Sports Recruiting: A Complete Guide
When NBA or NFL players start catching attention worldwide, a lot of it is due to their current talent and athletic prowess. However, it has always amazed me how exactly the players got on that field, from being scouted to recruited in their respective industries. In this article, I give you a complete guide on how these current players have been recruited into their professional sports leagues.
How do current players get recruited? The entire process will slightly differ from sport to sport and college to college and even team to team. However, a lot of these players have been good at their sport since they were young, and have been getting attention through sports events, winning major awards and attending showcases.
For sports, there is a lot to cover, but I will cover three main ones: soccer, basketball, and American football. The same general rules for recruitment follow through with minor sports and international recruits, but I will go into that with further detail.
How Professional Teams Recruit Athletes
To be in the NBA, NFL, or any other major sport, most often the not, you must be a college player. The NBA rules state that you must be at least 19 years old to be drafted to a team, and that age usually comes within one year of college. In fact, most, if not all draftees, come from collegiate sports first.
The same rule applies to the NFL. However, there is no age requirement. Instead, the NFL says that a draftee must be out of high school for three years.
After getting into college, essentially, it is a race between all NCAA athletes to compete and show who is best. In the NBA draft, there are only 60 spots that are open. There are over 460,000 NCAA student-athletes. This means that getting drafted is very low, and in fact, .13% each year. However, a lot of teams, if they like you, will also be able to give you a contract if you get undrafted. This type of situation is not common, so college players fighting for that top 60 spots are very competitive.
A similar type of thinking comes with NFL players and draft-day outcomes. There is a really slim chance that you get drafted, and even if so, staying in the league is a different story.
Essentially, in all of the professional sports, players that are currently there proved their worth in their collegiate years. Once that happens, they get drafted or signed by a team if they are eligible. Of course, there are more details that come with this, but this is is the essential meaning of recruitment that comes with the professional league.
How Colleges Recruit High School Athletes
As a college student myself, this process was both an interesting and complex issue. Many college coaches do recruit themselves, and they begin by gathering a large pool of potential athletes who would be a great fit for their program. Once they have this pool of athletes, they will evaluate them by reviewing highlight videos (can be found on YouTube) and even interact with the recruits themselves in private workouts.
After this step, the pool decreases. This step is done over and over again until they get the cream of their crop. Below, I will go down into more detail as to how this process occurs by listing them down numerically:
- Gathering a player pool
- Sending letters of interest
- An in-depth evaluation
- Extend scholarship offers
- Sign athletes
As I mentioned before, coaches gather a large group of athletes that meet basic criteria that they want in height, weight, position, academics, location, and so forth. They do this by going on recruiting media stiles like 247Sports, recommendations from high school coaches, emails from recruits and showing up to camp and showcases where they can see recruits in one place.
After this point, according to NCSA(Next College Student Athlete), 800 athletes make it through the initial round for smaller schools, but around 8,000 possible prospects for larger programs. A lot of student-athletes are now creating their profile on NCSA so that college coaches can easily find them.
Then, they send letters to prospects to gauge if they are interested in the program. This comes in one and many forms: requests to complete a questionnaire, camp invitation, or general interest letters from the school. This process narrows down their pool to about 500-3000 students, according to the NCSA.
After that, they conduct in-depth athletic and character evaluation to narrow down their pool. This means that they will get in touch with athletes and start calling their high school coaches in the evaluation of their character. They may also travel to larger events where many of this narrowed pool is competing. According to the NCSA, the group will cut to 20-300 athletes.
From a player’s perspective, this means a lot thus far. They should be taking initiative and showing college coaches why they deserve to be in their program. You have to send them updated athletic videos of your recent highlight footage and ask your high school coach to put in a good word.
Now would be the time for college coaches to list their top prospects and rank them. For large programs, college coaches will have a list of about 200-300 athletes. The coach will start giving offers to them and work on those until their roster spots fill up. A formal offer can be done verbally, or even through handshakes between any time and age. Everything becomes official when a player signs the National Letter of Intent during the senior year of their High School.
The last and final step is to sign the athletes and ensure they are eligible. First, the athlete verbally commits to the school. The college coach extends an offer, which is signed. After signing, the student-athlete must maintain a GPA in their courses and meet other eligibility requirements.
For international recruiting, the process is pretty much the same. However, there are a lot fewer international applicants and possible recruits than there are American-based. You would have to make a lot of effort to get out there to be able to be considered and be very skilled. The memorable ones that come to mind include Luka Donic, Nikola Jokic, and Tony Parker, who were are very young and skilled against much older and seasoned talent.
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What Makes a Successful NBA Recruit: Intangibles
There are a lot of traits that are looked at when being scouted at the high school or college level. Here are some features that are key when scouts are looking at NCAA basketball athletes, according to experts from Bleacher Report:
- Athleticism
- Character
- Ambidexterity
- Versatility
- Body measurements
- Jump shot
- Instincts
A key trait is an ideal frame for your position. Players are either NBA-ready since they have been well developed muscularly, not ready but the frame has potential, or not ready of frame or muscle standards. For example, Meyers Leonard was said to have “excellent length with a good frame.”
Second, we have character. There are three simple traits that coaches look at coachability, ethics, and leadership. These are the type of traits that are unteachable and entirely depend on the character of a player. There have been many second-round picks and undrafted players that have performed better and lasted longer in the league when they have all three traits.
Two good examples of this are Draymond Green and Tony Parker. Both were hard workers in the gym that showed grit in the game while being able to lead their team during tough times on the court. These unteachable traits are very key to be able to last long in the NBA but are hard to gauge as a scout.
Finally, scouts look at instincts and court awareness. This is very hard to teach, and that is why it is valuable. They can help a player move without the ball, set up other teammates, and defend better given a multitude of situations.
What Makes a Successful NBA Recruit: Tangibles
First, we have athleticism, a key trait in order to last in the NBA. One of them is a player’s vertical. Having a high vertical means a lot of things. This would mean a player’s dunking ability, layup potential, rebound contention, defensive prowess, and jump shot potential. Another key trait is a player’s lateral quickness. Those who have great footwork and explosive lateral movement are able to play very good defense.
Third, on our list is ambidexterity. This is very important in a lot of aspects in the game, including dribbling, scoring, and shot-blocking. Ambidextrous ball handling is one of the most important parts of the game, as this type of ball handling is crucial, especially in the guard position. If you look at current great guards, like Kyrie Irving or Stephen Curry, they can dribble with both hands and penetrate the basket when needed.
Importance of NBA versatile players
Fourth on our list is versatility. You hear this term come around a lot of times, but it is very useful to join the court. It is best to look at examples today. One of the most versatile players in today’s game is Nikola Jokic, a center who can block shots, rebound the ball, score, and pass with ease. Usually, these traits are only found in guards or centers, but Nikola can do it all and is one of the most skilled men in the league. Another versatile player is Kevin Love, a stretch four who can shoot with a range like a guard and post up like a modern big man.
Sixth on our list is jump shot potential. Without a good solid foundation of a jump shot, it will be very hard to maintain scoring in the league. There is much value to a player’s shot, as it can show their great range and quick release. The shorter a player is, the more important it is to have a quick and high release. This is because you can get blocked much more easily. Examples of this include Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, and Chris Paul.
What Makes a Successful NFL Recruit
Unlike NBA recruiting, a lot of the traits that you have to have a deal with your position. I will go over the five most common positions and the traits that are great for their position.
First, we have the Quarterback, the leading man of any NFL team. The most crucial trait that they can have is accuracy and pocket movement. Both traits are complementary and, without having both, succeeding in the NFL can be very difficult. Think Tom Brady, who has been very accurate his entire career and also being able to be swift with the ball in his hands. Their field vision, IQ, and out-of-pocket mobility have no meaning if they cannot put the ball in another player’s hands for a first down or touchdown.
Second, the Running Back position needs lateral agility. They use this crucially to set up blocks and make defenders miss. Another important aspect is their stamina. To be able to play that long and be able to match the speed of the receiver is a tough task that a running back should be adept at doing.
What skills does a wide receiver need?
Then, we have the perimeter wide receiver, whose most important trait is to beat press coverage. With this, along with upper and lower body strength, it is very hard to measure in drills and practice. In order to measure this precisely, it is key to observe how they beat press coverage depending on the opponent and play calling. To do this, having a highlight reel or film is key for wide receiver recruits.
Another key position is the slot receiver, whose most important trait is their ability to change direction. Often in the slot, the player is running a route. If it is in zone coverage, he runs down and drifts to another lane. If it is man coverage, he sets up his breaks, leading his defender one way and bursting the opposite.
The receiving tight ends, on the other hand, has to be very good at ball tracking. An in-line tight end must-see and catch the ball at awkward angles. The really good ones snap out wide on an island. Ball-tracking here is also critical since many of those throws are based on the quarterback playing to the size of the tight end.
What Makes a Successful Soccer Recruit
Similar to the NFL and NBA recruiting standards, Soccer recruits need to play to their positions. Here, I go over the midfield, attack, and defender positions. Having a foundation of these skills is super important, but your level of skill is what sets you to their D1 Schools.
For a goalkeeper, you must be taller than average(5’10” minimum in the US), very athletic, can out-jump opposing forwards, cover a lot of ground, and catch everything when able to with two hands on the ball. Further, you must be able to punt and drop kick the ball past midfield and throw it to around 40 yards. Finally, you must be consistent in communication.
What skills do soccer players need?
To be a wing defender, you must be quick and reactive on your feet. You must also have a great first touch and make very high-IQ passes and plays both off and on the ball. Finally, you should be able to set the tempo from the get-go and lead the midfielders into the offense.
As a central defender, you have to have the same ability as wing defenders along with a great ability to win headers. You must also have to communicate the ability of a goalkeeper and keep the backline ready for any type of offensive play. Finally, you have to have smart one-on-one defending and make smart passes.
As a midfielder, a recruit must be highly comfortable with the ball and have a great first touch. Regardless of how a pass is executed, a midfielder must also be able to control that and pace the offense. Finally, be adept at using both feet and be able to take deep shots from the field.
Finally, in the attack, you are the main powerhouse of the offense. With that responsibility, being able to have quick feet and make smart decisions will equip you with the ability to beat the defensive line. Even more importantly, you need to be able to win headers.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/20/nfl-draft-evaluation-most-important-trait
https://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting/how-to-get-recruited/college-recruiting-process
How much does NCSA Sports Recruiting cost?
NCSA ranges from $500 - $2000 depending on the package you purchase.
How much does SportsRecruits cost?
SportsRecruits is a site focused on helping student-athletes connect with college coaches. It costs $249 per year for the student-athlete to sign up for the minimum level of account with 3 other levels up to $999 per year.
How do you get scouted for sports?
The first step in getting scouted is playing better than most of your peers in your area. The second step is meeting college academic admission requirements. Third, you will need to contact college coaches either through email or recruiting service. Lastly, a great way to get recruited is by attended combines and or showcase events.
How do college coaches recruit?
College coaches typically recruit by sending out letters, visiting your games, and inviting you to summer camps.
Do colleges recruit for club sports?
College coaches do not recruit for club sports, but they do recruit for their respective college programs. I might add that you can get recruited from your participation on a club team.