A: The amount of personal attention that a college coach shows you is a sign of their interest level. If they want to talk to you on a weekly basis—that’s a pretty good sign. If they asked you to call them, are you a sophomore or younger? Coaches are restricted on when they can call or recruit you (normally around your junior year, it varies by sport). However, there are no NCAA restrictions on when or how often you can call them.
When a coach is interested in you as an athlete, they will work on building a personal relationship with you. The frequency of their communication is often a sign of their interest. Time is one of their greatest resources, so the time they spend building a relationship with you (outside of just talking about sports) is a good clue. They want to know about your family situation, your decision factors, your likes and dislikes—from food, NBA team, musician, video game, movie, etc. They’ll likely try to build relationships with your family, prep coaches and mentors if they’re highly interested.
Coaches may even ask you about your likes/dislikes about other schools. Be up front, they’re trying to figure out what you like about particular programs/cities/coaches/styles of play and what you don’t like—so they can tailor their recruiting pitch to you.
Most coaches say what they mean, so if they encourage you to call them weekly, do so! They’re interested!
Next steps: Once there is mutual interest, coaches will work to get you to campus for a gameday, Unofficial Visit, camp or Junior Day. They’ll likely evaluate you in person or request your film as well as a copy of your transcript, and encourage you to take the SAT/ACT tests.
Recruiting—for most players – is a process. A coach will rarely call you and offer you a scholarship out of the blue without first building a relationship with you and your family and doing their research!
