Sehome senior Gavin Ortega committed to the Weber State University football team in December 2021, but he said he was late to the recruiting process.
Ortega called himself a “no-namer” heading into his junior year, fall 2020. He didn’t have exposure to any colleges because the pandemic canceled most of the camps he planned to attend that summer. He also had to wait until spring 2021 to get his junior season of football in.
Summer 2021 brought back some normalcy. Ortega got his name out there with camps back in session. His first Division I offer rolled in after talking to coaches from Eastern Washington University while at a camp at Pacific Lutheran University.
“That’s probably where I got exposure to the Eastern coach, which was my first Big Sky (Conference) offer and from that point it was a snowball effect where I got more exposure from all the other schools,” Ortega said.
Attending summer camps was Ortega’s main way of getting his name and film out there during his recruiting process, he said.
Other student athletes are doing it through other means, such as social media.
Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor for 247Sports, has seen 19 recruiting classes during his time in the recruiting industry.
He’s watched the process evolve from coaches and athletes mailing VHS tapes of game film, to sending DVDs, to now, which is mostly recruiting being done online with a click of the mouse.
“It’s basically never been easier to be recruited.” — Brandon Huffman
Huffman has also seen how much recruiting falls on the athlete now.
“A lot of it is the kids recruited themselves to that school,” he said.
Athletes can put together a highlight clip, copy and paste the link, send it to coaches and have an opportunity to be seen in a matter of 30 seconds.
“It’s basically never been easier to be recruited,” Huffman said.
The problem he sees is athletes only wanting to go to a Division I Power 5 school, the highest level you can play at, and not considering any other options.
He said athletes getting the most opportunities to play at the next level are the ones who shift their thinking and focus on smaller schools once they realize there aren’t many Division I schools talking to them.
“The big thing is to be realistic about what your level is. We all dream about playing at the highest level, but sometimes that’s not in the cards,” Huffman said. “Be realistic and be more decisive early on instead of waiting for something and thinking the phone is going to magically ring.”
Sehome senior Maddie Schumacher returned to showcases where she was able to play in front of college coaches and other tournaments this summer with her Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team, The Way to Win, which is based out of Seattle.
She said getting back on the court last summer with her AAU team helped a lot in getting exposure not just from competing, but because of videographers at those events putting together highlight packages.
“I’ve definitely gotten my fair share of free highlights and promotion stuff like that, but there’s also a side where if I’ve gone to a showcase and want to get highlights from that I can pay to get a highlight package and I do think that’s worth it,” Schumacher said.
Next College Student Athlete (NCSA), a national recruiting service, offers different packages to students and families ranging from approximately $99 on the lower end to $3,000 on the higher end.
These packages can include contact lists for college coaches, highlight editing, promotion to college coaches and financial aid guidance.
“We go through every available option of scholarships they can have whether it be athletic, academic and we help them submit forms and identify potential grants they can pursue,” said Lauren Pulte, public relations director for NCSA. “Any means they can use to get scholarship money, we help them pursue.”
A la carte options are available to students — customizing their package — which also determines the final price.
Any educational information on the website is free to anyone who wants to use it.
“What we pride ourselves on is helping them find the best college fit for them financially, academically and socially,” Pulte said.
More than 180,000 student athletes at the Division I and II level receive around $3.6 billion annually in athletic scholarships, according to the NCAA.
Athletic scholarships are not awarded at the Division III level, but 75% of those student athletes receive merit or need-based scholarships.
As much as having coaches and other people around to create film packages helps you get seen, it all comes down to being your own advocate, Schumacher said.
“If you’re not motivated to help yourself get seen nothing is going to happen,” she said. “You have to be motivated to create film for yourself and push it out to coaches and continue to be active with your social media.”
At the moment, Schumacher holds an offer to continue her basketball career at Northwest University in Kirkland, King County.
For Ortega, he said the recruiting process had highs and lows before putting ink to paper and making things official with Weber State.
“There were times where it was a lot of fun being able to realize I am one of 10,000 kids that gets to go out and play at this high of a level,” he said. “It was a fun experience, but I’m also glad I’ve made my choice and it’s behind me.”
Both Schumacher and Ortega are in the middle of their high school basketball seasons looking to make a playoff push. The Sehome girls are currently 5-7 overall and seventh in the conference while the boys are 9-4 sitting in fifth place.
