Predicting the Next Recruiting Trends in College Sports

Prospects and parents should anticipate changes in recruiting.

The ever-changing world of recruiting is poised for major reforms.  With unruly college student-athletes and coaches skirting the rules constantly creating negative headlines, we are likely to see an upheaval from college sports’ largest and most powerful governing body, the NCAA, which will now has ample leverage to institute groundbreaking recruiting changes.  Moreover, with a new NCAA president having recently taken charge, the time is ripe for the organization to reconstruct how its members approach, conduct and manage recruiting. 

We think that time is upon us, so we’ve gotten out our crystal ball in an honest attempt to predict how this reconstructive period, coupled with improved technology, will impact recruits in the near future.  

First, we believe this New Age will establish stricter rules and closer oversight with the goal of creating a cleaner process with more predictable outcomes.  Public pressure, not to mention systemic embarrassment, will force college presidents to throw out archaic processes as they    consider innovative solutions pointed toward curtailing the intolerable trend of abuses by student-athletes, ignoble coaches and overly aggressive professional agents.

For high school student-athletes, envisioning the future and taking preparatory steps will be in their best interest as college coaches, tied down by more restrictive rules yet emboldened by advancing technologies, will alter their recruiting methods as compensation.  This evolution will see coaches leap head first into Cyber Recruiting, and as a result, recruiting will never be the same again. 

Here are some things we believe will happen in due course and what high school athletes should do in preparation:   

• Off-season workouts.  Getting stronger, quicker and more fundamentally sound during the off-season will be a significant mark of the committed athlete and an unspoken, yet necessary, validation of a prospect’s qualifications.  That will require a level of commitment some athletes will fail to meet.  Those who do, and can prove it, will be viewed as more valuable assets to college coaches.  Your step forward:  Begin planning off-season workouts well in advance.  Keep health and safety in the forefront of your plan, but settle on action steps and commit to it.
• Documentation off-season workouts.  This will become an important aspect of recruiting in the coming years.  Prospects who can prove that they are doing the work to get better are the ones who will rise above the surface and receive more attention.  Workout documentation will be something college coaches will ask for and analyze.  Those prepared for this trend will have a decided advantage.  Your step forward:  Start a workout spreadsheet which will track all your workouts, in-season or out.  Document start and end times as well as the type of exercise.  If you are doing reps, such as jump shots or hitting drills, develop and easy way to track the number you took or hit.  College coaches will not expect overly detailed records.
• Providing practice videos.  Soon, we predict, coaches will want to see video footage of practices to determine which top-tier prospects possess the day-to-day work ethic needed to participate at the next level.   Prospects that can provide coaches with practice video demonstrating consistent, practice intensity will have a leg up on their competition.  Your step forward:  Start a dialogue with your coaches about filming practices.  It may require several conversations to convince him or her of the recruiting value.  Footage focused on you alone, for the entire practice would be over the top, so a wide angle showing the entire team working out would suffice. 
• Supplying verifiable character references.  College administrators will begin to require in-depth character research by coaching staffs of their recruits.  Tired of being embarrassed by undisciplined athletes, schools will no longer be willing to accept the word of coaches for a recruit’s background.  Chancellors, presidents and athletic directors will expect incoming athletes to pass stern litmus tests in regarding personal conduct.  Your step forward:  Consider a number of options available to you in your community such as getting involved in your community and/or school activities.  The quality and enthusiasm of your involvment will be important.  Upon leaving any of these organizations or projects, get a letter of recommendation from the leader.  And, include these activities on your resume for coaches.
• Raising academic expectations.  The NCAA will, at some point, raise the minimum academic standards for initial eligibility for both incoming freshmen and transfers.  Prospects with 2.0 to 2.3 core GPA’s will be viewed as serious risks and will not be allowed to participate in athletics until their college GPA has been established at or above 2.2 following at least one semester of full-time enrollment.  Your step forward:  Become more academically focused.  Plan out study times during school, during evenings and weekends at home.  Like in sports, it’s the details you absorb during additional work which helps you the most.  Merely doing homework will not be enough.  Take you books home and dedicate extra minutes, if not hours, to learning more than your teachers expect.      
• Making comprehensive profiles readily accessible.  For college coaches, time spent evaluating prospects will become even more valuable in the years to come.  The prospects to offer easy access to their profiles and video footage are the ones coaches will be willing to spend time on.  Some coaches will no longer accept info which comes directly from parents because of its biased nature.  And, high school coaches will lose relevance as resources for college coaches.  Internet sites which post hundreds, if not thousands, of prospects’ profiles, will be impractical because of inadequate screening.  And, as the NCAA continues to limit when coaches will be permitted to scout showcases, camps and invitational workouts, the number of these events will decline leaving scouting services such as National Scouting Report as the recruiting vehicles most colleges will utilize to identify, evaluate and recruit prospects.  Your step forward:  Begin examining the NSR Web site now, particularly the testimonials which will provide ample evidence of the company’s value to you as a recruit.  Then, call 800-354-0072, or contact the NSR scout nearest you, to set up an appointment to discuss how the company can assist you in achieving your ultimate goal, that of being recruited to play college sports.