Unofficial Visit

Yes, when my son was being recruited, we emailed a coach at a school he was interested in and told him we would be at a certain weekend game. Son then went and talked to the coach although in this case it didn't lead to anything.

In general, calling them and requesting a vist / tour / some seats at a game, etc. is "showing interest" in the program.

If your son wants to go to the school, you can't show too much interest (IMHO).

I was told that if you request a visit and they are receptive to it, you can then gauge their interest in you and if they are not interested then you know you are not on their list right now.

I guess you could just call and ask them, but it seems better to me if you are making an attempt as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:
Yes, when my son was being recruited, we emailed a coach at a school he was interested in and told him we would be at a certain weekend game. Son then went and talked to the coach although in this case it didn't lead to anything.

Same thing with my son. It didnt work out, but my son is going JUCO, so maybe in two years.

My 2013 started summer after freshman year. He would call & let the coach know he would be there on a certain day. I think in all cases they were receptive.
He would also sometime just stop by to introduce himself with resume.
After the first year, and around 15 visits, it was easy to see who was interested. He narrowed the list to 5 schools & attended camps/invites to showcase games.
In the end, a school who was not on the list of 5 made a great offer. He went to the official visit & committed 3 days later & signed NLI in November.
My point here is that, making many unofficial visits , helps player become comfortable in those situations. When it was time for official visits, he was ready, and now knows what he wants.

quote:

Originally posted by bacdorslider:
Has anyone ever called a school/recruiter for an unoffical visit? I was told it's common and a way to gauge a schools interested.

A school requested 2014 attend their camp so they could see him. They spent a great deal of time with him at the camp. He felt good about the things they were telling him.

He is being recruited by serveral schools and often talks and emails their coaches but this is the school he really wants to attend.

Any thoughts?

That program may be the one he likes, but he has to wait until they decide whether he is right for their program and he may not be at this time.
Have your son send the coaches an email telling them how much he enjoyed meeting them, as well as his schedule this spring and summer.

In the meantime explore other possibilities, by visiting other programs and by keeping the door open. Remember, coaches recruit players, not the other way around.

My son called the recruiting coach at one of the schools he was interested in. He asked for an unofficial visit. They invited him up on a day when other recruits were there for there Official visit.

They treated him very well but by the end of the visit it was pretty clear they were not that interested.

Basically at the end of the visit he got the don't call us we will call you.

They thanked him for coming and he never heard from from them again.

It just didn't work out. But he got valuable experience.

This is my favorite recruiting story. My son was interested in a school in South Carolina. In that we live in California and they never saw him at any camps or showcases, it was highly unlikely that they would show any interest.

My son wrote and called the head coach of this program and asked to meet him when we came to the school for their "senior open house."

The coach accomodated us be meeting him on a bench outside the football stadium before the saturday football game. In reality he was being a gentleman and accomodating a family that was flying across the country to visit the school.

However, when the coach met my son, the first thing he did was pat him on both shoulders as a way of seeing if my son was as solid as he looked. My son at the time was about 6'3" and 225lbs and in great shape.

After talking to me and my son for about 10-15 minutes he was intrigued enough to take about 20 minutes and show him around the facilities. When the visit was over (about an hour) he asked my son to attend a camp the following weekend. Unfortunatly we couldn't extend out trip.

During my son's senior year in HS he and his team had a great year. Almost every week my son was mentioned in a newspaper article or in one case was featured on a local HS TV program (he was specifically mentioned by USA Today in their first national rankings). Each time he got a mention he forwarded the coach either the article or a link with a short not "thought you might like to see this."

As the HS progressed we never heard anything from the coach until May 1st. ON May 1st he got a call from the recruiting director of this school. In that my son had never met him or spoke to him he was a bit surprised. The coach told him that they had two recruits at his position reject their offers and as such he was the "third person" on their depth chart. He offered him a small scholarship (those were the old days)and told him that they wanted him for the coming season.

He had moved on by this time and committed to another school.

The point is you can make it happen. Does this happen often, probably not, but it did happen and I would stongly suggest that if you have an iterest and do believe that you fit a schools academica and athletic profile it can't hurt to try.