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The Baseball Observer - May/ June 2016
6 Stages All Recruits Must Go Through To Play In College
The recruiting process can be very confusing. But here are the six fundamental stages that all athletes must go through in order to be successfully recruited.
1) You must be IDENTIFIED.
• Have college coaches heard about you?
• Do they know you want to play in college?
The first step is getting on a college coach’s radar. This can happen in a variety of ways, ranging from being seen in person while you are playing, getting recommended directly by your coach, or being discovered through news stories and social networks.
2) You must be EVALUATED.
• Have college coaches seen you play in person or viewed your highlight video?
• Have they contacted your coaches?
In this stage, college coaches are assessing your abilities and gathering information about you. Beyond playing abilities, they are trying to learn about you as a person and if you’re a fit for their program.
3) You must be ENGAGED.
• Have college coaches contacted you personally?
• Have you been invited to or taken an official/unofficial campus visit?
This is when college coaches begin contacting you and your family directly. Depending on your sport and the time of year, college coaches may be limited in the amount of communication that they have with you and the ways in which they may do so.
RECRUITING ADVICE FROM FIELD LEVEL