onpoint wrote:I always think it's funny when people talk about "recruiting" at MDIA schools. None of us recruit. It's really a misnomer and should be called "incoming freshman class" because there is not an iota of recruiting going on at most, if not all MDIA schools.
I have to disagree with you there Alex, unless you are defining recruiting as purely NCAA standards where there are lots of scouts, official visits with paid travel, scholarship and walk-on offers. If that is your definition, then yes you are correct. I feel that there is recruiting at many MDIA schools, but it's obviously much different than NCAA. MDIA recruiting takes place in many forms:
-Some coaches work camps and talk to/try to convince players to play for their university
-Players submit recruiting forms on teams' websites which sets up a line of communication providing them with information on the program, school, and other such info that may ultimately lead to that player selecting that school
-Coaches call or write letters to players they have seen or heard are good
-Teams invite visiting HS players to come watch practices or games in hopes of convincing them to attend
-Teams often host players during school visits to meet guys on the team, meet the coaches, attend other team events
-Teams have exhibitions, such as Santa Clara's "preview day" where they played UCLA during the same weekend as some sort of University student recruitment effort and had all interested potential players come see their game and meet the coaches.
-Teams hold camps to generate interest in their program
-Some coaches (ie: Steve Dini) are involved in the youth lax programs in their area and get to know players from the youth level, often times bringing them to their college
-Some teams DO have limited influence with their admissions departments and can recommend potential student-athletes for admission or write recommendations on their behalf
These are just a few examples, but I definitely feel that they are all legitimate showings of how many MDIA teams do recruit. CSU's program definitely does speak for itself which is tremendous and it's great if they don't have to do much else. Many other programs that are not so close to the top MDIA teams do rely on recruiting efforts in order to attract good players in the hopes of building legitimate programs like the Michigans, Sonomas, and BYUs.