College Recruiting

Just curious as to how people think the current COVID-19 crisis will impact the class of 2021 grads (as well as younger, perhaps 2022 and even 2023)?

Summer before senior year is a really critical time for college recruiting - if tournaments are postponed or cancelled, what will coaches (and recruits) do and how will they respond?

Parent of a 2021 golfer. We can't visit campus of course, but the son has been in constant contact with the coaches following him. He has had phone interviews with at least one new coach every week since the new NCAA rules.

TBH you just have to adapt and overcome!

Good pod that talks about this subject: 5 Under with Roger Knickhttps://juniorgolfhub.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-state-of-golf-according-to-the-ncaa/

Current college golfers now may get an extra year of eligibility. It will be interesting to see how this affects recruiting.

One thing not mentioned is how this shutdown effects the pga and LPGA tours. The top players all have enough money and contracts to weather the storm the bottom players may not be able to continue on tour financially this is especially true on the LPGA.

so my guess is a lot of the top amateurs who are in college will see this as a perfect time to go pro to fill the void if that happens. I think we see more full time scholarships offered because of financial realities especially for girls.

I don’t think it changed much as far as who they recruit it is not like they have no clue who they want to recruit this year.

This hurts kids who have greatly improved over the last year as they don’t have way to showcase themselves.

This seems like it would negatively impact HS class of 2021 recruits?

Don't quote me but I thought I heard they were talking about increasing the amount of scholarships each program could give to get through this asterisk year.

If every college player gets an extra year of eligibility, then it could theoretically impact recruiting for HS classes 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024(?)

I would think HS 2020 seniors who are looking to find a team or get recruited late also have a lot less chance of landing somewhere?

What a mess

There is a real downside here for the 2020 class and possibly 2021 (maybe even 2022) with potential red-shirting if seniors get to stay a year.

It seems that the eligibility extension (which will likely pass) was announced as a possibility before they really thought about it. Not sure if colleges would pay for seniors to stay on thus not pay for freshman - or pay for freshman and let seniors stay on if they can pay their own way.. - or - if they will pay for both but that would cost some colleges almost $1m to do. Presumably at least golf programs have managed to save some funds on not having to travel, enter tournaments etc. But larger sports like basketball and baseball will have lost out on ticket and other sales so all in all probably down $. Practically speaking, seniors who stay on will have to compete for the same jobs the following year with a larger group of graduates and may have to give up on lost job opportunities if they stay on a year at college, not ideal.

If the extra year eligibility happens, the class of 2021 will have fewer opportunities to go to their preferred schools. Lower D1 and all D2 schools could be strengthened

My understanding is that the class of 2021 is a weak class, relative to the strong 2019 and super strong 2020 HS classes.

My kid is already thinking about the extra year and how to go about earning a Masters within the time frame.

It will allow coaches to weed out some current players by not renewing scholarships.

The coach for my kids team has already posted farewells, congratulations, have a nice life etc. for the current seniors. I’m not sure if that is a sign for them to move on or not. My kid seems to think so when I brought it up, even though one of the seniors was the #1 player on the squad.

BTW, regarding my kid and the extra year and obtaining a Masters is no way me trying to “flex” or humble brag my kid.

I was surprised when it was brought up and while I am supportive, I am this first to recognize that academics and motivation is not my kid’s strongest area.

I think College Coaches are scrambling. I really see the Virus effecting how they handle and recruit International Students. I can really see the International students going home and not being to get back into the states. Honestly, that is not a bad thing. I believe American Universities should only be able to give Athletic scholarships to American players anyway.

I see AJGA tournaments and how people play in them being greatly effected. I see them becoming more regional again rather than a bunch of people flying all over the country to play. Why would anyone want to get on a plane to play and why would anyone want to play with someone that has been on a plane?

2020 HS Seniors that have committed are going to need to up their communication with their coach. A good coach that has recruited a kid should be proactive in their approach to discussing aid. Those 2020 grads that are still looking for a spot will most likely need to expand their search to D2, D3, etc. Committed kids should expect less aid and less playing time based off of how many seniors opt to stay and play another year. If your junior golfer was aiming to play and 3 seniors come back it might be time to open up your recruiting again.

2021 grads should continue to make the calls, send the emails, etc. to gain interest. Without tournaments to showcase it's going to come down to their online videos and overall communication. However, this class probably has it the worst since they should have already been through most of this process. If they were hoping to peak right now it's probably too late. If they had peaked last year and up until the virus hit they may be in a good position.

2022 and 2023 grads are pretty well screwed since most May & June camps will likely be cancelled in addition to many 'World' events. Getting their list together based off of the PING guide and sending interest emails should be happening by now. If I were in this bucket I'd even consider looking at getting help with recruiting from Brandi Jackson or Fore College Golf. They most likely have spoken to coaches and can guide your junior golfer from there.

100% agree with the "2021 grads should continue to make the calls, send the emails, etc. to gain interest. Without tournaments to showcase it's going to come down to their online videos and overall communication."

You basically have to make videos and continue the full court press of communication. Recording my son playing a few holes on our golf simulator via OBS and uploading to youtube. Son has been emailing and talking to coaches daily.

2020 HS players that are “committed” and have signed their LOI have no worries for the next/upcoming school year.

Current college players on scholarship who are not performing could be cut loose.

I believe any player in any sport from anywhere should be able to receive an American athletic scholarship.

That being said, many of the foreign college golfers receive aid from their home countries. So many coaches love International recruits for this reason.

Don’t think this effects 2023 and later much at all.

All of these kids will have plenty of tournaments to play before being recruited and time to impress a college coach.

I think 2022 is in a hard place but still will be okay.

2020/2021 has a much more urgent need unless you are highly ranked. One that are highly ranked say top 100 are in a good position. Some these kids would have fallen in the rankings this spring.

I expect that coaches will just recruit based on ranking and interviews. The issue of rankings and recruited though is another Thread.

Bulk of the high to mid rank 2021 class is spoken for already.

Jerry Haas from Wake Forest discusses recruiting during the COVID-19 pandemic. 11 minutes of pretty informative info. ‎The Golf Shop: Head Golf Coach at Wake Forest – Jerry Haas on Apple Podcasts

Really good listen.

Sounds like college golf programs may be a long term casualty of COVID-19.

I would agree with this.

Would be interesting to see how much of a financial impact each non revenue generating sport has at the different universities. Coaches, travel, equipment, real estate costs, insurance, etc. have to add up faster in some sports than others.

I agree. Understanding a little bit of the costs because I am in the business of athletic products. Football, Track, and Baseball are the most expensive sports at schools. Football is the big money maker at most schools, while baseball is expensive it is also self sustaining or close to it at the collegiate level. Track is expensive when it comes to pole vault pits, high jump pits, long jump pits, replacing track surfaces, hurdles, starting blocks, shot put/discuss pits, javelin, hammer. Keeping up with all of these is a huge expense. Then having to transport all these kids to events is a massive bill. Swimming is an expensive bill because of the upkeep of pools. It isn't cheap to maintain them.

I get that the ASU facility was paid for through large donations but it can't be cheap to keep up. Top tier facilities like this aren't the norm though I'd assume.

Inside the coolest practice facility in college golf, home of Arizona State

coming from somone who is being actively recruited by some smaller d1 and d2 schools its really affecting the recruiting process in fact one of my friends actually lost his offer becuase they needed the money for a returning senior

Did he sign an NLI? I wonder how this works if you sign an NLI?

Yeah

If your friend has a NLI then he is set.

If he signed a LOI that can't take it away unless they ask and he agrees to it.