Ellie* was fifteen when she started to get looks and interest from schools. Her club softball team had started to travel a lot more to games and tournaments which widened the range of coaches that saw Ellie play.

The first coach who showed genuine interest was a Division I assistant coach who was from a school across the country. This coach seemed to follow Ellie's team everywhere they went. Her team played in Georgia, Colorado, Florida, and California and this coach was at every inning of every single game no matter where in the country her team was.

This assistant coach told Ellie's club coaches that he was really interested and would hand Ellie his business cards after her games. This was Ellie's first time getting interest from a big-time school, so she was super excited because it really seemed like an offer was going to come out of this.

The assistant coach even followed Ellie's team to nationals in California. Again, the coach was at every inning of every game that her team played. At the end of the tournament, the coach went up to Ellie and her club coach and told her to give him a call when she got home. He told her that he would introduce her to the head coach over the phone and they would chat about getting her to the school for an unofficial visit. Ellie was of course so excited and told him that she would call as soon as she got home.

A week later, Ellie called the assistant coach and during the call, he conferenced in the head coach to the call. The head coach immediately asked the assistant coach to leave the call. Ellie had never seen or talked to the head coach so this was her very first interaction with him. As soon as the assistant left the call, the head coach said to Ellie “I'm not sure what my assistant coach has been telling you but we aren't looking for a middle infielder for your class year.” Ellie wasn't even able to get a single word in before the head coach hung up.

Ellie never heard from that coach or school again. They seemed to ghost her immediately after that interaction.

Luckily, Ellie was still early in her recruiting process and she hadn't put all of her eggs in one basket. She ended up getting more offers and she played four years of college softball. However, that one phone call scarred Ellie for the rest of her recruiting process. She didn't know if a coach was actually serious about her until she saw her offers in writing.

Interacting with the head coach while being recruited is advised. This includes outgoing/incoming phone calls, text messages, emails, social media messages, face-to-face contact, and any other form of correspondence. You can't be certain about interest levels from colleges until you talk with the big dog.

*Name changed for anonymity.