The key to success for any coach is getting the players to come to play for you that have the ability to win games. This is a big time of year for this in the Division III college hockey game. High school players are at a point where they are deciding whether or not to play junior hockey or to go right to school. All of the players out there playing junior hockey are finishing up their regular seasons and are starting to make their college choices. The Division I players out there that did not have the experience they were hoping for are looking into Division III schools to transfer to. Here at SJU we are involved in all three situations.
I first wanted to share with you my general philosophy in recruiting, and let you know what I look for in the recruiting process. I believe in making contact with high school players and building relationships that either turn into that player coming right to school or possibly choosing SJU after 2-3 years. Here at SJU and at the Division III level, we have to recruit a lot of players. We start the season with a list of around 50 players. That list fluctuates and focuses throughout the year and by this point in the year, we have a list of about 20 players. From this list we plan to get around 5-7 players seriously looking at SJU. That is not a great yield, but they have a lot of options out there. If we are recruiting the right players, half of those players should get Division I opportunities, while the other half are choosing between 2-3 division III schools at this point.
What I look for in the recruiting process, I call the three C’s. I need players that are committed to hockey, coachable and willing to learn, and finally, competitive and self-motivated. Hockey is too hard of a sport to play if you are not committed to it. You need to be willing to do whatever it takes to win and without 100% commitment to the game that just does not happen. Coachability is something that you hear a lot. I am no different in that I need players that want to get better and are willing to work at the game to get better. It’s too easy at the Division III level to go through the motions and not improve. This also leads me into the competitive aspect. This is arguably the most important aspect on this list to me. You need to be a competitive, driven individual to constantly improve at this level. There is not someone holding your hand and dragging you into the weight room. We are not a Division I program that makes our athletes stay on campus in the summer to train. It is truly up to the athlete if they want to get better, faster and stronger. We can advise them on a plan but their internal drive needs to implement that plan.
Currently we are in the middle of a lot of recruiting battles. I feel that all the guys on our list have the attributes that I look for and I am looking forward to receiving the final answer from the guys that we have focused on and communicated with all season long. We have some high school players that we feel could play at the junior hockey level that have expressed an interest in coming right to SJU. We have a number of junior hockey recruits that are making a playoff push or close to the end of their seasons. Finally, we have a few Division I transfer possibilities that we are looking forward to hearing about in the next couple weeks.
With our returning core of players and another great recruiting class on the horizon, we have the opportunity to create a team and chemistry that will lead to another year of great success this next season. I will keep you posted as our final recruit list begins to take shape.
The last thing that I want to mention is that the hockey players that always seem to choose SJU have some kind of relationship with the university or know someone that goes to or went to SJU. My current players and the SJU alumni are the most important recruiters that I have. If you know of any players out there that I should be recruiting or that you feel would be a great fit at SJU, please let me know. Your help in the recruiting process is more important than you know and has more of an impact on our success than you know. Keep spreading the word about SJU and the hockey program here. We are building a culture and a hockey program that players want to be a part of.
Thanks for all of your help and for your continued support for Johnnie Hockey!
