Recruiting myths

It is imperative that you know the ins and outs of the process, especially the myths!

• College coaches will find you if you’re really good

  • They are very busy and even when they are focused on recruiting, they are usually working with limited budgets and travel schedules. Unless you’re a five-star athlete that is an elite, nationally noticed prospect, chances are slim that college coaches will line up to recruit you.

• Your coach will take care of college recruiting for you

  • It’s not your coach’s job to get you recruited because high school and club coaches are busy. Most have other jobs during the day that make it difficult to tend to every player and their recruitment process.

  • Athletes and families should always stay proactive in the college recruiting process if they are committed to finding the right college fit and potentially securing an athletic scholarship.

• You should start the recruiting process junior or senior year

  • For most athletes, freshman year of high school is a good time to start. College coaches are increasingly recruiting online and recruiting prospects earlier. In some sports, top prospects start receiving offers by the time they finish middle school.

  • potential recruits should not wait until the offseason to start the recruiting process. It should be a year-round focus. That’s because it’s a year-round job for college coaches. By focusing on the offseason, potential recruits will limit their window while others take advantage of the recruiting attention from college coaches year-round.

• Division 1 coaches can answer your phone calls anytime

  • In 2019, the NCAA D1 Council adopted rules to curb early recruiting and barred college coaches in most sports from picking up incoming phone calls until June 15th after sophomore year.

  • For D1 men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and football, potential recruits can still call college coaches at any time and get a response.

    • For other sports, potential recruits can try sending the college coach an email to stay on their radar until direct communication is allowed.

• Division 1 scholarships are always full rides

  • Only six DI sports are headcount sports, meaning that every awarded scholarship is a full ride: women’s basketball, men’s basketball, FBS football, women’s volleyball and women’s gymnastics.

  • Other DI and DII teams are allowed to give full-rides, but they may not be headcount sports that ensure each and every player on that team gets one.

  • DIII is strictly prohibited from offering full-ride scholarships for athletics, but they can often work with admissions to assist by covering with academics. 

• If you don’t get an offer you can just walk on

  • Some athletes think they can show up to tryouts and impress their way to a college roster spot, but that’s one of the more common recruiting myths. The truth is that most walk-on spots are reserved for recruits that were previously invited to try out during the recruiting process. Communication with college coaches is key, even for athletes who hope to walk on.

NCSA College Recruiting. (2025, January 16). Recruiting Myths. NCSA College Recruiting. https://www.ncsasports.org/blog/college-recruiting-myths