What "recruiting" actually means

"Recruiting" is just the long conversation between a college program and an athlete's family. It starts with mail, becomes calls, becomes visits, becomes (sometimes) an offer. There are roughly four stages: awareness (coaches know your athlete exists), evaluation (coaches assess fit), interest (coaches initiate real contact), and offer (a scholarship or walk-on spot is on the table). Most athletes don't move past evaluation, and that's not a failure — it's the system working. What matters is honest film, real grades, and a small number of programs that are actually a fit. The rest is noise.