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Jul. 6—With the introduction of unlimited NCAA transfers two years ago and other rapid changes coming to college athletics, the recruitment of high school athletes in smaller, non-revenue sports has become more difficult than ever, said several longtime local high school coaches.
With smaller rosters, there are fewer opportunities for high school athletes to attend Division I programs directly out of high school as colleges turn their attention to older, more experienced players who enter the portal.
The recruiting process is also taking much longer as colleges await decisions from those portal athletes.
"Football will always be football," said longtime Wayne High School track coach Mike Fernandez. "I think they're going to get their fair share of recruits just because of the dynamic of that sport, but the smaller sports, like us, it has really affected probably the ones that aren't state champions, the ones that are state qualifiers.
"I don't know, in let's say five or 10 years, how it will be, if it'll change or not, but as of now, I got to think it's hurting high school kids more now than before, than ever, really."
College coaches are still recruiting high school players, said Lakota East boys basketball coach Clint Adkins, but not to the level at which they once did.
"For these kids, especially at younger ages, at one point in time, I think college coaches were on kids even when they were freshmen and sophomores," Adkins said. "These coaches are prioritizing seniors to be, but more than anything, the transfer portal. I've talked to a number of coaches who, that's really all they're looking for, and at the end of the day, you can't blame them — their job's on the line. Whether you bring in an 18-year-old or a 21-year-old at the end of the year, those kids can leave, right? So in this situation a college coach going, 'Hey, a 21-year-old or an 18-year-old, which am I gonna bring in?' It makes sense to bring in the 21-year-old because typically they're physically mature, academically maybe a little bit more mature and more ready for the college game.
"You're just seeing smaller classes and less opportunities for high school kids across the board to get full ride scholarships compared to even just five years ago."
With less high school athletes getting looks at the Division I level, those athletes are now choosing to start at the D-II level where there is more opportunity for playing time.
"From an economic standpoint if you're really trying to maximize yourself and make as much as you can in the NIL world, it makes sense to go somewhere where you can play because the transfer portal is all about numbers, right?" Adkins said. "So when they're looking at these kids, you know, they can only vet the process so much, so whether they want to say how many points a game you're averaging rebounds, you know your efficiency, things of that nature. You know if you go to a specific school and you never play well, you're either going to stay at that school or it becomes harder for you to transfer, and if you do, you probably transfer down, as opposed to transferring to a school that's at that specific level."
Win now
Several rule changes made by the NCAA for the 2025-26 school year affected recruiting. The changes included:
* Division I schools are able to offer scholarships to every athlete on their roster, eliminating sport-specific limits.
* The NCAA also introduced roster limits to college sports. Previously, sports like baseball and softball would have up to 12 scholarships to offer players — those scholarships would typically be divided in half or smaller to allow programs to maximize the number of players they could bring to a certain school. However, in some sports, the rosters have gotten smaller, such as track, which allows 45 athletes per team. In the past, programs could carry nearly double that number.
* All sports are now classified as equivalency sports, which allows schools to offer partial scholarships. In the past, certain sports such as football and volleyball were only allowed to offer full scholarships.
* Schools can now offer to share up to $20.5M in direct payments to student-athletes; however, it's up to the schools to decide how that money is shared.
* After a court ruling in Ohio deemed previous rules violated antitrust laws, the NCAA put new rules into place allowing unlimited transfers.
* The NCAA also enacted a five-in-five rule that allows student-athletes five calendar years to complete four seasons of competition. The five-year clock generally starts when they enroll full time at a college. The NCAA also eliminated medical hardship waivers as part of the new rules.
Many of these changes — especially the transfer portal — have made recruiting more difficult for high school athletes.
"I think these college coaches are going towards more just the portal now, because they don't want to per se develop that kid," Fernandez said. "They need to win now, and so they're going to the college portal more and more, which now opens it up for the Division II, Division III and NAIA schools to get the kids that they normally never used to get, because now it kind of opens the door up for those type of kids.
"Unless you are an elite of the elite athlete now, chances are they're going to (recruit) the portal before they try to recruit you," Fernandez said.
College baseball teams who previously recruited up to 15 freshmen are now recruiting classes between five and seven players, said longtime Kenton Ridge coach Aaron Shaffer.
"They're looking for those plug and play kind of transfers in the portal, guys that have already shown production at the college level," Shaffer said. "I think they kind of see it as more of a lower risk, and they're more mature, whether it's mentally, physically, compared to some of those 18-year-old guys, so we are seeing it. We're always just telling our guys the biggest thing for them is just finding that right fit."
Many of Shaffer's players are now looking at smaller schools, especially junior colleges, that may be a better fit and help them play at larger schools in the future, he said.
"That's a viable path now for kids that gives them a lot of flexibility, and, and some of these JUCO programs are really, really good," Shaffer said. "If you look a lot at these D-I rosters they're pulling a lot of these JUCO guys.
"We just really emphasize with our guys, be flexible and find that right fit and find somewhere where you're going to play," Shaffer said. "It's great if you sign on the dotted line to play for a D-I school, but you want to make sure you're going to get an opportunity to play."
There's also value in committing to a school, staying there and earning playing time, Shaffer said. Recent Kenton Ridge grad Logan Fyffe saw limited playing time as a freshman at Missouri State, but earned his way onto the field as a sophomore. He led Conference USA with a .359 batting average and earned first team all-conference honors.
"Some of the guys on his roster were some of those last guys filtering through COVID that were 23, 24 years old, and he's 18," Shaffer said. "That's a big difference. That's five, six years of difference. So you got to be willing to kind of put that time in and kind of work while you wait, but that has kind of made some of the JUCO and some of the D-II schools a little bit more attractive for guys."
Slowing down the process
The transfer portal has also backed up the recruiting process for juniors and seniors hoping to play at the next level. With less spots open, the colleges aren't committing to younger players until they have a chance to scour the portal, said Centerville softball coach Wendell Hutchinson.
"Everything gets backed up," Hutchinson said. "It's not uncommon now for kids to go into their senior year and still get D-I college scholarships. One of the top pitchers in Ohio committed some time over the holidays to the school that she went to, so everyone is going through some sort of delay, unless you're one of the top 10 percenters, I guess is the best way to put it. ... The high school kids are not only fighting the kids in their class, but now they're fighting whatever kid jumps into the transfer portal," Hutchinson said. "It's been a big change in recruiting, and it is not going to get any easier anytime soon."
In the past, college coaches could essentially communicate with athletes at any time. Now, they must wait until Sept. 1 of their junior season before making contact with them, which backs up the recruiting calendar, Hutchinson said.
"I know most people wouldn't agree with this, but I was a fan of the Wild West days, when you could commit when you were in seventh or eighth grade, that way everybody knew where they stood at all times because communication was open," Hutchinson said. "Now you spend so much time absolutely not knowing anything or very little. Then September 1 gets here, and now you've got schools telling you that they're interested in you, and now you have to cram in visits or decisions in a shorter period of time, whereas before you had more information, you can make better, more informed decisions. Now, committing when you're younger, that's always not a great thing, either. There's always pros and cons to everything, but having more information available to you, even if you're younger, was easier for the families. The hardest thing about recruiting right now is families just don't know (where they stand)."
While recruiting is different, it can still be a positive experience, Hutchinson said.
"Playing college softball is difficult, and it doesn't matter what program you're playing at, if the coach that you play for does everything in their power to create a culture and a desire to win a championship and make it to the NCAAs, then that program will be special, and it won't matter while you're there, if it's D-I, D-II, D-III, NAIA or JUCO," Hutchinson said. "If you win a national championship at the D-III level, you'll remember it for the rest of your life. Softball will always be good for the kids. It's just going to be different."
Continue reading...
With smaller rosters, there are fewer opportunities for high school athletes to attend Division I programs directly out of high school as colleges turn their attention to older, more experienced players who enter the portal.
The recruiting process is also taking much longer as colleges await decisions from those portal athletes.
"Football will always be football," said longtime Wayne High School track coach Mike Fernandez. "I think they're going to get their fair share of recruits just because of the dynamic of that sport, but the smaller sports, like us, it has really affected probably the ones that aren't state champions, the ones that are state qualifiers.
"I don't know, in let's say five or 10 years, how it will be, if it'll change or not, but as of now, I got to think it's hurting high school kids more now than before, than ever, really."
College coaches are still recruiting high school players, said Lakota East boys basketball coach Clint Adkins, but not to the level at which they once did.
"For these kids, especially at younger ages, at one point in time, I think college coaches were on kids even when they were freshmen and sophomores," Adkins said. "These coaches are prioritizing seniors to be, but more than anything, the transfer portal. I've talked to a number of coaches who, that's really all they're looking for, and at the end of the day, you can't blame them — their job's on the line. Whether you bring in an 18-year-old or a 21-year-old at the end of the year, those kids can leave, right? So in this situation a college coach going, 'Hey, a 21-year-old or an 18-year-old, which am I gonna bring in?' It makes sense to bring in the 21-year-old because typically they're physically mature, academically maybe a little bit more mature and more ready for the college game.
"You're just seeing smaller classes and less opportunities for high school kids across the board to get full ride scholarships compared to even just five years ago."
With less high school athletes getting looks at the Division I level, those athletes are now choosing to start at the D-II level where there is more opportunity for playing time.
"From an economic standpoint if you're really trying to maximize yourself and make as much as you can in the NIL world, it makes sense to go somewhere where you can play because the transfer portal is all about numbers, right?" Adkins said. "So when they're looking at these kids, you know, they can only vet the process so much, so whether they want to say how many points a game you're averaging rebounds, you know your efficiency, things of that nature. You know if you go to a specific school and you never play well, you're either going to stay at that school or it becomes harder for you to transfer, and if you do, you probably transfer down, as opposed to transferring to a school that's at that specific level."
Win now
Several rule changes made by the NCAA for the 2025-26 school year affected recruiting. The changes included:
* Division I schools are able to offer scholarships to every athlete on their roster, eliminating sport-specific limits.
* The NCAA also introduced roster limits to college sports. Previously, sports like baseball and softball would have up to 12 scholarships to offer players — those scholarships would typically be divided in half or smaller to allow programs to maximize the number of players they could bring to a certain school. However, in some sports, the rosters have gotten smaller, such as track, which allows 45 athletes per team. In the past, programs could carry nearly double that number.
* All sports are now classified as equivalency sports, which allows schools to offer partial scholarships. In the past, certain sports such as football and volleyball were only allowed to offer full scholarships.
* Schools can now offer to share up to $20.5M in direct payments to student-athletes; however, it's up to the schools to decide how that money is shared.
* After a court ruling in Ohio deemed previous rules violated antitrust laws, the NCAA put new rules into place allowing unlimited transfers.
* The NCAA also enacted a five-in-five rule that allows student-athletes five calendar years to complete four seasons of competition. The five-year clock generally starts when they enroll full time at a college. The NCAA also eliminated medical hardship waivers as part of the new rules.
Many of these changes — especially the transfer portal — have made recruiting more difficult for high school athletes.
"I think these college coaches are going towards more just the portal now, because they don't want to per se develop that kid," Fernandez said. "They need to win now, and so they're going to the college portal more and more, which now opens it up for the Division II, Division III and NAIA schools to get the kids that they normally never used to get, because now it kind of opens the door up for those type of kids.
"Unless you are an elite of the elite athlete now, chances are they're going to (recruit) the portal before they try to recruit you," Fernandez said.
College baseball teams who previously recruited up to 15 freshmen are now recruiting classes between five and seven players, said longtime Kenton Ridge coach Aaron Shaffer.
"They're looking for those plug and play kind of transfers in the portal, guys that have already shown production at the college level," Shaffer said. "I think they kind of see it as more of a lower risk, and they're more mature, whether it's mentally, physically, compared to some of those 18-year-old guys, so we are seeing it. We're always just telling our guys the biggest thing for them is just finding that right fit."
Many of Shaffer's players are now looking at smaller schools, especially junior colleges, that may be a better fit and help them play at larger schools in the future, he said.
"That's a viable path now for kids that gives them a lot of flexibility, and, and some of these JUCO programs are really, really good," Shaffer said. "If you look a lot at these D-I rosters they're pulling a lot of these JUCO guys.
"We just really emphasize with our guys, be flexible and find that right fit and find somewhere where you're going to play," Shaffer said. "It's great if you sign on the dotted line to play for a D-I school, but you want to make sure you're going to get an opportunity to play."
There's also value in committing to a school, staying there and earning playing time, Shaffer said. Recent Kenton Ridge grad Logan Fyffe saw limited playing time as a freshman at Missouri State, but earned his way onto the field as a sophomore. He led Conference USA with a .359 batting average and earned first team all-conference honors.
"Some of the guys on his roster were some of those last guys filtering through COVID that were 23, 24 years old, and he's 18," Shaffer said. "That's a big difference. That's five, six years of difference. So you got to be willing to kind of put that time in and kind of work while you wait, but that has kind of made some of the JUCO and some of the D-II schools a little bit more attractive for guys."
Slowing down the process
The transfer portal has also backed up the recruiting process for juniors and seniors hoping to play at the next level. With less spots open, the colleges aren't committing to younger players until they have a chance to scour the portal, said Centerville softball coach Wendell Hutchinson.
"Everything gets backed up," Hutchinson said. "It's not uncommon now for kids to go into their senior year and still get D-I college scholarships. One of the top pitchers in Ohio committed some time over the holidays to the school that she went to, so everyone is going through some sort of delay, unless you're one of the top 10 percenters, I guess is the best way to put it. ... The high school kids are not only fighting the kids in their class, but now they're fighting whatever kid jumps into the transfer portal," Hutchinson said. "It's been a big change in recruiting, and it is not going to get any easier anytime soon."
In the past, college coaches could essentially communicate with athletes at any time. Now, they must wait until Sept. 1 of their junior season before making contact with them, which backs up the recruiting calendar, Hutchinson said.
"I know most people wouldn't agree with this, but I was a fan of the Wild West days, when you could commit when you were in seventh or eighth grade, that way everybody knew where they stood at all times because communication was open," Hutchinson said. "Now you spend so much time absolutely not knowing anything or very little. Then September 1 gets here, and now you've got schools telling you that they're interested in you, and now you have to cram in visits or decisions in a shorter period of time, whereas before you had more information, you can make better, more informed decisions. Now, committing when you're younger, that's always not a great thing, either. There's always pros and cons to everything, but having more information available to you, even if you're younger, was easier for the families. The hardest thing about recruiting right now is families just don't know (where they stand)."
While recruiting is different, it can still be a positive experience, Hutchinson said.
"Playing college softball is difficult, and it doesn't matter what program you're playing at, if the coach that you play for does everything in their power to create a culture and a desire to win a championship and make it to the NCAAs, then that program will be special, and it won't matter while you're there, if it's D-I, D-II, D-III, NAIA or JUCO," Hutchinson said. "If you win a national championship at the D-III level, you'll remember it for the rest of your life. Softball will always be good for the kids. It's just going to be different."
Continue reading...
