Recruiting student athletes is a big job for college coaches regardless of their program’s NCAA classification.  Recruiting has become a science at the big time programs where members of the staff are assigned to duty identifying and attracting the blue chip athletes.  As technology becomes a force in our society, college coaching staffs have had to keep up by adding IMing and text messaging to their traditional means of reaching out to recruits.  All of these techniques are designed to get recruits to sign the letter of intent and commit to the program.  Much has been written about various techniques to attract these athletes.  Overnight visits, updated team locker rooms, state-of-the-art training facilities, are all things that coaches use to convince the student athlete that they have found the “right fit.”  Very little, on the other hand, has been written about how the student athlete should approach the college selection process.  In the first part of this two part series “Finding the Right Fit,” I focused on “The Big Picture:” location, distance from home, and size of the institution.  In Part II, I will briefly touch on the equally important details related to the student athletes’ choice: the players, the program, and the people associated with the program.

The Program

Read and learn everything you can about the program - its history and its current situation.  Do they have a “winning tradition” or is this a program that has yet to achieve any level of greatness?  Is the college administration supportive of the program?  Are they recently successful, challenging for conference titles?  Do they have a strong nucleus of returning players?  Or, are they rebuilding?  Which type of situation would suit you and your needs best?

Some players want to have the opportunity to be a part of a winning tradition or successful program from the beginning.  Sometimes this means that incoming recruits will not get the best opportunity to play during their first year or so.  If there is a strong nucleus of retuning players, there is less likelihood that incoming freshmen will get a lot of playing time.

Other athletes want to be part of a nucleus of incoming players who help to turn a team around - transform a program from basement dweller to champion.  Typically this type of situation is associated with the arrival of a new coach or a change in the college’s commitment to the program.  This usually translates into significantly greater opportunities for playing time for freshmen.  If playing time as a freshman is important to you, you should be looking for a team that is rebuilding.

The Players

Meet as many of the members of the team as soon as you can.  Make sure you have a chance to talk to the seniors and the captains as well as some of the underclassmen.

Intensity: What are you looking for in terms of teammates?  Would you be more comfortable with teammates who put basketball first in their priorities?  Or, would you feel better playing with teammates who are less intense in terms of the role that hoops plays in their lives?  Finding this balance between the competitiveness and desire to win with other things like academics and time for other college life activities is an important task in determining what the right fit is for the student-athlete.

Culture: Are the players friendly to new teammates?  Are they welcoming?  There is a culture that exists in every team.  The first part of that culture is related to winning and losing.  Teams either have a winning culture or a losing culture.  Beyond that, however, all teams have secondary and perhaps more important culture when it comes to making your decision: is it an inclusive culture or an exclusive culture?  Healthy teams focus on how to make the team better, stronger, and more competitive.  They are welcoming to new teammates who will strengthen the team.  They are inclusive.  Unhealthy teams are exclusive; they view new players as a threat to their individual desires for playing time and glory.

The People

Talk to as many people at the college as possible about the college and the program.  Coaches, faculty, admissions counselors, staff - all of these individuals can help you put the program and the college into perspective.  Do not rely on brochures or websites or the assurances of one individual.

First and foremost, spend some time with the coaching staff.  Your most important contact is the head coach because she sets the tone for the rest of the staff and the program.  Don’t neglect the assistant coaches though.  They will often be the individuals who you will get to know the best during your four years.  Many times, former players are on the staff so they will be able to give you the player’s/alumni perspective as well as the coach’s view.

Ask if you can meet with one of the faculty in your major.  Getting information about the academic side of the college and how it interrelates with athletics is important.  Is the institution supportive of student-athletes?  Do the coaches interact with the teaching faculty?  Will you be able to get the classes you need to graduate in time while playing for four years?  Other folks on campus from the department secretary to the facilities staff can often give you insights into the college and the program that will help you make the decision that is best for you.

Finding the right fit can be challenging but if you consider the factors identified in this series, you can make recruiting a win-win situation for yourself and the program you choose.