During the recruiting process, coaches interact with a LOT of athletes and have tons of evaluations to keep track of. On top of that, they have to make tough decisions between good recruits due to a limited number of roster spots. The amount of work coaches put into the recruiting process is often overlooked, especially for schools who receive a lot of interest. Fortunately, recruiting boards are a tool coaches can use to make the evaluation process easier, and we’re about to find out why

Related: How to Get Noticed and Recruited by College Coaches

What Is a Recruiting Board?
Recruiting boards are a tool to keep recruiting evaluations organized. This gives coaches a big picture of how they rank recruits, whether or not they are deserving of a scholarship, and the actions recruits have taken during the recruiting process. 

Related: The College Coach Whiteboard and Timeline

How Do Coaches Develop Recruiting Boards?
Every coach has their own system, but most coaches develop recruiting boards by making a list of players for each position and ranking them based on how much they want to recruit the athletes to their team. Coaches must also keep in mind how many roster spots are available and usually label that on each position list on the recruiting board. 

Pro tip: Coaches usually include substantially more athletes on their lists compared to roster spots available because they can’t assume that every athlete they want will commit to their school. As a result, coaches must develop a lengthy list to account for the athletes that will not choose their school. Just because you’re on the list doesn’t mean you’ll recieve an offer.

Related: Beware When College Coaches Rearrange the Recruiting Board

Why Are Recruiting Boards Important to Student-Athletes?
Recruiting boards are important to athletes because knowing meaning of the tool to coaches can help an athlete put their best foot forward when showing interest in a certain school. Every coach values a unique set of attributes in an athlete, and the more the players align with those qualities, the more likely they will be high on a coach’s list. Student-athletes should not stress about where a coach ranks them, but knowing that the act of ranking is part of their evaluation can help in presenting yourself in the best way possible.

* Originally published on December 10, 2021, by Dylan Tehada