Recruiting is about to EXPLODE in August (Plus The D1 Recruiting Calendar)

In today's episode, we're going to be talking about what to expect Aug. 1 as a high school baseball recruit and the recruiting calendar. And what does the contact period mean, the quiet period mean, the dead period, the shutdown period. And when all that happens, I'm going to pull up a calendar, we're going to go over all of that. And if you're new to my channel, my name is Alex Swenson. I'm A former Division 1 college coach, scout and recruiter with 11 years of experience. And now what I do is help high school and athletes and their parents navigate this college recruiting process and put them in the best possible position to play at the next level. And if you get any value from this video, please smash that, like, button that thumbs up right down here and subscribe to my channel. You'll get a weekly video of recruiting to help put yourself in the best possible position. You could also listen on the podcast. Would love that. Listen in the car and on the go. Maybe when you're going to games or events or recruiting events, anything like that. And if you're interested in learning more, maybe possibly working with me, you can go to my website down below in the description. So let's dive into August 1st. And this is a really healthy rule that's pretty new as of this recording. So this was implemented in 2023. We're a year out from that now. And before this rule for baseball in particular, man, coaches can go and recruit and offer players as early as we were seeing commitments like seventh and eighth grade, just kind of crazy. Well, now they cannot do that. They can only offer high school baseball players that are rising into their junior year. So finishing up sophomore year and rising into their junior year August 1st. Okay? So this August 1st coach can start initiating contact with rising juniors on August 1st. They can talk to you at camps, just not about recruiting. So there is a little bit of a gray area with all of this. Okay? And now college coaches can talk to you at camps before August 1, even show you around if it's part of the camp. Okay. They just can't really discuss much recruiting activities or offer you definitely can't offer you before August 1st. So a lot of players, some guys in my program are going to get calls August 1st with offers, which is really, really exciting. Now, not everybody is going to get calls August 1st. And I want to emphasize it, just because you don't get a call August 1st or the first couple weeks of August 1st doesn't mean you're not going to be recruited to play at the next level. This honestly usually are for the elite athletes and don't take that personally. I probably wouldn't have gotten a call August 1st. I was kind of a late bloomer. And there's still plenty of opportunities as you go through this and there will be plenty of offers. I would say this is a guess that man, anywhere from 10 to 20% of the total commits that are going to happen or will happen August 1st in that first week. So there's like hey there, 80 to 90% of the commits that will happen to play at the next level will happen way after August 1st. It's just, hey, it's the start of things. Now these guys, college coaches, the kids that are getting calls August 1st, these coaches that watch them, they have evaluated them, they've even talked to them maybe at camps and things like that and they're ready to move. Okay, so want to emphasize just because you do not get an offer August 1st or a call August 1st doesn't mean you're not going to be recruited now. Also if you are an athlete and I have discussions with my guys that are talking about this, they get offers and we haven't seen the campus yet. We are going to definitely want to do that. You don't want to accept an offer if you've never been on campus to get a feel. This is a good fit for you. This is a two way street. Not just the coaches, but the athlete as well. It needs to be a good fit. Not just athletically, not just for the baseball program, but academically, geographically, socially, campus feel, all of that. That's really, really important and financially as we go through this. So I say all that now. Unofficial and official visits can't happen September 1st. So unofficial visits basically just means that the coaches invite you, you need to pay your way. All right? And they're going to show you around the baseball facility and the just usually the campus in general. They'll show you around, but you are going to be paying your way. An official visit is where they'll pay for everything. But that can't start until September 1st. So just something to be aware of as we go through this. Also just a reminder, don't get discouraged if you don't get a call or an offer August 1st, this will go into. So if you're a rising junior, this will go into late junior year, into fall of senior year. A lot happens. The recruiting process in ways have slowed down because of this new rule. In a healthy way, you just need to make sure you're proactive. To don't sit back and just hope somebody finds you, because hope is not a good strategy. You want to be proactive going through this now with that said, let's get into the recruiting calendar and we are approaching August 1st. As of this recording, we are July 2024. We are in the green, aka the contact period, until August 18th of 2024. And then we get into the quiet period. What does it, the quiet period mean? It means that college coaches cannot leave their campus to go and recruit athletes at showcases or recruiting events or tournaments like that. They can, all right, bring you on campus. You can go to a camp on campus. Think of them as like they got to sit at their campus and watch players from there. They can't go anywhere else. They could also bring you on and walk you around. They just can't leave to go recruit athletes. The contact period. They are allowed to go out and recruit. And again, the quiet period. This is a very big misconception. Quiet period doesn't mean that they can't contact you. They can contact you, call you, all of that, especially if you are a rising Junior past August 1st. They can contact you really at any time other than the shutdown period. Okay, so I bring this up is we want to make sure we are not going to third party showcases or tournaments that are in the quiet period because no college coaches will be there. If we are considering going to showcases in camps, make sure they are in the contact period because now we know that college coaches are allowed to be there. Okay, so we'll be in the quiet period from the 19th of August to September 12th. Then we'll be in the contact period in the fall, which is September 13th all the way through October 13th. So a month. Then we go into the quiet period for a while on October 14th all the way essentially until March 1st of 2025. That doesn't mean that recruiting stops by any means. It just means that really they can only recruit see you in person on their campus, whether they are offering you a visit, an unofficial or official visit, or at a camp. Camps are really big during this time. From the October 14th all the way into really, I would say January, February, they're getting ready for their season there. And then the shutdown period, nothing's really going on. They can't see you, they can't talk to you during that period. The dead period is they can contact you. They just can't see you face to face essentially there. So wanted to make sure that was clear. Biggest reason I want you to understand the recruiting calendar is to make sure that you're not going to events that are going to waste your time. All right? So if you're going to go to events, just make sure it's in the contact period. If you've got any questions, let me know. And I look forward to seeing you in the next video. Take care.