TICKET TO THE FUTURE

We came for the sports. Althought often uttered with humor in mind by many students, Jefferson’s unoffical slogan is very close to reality. For some athletes, being recruited can be a one way ticket to dream colleges and scholarshops.

Getting Seen

With a 78 mph fastball, senior and Jefferson Baseball player Gavin Cramer has had recruitment in mind since he first entered high school. As a freshman, Cramer joined a showcase team which is a team composed of talented players made specifically to catch the eyes of recruiters.

“I started thinking about recruitment probably in freshman year as soon as I got into high school, I also started playing on a showcase team at that time,” Cramer said.

Unlike Cramer, track star and senior Annika Topchy, whose main event is the 300 meter hurdles, initially didn’t plan on athletic recruitment.

“Once I found out that I could possibly run [after] high school, it was kind of all I could think about. I would stay up researching how fast to be to go to certain schools,” Topchy said.

Communicating with Coaches

Contact between coaches and athletes is regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting rules, and specific dates vary by division and school.

Academics and Athletics

For recruited athletes, academics are just as important as performance.

“I’ve been looking at two Ivy League’s and they care about your transcripts almost as much as regular admission students. It’s not a guaranteed way in,” Topchy said.

Cramer also juggled academics with success on the field.

“School was always priority number one; there were times where I would even miss practice if I needed to,” Cramer said.

“Division One schools can contact you after June 15 of your sophomore year. You can email them before that so I sent two emails before that date. Once that date hits, [coaches] can contact you,” Topchy said.

Recruitment by colleges is a long process of contact through email, phone calls, in-person evaluations, and visits.

“It’s a whole different game now, rather than colleges reaching out to you, you’re reaching out to colleges, like emailing schools and really going hard with it. You have to follow up and stay in contact as much as you can,” Cramer said.

Official visits are a final opportunity for athletes to gauge a school’s atmosphere and athletics.

“The school pays for you to go down for [about] three days, stay in the dorm rooms with the team and shadow them and their everyday life,” Topchy said.

Commiting

Recruited athletes can commit to a school much earlier in the year than students accepted through the regular admissions process.

“Athletes can get accepted into schools, early on, by getting an approved pre-read from the admissions office. Once your pre read gets approved, then you’re in the clear and you commit to a school,” Topchy said.

Some aspiring recruited athletes may wonder what comes after college.

“If you want to go pro, you can decide to, it’s just a decision and that comes a lot later in the athlete’s career,” Topchy said. “Right now, my next step would be college and then, who knows.”