Today kicks off a new series geared towards high school
recruits and their parents. Each week Bryce Perica takes on
a key question in the recruiting process by asking the people
whose job it is to recruit. Bryce is a writer and former
Division I athlete and coach.
Got a question you’d like Bryce to ask our panel of coaches? E-mail him here. Searching for the perfect school? Then sign up for a FREE account here.
Today’s question is a two-fer:
- What is the first thing coaches look for in a recruit?
- How important is July 1st to them?
We've all heard about the importance of July 1st. But how important is it and what are coaches looking for as they approach the infamous date? First, a primer. Starting on July 1st before a swimmer’s senior year, coaches can initiate direct phone contact with a swimmer they are interested in. Prior to this date, coaches cannot initiate phone conversations with recruits, although they can email juniors after September 1st.
Prior to that, however, coaches can send recruits lengthy questionnaires. Aside from meet results, the responses to these questionnaires provide coaches a first glimpse into you and as the coach scans through your responses they inevitably zero in on three things - GPA, test scores, and swim times.
Which category is most important for coaches varies from school to school. For Jim Bolster, Head Coach of Men’s Swimming at Columbia University, “It is always important to know times and academics, especially for a school that has high academic admission standards.”
Although SAT/ACT scores are important, coaches tend to put more
weight in a recruit’s GPA. Indiana’s Head Coach Ray Looze wrote,
“GPA tells me all I want to know about “work ethic” in the
classroom.” This was a common sentiment among coaches we heard
from. The conclusion being that a recruit who has made a long-term
commitment to academic excellence will better handle the demands
of collegiate courses and academics throughout their career as a
student-athlete.
If you do not have an outstanding GPA, don’t worry; although
the numbers are always a factor, there are coaches who emphasize
coachability, character, and commitment to a particular school as
the first thing they look for in a recruit. If you are hoping to
convey these qualities through canned, broad responses in swimming
questionnaires, then don’t expect to hear back. “Generic answers
to our questions is a turn off,” says Michigan State Head Coach
Matt Gianiodis. “I want to know how badly they [recruits] want to
be Spartans. That is a big deal to us.”
Coaches we heard from mentioned email as the best form of communication a recruit could utilize before July 1st. If a recruit is the cream of the crop and potentially dealing with multiple offers from top-tier D-I schools, then unofficial visits prior to July 1st are strongly encouraged. However, if you are not in this small, select group, then early commitment should not be a priority. In fact, some coaches view it as a miscalculation. “To me, kids who commit as juniors make a mistake,” wrote Bob Goldberg, Head Coach at the University of Connecticut.
Nevertheless, July 1st marks the first day coaches can initiate
a phone call so most are dialing away on this day to gauge a
recruit’s enthusiasm in their school. “It is an exciting time for
them,” wrote Dave Collins, Head Coach at Missouri State
University. “We make sure to get on the phone and talk with them
on that day to let them know how interested in them we are.”
Among a handful of coaches across D-I to D-III, July 1st was of no importance other than being a recruiting rule that needs to be followed. However, all coaches emphasized the importance of filling out a questionnaire, emailing them, or unofficially visiting the campus if you are remotely interested in swimming for them. The sooner communication between college and recruit is established, the more beneficial to both. The recruit will likely know early on if the school is the right fit and vice versa, allowing for both to find alternatives before the early signing period arrives in November.
