With the COVID-19 outbreak impacting the daily lives of all IUPUI student-athletes and the entire campus community, we want to allow individuals to share perspective on the national pandemic. Today, we spotlight the work of selected IUPUI head coaches, who continue to recruit through uncertain times.

Today's story was written by Josh Ayen, who is a student in the Sports Capital Journalism program.  

In college athletics, recruiting never has an offseason. Successful coaches are always keeping an eye towards the future, connecting with potential student-athletes to convince them why their school is the best fit. Regardless of sport, the height of recruiting season is in the summer when prospects are out of school and competing in showcases or tournaments.

This summer will be quite different for coaches around the country due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

It’s a guessing game on when coaches will be able to interact with potential student-athletes in person again. The NCAA instituted a recruiting dead period to encourage coaches and prospects to socially distance themselves and reduce the further spread of the coronavirus. During the dead period, coaches are limited to phone calls and written correspondence with student-athletes and their family. That dead period will last until the end of May, but there’s a strong possibility the dead period could be extended indefinitely.

Prior to IUPUI’s campus closing for the remainder of the Spring semester, coaches were planning official visits for prospects. Now coaches must resort to other methods to show off the IUPUI campus and athletic facilities. 

Women’s cross country/track & field head coach Tony McDaniel compiled a YouTube playlist of promo spots for IUPUI, the city of Indianapolis and footage of where his team usually trains around the area. So far, McDaniel’s playlist has received good feedback from potential recruits. 

“So far, (prospects have) all really appreciated it because it gives them a good idea of what life looks like here (in Indianapolis) and at IUPUI,” McDaniel said. 

Along with the cancelation of on-campus visits, summer showcases and tournaments around the country are in jeopardy due to the coronavirus. In his previous years as an assistant coach, men’s tennis head coach Bren Vasalakis attended summer tournaments held in Indianapolis to evaluate prospective student-athletes. This summer, Vasalakis needs to adapt how he goes about evaluating prospects as those local tournaments have been canceled. 

In a normal offseason, IUPUI golf head coach Jamie Broce attends tournaments in late June and early July to meet with prospects. He’s holding out hope that those summer tournaments will still happen, provided the spread of the virus slows down. 

Coaches at IUPUI (and across the country) must adapt their evaluation and recruiting strategies during a time when face-to-face interaction is not possible. In-person evaluations and interactions are the best way for a coach to determine if a prospect is a good fit for their program. 

“When you get to watch them play, you can really see their strengths, how they talk to mom and dad, if you think they can make that transition (to the college level),” Broce said. 

With the lack of in-person evaluation opportunities this summer, IUPUI coaches are relying more on a prospect’s film and any feedback they hear from coaches at the prep level.

“It’s going to be a lot of discussion with coaches and people that know them,” Vasalakis said. "Other people know a lot about other players, so just having conversations with the people I trust and the people I know around areas I’ll be looking will help out.”

Other IUPUI coaches are focusing on solidifying relationships with recruits that are coming to Indianapolis this Fall. Men’s soccer head coach Brian Barnett is using this quarantine period to continue building relationships with his incoming freshmen. 

“For us, it’s another opportunity to solidify relationships with these young men and let them know that, as a soccer program and as a coach, that I’m here for them in any way that they might need,” Barnett said. 

Spring-sport coaches have an extra layer when it comes to recruiting this summer. The NCAA approved a motion last month to grant an additional year of eligibility to student-athletes competing in Spring sports. The decision is good news for student-athletes competing in Spring sports, but some coaches need to adjust their target number of recruits graduating in 2021 and 2022. 

IUPUI Spring sports like men’s tennis and women’s track and field find themselves in a good spot when it comes to the blanket waiver. Most student-athletes in both sports are underclassmen. The few seniors for both sports have already started having discussions with their respective coaches on whether they want to return to IUPUI for a fifth year or not. 

“We were planning to kind of reset and restock our roster [following the 2021 season], but now I’m talking to our seniors for next year,” Vasalakis said. “A couple of them want to stay, which is good. But it’s going to change how we went about for 2021 and even our 2022 (prospects).”

Like all good coaches do, they’ll adjust and continue to make the most of out what’s presented in front of them.