The recruiting timeline, grade by grade

Recruiting is not one decision in senior year. It's a set of small deadlines, most of which are academic, and missing one in tenth grade quietly closes doors in twelfth. Here's the sequence, written for a family doing this without an agency.

Ninth grade: build the transcript

Nothing you do on the field this year will be on your recruiting film. Almost everything you do in the classroom will follow you.

• Take NCAA-approved core courses from day one. Division I and II require 16 core courses (English, math, science, social science, foreign language). Your counselor can pull your school's approved list from the NCAA Eligibility Center. A ninth-grade schedule full of electives is the most common unfixable mistake.
• Learn the calendar of your sport. Football signing periods, camps, and the recruiting calendar's quiet and dead periods repeat every year.
• Get in the weight room with a plan. Coaches recruit projected size; a freshman who adds 25 good pounds by junior year is a different prospect.

Tenth grade: register, film, and start the list

• Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center (and the NAIA Eligibility Center if that level is realistic). It costs money, but it's how coaches verify you exist academically.
• Film every varsity snap. Even if you're a backup, ask your coach for your clips. You'll need a "sophomore film" for the first wave of e-mails.
• Take the ACT or SAT once, untimed pressure, to find your baseline. Many schools are test-optional for admission, but a solid score still helps with academic money and with coaches deciding whether you're admissible.
• Build the first target list — 40 to 60 programs across at least three levels (see the target-list guide). Be honest about your level using measurables, not feelings.
• Send the first e-mails in the spring, after your sophomore season. D1 coaches can't reply until September 1 of your junior year (for most sports; football and basketball have their own dates), but D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO coaches can, and D1 staffs still read and file.

Eleventh grade: the year that decides it

• September 1 of junior year: Division I coaches may begin sending you recruiting materials and communicating electronically. If a D1 program is interested, you'll know within weeks of this date. If your inbox is silent by November, that's information — widen the list, don't wait.
• Junior season film is your résumé. Cut a highlight reel within a week of your last game (see the film guide) and send an updated e-mail to everyone on your list.
• Camps and showcases with a purpose. Go where the coaches on your list will be, not where the biggest banner is. A one-day camp at a D2 school that's recruiting you beats a national showcase where nobody knows your name.
• Unofficial visits. Visit two or three campuses in the spring — sit in a class, see the facilities on a normal Tuesday, meet the position coach. This is where "interest" becomes an offer.
• Take the ACT/SAT again in the spring with real prep. Every point can be worth money.
• Ask your coaches to advocate. A high-school coach calling a college coach he knows is still the single most effective recruiting tool there is.

Twelfth grade: decisions and paperwork

• Summer before senior year: official visits (the school pays) can start once you've been invited; verbal offers become real conversations about money. Ask for scholarship and financial-aid numbers in writing.
• August–October: senior film updates every three to four games. Programs fill classes fast in some years and late in others; keep every level warm.
• FAFSA opens October 1. File it immediately; academic and need-based aid often exceeds athletic aid at D2, D3 and NAIA schools.
• Early signing period (football: December). Most FBS and FCS classes are largely complete by then.
• Regular signing (February) and the spring: D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO programs are still finishing classes into May and beyond. There is no shame in a March offer; there are D3 rosters that add walk-ons in August.
• Final transcripts and amateurism certification go to the Eligibility Center after graduation. Don't let a missing final transcript delay your eligibility.

The two dates that matter most

1. September 1 of junior year — the D1 contact window opens. Your junior-year film, transcript and list need to be ready before it.
2. The first day of your senior season — by then you should know which level is realistic and be in real conversations with 8 to 15 programs. If you're not, widen the list that week, not in January.

Everything else is execution: keep the grades, keep the film current, keep the coaches informed.