On March 24th, 2020, Recruiting Analysts Emily Wetz and Mike Babich presented the most up-to-date information regarding how COVID-19 is affecting the athletic world and the SAT/ACT Exams, what student athletes can be doing during this time, and how SportsRecruits can help! 

Q&A

What is Happening?

The NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA have all responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic with cancellations of all sports, as well as updated recruiting rules halting any in-person recruiting at this time. The graphic below shows how each association has formally handled the situation: We will be updating our NCAA article as more information comes in, particularly after March 30th. This is when the NCAA is scheduled to hold a vote on if winter and spring sport athletes will be receiving an additional year of eligibility.

What is a Dead Period?

A dead period is when there is no face to face contact or evaluations allowed by college coaches to their prospective recruits. During this time it is not permissible to allow official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution’s campus. However, what is most important is that they are still able to contact recruits by phone and email during this period. This includes video conferencing softwares, Facetime, Zoom, Skype, etc. 

Recently, the NCAA, NJCAA, and NAIA have either explicitly or referenced to a dead period until April 15th. 

Recruiting Rules Recap

The NCAA Division I and Division II limit college coaches from having recruiting specific conversations with student-athletes until June 15th or September 1st of your junior year depending on your sport. NOTE: These rules are ONLY for the college coaches! You can send coaches messages with updates on your recruiting process whenever you would like, even if you are a freshman or sophomore!

What about the SAT and ACT? 

The SAT has canceled its May 2nd test date. Their June 6th exam is on as of now, but make sure you check the CollegeBoard Website

 for any updates.

The ACT rescheduled its April 4 national test date to June 13 across the U.S. Make sure you check for updates at the  ACT Website

.

What Can I be Doing During this Time?

Just because in person contact has been stopped, this does not mean that you have to halt your recruiting process! There are a lot of things you can be doing right now to stay in contact with any schools you may be interested in attending.

  • Stay healthy
  • Keep your grades up
  • Make sure your recruiting profile is up to date
  • Update your videos
  • Catch up on your messages with schools
  • Talk to your coach about your favorite’s list
  • Follow social media accounts of all colleges/teams on your list

What Should I be Messaging College Coaches?

With a dead period currently in place, there is no in person recruiting, however student athletes are still able to reach out to college coaches via email, phone call, and video conferencing.

If you have not already, now would be a good time to introduce yourself to a college coach and let them know who you are and why you are interested in their school. It is important to be specific when letting a coach know why you are interested in their school, college coaches know when they are a part of blast messages.

If you have updated your highlight reel or skills video, make sure you are messaging the schools on your favorite’s list to let them know about the new footage and ask for feedback. College coaches want to see video at this time, it is the next best thing to being able to evaluate a student-athlete live.

If you are further along in your recruiting process, and are looking to narrow down your list, we suggest reaching out to college coaches asking where they are in their process and if they are still looking to fill your position. Most of the time, college coaches will be transparent if they are finished with their recruiting process, or if they are wanting to learn more about you as a student-athlete.

How can SportsRecruits help me during this time?

SportsRecruits provides a variety of tools that will help with researching schools, connecting with college coaches, providing transparency, and recruiting video. 

  • School Search Tool –With the SportsRecruits school search tool you are able to search for schools based on specific criteria that fit your needs. You are able to search for schools based on location, academics, and athletics. When building your target list of schools it is important to make sure you are not just thinking about the athletic fit, but also the academic fit, social fit, geographic fit, and financial fit. After building out your list, make sure you take the time to show an athletic advocate to ensure you have realistic expectations.
  • Messaging System –The SportsRecruits built-in messaging system makes messaging college coaches seamless. With every college coaches’ email address in our database, it makes it easy for you to message a coaching staff in just a few minutes. Communication is one of the most important aspects of your recruiting process, especially now more than ever. 
  • Providing Transparency – When messaging college coaches through the SportsRecruits Messaging System, there is an embedded link at the bottom of every one of your messages. When a college coach clicks this link they will be taken directly to your SportsRecruit Profile.  You will be alerted whenever a college coach goes to your SportsRecruits Profile, watches a video, or opens your transcript.
  • Video-Video has become even more important with the lack of in-person evaluations at this time. Upload any footage you have to your profile and use our free Highlight Reel Editor to compile all your best clips into one video! You can also purchase a Highlight Reel Credit if you would like a professional video made by our on-staff post production team!

Important Links

About the Author

Emily Wetz is a Senior Insights Analyst at SportsRecruits. Emily’s’ experience as a former basketball student-athlete has driven her passion for helping student-athletes better navigate and understand the recruiting process.

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