by Dan Christensen, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
I don’t have to convince you that campus visits are important. For most, if not all coaches, that is such an important step in the recruiting process.
“If I can just get them on campus, they’ll love us!”
I hear that one a lot.
But, why is that visit so important? Why does it help you get that commitment from a recruit?
Recruits have several questions they want answered on that visit, that when answered well, significantly increase the chances of them picking that school. I am going to give you two of those questions today.
Before we dive into those, it is worth noting that if you are reading this right now and are unable to have campus visits, either because of school rules or the NCAA extended dead period, these two questions are still critical for you to answer! It is going to take some intentionality and creativity with your communication, use of current players, and posts on social media. But it absolutely can still be done.
1) Do I fit in with the team?
A teenager that is going to choose a college, move away from home, and continue their athletic career wants to make sure they fit in to the environment in which all this takes place. A huge part of that environment is their teammates that they will be spending so much time with.
There is absolutely concern about the coach, the professors, and the food in the cafeteria. But, if a recruit knows they will not fit in with their teammates, it is going to be really hard for them to still choose to go to that school.
How do they figure this out on a visit? Spend time with your team! At least 50% of the campus visit should be the recruit spending time with some of the younger athletes on the team. No coaches. No parents. No admissions guided activities. Just hanging out with your team.
That experience is going to tell the recruit so much and be such a big factor as to whether or not they choose you. You as the coach can talk about your team all you want, but the recruit wants proof. That is why it is a critical part of the campus visit experience.
2) What is the catch?
Chances are, if they agree to visit, they like what they are hearing. They probably like you at least a little bit. They probably could see themselves going to college in your general location. Academically you have probably hit some benchmarks for them.
Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have agreed to visit.
But, there is still some skepticism. Going into that campus visit, they are on the lookout for what is wrong with your school.
No school is perfect and they know that. But, they have a decision to make. And in order to do that, they are going to cross schools off their list until they get to the final school. To help them do that, they need to be looking for things to make it easier to cross a school off the list.
So, be intentional about creating incredible visits. This involves how you greet the athlete, how you involve the parents, where you bring the recruit, who you have them meet, how you handle transitions, and so many more things.
Do not take that visit for granted. If you plan things last minute or are not intentional with the different aspects of that recruit’s experience, there will probably be some things that come up that raise doubts for the recruit.
“Coach seemed really nice on the phone but the visit seemed pretty disorganized and my parents and I didn’t know where to go after our tour. I wonder if his practices are that disorganized too.”
“Coach talked about how fun his team is but we didn’t really get a chance to hangout. If the team couldn’t make time for me, I am not sure how fun they will be as teammates.”
It can be little details, but knowing that your recruit is looking for those small mistakes going into the visit should motivate you to have a great plan for that experience!
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