10 Questions to Ask a College Coach or Recruiter

It is September 1^st. For high school Juniors who are student-athletes interested in continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level, its D-Day. From this day forward college coaches have free reign to offer, entice, flatter, cajole, and even beg you to come to their school and play for them.

If you have declared yourself eligible and have an NCAA Eligibility number, look out.

But how do you do it? How do you decide which is the best school for you of the ones that are recruiting you? What do you want from the school? What are your five year goals? How do you weed through all the schools saying “Pick Me!” to find YOUR rose among thorns?

Once you have determined what you want from a college or university, here are 10 Questions to ask a college coach/recruiter that will help you determine the school that is most conducive to your goals and success. Remember, this entire experience is about YOU, the student-athlete, and your ultimate goals for your future.

1. What is your overall graduation rate?
2. What is the graduation rate for athletes?
3. What is the graduation rate for athletes in your sport?
   1. Do you plan to graduate from college or is it just a spring-board to professional athletics after one or two years?
4. How many athletes make the Olympics, get drafted or play professionally from your program? (This is in keeping with your 5 year goals)
   1. Determine if this program can get you where you want to be within your collegiate career.
5. How much longer is the head coach/jumps coach/assistant coach/recruiting coach’s contract?
   1. Student-Athletes primarily join a program because of a coach or coaches. It is important to know how much time you will have with that person BEFORE you commit.

Diversity

Another important aspect of being a student-athlete is not just about having the financial obligation of  your education covered.  It is important as a student-athlete in college that your school provide you with a sense of self and well-being during the time that you spend there.  After all, this portion of your life is the final step before adult-hood.  And a important part of your growing sense of self is diversity.

Diversity is simply variety. Diversity is necessary in the college environment in order to portray the organization as an “all-inclusive” entity. Lack of diversity on a college campus is not wrong, however, it should be a prime consideration in choosing a school. If there is no one on your college campus like you, then how do you fit in and feel “at home”?

Ask the coach/recruiter these questions regarding diversity:

6. Diversity in athletics?
   1. Is their diversity amongst the different sports offered at ABC College/University?
7. Diversity in college/university?
   1. Diversity in the academic side of ABC College/University.
8. Diversity in city/state?
   1. It is important to have someone in your school who can relate to you as a person outside of the realm of your sport or extracurricular pursuit.
9. What is the student-athlete transfer rate for your program?
   1. Student-Athletes transfer for a myriad of reasons. See 3 and 4 above. This information can help you understand if the coaches at the institution are monitoring their programs for underlying problems.
10. Do you offer the major I am seeking? (Majors can be found on college website, but ask if what you seek is not there.)

These 10 questions are just a guideline for how to begin a conversation with college recruiters. However, before you can ask these questions, you must be able to answer them for yourself.

OK! What are you waiting for high school Junior and parents? Get busy answering these questions!

Next Blog “How to determine what college or university is best for you”.