What Coaches Want in the College Recruiting Process

Latif Thomas of Complete Track and Field: Practical Training Information for High School Coaches recently published a round-up of responses from college coaches to the following question:

In your opinion, what is the #1 thing HS athletes need to do to put themselves in the best position to be noticed by and therefore ‘recruited’ by college coaches/programs?

The responses come from track and field coaches, but there's lots of good advice for any student athlete interested in playing at the collegiate level, such as the following:

As much as we try, we do not know the name, phone number, email address and personal best of every athlete that could help our program. Don’t be afraid to directly contact the coaches of every single school that interests you. Email and call. 

Read the whole post here.

One caveat: While we appreciate the coaches' advice, we vigorously disagree with Thomas' characterization of high school college counselors whom we consider to be the unsung heroes of the college admission process. As parent Daniel Cattau, the father of two student athletes who brought this to our attention, notes of the HS counselor's role:  "I would never expect high school counselors to be involved in the recruiting process, but it helps to keep them informed so they understand that being recruited can be an important factor in admissions at both D I and D III schools."