Now that you’ve decided to commit to the University of Minnesota as your college of choice, it’s time for a recruiting trip.  A recruiting trip is full of meetings, campus tours, getting to know the team, and eating free food.  Out-of-state recruits will fly  - free of course – into MSP, and locals will drive.  When you first arrive, you’ll likely meet with the head coach or an assistant coach. Your luggage is dropped off, and you’re off to your first of several meetings. Upon receiving your itinerary, you'll meet your host for the weekend. The host brings you to your meetings, tags along for meals with the coaches, shows you around campus and entertains you for the 48 hours you’re allowed to be on campus.  Most official visits start on Friday afternoons, so when you first arrive not much is planned other than meeting with the coach and having dinner/spending time with your host.



The Saturday of your trip is packed from the morning to the night with meetings and events. Often, recruits watch the team practice in the morning. Next, you'll have meetings from 10-4. Of course, you'll get a delicious paid meal in between your meetings. You are able to order anything you want from restaurants on official visits. After the meetings are over, you'll get a campus tour with your host and some teammates. For dinner, sometimes the team will get together and all go to a fancy restaurant. This way you'll be able to meet the entire team and see how they interact. The bill for these dinners gets pretty pricey!

Depending on the season, there will be an event for you and your host to attend. Be it a football, basketball, or a hockey game, you'll get a free ticket to watch. You’ll also be given a stipend of sorts.  This money will usually be spent on extra food, because the money can’t be spent on clothing or merchandise per NCAA rules. 

At the end of the day, the head coach will discuss with you what kind of plan they have in mind with you at Minnesota. Sometimes they will tell you what they expect and what kind of scholarship is available. If you’re an uncommitted top recruit, coaches will really try to persuade you in committing as soon as possible. If you’re uncommitted and choose not to commit, they'll give persistent follow-up calls to hear your decision. Either way, as an athlete it's fun to hear the coaches wanting you to compete for their team.

As the day comes to the end, night life breaks out. Everyone is aware of night life – the parties, drinking, city people and loud music. Some teams here at the U won't allow any prospect to go to a party while on their trip and others bring the prospects to parties. Without a doubt, there is plenty of partying in the athletic community. Some say that athletes party the most (not always true) to help deal with the stresses of being a student-athlete.  Of course if you compete on the weekend it's a different outlook, but some athletes take full advantage of open weekends.  Sometimes on your recruiting trip you’re brought to a party where you are exposed to athletes from other teams.  Recruiting visits can be low-key, though too; sometimes you will just watch a movie or hang out with the team.

There are the rare cases where recruiting trips have gone bad.  I’ve heard of prospects drinking too much and then the next morning having your final meeting with the coach hungover.  There’s been some even worse stories: prospects trowing up in a coaches car, arriving very late to a morning meeting, being lost and having to find your own way back to your sober host, or even getting caught drinking and getting a minor.  Obviously, horror stories like these are rare compared to the amount of successful recruiting trips. Everywhere you go there will be a party scene that you’re exposed to during your college career… it’s up to you to participate in the partying.

It's important to take note that within the athletic community, drinking isn't pressured. At the level of competition you’re faced with, staying healthy is a top priority. You won’t lose respect from most of your teammates if you don’t drink. As a student-athlete there are many responsibilities one has to attain. Academics, athletics, and health all interact with each other. Keeping these priorities in-line play a huge impact on how you perform.

 On Sunday morning you are dropped off at the airport or sent off with your parents. One of the hardest things to do if you’re a senior in high school, is going back to the high school. Most of the time the athletes get so excited for their freshman year to begin, it's a drag to go back to high school after you spent the last 48 hours looking into your college years.

  Overall the recruiting process is fun, informative and useful. You'll get some inside looks of being a student athlete at Minnesota. The coaches, assistant coaches, volunteer coaches, and other athletic faculty members work together to engage you in student-athlete life in your possible future home at the University of Minnesota.







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