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As Connecticut College prepares to welcome the class of 2027 to campus this fall, a sizable number of these students have been recruited to become members of one of the school’s 28 varsity athletics teams. Though all varsity athletics teams are a part of the school’s athletic department, each team on campus has different methods of recruiting in order to create their team. As such, The College Voice has interviewed many of the college’s coaches to bring together a more transparent picture of the recruiting process.
Recruited student-athletes, like other students, consider factors such as academic opportunities, campus life, and financial compatibility of the school before committing. However, these student-athletes must also consider other athletic factors such as the specific team’s program vision, athletic resources, and team culture which the school’s team itself presents over a recruitment process before making a decision to commit.
As most of the college’s varsity athletics teams compete in the NCAA* (National Collegiate Athletic Association), the recruitment process is conducted in accordance with NCAA guidelines. These guidelines intend to ensure the recruiting process is as fair as it can be for NCAA colleges and universities and protect high school student-athletes. For example, these guidelines prevent coaches from giving players and their families cash to sway players to commit to their program.
As a NCAA Division III school, Conn’s coaches are given more lenient recruiting guidelines in comparison to those given to Division I or II coaches. For example, prospective DIII recruits may make as many official visits to different DIII schools as they wish. In contrast, recruits may only make five official visits to different Division I schools. However, all coaches of all divisions must follow these guidelines as violations can result in punishment for teams and even recruited athletes.
While official visits to the college may only begin after January 1st of the recruit’s junior year due to NCAA regulations, the recruitment process has started long before for many teams on campus. Through information gathered from databases and attending tournaments, coaches are able to begin identifying and reaching out to prospective recruits. “Most high school aged swimmers upload their times into the SwimCloud database where college coaches can then access about 20,000 plus athletes’ statistics including contact information,” said Men’s Head Swim and Dive Coach Marc Benvenuti.
It is not uncommon for teams to evaluate and reach out to a large number of potential recruits. “Initially I target about 2000 athletes whose times would be competitive in the NESCAC and Division III…from there, we get in touch with as many as possible and start the recruiting process,” said Benvenuti. “We typically contact as many as 500 prospective student athletes over a 1-2 year period,” said Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tim Sweeney. “Of this group we’ll often have anywhere from 30-50 apply to the school. In the end, we usually have anywhere from 3-6 student athletes decide that Conn is the place for them.”
While prospective student-athletes may kickstart the recruiting process themselves by filling out recruiting forms, many teams on campus rely more on coach-initiated recruiting. “I would say that most of the recruiting is initiated by our staff introducing Connecticut College to athletes after we see them play at camps, showcases or tournaments,” said Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Josh Edmed. Similarly, the Men’s Basketball team does most of the initialization in recruiting. “Actually, the bulk of our recruiting is “coach” initiated, both via contacts that the coaching staff has with HS and Club coaches across the country, as well as attending numerous tournaments in the summer, fall, winter & spring,” said Sweeney.
“Sometimes students will reach out & we will recruit them, but it’s not too frequent of an occurrence.
However, other teams on campus tend to utilize student-initialized recruiting in combination to coach-initialized recruitment. “I find our players in a combination of players reaching out, myself reaching out, tennis showcases, recruiting websites, and junior coaches reaching out regarding players,” said Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach Jakob Klaeson. The Squash team practices a similar method of recruiting. “I would say it’s about 50/50,” said Head Men’s and Women’s Squash Coach Scott Brown. “I have generally reached out to our top recruits.”
In addition to an individual’s athletic skill, many coaches at the College are also highly attentive to the character of potential recruits. “I am always looking at the player’s character and values before looking at their tennis skills,” said Klaeson. “Being able to fit with the current team’s identity/character is the key to success for us.”
Following the evaluation process, coaches reach out to prospective student-athletes to learn more about them. “The timeline can differ from 18 months to 3-4 weeks…many emails, phone calls, texts, google meets, and video watching go into the process” said Klaeson.
“The recruiting process can be very long and involves numerous things,” said Edmed. “A brief outline involves both athletic and character evaluations, getting to know the family, club coaches and high school coaches, connecting the recruit with members of our team, arranging visits to campus and visits to see them play in person and dozens of direct connections (zoom, facetime, text, email) to learn as much as we can about the individual.”
Although many teams on campus tend to have a large number of athletes from the local area, geography is not a key factor in the recruiting process for coaches. Most teams recruit nationally and are continuously seeking to expand their geographical range. “40% of our players are from Connecticut and we additionally have players from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York,” said Brown. “However, I am trying to expand upon where we recruit from…this coming year we will have a male player from Colombia and a female player from California!”
While it may seem surprising, most of the College’s teams compete with teams across all NCAA divisions. Many coaches focus on the unique benefits of the school and the program to compete against division one, division two, division three, and other NESCAC schools. “We compete amongst all the levels of the NCAA and within the NESCAC by really trying to show our prospective students what a Conn education can do for them in a holistic way,” said Sweeney. “To be a CC student is a special opportunity, and we highlight how the personal touch & sense of community here at Conn can help a student not only during their 4 years on campus, but hopefully for the 40-50 years after they leave!”
*Squash and sailing are non-NCAA sports and conform to College Squash Association (CSA) and Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) recruiting rules
