Are you a junior-year basketball recruit? Did you know that starting January 1, 2013, you are allowed to start taking official visits to potential colleges? Earlier this year, the NCAA made big changes to the Men’s Basketball Recruiting model. One of the biggest changes was the date that official visits to start for students in their junior year of high school. The new rule states that male basketball recruits can start going on official visits with college coaches as early as January 1st of their junior year.
Now that we are almost to the middle of December, that means juniors should be talking to coaches and scheduling their official visits for next year. The NCAA’s motive behind the change was to encourage the development of relationships between recruits and college coaches so that academic and athletic expectations are emphasized from the beginning. The increased communication should help junior-year recruits learn as much as they can about a potential program before accepting a basketball scholarship.
College Coaches can See Juniors in 22 Days
If you are invited on an official visit to a college, this shows that the college coach has great interest in you. And now that the timeline for men’s basketball recruiting has grown longer, recruits are allowed more time to consider their options and find the best school for them. As you start preparing for your official visits, here are some tips to help you get everything you can from your experience:
- Ask Questions: Create a list of questions you want to make sure to ask the college coach, academic counselor, or team while you are on your visit. There are a lot of questions that will come up naturally in conversations as you learn more about the school, but for the tougher questions, you should write them down so you don’t forget to ask.
- Take Notes: After each meeting and at the end of the day, write down some quick notes and details about what you have learned and experienced about the program and school. You may end up writing down a small detail that helps you make your final decision when choosing a school.
- Rank Schools: Since you are only allowed 5 official visits total at the DI and DII levels combined, your conversations with college coaches become the best gauge to decide which official visits to accept. If a coach can’t offer you an official visit, it doesn’t mean they don’t want to, they just may not have the budget for it.
Junior-Year Recruits and College Coaches
Basketball recruiting definitely amps up in your junior year, so make sure you are doing what you need in order to find an opportunity to play in college. To start, create an online profile that includes your academic and athletic stats, and a highlight video so that college coaches can come check it out and determine if you might fit their program. You should also send your information to them and get conversations started that way. As a junior, you shouldn’t be waiting around for college coaches to find you!
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