Bryan Aughney is the Assistant Baseball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio Texas. Here is a Q&A by UnderRecruited Preps to help high school student-athletes learn about navigating the college recruiting process.
Q: How does the college recruiting process work?
We identify our needs as a program and then we go find what fits our need as well as our university and program. We know who we are, we know what kind of student athletes we can attract so we try to find the best fit for our program to meet the needs that we have.
Q: How should a recruit let you know he/she wants to play for your college/university?
Personal email. Correctly addressed, with correct spelling! Phone calls are okay, but emails are better in my opinion. Include your vital information; position, grad year, HS, Home town, GPA and Test scores, possibly a schedule of game and a short video showing your best skills - no longer than a 3 min read and 3 min video.
Q: What coaches look for on official and unofficial visits
On our visits we want to see that a potential student athletes is engaged in the visit, engaged in the program. We want players who want to be a part of our university and program.
Q: 8 ways to get a call from a College Coach
Grades, Skills (speed, bat, fielding, Pitching/Throwing), Work ethic, attitude, hustle - in no particular order.
Q: When do you start identifying potential recruits?
We are always looking, if they are a few years away it gets noted in our database and when that year comes we start with the ones we have identified. In the NAIA we recruit year round. We like to have our HS class done by May or June - but its a fluid process.
Q: College coaches are reaching out. Now what?
Return emails! Return Calls / TXTS - if a coach asks you for something; transcripts, application, stats, video - get it done! We see hundreds of players all the time - but we cant get though our process without work from the potential student athlete.
Q: What advice do you have for a high school player not getting much attention from college coaches?
Keep working! Don’t panic - we know it’s called the recruiting process, but it should be called marketing - the player needs to market themselves. They may not be getting recruited because no one knows about them.
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