A former Division I coach with 11 years of recruiting experience shows athletes exactly how to text back when college coaches reach out. He gives sample responses, stresses replying fast, and warns against ignoring messages or taking days to answer.
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When a college coach texts you, here's exactly what to say. Be ready, be prepared, think ahead of what these college coaches want, which we're going to talk about here in a second. As a former D1 coach, scout, and recruiter with 11 years of experience, I've had thousands of conversations via text, and then eventually phone calls, and eventually in person on campus. And then we get to the offer, which is super exciting. But there's nothing like losing momentum with an athlete when you might get ghosted as a coach, or we get one-word replies, and it's hard to get information from the athlete. It takes days, if you will. So be prepared, be ready to go. And a text is usually— the first text is usually an introduction. They're reaching out to you for the first time in a real personal way. So when you reply back to them, be enthusiastic about them. Say, hey coach, thanks so much for reaching out. I'm really interested in learning more about your school, do you have any time this week to hop on a call? When they reply back with that yes, all right, give them a time and a date, exact time and date, so there's no guessing involved. And other times they might be asking for a schedule. Get your schedule to them right away so they can come watch you play. So be enthusiastic and make sure that you are timely. When you get it, think about what you want to say, of course, but don't wait 24 hours, 48 hours, or 3 or 4 days, and definitely don't ghost a coach. Good luck.
