COVID-19 is changing spring recruiting routines for UTRGV head coaches. During the global outbreak of COVID-19, the NCAA issued new guidelines and regulations regarding recruiting, including no official and unofficial visits to campus by potential student athletes and a recruiting ‘’dead period’’ until April 15th. UTRGV coaches have had to adjust like Todd Lowery or UTRGV Women’s Volleyball by giving possible recruits virtual campus tours over the phone.
We kinda did campus tours via video chat with 2 or 3 kids as it looked like getting them to campus was going to be a challenge this spring. When things were still, not really busing around campus but there was still a little bit going on we can still get in to all the facilities, into the dorms, we walked kids around by video chat and showed them everything here. That proved to be helpful with a couple kids for sure.
Before the NCCA’s moratorium on recruiting, UTRGV Women’s Volleyball signed, JUCO Transfer Outside Hitter Yasmin De Silva and Setter Emily Holder. However, with shelter in place orders by Hidalgo county regarding COVID-19, Head Coach Paul Lesse of UTRGV Men’s Soccer says contacts within the sport will become important in recruiting players to UTRGV.
We ended up having to commitments come through. The final spots that we are looking for to put in place for the squad in the fall and I relied heavily on [a] club coach that I know well [and] I trust. He also knows my program well, he knows the type of players I recruit, he knows the type of team style of play, so that relationship now becomes even more valuable.
Although the new guidelines for recruiting creates new and unprecedented challenges for UTRGV head coaches. As Coach Lowery explains that the decision of the NCAA to suspend recruiting was the correct one.
I’m not sure what stance the NCAA will take on things. I think they’ve done a good job, I think there was a need to put on a dead period because if they don’t there’s always that one program or two or three programs that are willing to take risks and as soon as two or three take risks then six or seven take risks and then pretty soon we are back doing to what we were doing before, and not be part of the solution to get this COVID-19 under control. So, I think the NCAA did a good job about halting the campus visits and the travel.
Reporter Luis Rubio
