Junior College to 4 Year College Volleyball Recruiting

Hello Coach,

Thanks for writing the book INSIDE COLLEGE VOLLEYBAll.  It has been a great asset for my daughter and her recruiting outreach.

My daughter is a 5'5" freshman starting setter at a top 20 JUCO team during the 2016 season.  She will be playing her 2017 season at the same JUCO.  She is registered with the NCAA eligibility Center and has been since her Junior Year in high school.  We have video we will soon turn into highlight reels and she has an updated athletic/academic biography to use for 4 year college outreach.

My questions are:

1.  Should she start her outreach for the 2018 season at four year schools starting this December/January with video and bio to all schools she is interested in attending?  If not when should she send out her first outreach e-mails to coaches at 4 year schools.

2.  How often should should she make contact with these schools through the Spring training season and the Summer before her 2017 JUCO season with updates.

3. What other suggestions might you have for a JUCO setter wanting to move to the next level?

Thanks for your help,

M.C.H.

Thank you for the nice compliment about Inside College Volleyball and glad to hear it has been a resource for your family!

Good to know that you are already registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center, and you are prepared for your 4 year college outreach with an up to date bio and video!

As to your questions:

1. I would do an initial outreach this winter with the fall season video and then a secondary outreach in the spring season when she will have spring video to share.  Consider any outreach which is done this academic year, as a 'soft' outreach.  Soft because most 4 year schools tend to only focus on JC players which can attend in the Fall; JC players are instant talent for a 4 year team.

Start the focused outreach at this time next year - As noted in many previous posts, 4 year schools will determine their senior or JC transfer recruiting needs over the Holiday break which can be a result of job changes and players not returning for a variety of reasons!

2.  Once in January, once in April and once in the summer - Basic updates with video.  The goal is to get into the 4 year program's recruiting databases, so they will be aware of her when the winter of 2017/18 rolls around.  Don't go too hard, to early in 2017 because this is not the best plan with a 5'5" JC setter who does not matriculate until 2018.

3.  Improve the volleyball skills and physical fitness.  At 5'5", your darling setter will need to have very good skills to move onto a 4 year college.  The better her abilities, combined with her athleticism, the more opportunities she will have. Her ability will determine her opportunity.  Focus on being the absolute best setter possible over the next year (in all facets of the game specific to the setting position).

Lastly, understand that a graduating Junior College player is competing against every other JC player, along with every senior club player in the country. A Junior College player, in the Libero and Setter position, is the most competitive recruiting situation.

Good luck and focus on skills this year, and then recruiting next year!

Coach