Return To Normalcy - Travel Sports and the New Collegiate Recruiting Approach
College coaches watch potential recruits in pre-covid conditions at recruiting tournaments in Colorado, Courtesy of Colorado Premier Basketball. (via BaylorBasketball.com)
Seasons canceled, no practices, no playoffs, limited in-person attendance, it sounds all too familiar to participants in travel sports. Now after having this circulate for over a year and be deemed as the “new normal,” players, parents, and coaches can get back into the swing of things once again. However, what is still of main concern to all parties involved is inevitable; being able to play at the next level in college.
Questions raced in the minds of individuals trying to follow their dreams of playing in college as the COVID-19 pandemic stifled recruiting processes. The NCAA first instituted in-person recruiting restrictions on Mar. 13, 2020, at the outset of the pandemic. It has since been extended eight times.
Now that recruiting has returned, the new normal introduces what college coaches have to adhere to in regards to which events they can attend during specific dates.
The NCAA implements a strategic recruiting calendar for the month of July. (via NCAA)
The month of July has been separated between a quiet period (only having contact with athletes on campus), a dead period (only having contact with athletes over the phone), and an evaluation period (in-person recruiting) for coaches.
NCAA Division I council approved two more weekends in July for college basketball coaches to recruit in-person, bringing the total to three weekends: July 8-11, July 16-18 and July 23-25.
To evaluate this further, our attention is drawn to AAU basketball. The pandemic brought upon obstacles to teams, tournaments, and college coach interactions. Commenting on the recruiting landscape during pre and post-pandemic construction is Robert Pavinelli, Director of Basketball Operations for Premier Basketball located in Long Island, New York.
“There was a ban on basketball when it was deemed high risk during the pandemic,” he said. “During that time, coaches contacted myself and other coaches within the organization asking questions about our kids. The way they recruited was through film and sometimes through the trust they had in our judgment.”
Fall champions of the Premier Basketball, NY League pose after victory. (via Premier Basketball NY)
As this continued to manifest its way of being the execution of recruiting for the majority of what is now the rising sophomores in college, the class who are entering their first year of college is considered to be those that got the short end of the stick.
The pandemic has given current college athletes an extra year of eligibility to make up for the seasons they had lost. With that said, complications rose for those not only in college but trying to get recruited.
“The extra year of eligibility has made a huge impact. Coaches are now presented with the choice of either picking and choosing a senior in high school from an AAU tournament or grad student out of the transfer portal with a reputation in college already,” said Pavinelli. Sadly, “This is where kids have been shut down because coaches are willing to recruit the older, more experienced athlete as opposed to the younger one who needs more time to develop.”
As recruiting is maintaining normalcy, Pavinelli is quick to add how he appreciates the obvious in seeing Covid in basketball disappear. Parents are now able to watch, masks aren’t required in games, and players can hone in on the comradery with their teammates once again. After a hard year socially and economically, AAU is now in the home stretch to bounce back, making the in-person recruiting process an indicative aspect of this improvement.
