It was recognized that the expectations observed during the athletic hiring process were similar to those implemented during the recruiting process. The best time to establish clear and potentially even demanding expectations was throughout the recruitment. Therefore, student-athletes that committed to being a part of these mission-fit athletic departments were both aware and drawn to any cultural expectations. In the competitive world of college athletics, differentiation is critical. Institutions that self-identify as Christ-centered are believed to be limited in attracting prime student-athletes; however I believe just the opposite, institutions that are willing to run towards their Christ-centered mission will gain a recruiting advantage.

It was the spiritual mission that allowed these particular colleges to be considered niche institutions for prospective student-athletes looking for a Christ-centered education with athletic excellence.  I’m confident that many of the student-athletes who attended these schools would have selected another institution if the spiritual emphasis or athletic excellence was marginalized.

On the recruiting trail there are always those that got away. While I collected stories of coaches losing recruiting battles to larger schools such as Notre Dame University, Grand Valley State University, and the University of Indiana, they also communicated instances of student-athletes that returned as transfers. One specific example included Jonny Marlin, a 2012 graduate who committed to the University of Indiana over Indiana Wesleyan University, but after two years in Bloomington transferred to Indiana Wesleyan to finish out his eligibility.

Recruiting is often referred to as the lifeblood of building a successful intercollegiate program. In inquiring about the student-athlete recruiting process the two greatest focuses mentioned by coaches were recruiting athletic talent and mission-fit individuals. In their own words here are the strategies they engaged to accomplish both expectations.

1. Coach Mike Lightfoot (Men’s Basketball)

Coach Mike Lightfoot, who has captured three NAIA national championships, shared his recruiting philosophy is to sell the relationships, the tradition, the opportunity to play in a successful program, and the opportunity to graduate. Lightfoot added that he also talks with recruits about the character of his student-athletes and his “philosophy of mentoring. We are going to be involved in their lives. We feel like 18 to 22-years-old is the most important time in a young man’s life. Upfront we let them know that we are going to really invest in their lives so when they leave here they should be prepared.”

One of the most remarkable findings I discovered was learning that Coach Lightfoot only had three former players get divorced in 29 years of coaching. Lightfoot shared, “I’m not proud of the three divorces, but we spend a lot of time preparing them as future husbands and fathers.”

2. Coach Kevin Ulmer (Women’s Volleyball)

Coach Kevin Ulmer, who recently completed his fifth year as a head coach, shared his approach to recruiting. “We talk to our recruits about the institution’s mission a lot, because for us it is not about finding the very very best volleyball player, it’s about finding someone that wants to be as a school like ours,” he said. “One thing that I’ve really tried to do is not convince a recruit to be here.  Obviously I want certain kids to commit, but if it is not the right place for them then I’m not going to try and make an athlete want to be here because then they are here for the wrong reasons.”

Coach Ulmer continued, “I let our recruits know that we are about team and our team is about the college and the college is about God. Then when one of our priority recruits comes on-campus we usually have them stay with a player in the dorms for a night and then start their visit the next morning. I want them to experience a full day, so they will go to chapel with the team, eat lunch with me and/or the team and visit with a professor. The thing we stress the most to our current players who are hosting recruits is to give them an honest experience.”

3. Coach Thiago Pinto (Men’s Soccer)

Coach Thiago Pinto explained one of his recruiting practices. “One of the big things I share is that our school is going to equip you for greater things. Here it is more than just getting a degree. I share how our students are involved in mentoring relationships, how faculty and staff go beyond the classroom and beyond the field to help. I think that has proven to be a big selling point.”

Pinto added how he finds worthy intercollegiate players. “We try and bring in a mix of international and local kids. We always try to get out and see the best players in our region, then we utilize our alumni network, and also summer camps and elite camps,” he said.

4. Coach Steve Brooks (Women’s Basketball)

Coach Steve Brooks, who has won two NAIA national championships, explained his recruiting philosophy. “We go out to AAU tournaments, we do all of that. However, I’m really blunt about who this institution is spirituality, we would never want an athlete to arrive and say they didn’t know it was like this,” he said. “We are an evangelical Christian college that requires chapel attendance each week. Therefore when we bring recruits on campus we intentionally bring them to chapel. I want them to experience it, I want them to see it because it is going to be a part of their experience.”

5. Coach Greg Tonagel (Men’s Basketball)

Coach Greg Tonagel, who has captured one NAIA national championship, markets to recruits the attractive traveling experiences he embraces. Tonagel said, “We sell the experiences that we think we can give over other schools.” Traveling was one of the experiences which the men’s basketball program emulated more of a NCAA Division I program than one at the NAIA level. Tonagel revealed, “our team travels to Hawaii for a tournament every other year at Christmas. Since this is an off year for Hawaii we will be playing in a Florida tournament then heading on a cruise to the Bahamas.” Additionally the men’s basketball program has traveled for international mission trips to New Zealand and the Dominican Republic. Tonagel believes the mission of the school is the biggest recruiting draw as it allowed the men’s basketball program to pursue elite Christian recruits that are getting NCAA Division I offers.

Related to recruiting, Tonagel stressed the value in finding a niche. He shared, “We recruit two types of kids. We recruit unselfish kids and we recruit fearless kids. Finding that combination is hard because typically if you are unselfish then you are soft or if you are fearless then you are selfish. We are looking for the kid who has somehow figured out a way to be unselfish but fearless. Man, we can win a lot of games with that kid.”

6. Coach Candace Moats (Women’s Volleyball)

Coach Candace Moats, a 32-year coaching veteran with more than 700 career wins, explained her recruiting philosophy. “What I try to do is go for talent and mission fit, talent is going to take us to a standard that I really want to be able to reach. Then when I get that pool of people, I start to dialogue and hear their story, what’s their journey, what experiences have they had with their faith.”

Moats, however, communicated a flag she looks for: “If I hear a recruit say, ‘Yeah, I could come, I think I could survive this,’ then those are usually the recruits that I don’t migrate towards, because what I’m hearing is that the volleyball piece is really really important, so I’ll deal with the spiritual stuff.”

7. Coach Mark Castro (Men’s Soccer)

Coach Mark Castro talked about finding a recruiting niche. “I think there are hard core soccer kids in America that have grown up in some type of Christian environment and want to play soccer at a high level,” he said. Castro stressed that during the recruiting process it is important to be clear about the institution’s mission, and he clarified the priorities of the men’s soccer program: “Number three is soccer; number two is academics, and Christ is number one.”

Coach Castro was quick to point out that “the Lord is my best recruiter; He really does the majority of the recruiting. A lot of the kids are actually coming to me.” Similar to what other coaches shared Coach Castro believed the worst possible scenario is to have a player arrive in August thinking, “What have I gotten myself into? What is this? I can’t believe they are starting every morning with prayer, and devotions.” Castro expounded, “if that happens then I have absolutely failed in presenting what this university is all about and now I’ve got a kid that I have to re-recruit when they are already here. That’s not what I want to be doing. I want to be starting with kids in August that already have bought in; they already know what the program is about.”