Ask The Experts
Roundtable: Coaches On Off-Court Factors in Recruiting Part II
by James Hill, 11 July 2016
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Last month, we talked with our panel of college coaches how aspects other than on-court play factor into recruiting. College tennis players have to deal with many things during their careers. Not only do they have to perform on the court, but they have to handle academics and work with their coaches and teammates. Each player is also a representatives of his or her institution.
More coaches responded than we could fit into one article, and so today we present more answers to the following questions:
Q) What off-court qualities do you look for in a recruit? What is important to you, as a coach, concerning the demeanor and attitude of a recruit?
Brian Boland, head coach, Virginia Men
We pride ourselves on being a team that focuses on character and growth mindset. Our culture is based on developing and strengthening the character of our players and making them into the best leaders they can be - in whatever they choose to do. With that being said, we find character to be the most important aspect of looking at recruits. We want guys who are eager to develop on and off the court. We also understand that recruits are still 17 or 18 years old. They have lots to learn, so we don't expect perfect recruits who do everything well. However, we do look for a strong base where you can tell that a recruit is eager to learn, a team player, and simply someone who is trying to get the most out of themselves.
Demeanor and attitude are obviously important, but they do not necessarily have to be critical for a couple of reasons. First, everyone has a different timeline; this means everyone grows up and develops in different stages of their lives. Many of my former players had a poor demeanor on the court when they were 17, but some of them would end up being the most passionate, huge team players, and awesome competitors during their time as student-athletes. The other part that is important to understand is that when you watch a recruit play, you never know what is happening behind the scenes and why things might phase him that much. Basically, what I am saying is that it is hard to judge a recruit off of one visit - or having watched one match.
This is one of the reasons we try to invest and spend as much time as possible on the phone and in person with recruits within the allowable NCAA rules. We get a good indication what of his demeanor/attitude are on a daily basis. This understanding will give us a great indication of whether or not he will be a good fit for our culture and what we are trying to do.
