How Early Do Colleges Start Recruiting?

College coaches interact with the CSA Prepstar staff on a regular basis, looking for athletic prospects and letting us know what they need. Here's an e-mail we received from a D1 volleyball coach recently:

Thanks for the continued updates but we are done recruiting for 2008 and
looking at 2009 and 2010.

Please send any prospects you have for the class of ’09.

GO COLONIALS!

Sincerely,

Jojit Coronel, Head Women's Volleyball Coach

The George Washington University

The point of me sharing this letter? Simple. It's critical to get recruited by as soon as possible. After your senior season is completed is probably going to be too late. Your sophomore and junior years are ideal. The summer before your senior season is fine, too, but time is of the essence. If you're sitting there reading this and thinking "my senior season will show everyone who I am and why I deserve to play at the college level", think again. After your senior season, as I just said, is too late.

Contact coaches immediately. E-mail them, call them, send them your video. Getting yourself in front of as many coaches as possible is critical to your chances of playing at the college level.

The e-mail we got from Coach Coronel is just one example of the type of communication that is getting more and more typical. Coaches want to find athletes as early as possible. Do you have the attention of college coaches that you're hoping to be hearing from?