The Prospective Student-Athlete: Maintaining a Professional Image

Accumulating a basic but confident appreciation about what your schools of choice potentially offer will not only grow your knowledge about different programs, it will help differentiate you from the rest of the pack. College coaches will immediately pick up on this and appreciate the effort you have made in learning about their program.

In addition, by taking time to research different programs, you will begin to develop a solid “information foundation” to build your short list of personal questions for the coaches.

Ask Pertinent Questions

Equate the time you spend with a particular college coach with preparation for a championship game. You do not have a lot of time, and every minute counts!

Based on the information you have gathered and your preparation for the meeting with the coach, I think it makes sense to limit your questions to specific areas of recruiting and narrow them down to half a dozen or so. This may not seem like a lot, but trust me...the coach will be probing you and your family, and additional questions will naturally surface during the course of the conversation.

Begin by creating general question areas that are important to you (academic requirements, athletic opportunities, on campus support, safety, financial aid etc.) and build your specific questions within these general areas.

This is a great exercise and you will soon find yourself with a bunch of questions that will need to be narrowed down to a manageable list that covers important areas of the college search.

Listen Intently

Obviously, the family wants to probe the coach, but remember that communication is a two-way street, and “hearing” what the coach has to say is very important.

Coaches tend to communicate in a “non-committal” language, especially during the early phases of recruiting, and for good reason. They do not want to raise the hopes of the family and prospect too high too soon, especially when it comes to the possible offer of athletics scholarships, admissions assistance, and the availability of squad spots.

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