How the pandemic has affected college recruiting

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (TNN) - Imagine dedicating your entire life working toward one goal, and 18 years later, having it possibly taken from you in a matter of weeks.

Like many other areas of society, the world of athletics was rocked by the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s a challenging time to be a student-athlete, especially for those who are still in high school and have dreams of getting recruited to compete at the collegiate level.

College exposure tournaments, official recruiting visits and camps remain on a long list of cancellations and postponements due to the pandemic.

Many student athletes around the country rely on scholarships to pay for their college education. Thanks to the pandemic, a dead period has been put in place for NCAA Division I college recruiting.

The NCAA defines a dead period as a time where “a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools.”

You can see where this would put a damper on recruiting. The good news is, much of the college recruiting process now happens digitally.

For multi-sport athletes, the wrath of covid has affected more than one aspect in their life.

While recruiting, college coaches give scholarships with the expectation that they are losing a group of seniors.

Student-athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility due to covid, resulting in less available scholarship money for incoming freshmen or transfers. For student athletes already in college, they will face no penalty for transferring schools.

College recruiting may never be the same again. If there’s one thing athletes and even coaches can take from this experience, it’s how to adapt and compete no matter the circumstance.

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