible recruits that they are looking at in this class. Obviously this does not mean that you will be getting a scholarship straight away, but it does mean that they will have your name among the top recruits at that position in your grade.  

If you decide to wait and not send out information about yourself until the spring of your junior year, which would be months after Signing Day 2009, the coaches will be adding you to the bottom of the list of prospective recruits. Players can still earn scholarships this way but it is harder and less likely.  Personally, if I was a parent in the same situation, I would be sending the prospective letter out as soon as my child has accomplished something over a season. After that, be ready to send out video tape, as the college coaches will probably ask to view it.

Although it is possible for high school athletes to receive scholarships, without going through the process of contacting coaches or putting together a recruiting profile and a highlight video, as a parent or an athlete you should take the recruiting process into your own hands and help control your destiny. I have seen many parents succeed in gaining their child a scholarship this way, and as I have said before, if it was my child, I would not hesitate in taking these necessary steps.

StudentBlitz can make this process easier for you by providing you access to our database of NCAA basketball and football coaches email addresses. Fill out the above form and let the journey to the next level start here…