My son was invited to attend a college Junior Day.
What does this mean?
We get asked this question a lot early in the recruiting process. Many parents get excited about their child being invited to a college campus to meet the football coaches and learn more about the school and football program. In fact, many parents feel this is one of the first signs their child is being recruiting by the school doing the invite.
So what is a Junior Day?
The name Junior Day once meant high school juniors would receive an invited to visit a college football program. However, in today’s world of college football recruiting, players from the freshman, sophomore and junior class can receiver invitations.
Schools mail or contact a high school football prospect and invite them to an invite-only day at the school. These usually take place in the winter and early spring (spring football practices) with the high school prospects receiving tours of the football facilities and the schools campus. Some will include information on academics from an adviser and even question and answer sessions with a player panel of current players with the coaching staff not in attendance. Some of these events are large number gatherings with many prospects a school is not really recruiting.
Each school has their own way of presenting their program and some special prospects could see them getting one-on-one time with the team’s head coach.
In the end, these visits are considered unofficial visits and are fully paid for by the parent of the prospect. They often are feel good days for the prospect as they may get to try on a uniform for a photo then can post on their social media page and give their friends a sense they are really being recruited.