Lehigh Athletics Successfully Recruits in the Virtual World

By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications

At the core of recruiting is developing relationships.

Coaches need to learn about student-athletes to see if they're a fit for their program. At the same time, student-athletes learn about the atmosphere within the university, athletics department and team.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected recruiting in a major way. The NCAA banned in-person recruiting in March, most recently extending the ban through September 30. It's far from a certainty to be lifted in October, but whenever it does, recruiting will likely continue to look different for months and years to come.

Instead of sitting back, Lehigh Athletics has been making the most of the situation, figuring out the best ways to recruit in the virtual world.

"Coaches are certainly creatures of habit and routine, so there has been a number of challenges in having to adapt to a new norm as it relates to virtual recruitment," said head women's basketball coach Sue Troyan. "I'm a big believer that the coaching staffs who adjust and adapt the best will have the greatest advantages in the area of recruiting. In a very short time, we've had to learn a whole new way of interacting with prospects, of telling our Lehigh story and of evaluating talent."

Luckily for Troyan and the department's countless other coaches, Lehigh brings with it a strong story of academic prowess and athletic success.

"The pandemic has definitely challenged coaches to be creative," said head baseball coach Sean Leary. "Our methods have been adjusted but ultimately, we still have the amazing Lehigh brand."

Challenging times have brought creative approaches to continue recruiting at a high level.

"We really attacked this thing from the get-go," said assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator Anthony DiMichele. "We asked ourselves how we can be different from everyone else, and we attacked it.

"Having a compliance director like Taryn Gall allows us to have a full understanding of the rules and what we need to do as a program to adjust," he continued. "We have also done some really innovative things as an athletic department – like drone footage, program specific videos, social media grabs – which will all have a huge impact on our recruiting efforts."

DiMichele is embracing, and making the most of, the current situation. There's no other choice. It's like when adversity hits within a sports game or season.
Anthony DiMichele

Competitors don't make excuses.

Instead, they find a way to reach their goals.

And even though recruiting hasn't been face-to-face, relationships have become even more important than ever before.

"The last six months have been very overwhelming for a lot of our recruits and their families, so our coaching staff is really focusing on building relationships," said assistant track and field coach Brooke Astor. "This year, we are doing more on the front end to better understand our recruits and get to know them outside of athletics. We've always had this as our goal but now, more than ever, we have to make sure our recruits and families are comfortable with what we're offering at Lehigh."

The coaches want to make sure prospective student-athletes are comfortable with Lehigh, and the opposite is true. Coaches must feel a level of comfortability about the student-athlete before offering a spot on their teams.

"We've changed how we evaluate and make decisions on prospects from in-person to remote evaluations," said Troyan.

There are some silver linings of virtual evaluations.

"A significant number of showcases and tournaments are being live-streamed, so we've probably watched as much and maybe more baseball the past several weeks as any other summer," said Leary.

Throughout Lehigh Athletics, collaboration and family are two constant themes. That has unquestionably been on display the past several months.

"We've spent a lot of time within our department centralizing virtual recruiting resources so all our coaches have access to shared information," said Troyan. "One of the strengths of our head coaching staff is their willingness to share what they're doing to find efficiencies, systems and best practices as they relate to virtual recruiting. One of the positive aspects of these last four months has been the ability to learn from one another given more time together."

The family feel is genuine and organic amongst student-athletes and coaches, so it naturally comes across to prospective student-athletes as well, even virtually.

The results have come.
Sean Leary

"I am excited that we've received eight total commitments from April through August," said Leary. "It's a shining example how Lehigh and the Lehigh student-athlete experience is an attractive option for prospects. Coach (A.J.) Miller has gone above and beyond during this time and his determination has allowed us to not miss a beat during this unique time."

This unique time is likely far from over. The pandemic has forced adaptation; the coaches are hopeful they can begin recruiting in-person in the near future, but they are also ready for the long haul if needed.

"Things have worked out fairly well, but nothing is like the real thing," said DiMichele.

"Despite not meeting in-person, video calls have been a great way to make the process feel normal because you definitely can't beat the face-to-face conversations," said Astor.

Astor believes virtual recruiting has become more personalized than ever before.

"Each university, each sport and each program has their own timeline to begin with, but those timelines will continue to change due to the pandemic," she said. "Our program has kept the same mindset as before. We want to introduce our preferred timeline, learn of a recruit's preferred timeline and meet them somewhere along the way. This has been the best way for everyone to understand the expectations and it gives us a chance to make sure we are addressing all the concerns along the way."
Brooke Astor and Debbie Utesch

Because in the end, it's truly about the student-athlete. It's in the best interest of all parties to make sure Lehigh is a fit – academically, athletically and socially.

"We want recruits to want Lehigh and we want them to be comfortable with their decision, so we have no intention of speeding up our timelines just to be done with recruiting earlier in the year," said Astor. "The pandemic has caused a lot of delays and this has been stressful for a lot of our recruits, so we definitely have to be sensitive to that and allow them the chance to feel comfortable in their college search."

When in-person recruiting is allowed again, that doesn't mean a light switch will be flipped, either. Every person is different, so Lehigh Athletics has tailored – and will continue to tailor – recruiting that's comfortable for the prospective student-athlete and his/her family.

"Selfishly speaking, it would be ideal to have the NCAA's dead period lifted soon and get some of our top prospects to campus," said DiMichele. "However, the health and safety of our own student-athletes and their families, prospective student-athletes and their families, and our faculty/staff and their families is certainly the most important thing right now."

"We are anxious to get things back to normal and are willing to do everything it takes to get there," he continued. "In the meantime, we'll continue to attack this recruiting thing to help impact countless lives across the country."

"One of the benefits of this pandemic is that it has forced our coaching staffs to think creatively and innovatively as it relates to recruiting," said Troyan.

"The likelihood is that we will be recruiting this way for the foreseeable future, so it's important to continue to evolve in this area to ensure we're making great decisions for the future of our programs and Lehigh University."

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Lehigh Athletics Successfully Recruits in the Virtual World

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