Is It Too Late To Get Recruited Junior Year?
If you’re starting to think about playing sports in college, you may be wondering when you need to get serious about recruiting. Or you might have a change of plans halfway through high school and decide you want to play sports competitively in college. So is it too late to get recruited in your junior year?
It’s not too late to get recruited junior year, but you’ll be better off starting your recruiting journey early. Coaches stop recruiting once their rosters are full, so you want to get on their radar soon. With the rise of early recruiting, coaches often have an idea of who they want to recruit for that class a few years out.
The best time to start recruiting will also depend heavily on which sport you play and what division you’re targeting. More competitive sports and divisions will require you to make connections with coaches in your freshman and sophomore year to get recruited. If you’re targeting a Division II or Division III school, you have more time before you need to start thinking seriously about recruiting.
Recruiting For Each Division
Recruiting varies widely across divisions and sports. For example, when coaches are allowed to make offers to student-athletes depends on the division. More competitive divisions place restrictions to avoid early recruiting, but coaches will be competing against each other to bring top talent to their team. You will need to be honest with yourself and assess your skill level accurately to have the best chance of being recruited in junior year.
Division I: Some Division I coaches are looking at student-athletes in middle school to uncover the best talent at an early age. Student-athletes who end up playing at Division I colleges usually hear back from a college coach during their sophomore year and go on official visits during junior year. Of course, this timeline varies depending on the sport you play.
Division II: Division II coaches generally follow closely behind Division I coaches in recruiting. They want to be able to scoop a player who decommits from a Division I school or changes their mind about where they want to go to school. Starting recruiting a bit later in high school won’t put you out of the running for a Division II school. It might even help you target a program that is a better fit for you instead of focusing on the top schools in the country.
Division III: Division III colleges are less competitive and more focused on academics. Division III schools don’t give out athletic scholarships so that you won’t sign a scholarship offer letter like other student-athletes. But recruiting is still vital to these schools, so Division III college coaches are still out there recruiting close behind other coaches.
More Competitive Sports: Some sports will recruit earlier than others. Coaches for team sports, like softball, volleyball and lacrosse, often get a head start on recruiting. They look for players early on in their high school career, even middle school, to start building a team.
Less Competitive Sports: Individual sports, like swimming and track, are known to recruit later than other sports. Student-athletes for these sports tend to peak later, achieving their best times in their junior or senior year of high school. Coaches will wait until later in high school to recruit these student-athletes to see their true potential before making an offer.
If you’re targeting some of the more elite schools and programs in the country, you’ll want to start recruiting earlier. No matter what time you start recruiting, you want to be sure your skills and abilities are a match for that program. Taking time to do your research to compare your skills with the current players is essential to get recruited by a coach.
How To Get Recruited Junior Year
If it’s not too late to get recruited by junior year, what should you be doing to set yourself up for success? There are a few strategies you can use to catch a coach’s attention and make sure you still have a chance of playing sports in college, even if you start recruiting a bit later.
Continue Reaching Out To Coaches: The best strategy to getting a coach’s attention is to reach out to them consistently. If you’re starting to contact college coaches, remember to personalize your emails and follow-up regularly. The most critical part of recruiting is developing relationships with coaches, and emailing is a great way to start.
Update Your Highlight Video: One reason to follow up with a coach is any change to your highlight video. You should be updating your highlight video with new clips as your season continues. It’s appropriate to email a coach with a link to your updated highlight video to let them know how your skills have improved. This may change how you would fit onto their roster or whether or not they decide to recruit you.
Retake Standardized Tests: Another reason to reach out to a college coach is to update them on your academic achievements. You may not have received interest from a coach because your test scores are below the educational requirement for that school. By retaking standardized tests, you may improve your score and have a reason to follow up with coaches.
Even if you don’t manage to secure a spot on a coach’s roster by your junior year in high school, there’s still a chance you can play for them. Every year, student-athletes change their minds and de-commit from schools, leading coaches to go to their back-up recruits or new connections. Coaches can also change their minds after making a verbal offer and may change up their roster to include players with specific skills or attributes.
What Happens If You Don’t Get Recruited?
In general, it’s not too late to be recruited in your junior year. However, you may not be recruited by a coach at one of your top schools or end up playing where you thought you would. It helps to decide what parts of your college experience are essential to you to establish your non-negotiables when choosing between schools or deciding to opt-out of playing sports in college.
Regular Walk-On: If you didn’t get an offer from your top school, you might still be able to play there. Many student-athletes decide to go the walk-on route to get exposure playing at a top-ranked program. Walk-on athletes are players that weren’t recruited by the coach before attending college. Instead, they attend a practice or tryout where the coach evaluates their skills and decides to let them on the team or not. Walk-on players don’t receive an athletic scholarship in their first year of playing, but might earn one later on in their athletic career.
Preferred Walk-On: A preferred walk-on player will have already talked with the coach before attending the school. Coaches give preferred walk-ons a verbal commitment for a spot on the team without requiring them to participate in a tryout or practice. Usually, in the case of preferred walk-ons, coaches will want a student-athlete to play for them but can’t offer a scholarship.
Target A Different Division: If you are not set on playing for a specific school or division, you can be more flexible about which schools you target. If you aren’t getting interest from a coach in Division I, you can move on to communicating with coaches at Division II or III schools. Playing at these less competitive divisions can allow you more playing time and provide a more well-balanced college experience.
Not every student-athlete’s recruiting journey will look the same. You may have to walk-on at a school or switch to a different division than you expected. It helps to know what your priorities are for your college experience before starting recruiting. Whether you prefer walking-on at a top program or opt for a less competitive division, there’s no wrong decision.
Things To Keep In Mind
Prioritize Academics: As you get serious about your recruiting journey, remember to continue to prioritize your academics. The NCAA has specific academic requirements that must be met to play sports in college.
Offers: At the end of your recruiting journey, you’re hoping to get an offer from a coach. Coaches will first make you a verbal offer, which requires a verbal commitment. This commitment is nonbinding, meaning that either party can break the agreement. It doesn’t become official until your senior year when you sign the National Letter of Intent. There’s some time for you to lock down an offer from a college coach before your senior year.
Start Now: One of the most significant advantages to starting recruiting early is getting comfortable with the process. You have longer to do research and figure out which coaches are interested in you or not. Even if you don’t start on the recruiting process until junior year, there’s still a chance that you will get recruited. You will need to get started as soon as possible and start reaching out to coaches.