Ivy League Athletic Recruiting Resource Hub
If you’re looking for information on how to be recruited by an Ivy League athletics program or that of another elite academic institution, you’ve come to the right place. At Command Education, we believe in the power of information and want all those interested in learning about the complex world of athletic recruiting to have their questions answered.
We know how mystifying the recruitment process can be because many of our mentors once went through it themselves. Despite being extensively written and talked about, the essential steps to securing a spot on a college team are still widely misunderstood. Many of the beliefs we find to be most damaging to a student’s chances of being recruited come from a lack of access to up-to-date, accurate information. Word-of-mouth advice and tips that “worked for previous athletes” are often incomplete, circumstantial, and easily misinterpreted; despite being well-intentioned, this advice can prove detrimental to a student’s prospects in the long run.
Command Athletics® is a specialized program at Command Education, designed by former student-athletes from top universities, to offer individualized assistance to high school student-athletes as they navigate the complex, and often stressful, college recruitment process. Our approach complements our Premier Roadmap Package® to ensure that your student is being optimally positioned within the recruiting landscape without neglecting any of the academic aspects of their application profile. We offer personalized guidance and strategic counseling tailored to each athlete’s needs. Our services help students become confident, well-rounded student-athletes prepared to be recruited by a top college, who thrive in their sport and in the classroom once on campus.
If you are hoping to learn about recruiting, this resource page is a great place to start!
List of Command Education’s Top Picks for Student-Athletes
Division 1
- Stanford University
- UCLA
- Duke University
- Princeton University
- University of Virginia
- UC Berkeley
- Harvard University
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Michigan
- The University of Texas
at Austin
Division 3
- MIT
- John Hopkins University
- University of Chicago
- Amherst College
- Williams College
- Emory University
- Carnegie Mellon
- Tufts University
- Washington University
- NYU
Sports Resume Development
The sports resume’s content will differ slightly for each sport, but be sure to include:
- A recent photo
- Your contact information
- Your school & club coaches’ contact information
- Standardized test scores and GPA
- Athletic bio/measurables
- Highlights/awards
- Link to highlight video/online profile
Sports Resume Development
You’re probably familiar with the concept of submitting a resume as a standard component of a job application. You may already have an up-to-date resume and may already be familiar with the best practices and standards necessary to get your application noticed. However, you are likely less familiar with the concept of creating a sports resume. This single-page document is an important part of the recruiting process.It gives college coaches the ability to review all relevant information about you in one easy place. Not to mention, the photo you include will help them to recognize you at competitions and visualize you as a part of their team.
The sports resume’s content will differ slightly for each sport, but be sure to include:
- A recent photo
- Your contact information
- Your school & club coaches’ contact information
- Standardized test scores and GPA
- Athletic bio/measurables
- Highlights/awards
- Link to highlight video/online profile
Recruitment Profile Building
Questionnaires
Highlight Reel Videos
Athletes are increasingly being recruited based on their performance in video compilations. Putting together a reel that can be publicly viewed and shared is a great way to increase your visibility and chances of getting noticed. It also allows coaches to verify your abilities and see if your skill set fits what they are looking for. While the video’s content varies slightly by sport, here are some things to keep in mind as you compile your video:
- Keep your video short (3 min max)
- Focus on your strengths, but demonstrate varied skills
- Label each clip with a description
- Circle/highlight yourself if in a group
- Include a title page with your bio info
- Make sure your video quality is high
- Post your video to Youtube as well as to your recruiting profiles
For more information about highlight videos, visit NCSA.
NCAA Regulations
The NCAA is notorious for having overly complicated and far-reaching rules regarding student-athletes. However, even recruits who are yet to be officially NCAA student-athletes are beholden to these many rules and bylaws.
For the most up to date rules and regulations, visit the NCSA website here
College List Building
The key to building a balanced college list is to start by casting a wide net and to leave yourself open to the possibility of being recruited by schools you aren’t initially interested in. Though you’ll eventually, narrow your list down to about 12 serious candidates, you don’t want to cross any schools off your list too early. It’s best to start by seeing where you stand with the coaches at your top schools, but if you fail to get responses or receive negative feedback, you should quickly adjust your strategy and target universities with programs that recruit athletes of your caliber.
Another common mistake is failing to have serious conversations about how important playing sports in college is to you until it’s too late. This is a very personal decision, but we recommend that students have 3 reach schools on their college lists that satisfy their academic desires even if they are unable to play sports there.
Showcase and Event Identification
No matter how skilled you are at your sport, to get recruited, you will have to work hard to put yourself in front of college coaches. Getting seen is about when and where you play, and there’s some strategy involved in choosing which events you attend (especially when many of them occur simultaneously). Here are a few tips that can help you make some of these tough decisions and ensure the events/camps you attend are worth your time and money.
- Always look at which coaches are planning to attend an event. The host is unimportant, but the list of coaches that will be present is.
- Make sure you’re healthy and ready to perform. Sometimes time is better spent training/improving before trying to get exposure. If you’re unsure you should discuss whether you play or train with your coach to see where your game is currently at.
- Communicate with as many coaches before registering for an event to let them know you’ll be there and to confirm that they will also be in attendance.
- Don’t play out of your league. You don’t want to go to an event and stack up against peers who are much more advanced than you are.
- Determine whether your peers are attending this event as a way to gauge whether it’s important in your area.
- Stand out with your play as much as with your conduct, attitude, and maturity.
Initial Coach Contact
Your email should include the following information:
- Introduction with general academic bio & test scores / relevant sports information
- Passage expressing interest in the school and evidence you’ve done a bit of research on the university and athletics program
- Attach Sports Resume
- Link to highlight video
- Call to action such as, “I look forward to speaking with you when time allows ”
Remember to keep your email fairly short and concise. Coaches are busy people and appreciate it when athletes respect their time.
Recruitment Profile Building
Questionnaires
Highlight Reel Videos
Athletes are increasingly being recruited based on their performance in video compilations. Putting together a reel that can be publicly viewed and shared is a great way to increase your visibility and chances of getting noticed. It also allows coaches to verify your abilities and see if your skill set fits what they are looking for. While the video’s content varies slightly by sport, here are some things to keep in mind as you compile your video:
- Keep your video short (3 min max)
- Focus on your strengths, but demonstrate varied skills
- Label each clip with a description
- Circle/highlight yourself if in a group
- Include a title page with your bio info
- Make sure your video quality is high
- Post your video to Youtube as well as to your recruiting profiles
For more information about highlight videos, visit NCSA.
NCAA Regulations
The NCAA is notorious for having overly complicated and far-reaching rules regarding student-athletes. However, even recruits who are yet to be officially NCAA student-athletes are beholden to these many rules and bylaws.
For the most up to date rules and regulations, visit the NCSA website here
College List Building
The key to building a balanced college list is to start by casting a wide net and to leave yourself open to the possibility of being recruited by schools you aren’t initially interested in. Though you’ll eventually, narrow your list down to about 12 serious candidates, you don’t want to cross any schools off your list too early. It’s best to start by seeing where you stand with the coaches at your top schools, but if you fail to get responses or receive negative feedback, you should quickly adjust your strategy and target universities with programs that recruit athletes of your caliber.
Another common mistake is failing to have serious conversations about how important playing sports in college is to you until it’s too late. This is a very personal decision, but we recommend that students have 3 reach schools on their college lists that satisfy their academic desires even if they are unable to play sports there.
Showcase and Event Identification
- Always look at which coaches are planning to attend an event. The host is unimportant, but the list of coaches that will be present is.
- Make sure you’re healthy and ready to perform. Sometimes time is better spent training/improving before trying to get exposure. If you’re unsure you should discuss whether you play or train with your coach to see where your game is currently at.
- Communicate with as many coaches before registering for an event to let them know you’ll be there and to confirm that they will also be in attendance.
- Don’t play out of your league. You don’t want to go to an event and stack up against peers who are much more advanced than you are.
- Determine whether your peers are attending this event as a way to gauge whether it’s important in your area.
- Stand out with your play as much as with your conduct, attitude, and maturity.
Initial Coach Contact
Your email should include the following information:
- Introduction with general academic bio & test scores / relevant sports information
- Passage expressing interest in the school and evidence you’ve done a bit of research on the university and athletics program
- Attach Sports Resume
- Link to highlight video
- Call to action such as, “I look forward to speaking with you when time allows ”
Remember to keep your email fairly short and concise. Coaches are busy people and appreciate it when athletes respect their time.
Testing
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FAQs
How do Scholarships work?
There are many things to know when discussing athletic scholarships, but here are a few helpful facts that can help clear things up:
- Ivy League schools DO NOT offer athletic scholarships. Period.
- D3 schools do not offer athletic scholarships either. However, a majority of student-athletes receive other forms of merit-based aid. D1 and D2 schools are the only programs that can offer athletic scholarships.
- “Full Rides” are very uncommon. Each D1 sport has an allotment of scholarships they cannot exceed (for example, baseball has 11.7 scholarships to give and a 35-man roster). This means that scholarships are splintered up and spread amongst the team so that most athletes at least receive some aid. Only top recruits who would not otherwise be able to attend the school in question are offered complete scholarships.
- Athletes should talk to coaches to get a better understanding of the scholarship landscape at individual schools.
For a list of scholarship allotments by sport, click here.
What is a verbal commitment?
According to the NCAA:
“A verbal commitment happens when a college-bound student-athlete verbally agrees to play sports for a college before he or she signs or is eligible to sign a National Letter of Intent. The commitment is not binding on the student-athlete or the school and can be made at any time.”
The timing of verbal commitments varies by sport, but the NCAA recently conducted a helpful study to identify recruiting trends for each sport that can be found here. for the typical commitment time for your sport. When a student-athlete officially commits to attend a Division I or II college, he or she signs a National Letter of Intent, agreeing to attend that school for one academic year.”
When can I talk to coaches?
The NCAA has recently changed their rules regarding communication. For the most up-to-date information visit the NCSA recruiting rules page.
What is the difference between official and unofficial visits?
Official and Unofficial visits are some of the most fun parts of the recruiting process. This is when you actually get to go visit campus (could be virtual due to Covid-19), meet the coaches and team, and get a true sense of a program.
Official Visits:
- Recruits can take only one official visit per school
- Each official visit may be up to 48 hours long, or the span of one weekend
- Parents are invited to join athletes on official visits
- The school can pay for three meals per day and tickets to a home sports match.
- Could be a good time to commit to a school
Unofficial visits:
- Unofficial visits are any visits paid for entirely by a recruit’s family.
- Cannot schedule them with the coach
- Can’t talk about recruiting with the coach if you see him/her on campus