How to Get Recruited
Our founder, Karl Barkley, shares his D3 recruiting story and advice for recruits
Karl Barkley, our founder (!) and a former D3 athlete, joined D3Datacast this past week to talk all things D3 recruiting and share his own D3 journey.
There were tons of fun D3 anecdotes, including how D3Direct was started, but here were 5 of our favorite takeaways from the wide-ranging conversation 🖐
How to Get Recruited feat. D3Direct’s Karl Barkley
1. Visit Campus
Before you commit to a school, every recruit should try to do an overnight visit on campus. Being there in person allows you to assess the:
Coach
Players & team culture
Campus Community
You may love the coach as a recruiter, you may love the school on paper, but seeing how you fit with the players and with the campus community can be telling.
Beyond that, seeing what the weather is like during your season (especially if you play a winter sport) provides valuable insights.
Do’s & Don’ts for a college visit 👇
2. Grades Matter
“If you have good grades and you’re an easy admit to the school, you make the coach’s life so much easier - especially at a D3 school.”
And making it easier for a coach to recruit you is rarely a bad thing.
For more on how your grades impact D3 Financial Aid, check this out:
3. Body Language Can Get You Recruited…or Un-recruited
“Maybe you don’t have your best game…you go out there and you’re 0-5 from the field to start the game. If you walk back to the bench and you’re pouting, you have your head down, you don’t give people high-fives when you come off the court, your coach tries to say something to you and you ignore them - that will get un-recruited faster than anything.
Just as much as [coaches] don’t want to deal with someone who can’t handle the school work or is going to be trouble for them off the court, they don’t want someone who will be a nuisance for them on the court either.”
Remember this as you go to recruiting camps or play at live period events this Summer. It isn’t always your on court play that will get you an offer.
4. Things to do BEFORE Contacting Coaches
“It is easy when you get to the end of the recruiting process and you don’t have an offer to [tell a coach] - ‘I’m really interested in your school’. But it takes a different level of work to have, gone to their website, filled out their questionnaire, emailed a coach, gone to an admissions session, visited campus - all things that are recorded in your [applicant] profile along the way and are ways off the court that a recruit…can make it more likely that they’re going to get into a school that they want.”
5. Think Beyond Your Sport
“Look at a school for the merits of the school. Athletics are a bonus - nothing on that front is guaranteed in terms of your body, the coaching situation, and so much can change over the course of those four years.
It is extremely important that kids like where they are, especially when sports aren’t going well…having a social environment, having classes or a major that you’re excited about, on-campus events & clubs, being in an area that you like…think about the entire experience holistically.”
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