AGC #026 - The June 15 cheat sheet for recruits

For most high school sophomores with aspirations to play their sport at the NCAA level, the recruiting process begins on June 15.

Athletes typically go through this process once, but college coaches do it every year.

Before I was a college coach, I was a club coach helping players navigate an exciting but stressful time.

Here are my top 4 tips for how to thrive on June 15 and beyond:

1 - Your competition is in the mirror

Every year, a recruit will tell me in August that they’re scared they have fallen behind.

This will be because their Instagram feed is full of commitment announcements, while they have yet to take a college visit.

But it's an illusion.

The math varies from year to year, but in my sport of field hockey, 400-450 players in each class will go on to play at the DI level.

In the past four recruiting classes, less than 50 have committed by September 1.

Around 30-40% of DI roster spots were still available 12 months on from June 15.

Blocking out the social media noise and refusing to play the comparison game would be a great start to your journey.

Depending on how you’ve approached things so far, June 15 might be the start or the end of your recruiting journey.

There will be some athletes who already have the information they need to make a quick decision, while others will only just be starting to think about playing in college.

For most people, it’ll be somewhere in between.

Spend your time and energy focusing on yourself and the handful of elements you can control.

Don't waste time worrying about (or judging!) what others are doing.

2 - Search for the no as well as the yes

College coaches are gathering information to help them search for the no as well as the yes - and you should too.

A huge part of this is ensuring you have a suitable and flexible list of college choices.

First, consider whether the school would pass the "Broken Leg Test" - namely, how would you feel about being there if you sustained a serious injury.

That means looking at places that have the right academics, social setting, school size, and distance from home for you.

I know too many athletes who compromised on these things in favor of the ‘status’ of a certain program and found themselves miserable and looking to transfer after a semester.

Next, curate your list by categorizing each school as a dream, realistic, or safety school for you - and ask your club coach to do the same:

Ultimately, you can’t possibly know how well-matched you are to your list until you can start talking to college coaches.

So having viable options in case your top schools select themselves off your list, or you discover they aren’t what you want, is essential at the start of the process.

3 - Manage your time, fill your cup

A reality of the recruiting process is that some players will be more “in demand” than others, which leads to very different experiences on June 15 and the few days after it.

Some will be disappointed not to get as many contacts as they’d hoped, while the top prospects in a class will see likely their phone blow up.

It’s exciting to have this many coaches attempting to contact you, but it can also be completely overwhelming - especially if the coach cold calls.

This can lead to awkward and distracting situations where the athlete is on a planned video call with one school, while their phone is buzzing on the table with others trying to call.

The best way around this is to manage your own time and set some boundaries.

Text the coach back and explain that you have multiple meetings today, but that you’d be delighted to set up a time to talk.

Prioritize who you make time for based on where the school is on your list, and limit yourself to whatever number of calls you think you can handle in a day so you don’t burn out.

Save some time each day to do fun things that “fill your cup”, so that you’ll be at your best for your next set of calls.

College coaches should appreciate your openness, vulnerability, and organizational skills - and if they don’t, that might tell you something about how they run their team 🫣

4 - Actions speak louder than words

Both sides are selling something in the recruiting process.

Coaches are trying to convince you of the quality of their school and program.

Athletes are trying to prove they’re the right person and player for the team.

Everyone will talk a good game, but both sides should be attuned to how the other acts, because it’s harder to fake that.

For athletes, the simplest way to do this is to go and watch how a team and their coaches interact to get a better handle on their culture.

Visits are a great opportunity to do this, but it’s also worthwhile to attend games and observe how they treat each other and opponents on game day when the pressure is on.

The same goes for any opportunity you’ve had to interact with the coach in a camp or clinic setting.

Pay attention to how much they care, rather than how much they know.

That extends to noting how coaches treat you, and how the conversations with them make you feel.

• Do they try to put you at ease or under pressure?

• Does it feel more like a conversation or an interview?

• Do they care about you as a person, or just as a player?

If you’re getting bad vibes when they’re trying to recruit you, that doesn't bode well for the 6 years of interactions you potentially have coming up with them.

The same goes for the players on the team.

Find out what they like to do for fun.

Are their interactions filled with joy and laughter? Do they complain in general, or about each other?

You want to ensure you're choosing people you'll enjoy being around.

Being attuned to actions and words goes both ways, though.

Think about the story it tells if…

• You claim to be a great team-mate and a hard worker... but don’t tackle back when you lose the ball, or scream at your teammates when they make mistakes

• You have emailed for two years saying you love a university… but have little to say when asked what you know about the school, and have never been on the campus

• You say family is really important to you... but then you're rude to your parents on a visit in front of the coaches?

College coaches get emailed a lot of words to sift through from recruits.

They’ll look to see if those words line up with your actions when they’re trying to find the fit.

That’s it! My top 4 tips for June 15:

1 - Your competition is in the mirror
2 - Search for the no as well as the yes
3 - Manage your time, fill your cup
4 - Actions speak louder than words

Best of luck with your journey - and please forward this newsletter to anyone you know who could benefit from it!