“I am excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at…”

At one point or another, we have all seen this message pop up on our cell phones under a photo of a high school student wearing a college t-shirt.

Most are aware of how the general college application process works; however, the majority don’t know all that goes on behind the scenes of the college recruitment process.

Jay Martin, Community School of Davidson athletic director, shared, “Athletics can fulfill a role the same way that teachers do in their education. [Teachers] make sure [students] are prepared to go to college to be college students. [Coaches and athletic directors] also try to make sure our athletes will also be prepared to play in college.”

One prominent piece of the recruiting process is when coaches and athletic directors help athletes contact colleges and universities that the student are interested in attending. Last October, CSD held a zoom meeting for aspiring collegiate student-athletes. The session features former college athletes and recruiters who shared their advice on recruitment.

Although coaches and athletic departments play important roles in a student’s recruitment journey, Martin emphasized how, ultimately, it is up to the student to connect with coaches and universities.

Baylor Nelson, CSD senior, has made a verbal commitment to continue his academic and athletic career as a swimmer at Texas A&M. Martin said, “[Nelson] is one that was able to do most of his college recruiting outside of school because he swims in so many activities outside of school.”

“It started June 15 after sophomore year,” Nelson remembered. “On that day, all the colleges could reach out through emails and texts, and then, everyone tried to set up phone calls. I had multiple phone calls a day.”

Like everything else, COVID took its toll on the process. Nelson emphasized the challenges surrounding getting recruited during the start of COVID. “Since it was during COVID, that’s when the NCAA dead period was. We weren’t allowed to take official visits or meet the coaches in person. I had to take a bunch of unofficial visits on my own to get a feel for all the schools,” Nelson said.

Nelson made his verbal commitment to Texas A&M in March of his junior year, but plenty of students are still navigating the process towards the start of their senior year.

Lucas Carneiro, a multisport athlete and senior at CSD, is currently talking with coaches and getting an idea of where he wants to spend his next four years, “For soccer, the process started the first day of August of junior year. For football, it was the first day of August of senior year,” Carneiro explains.

Carneiro also emphasized the emotional aspect of putting yourself out there and connecting with coaches. “When I have reached out to schools, it was kind of nerve-racking, and it takes a lot of work to prepare yourself to send emails out, and when you do, some coaches don’t respond, which sucks, but you have to get over it and move on. But when you do get emails [back], you feel excited.”

In addition to navigating through the process, Carneiro is facing the tough decision of what sport he wants to continue playing at the next level. “I’ve been playing soccer all my life, and I love the sport,” Carneiro confessed, “but I also love football.”

Connecting with coaches, dealing with COVID, and wrestling with the decision of what sport an athlete wants to pursue, are all hard things student-athletes have to go through during the recruitment process. “The best advice I could give is to just be on top of everything,” Carneiro said.