Athletes being recruited by colleges in 2020
January 7, 2021
Being recruited can be a process, but with COVID-19 restrictions the recruitment process has changed. Most of the recruitment process had to be over the phone; however, athletes like seniors Logan Angel and Korryn Smith and junior Madi Canada still enjoyed the process.
Having connections during the recruitment process is key. The more coaches that know of the athlete, the better.
“I sent an email to the Jackson College baseball coach and told him who I was,” Angel said. “Then Chad Logan and Kyle Henson knew the coach at Jackson and reached out and put in a good word for me.”
Oftentimes after contact is made with the coaches, they want to see the potential athletes play and see what they have to offer.
“After we had talked over the phone a few times, the [Jackson College baseball coach] ended up coming to watch one of my fall ball games,” Angel said. “After that, we had more and more phone conversations and I eventually ended up going to visit the campus. We walked around and were able to see everything from the outside because with COVID, we couldn’t go inside any buildings. On the visit he offered me a scholarship. It wasn’t until a few weeks later I actually accepted the offer.”
Not all recruited athletes were able to talk in person, however. With the pandemic, many recruitments have been over the phone.
“I talked several times on the phone with the head & assistant coaches and also times with the athletic trainers and academic advisors there,” Canada said. “I ultimately ended up loving Western Michigan University and loved how close it was to home, and I accepted the offer they gave me. I had to accept the offer off of a phone call, and have never actually met my head coach in person because of COVID restrictions, which is a little weird, but I feel as though I got to know all the coaches at Western very well.”
While the recruiting process can become stressful at times, the end result can be rewarding for some athletes.
“The recruiting stage was really fun, it was cool to see a bunch of new campuses and their teams,” Smith said. “But after committing, it was really exciting to know where I’m going to go for sure.”
Recruitment can start very early on in a students high school career, but is only a verbal commitment until senior year. The verbal commitment can then be turned into a letter of intent. Once the letter of intent is signed an athlete is officially off the market.
