Sophomore: Build Momentum

Sophomore year is when recruiting turns into work you can actually do. The NCAA's own guide for families puts it plainly: the process can begin as early as ninth grade, but in most cases it starts in eleventh grade, the summer after your sophomore year. That summer is the target. This year is about having something ready to send by then.

Freshman year was about protecting your grades and getting into the system. This year you build three things: film, a list, and a first message. None of them require a coach to notice you first.

Build the first highlight

Your first highlight film is not the one you send to your top school. It is a working draft, and you are going to rebuild it after your junior season anyway. The athletes who stall out here are the ones waiting until they have enough good plays to feel ready.

Lead with your three to five best plays, spotlight your jersey on the opening clip so nobody has to hunt for you, and keep the whole thing to around 2 minutes. Leave out the music, the long intro graphics, and the slow motion on everything, because all of that makes a coach wait, and waiting is what makes them click away. Creating a Highlight Video walks through the full build.

Then put it on one public, shareable link. One. If a coach has to request access or dig through a profile to find your film, you have lost most of them before they ever watched a play.

Build the target list

This is the piece most families skip, and it decides how the next two years go. You want 20 to 30 schools across divisions to start, tiered: mostly realistic targets, a few safe options, a few reaches. Not five dream schools and nothing else. Treat that as the list you work right now, not the total you will ever contact: schools come off it and new ones go on for the next two years, and by the end the number you have reached out to should be far higher. Step 1 of our process covers how to build it and step 7 covers keeping it moving.

Be honest about level while you do it. Division I is not the only place to play in college, and for most athletes it is not the likeliest one. Division II, Division III, the NAIA, and junior college all put real athletes on real rosters every year, and roster spots at the top have gotten tighter. We cover what that actually means for high school recruits in the portal's impact on high school recruiting, and the NAIA path in our NAIA guide.

There is a practical reason to go wide right now, too. The divisions do not all work on the same timeline. Division II coaches may send recruiting materials and communicate at any time, so a real D2 conversation can happen this year. In Division I, depending on your sport and grade level, the coach may not be permitted to answer you yet.

Send the first message anyway

Here is what families get wrong about sophomore outreach: they read silence as a no. The NCAA's own guide tells recruits to email college coaches with their achievements, highlight video, and interest in the program. In the same breath, it warns that depending on your sport and grade level, Division I coaches may not be permitted to write you back. Both are true. Send it anyway.

The NCAA's own list of what to include: your name, your position, your NCAA ID, and your high school graduation year. Add your film link and stop there. A DM is the opener and email is the formal follow-up, which we break down in DM vs. Email and Writing a First Message That Gets Replies. The Outreach Builder will draft it with you, and the Contact Tracker keeps track of who you sent it to.

Camps start to be worth it

The NCAA lists competing on elite teams and attending camps as a recruiting best practice, and sophomore year is about when the money starts to make sense. Two things keep it from being a waste. Go to camps at schools you would actually attend, not just the biggest name within driving distance. And be clear about what you are buying: a verified measurement, a workout in front of a staff, and a face to put with your name. Not an offer.

Move your Eligibility Center account up

If Division I or II schools are on your list now, the NCAA says to transition your free Profile Page into an Academic and Athletics Certification account. That is the account that produces an actual eligibility ruling, and coaches can see whether you have one, which is part of how some of them judge how serious you are. The Eligibility Center guide covers the difference and what it costs.

Check your core-course pace

Division I requires 10 of your 16 core courses to be finished before senior year starts, and 7 of those have to be in English, math, or science. Sophomore year is when you find out whether you are on pace, and it is the last easy point to fix it. Pull your school's list of NCAA-approved courses and count. If you are behind, you have three semesters to catch up instead of one. The full breakdown is in Core Courses & GPA by Division.

What sophomore year looks like

What not to do this year

• Do not send a five-minute film. Two minutes of your best plays beats five minutes of average ones every time.
• Do not build a list of only Division I schools. That is how families end up with no options in the spring of senior year.
• Do not measure this year by replies. Depending on your division and sport, the coach may not be allowed to answer you yet.
• Do not pay for exposure you can create yourself with film, a list, and an email.

Get to junior year with film on a link, a list you believe in, and a few coaches who already know your name. Build the film, build the list, send the first message.

Next up is Junior: Acceleration, the year the calendar opens up and interest starts turning into offers. Keep the whole thing organized with the Recruiting Checklist.