Recruiting Traffic Jam
After talking to a number of grassroots coaches and college coaches over the past month, it appears that COVID continues to have a major impact on recruiting, and it is limiting the number of opportunities for the 2024 class in a big way, especially at the Division-I level, with a lot of trickle-down to the small college ranks. With the Class of 2020 exercising their right to a fifth year, it means that rosters will be holding five classes worth of graduates through the 2024-2025 season. Instead of the occasional grad transfer, now most rosters are affected by three or four players in their fifth year of college. It makes for a lot of uncertainties for high school prospects. This began with the 2020 class and has now extended through the 2024 class.
With regards to coaching staffs/universities, many are utilizing one of two approaches. (1) They are being extremely thorough and not offering 2024s unless they (a) have a great relationship with the prospect that has been built over several years, or (b) they feel like the prospect more than exceeds their level of competition and they’d be happy/lucky to have them on their roster. (2) Another approach being utilized is to just wait as long as possible on graduating classes before offering kids, so they can see what their college rosters look like in August, January, and March/April.
What do you do as a 2024 prospect? Well, the 2023 class was wise to this, and you saw a number of upper-tier prospects commit early in the process to really good small college programs. I have always been a big proponent of going to the right “fit” and going where you are wanted, but in the case of the 2023 class, they committed much earlier than most of the past graduating classes. A few girls did also wait it out, and they waited, and they waited, until the Spring of their Senior year rolled around (this past Spring), which is most certainly a gamble, but it paid off for many of them.
My best advice is to stay the course as you normally have, and don’t panic. Now, this has been tougher for me to suggest in this climate, because opportunities are limited. But, as I usually recommend, don’t get caught up in “levels” (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, NJCAA) and go where you are loved and wanted, and especially go where you feel like it’s the right “fit” academically, athletically, and socially. At the end of the day, you the prospect are the one who has to spend four years on campus, in classrooms, and in practices, so if you are a prospect and you feel really good about a school, whether it be Division-I or Division-III, then make that decision. It could be gone to someone else by tomorrow. If you are still on the fence and unsure about your options, stay patient, continue to work in the gym, and continue to proactively increase your recruiting by reaching out to schools through their online questionnaires and staff email addresses.