Category: Recruiting

What to wear: Official visits

College Recruiting

What to wear: Official visits

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When dressing for a college visit, you don’t have to get all dressed up like you’re going to a job interview but you shouldn’t look like you’re running to Wal-Mart either. You are here to make an impression, after all. It’s obviously not going to be the most important thing people care about but you would be surprised how often it gets brought up.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to dress appropriately for the weather. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard we’ve been judging some of these recruits that show up in chinos, t-shirts, sandals, and a windbreaker and then spend the entire practice on the launch freezing their asses off because shocker they didn’t check the weather before they left home and didn’t know that temps were only supposed to be in the 50s. Factor in the fact that it’s cooler on the water, plus wind, rain, etc. and you’re setting yourself up to be pretty miserable. Of course the coaches will offer you survival suits and jackets but don’t expect that to do much for you if you aren’t wearing the appropriate clothes to begin with.

When packing, choose casual, nice clothes that you can wear around campus since you’ll likely be going to a few classes and to practice but avoid wearing stuff that’s going to be out of place, like a dress or jacket and tie.

So, what should you wear? Just keep it simple – jeans, a casual shirt or sweater, and close-toed shoes. Sperry’s are a universally good choice, regardless of the season. Avoid sandals if you’re going to a morning practice and/or it’s after mid-September otherwise your feet will freeze. Top wise, a sweater or pullover of some kind would be good because it’s always cooler on the water, so you’ll definitely want the extra layer of warmth. Even if you don’t wear it the whole time, having it available to throw on while you’re on the launch would be advisable. In addition to all of that, you can never go wrong with a hat or sunglasses. Don’t forget other obvious stuff like coats, rain jackets, gloves, etc. if necessary.

As far as what to wear when you’re not at practice or on campus, you’ll most likely be spending the rest of your time at the house of the athlete(s) you’re staying with so that’s up to you.

Image via //Men’s Journal

College Q&A Recruiting

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Can a coxswain back out of a verbal commitment? I want to tell a very good D1 school that I will commit to go there but my coach said I should wait until after HOCR because I might be able to go to a better school if I do well. What should I do? Can you still go on an official to another school if you verbally commit?

The NCAA’s definition of a verbal commitment is this: “A college-bound student-athlete’s commitment to a school before he or she signs (or is able to sign) a National Letter of Intent. The college-bound student-athlete can announce a verbal commitment at any time. This commitment is NOT binding for either the college-bound student-athlete or the school. Only the signing of the National Letter of Intent accompanied by a financial aid agreement is binding of both parties.”

Verbal commitments are a tricky thing. They’re not binding but you’re expected to honor your word. It’s one of those unspoken, common sense things. If you say to a coach that you’re coming to XYZ University, they’re assuming that you are indeed coming to XYZ university, committing yourself to the team, and forgoing any other offers or applications. Depending on how big of a score you are for the program, the coach(es) might end up pulling verbal offers that they have made to other athletes. There are definitely repercussions but I think it’s more on their end than it is on yours because they could potentially lose out on more athletes than just you if you de-commit. It would also put you in an awkward situation because they’ve spent all this time, effort, money, etc. on recruiting you and you respond by changing your mind after previously saying “yes” to them. I wouldn’t blame them for being pissed.

Related: Official vs. unofficial visits

That’s not to say that de-commiting is the wrong thing to do though. It might be the right thing for you because you realize, for whatever reason, that the school or team isn’t the right fit for you. That’s fine and completely understandable, but the reasons that prompted you to come to that conclusion are all things you should have thought about way ahead of time. I can’t think of too many things that would suddenly pop up this far into the process that would cause you to back out of a commitment.

Unless you’ve signed an NIL, been accepted by the university, and have said “yes” to the coach, no one’s going to say you can’t go on another visit. This is actually called a “soft commitment”, which means you say yes but keep going on officials. I’ll warn you though, the other coaches will ask you where else you’re looking, where else you’ve gone or are planning to go on officials, and how interested you are in those other schools/programs. This isn’t to pressure you into saying that the school you’re at is your favorite but it is to gauge your level of interest across the board. If it’s obvious that you’re leaning towards another school, they’re probably going to back off and move on to the recruits who are still very much interested in their program. If you say you’ve already verbally committed to another program (they’ll find out anyways so it’s not worth lying about) they’ll, again, probably be annoyed that you’re kinda leading them on and wasting their resources by being there when they could have brought someone in that really wants to go there and hasn’t already said yes to someone else.

The best analogy I can think of is that it’s like you’re engaged to someone but are still going on dates with other people just to make sure you’re actually with the right person. The person you’re engaged to is probably thinking “WTF, seriously? After all this time, you’re still not sure?” and the people you’re going on dates with are thinking “Why did I just buy you an expensive dinner when you’re not even available?”

With regards to Head of the Charles … I get what your coach is saying but going to college still comes back to academics first, athletics second. Sure, the crew team might be better at Washington than at Cal but Cal might have the better academic program. You have to think long term and not just about the immediate future. I guess in theory if you do well enough then you might make yourself look like a better prospect to the higher end programs you’re looking at but I don’t think it would ultimately make that much of a difference. Regatta results, let alone results at one race, are only a small piece of the puzzle. Unless you’ve applied early decision to the school you want to commit to and have been accepted (which I don’t think any schools have even announced yet…), I wouldn’t give anyone a verbal, regardless of how well you do at HOCR.

Keep in mind that the potential for something to come up that causes you or the coach to change your/their mind is always there and you don’t want to get stuck in a bad spot because you’ve turned down other schools or didn’t apply anywhere else because you were set on going to this school. Just like you can rescind your verbal, so too can the coaches. Most people tend to forget that and then experience premature aging when they realize they don’t have a Plan B. Until you’ve been accepted by the university (the most important thing) and have signed on the dotted line, nothing is official.

College Q&A Recruiting

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How do you respond if you aren’t chosen to be recruited?

If you’re not recruited, it’s not the end of the world. In most cases the coaches would still like you to be a part of the team and would welcome you to walk-on if rowing in college is still something you want to pursue. There are only a handful of “spots” on the team for recruits and you want to make sure you save those spots for the best of the best. The athletes you know will or have the potential to be “game changers” are the ones you want to give those spots to. It’s that straightforward.

Think of it like the NFL draft – the top players that get drafted in the first round are drafted there for a reason. They’ve got something special. That’s not to say though that they won’t be a bust or get an injury or retire and someone chosen in the lower rounds will have to step up and take over. Perfect example is Tom Brady. Dude was pick number 199 in the sixth round and look where he is now. People chosen in the lower rounds have gone on to lead their teams to multiple Super Bowl wins just like how rowers and coxswains who weren’t chosen as recruits walked on to the team and helped lead their crew to an NCAA or IRA championship. You can still do big things and play a huge role on your team if you’re not one of the “chosen few”.

If you hear back from a coach that unfortunately they won’t be supporting your application, first of all you should thank them for meeting and talking with you in the first place. Being on the flip side of things now I’m seeing just how much work goes into the recruiting process and guys, I’ve gotta tell you, it’s a lot. You really have no idea how much time is spent on athletes that aren’t even a part of the team yet. Every step of the way, make sure you’re thanking the coaches for talking to you on the phone, answering your emails, inviting you to campus, showing you around the boathouse, etc. Secondly, ask them if you were accepted to the university and were still interested in rowing, would walking on be a possibility? I guarantee you they’ll say yes. If you were a potential recruit in the first place they were clearly looking at you for a reason so they’re not going to turn that down just because they can’t offer you a recruited spot. Experienced walk-ons do exist and they’re essentially treated the same as the recruits so it’s really not that big of a deal.

Last thing is to not look at it you’re being told to never pick up an oar or cox box again. You’re not. Take it in stride and move forward. And hey, you never know, maybe not being recruited will be a good thing for you. You can still have a great college experience without crew – it really all depends on what you want out of your four or five years on campus. Not being definitively locked into the sport for four more years gives you the opportunity to figure that out. If you decide you want crew to be part of that experience, walk on to the team. If not, go find an awesome club to join. Most schools have a ton to choose from so you can definitely find something to do in place of rowing if you want.

College Q&A Recruiting

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Can you go over NCAA recruiting rules? Like when they can call, email and talk to you, and how often, and whats the difference when you are a senior and a junior.

With written correspondence (letters, emails, brochures, etc.), D1 coaches can start sending you info after September 1st of your junior year. So, if you’re a junior right now, since it’s September 4th, you’re “eligible”, for lack of a better term, to start receiving stuff from coaches. For D2 programs I think it’s sometime early in June, maybe the second week of the month or so. You can send as many emails, etc. as you want throughout the time you’re in school but coaches can’t initiate them until after September 1st. They also aren’t allowed to talk to you about recruiting-specific stuff but they can answer general questions or direct you to people in the athletic or admissions department who can also help you out.

D1 coaches can start calling athletes on July 1st after you’ve finished your junior year, so during the summer before senior year begins. D2 is a little different in that they can start calling athletes on June 15th before the start of their junior year, which is an entire year earlier than D1. After those dates coaches can call you once a week for any length of time. You can only get one call per university, meaning if Callahan calls you from Washington on Wednesday, his assistant can’t call you on Friday. It’s one or the other but not both. You can call the coach as many times as you want throughout the time you’re in school though. If the coach answers you can talk for any length of time but unless it’s after July 1st or June 15th after/before your junior year, they can’t call you back if you’ve left a voicemail, so you’d have to just keep trying and calling them until you get them if you have a pressing question. If it’s after those dates and they haven’t used their one allotted phone call for the week, they can call you back.

The other big difference between junior year and senior year is that you can start going on official visits following the first day of school your senior year. Before that you can only go on unofficial visits.

Related: Official vs. unofficial visits

Coaches can also observe you at practice up to seven times during the year. Contact also becomes a bit more limited as they aren’t allowed to contact you or your parents more than three times while you’re a senior. In D2 there are no limits. The contact referred to is in-person, face to face contact at your house, at practice, at a regatta, etc. If you meet up at a regatta, there are a lot of rules that go into effect. Basically the coach can’t contact or call you from the time the races start until they end and you’ve been released by your coach. They can talk to your parents or family at any time though. So, if you just finished racing and the coach was standing with your family and they see you coming off the water, your parents can say “good job!” but the coach can’t, otherwise that would be considered contact. It’s all a little confusing so it’s best to read and learn the rules so you know what is and isn’t permissible.

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting Rowing Teammates & Coaches

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So I’ve noticed that most recruiting questionnaires ask for your coach’s phone/email. What do college coaches who are talking to your high school coach ask about? I’m not nervous about it cause my coach and I have always had a good relationship, I was just curious.

If you’re a rower: erg scores, boatings, attitude, personality, personal qualities, work ethic, grades, coachability, etc.

If you’re a coxswain: everything I said about rowers (minus erg scores) plus leadership ability, practice management, communication skills, possibly audio, etc.

Basically they’re trying to figure out if you’re a good fit based on your overall attitude, level of commitment, and desire to push yourself. The biggest thing for them is finding people who are ready and willing to go to that next level and really throw themselves into a team environment and doing what is necessary for the good of the team. Having a good work ethic and the ability to be coached is crucial, as is being someone who will put the team and university in the best possible light. All of that stuff they assume your coach knows, so they’ll typically ask them for input and use that as part of their decision as to whether or not to move forward with you.

College Q&A Recruiting

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If you didn’t know too much about a school but they sent you a generic “email us back, we saw your recruitment profile (even though mine is super ambiguous)” type email, what would you suggest doing? I’m really scared to respond.

There’s literally no reason to be scared to respond, let alone really scared.

Does the school have the major you want to pursue? Is it a school you’re interested in? Is it in a good location that you wouldn’t mind living in for the next four years? Does their team look like one you would be interested in being a part of? Do some research on them first and if you can say, with reasonable confidence, yes to all those questions after learning more about the school and rowing program, I’d send them a quick email. You don’t have to say much or be super detailed, just say something along the lines of “I received an email from (whoever it came from) after they’d viewed my recruitment profile and I wanted to follow up by seeing if you could tell me more about the team.” Finish it off by saying something like you’re looking forward to hearing more about the team, say thank you, sign it, and send it.

If you’re not interested in the school or that particular program, you don’t have to respond. I remember getting a thing from a school that I wasn’t really interested in because of the location and I didn’t know how to respond and essentially say “yea … no” in a polite way so I think I ended up saying I appreciated them reaching out but the university didn’t have the major I was planning on pursuing (which to my credit they didn’t) so it wasn’t currently one I was considering. They replied, said no problem, good luck, and that was that. But like I said though, don’t feel obligated to reply if it’s not a school you’re interested in. They’re not going to care. It’s better to establish that ahead of time instead of going through the whole process and then finally saying a few months down the road “yea, I’m not interested”. That just wastes everyone’s time, yours included.

You might want to update your profile or add in some more details. Coaches do look at them and the more info you give them, the better of an idea they can get as to whether or not you might be a good fit for their program.

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting

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I heard that coxswains can’t sign letters of intent because they don’t get scholarships or anything so as a coxswain, how do I know if the school is serious about recruiting me and helping my admissions process? I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket and apply to like the one school I think is really recruiting me and not get in…

Wait … what? Whoever told you that is wrong. Coxswains can/do sign letters of intent – if you Google “coxswain letter of intent” you’ll see numerous newspaper articles talking about recruiting classes and coxswains who are part of them. It doesn’t have anything to do with getting or not getting scholarships.

The only way to know how serious a school is about recruiting you is to ask. Coaches expect you to be an adult and communicate with them so if you’re interested in coxing there I would indicate your interest in the school, the major you plan on choosing, and where this school ranks on your list. If you really want to be a part of the program, tell them that and then ask out of the people they’re talking with where you rank amongst them and how interested they are in you. Be straightforward and honest with them – don’t tell them they’re your number one if they’re actually your number three.

Official vs. Unofficial Visits

College Recruiting

Official vs. Unofficial Visits

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I’ve gotten a lot of questions asking what the differences are between official and unofficial visits so that’s what today’s post is going to discuss. Official visits have a few rules that have to be followed whereas unofficial visits are a bit more relaxed. Below I’ve detailed some of the major points of each one but I really recommend that you do your own research so you understand what’s permitted and what isn’t.

The most noticeable difference between official and unofficial visits is that during official visits the university covers the expenses of the student-athletes. They’re allowed to pay for transportation to and from the university for you but not your parents, meaning they’ll have to pay their own way if they accompany you. If you stay off campus with your parents then the university can cover your hotel and up to three meals per day but if you stay on campus with a team member then the university will not pay for hotel and food for your parents.

In addition to transportation, hotels, and food, the university can also provide you with up to three tickets for home athletic events. If you can manage it, I highly recommend going during football or basketball season and seeing if you can get tickets to one of the big rivalry games. It’s a great way to see what the atmosphere on campus is like, in addition to having a chance to interact with the general student body in a more realistic setting.

When you go on official visits they’re limited to only 48 hours, which extends from the time you arrive on campus to the time you leave. If your stay is longer than 48 hours then the university can’t cover the cost of your travel home. During this time you’ll attend a few classes with your host and go out on the water to observe a practice, amongst other things.

Related: What can I do during an official visit that will help my chances of being a recruit? I am one out of 35, and they choose about 10. Also, do you have any links for previous posts on this subject? Thanks!

You’re allowed to take five total visits but you’re only allowed to make one official visit to each school you go to, meaning that of those five each one must be at a different school. You can visit as many times as you want but the university will only cover your expenses one time. Keep in mind that the number of visits is five combined, meaning you can go to three D1 schools and two D2 schools or five to D1 schools or five to D2 schools, but you can’t go to five D1 schools and five D2 schools.

Unofficial visits, like I said earlier, are much more lax in terms of rules. While you’re responsible for covering all of your expenses, you’re allowed to visit campus as many times as you want in addition to there being no limits on how many schools you can visit across all the divisions. You can also go at any time during your high school career. The last thing is that, like with official visits, you can’t visit campus during dead periods.

That covers just about all of it but for more info on recruiting and to see some questions other people have asked, be sure to check out the “recruiting” and “official visit” tags.

Image via // KUOW

College High School Q&A Recruiting

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How much contact is too much contact for juniors? Are we allowed to pop in and visit quickly whilst touring? Or no personal contact at all?

I would at least email them first to say you’re coming to tour the campus and to see if they’re available, but meeting with them isn’t usually a big deal. It’s considered an unofficial visit but if you’re already going to be on campus it’s definitely worth seeing if you can meet up with them to save yourself an additional trip later on. Plus your parents will most likely be with you so they can ask the coach any questions they have too. I wouldn’t just go straight to their office with no prior warning though because that’s a little … weird, especially if you haven’t had much contact or interaction prior to that. I don’t think the NCAA has a definition of “too much contact”, at least from your end, but you should be able to use your common sense to determine how much is too much.

College Q&A Recruiting

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Hey there, so I know you get so many recruiting questions and you’re probably sick of them, but do you know how much college coaches look internationally to recruit? I live in New Zealand and it’s my dream to row for a US college, but how do I go about making myself known to them? Do they travel to our nationals (Maadi Cup etc) or is it my job to get my name out there? Thank you so much!!

College coaches definitely look internationally when recruiting. I’m fairly sure a large number of Ohio State’s team this year (that won the NCAA D1 championship) were international recruits, as were most of Harvard’s eights. The only person in their 1V that was from the USA was the coxswain who was from just outside Boston. So yes, if you’re a good rower with good grades, good erg scores, good race results, etc. coaches will look at you regardless of where you’re from.

I don’t know that much about international recruiting but to be honest, I don’t think you would go about the process any differently than someone from the States. You have the same amount of responsibility when it comes to getting your name out there as athletes here do. Contact the coaches of the schools you’re interested in, fill out the recruiting forms on the team’s page on the athletic department’s website, make a beRecruited page (or something similar) where you can post your stats and race results, and make sure your grades are  in order (the most important thing!).

Related: Letters of recommendation

I have to imagine that the assistant coach in charge of recruiting would travel to some of the larger regattas to see potential recruits but because of the time, cost, etc. my assumption is that they would only go if they really wanted you. If you live far away – like on the other side of the world, for example – one way you can help the coaches out is by having your coach take video of you (good video) during drills, pieces, steady state, etc. and emailing that to them after you’ve talked to them, indicated your interest, etc. Having letters of recommendation from your coach are also probably something you could/should consider doing.