College Volleyball Recruiting Question #436

Hi

My daughter is currently in her second year at aD2 Junior College.  She has done well in her position as a Libero, and ranked in her division/region.  She will be graduating in Spring 2015.  She would like to continue to play volleyball at a four year school,(though much closer to home, so limited D2 schools available, with her major) if a college is interested.  My husband seems to think four year schools are not interested in transfers from JUCO's.  Her college coach has said just let her know the schools and she will send her stats and some film, but so far we haven't had much response. My daughter has also filled out the recruiting form online. Does a lack of interest mean 'no'?  What else can my daughter do to find out if there is any interest? Should she call the coach? Schedule a visit? Is it too late?

Thank you so much!

S.R.

Thank you for your email - Your situation is typical of VolleyFolks who are operating under yesterday's mindset.  The days of volleyball players organically finding and moving on to their 4 year schools are over.

As I have written about numerous times on this site, and in Inside College Volleyball, today's collegiate volleyball recruiting environment is competitive.  Families need to understand that the recruiting process must be actively managed by them, and in some cases, they will need to employ a recruiting service if they are not comfortable with technology or don't have disposable time.

Please allow me to break down your email, to illustrate my points (and answer your question):

- "She would like to continue to play volleyball at a four year school, (though much closer to home, so limited D2 schools available, with her major) if a college is interested." How many schools has she directly reached out to, within her comfort zone, to promote her abilities?  Good Liberos are a dime a dozen, so players must be diligent in promoting themselves and not wait to get 'found'.  Also, don't limit your search to NCAA Division 2; NAIA and Division 3 can offer great opportunities, and are also 4 year categories.

- "My husband seems to think four year schools are not interested in transfers from JUCO's."  Your husband is wrong (how often can you be assured that your husband is wrong....well, maybe too often....).  4 year schools absolutely recruit JUCO players; from DI to NAIA and every 4 year school in between.  College coaches love JC kids because they can recruit an experience player, who is more mature than a freshman, and can make an immediate impact upon the program.  Bottom line is that college coaches recruit talent; does not matter where that talent is from.

- "Her college coach has said just let her know the schools and she will send her stats and some film, but so far we haven't had much response."  This is probably the least effective way to promote your daughter; the 4 year schools want to hear directly from you daughter.  Hearing from the JC coach is fine, but I can ABSOLUTELY promise you that your daughter's motivation/desires are 100% more than a JC coach's effort.  Your daughter needs to be reaching out to 100's of schools!

- "My daughter has also filled out the recruiting form online."  These online forms are not as good as directly reaching out to the school, via the coach's email.  All to often, those online forms are sent through a 3rd party server, so there is no assurance the volleyball coach will receive these in a timely manner, or at all.

- "Does a lack of interest mean 'no'?" - Your daughter has not contacted enough schools directly to get a true indication of the interest 4 year schools may have in her.

- "What else can my daughter do to find out if there is any interest?" - She needs to be contacting hundreds of 4 year schools. Within her comfort zone (geographic, academic and athletic), she should put together a list of potential schools/programs and if the list is not in the 100's, then she needs to adjust her comfort zone (larger geographic area is the easiest).  The only way to find out is to reach out.

- "Should she call the coach? Schedule a visit?" - That is step 2 and 3, but you folks have not taken step 1 yet.

-"Is it too late?" - NO.  This is also a change in the new normal of college volleyball recruiting; it is never too late.  There will be significant number of roster and scholarship openings over the late fall, winter and spring.  This is a result of the fluid nature of today's recruiting environment with coaches changing jobs (fired or retired), players quitting (miss home/boyfriend), players getting cut (coach thought they should/would play better, or the player made serious mistake as a student-athelte).

In situations such as yours, I would recommend you take a long look at NCSA Athletic Recruiting.  NCSA has a wonderful Free Site which provides much needed education, and their Premium Site (paid) is the best recruiting support in the country.  Just click the link to be taken to a landing page, where you can get access to the Free Site!

To summarize, you folks have not reached out to enough schools directly to know where you daughter stands in the recruiting process.  Because of the sheer volume of talented athletes (High School, Junior College and International), the college volleyball recruiting process must be actively managed!

Good luck!

Coach Matt