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Is It Too Late to Be Recruited by a College Coach?

Too Late to Get RecruitedDepending on your sport, you may not be too late. Football’s signing date closed on April 1st and basketball’s NLI signing period is finished May 16. If you play any other sport, you have until August 1st to commit to a school. Once again, it is not impossible to get recruited, but with most rosters already full it is going to be very tough to find a spot for yourself. You have to be willing to take any opportunity that becomes available.

Here, are some things you should consider if you are still trying to get recruited.

-Become a walk-on: Walking on to a team is a terrific way to be a part of the team if you have missed the opportunity to get recruited for a scholarship. Call or write the coach, asking if there are any open spots on next year’s team and let them know that you are interested in trying out. You will have to be able to attend school and pay for yourself. If you make the team, you are giving yourself an opportunity to earn a scholarship the following year. Just because, you are planning to attend a school without an athletic scholarship, does not mean that the coach or the athletic department won’t help you find other means of finical aid.

-Unsigned Senior Showcases: These are tournaments / exhibitions where you can go and showcase your talents to coaches who are still looking for senior recruits. This is a perfect opportunity to go into a venue where you know all the spectators are still looking to fill their teams. Many recruits get recruited out of these types of events and are able to show their talents to schools they normally wouldn’t have thought of contacting.

-Playing at the Junior College level: Junior Colleges are an excellent way to earn units toward your degree, develop as a player and continue the recruiting process. Many coaches recruit junior college athletes because they prefer more mature athletes with some college level coaching and competition under their belts. If you need to improve your academics, this is also a perfect venue to be able to do that. This is your best option if you are a football or basketball player since your window for committing to a school has closed.

Once again, if you are a senior and want to play your sport at the collegiate level this is not the time to wait around; you need to be proactive. You do have options, but you need to make sure that you explore all of them and be aggressive.

If you have questions on how to get your recruiting started please ask use in the comments below, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Are you ready for the NEXT STEP!