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Knowing how college coaches recruit and what they are looking for can make the process less intimidating for prospects.

Our “Recruiting Insider” series features coaches from across the nation sharing how they got started in the profession and their methods of scouting and communicating with potential recruits.

Today, we hear from Michigan State men’s head coach Harry Jadun.

How did you get into coaching?

“I graduated my senior year at Michigan State, and was 100% certain that I was going to do something other than coach and something outside of tennis. But I had an extra semester of school left, so when I was finishing up my degree I just started teaching some tennis on the side just to make money for some fun activities in college. From there, I just got connected with some really good juniors and a really good academy, and the rest was really history. One step turned to another, and here I am. I really love it, and love the challenges that it brings every single day, and the energy that comes by working with a lot of young people. It gives you a lot of energy, and it keeps you young.”

What are your primary methods of recruiting?

“The first thing is tracking results and rankings. A lot of that is ITF results and juniors. And obviously, if we see somebody that's 18-19, years old playing pro tournaments, we start tracking their results. Then, if we see a player or if we can watch a live stream match, we might shoot them a message to see if they're interested in college tennis. But we've had the most success just going to tournaments and seeing people in person. I think every recruit that we've landed, we've seen in person, whether they're American or they're European. A lot of coaches like to talk about sending messages or making phone calls, but for us, it's really been the in-person contacts that help you get to know them, and they get to know you. You are no longer just a direct message in their Instagram account. You come to life, and I think that's really, really helped us. It's a lot of travel, it's a lot of work. But for a guy who really likes traveling and seeing different parts of the world and different parts of the United States, it's been fun.”

How do you interact with recruits and what information should they provide?

“At the end of the day, if you want to play at a university like Michigan State, you have to have some type of results. You have to show that you're competitive with other players that are in the same recruiting pool just to get a baseline of the level. And then from there, it's just a communication of what your interests are. Our goal here at Michigan State is really geared towards professional tennis, and we have the ability to really support players who want to do that, whether it's hosting Futures and even Challengers now with some of our guys. You have to have a love for the sport. Our basketball coach (Tom Izzo) has a really, really famous saying: there's some people that like it, there's some people that love it, and there's some people that live it. And we're looking for guys that live it and breathe it, and they see themselves holding the US Open trophy before they go to bed at night. Because we really believe that if they believe and they have the willpower to really pursue a professional career. they're going to be really good in college as well. That passion for tennis is key and then it's really just getting to know their families, making sure they come from the right environment and situation and are stand-up people. I think that is really, really important, because we deal with them on a day-to-day basis, for four hours a day. You have to make sure that you're surrounding yourselves with people who want to be great and people who are going to really buy into the team aspect of college tennis.”

What do you look for on the court in potential players?

“I definitely feel like you have to have a way to go get points. I think that if you look at the top of our lineup and the players that are having a lot of success, they have a shot that is–I don't care who they're playing, at least at the collegiate level–that is good against anyone. It could be a forehand, it could be a serve, it could be a backhand, but they have to have something that's going to separate them from the rest. There's a lot of solid players in college tennis, but I just feel like the path to the top is a little bit easier when you have ways you can go get points. It gives you a chance to win every single match. I do think intangibles are something that we look at. How does he work with balls? How does he work with slices and when the points break down and he has to play defense and kind of scrap out a big momentum point. I think that stuff's really, really telling, because some of that stuff you can't really teach–that feel for the game and when to press and when to back off and things like that. Outside of that, we really want to see guys who are going to compete. Tennis is a really, really emotional sport, a mental sport, and if you want to be good at this sport, you gotta be able to handle the ups and downs of a three-set match.”

What's the biggest draw to your school?

“Our brand is worldwide. We have one of the biggest universities in the world. We have over 50,000 students when you count undergrad and grad combined. So we have a lot of different people across the world that are big supporters. I do think that the players recognize our brand, and they see the success we've had in football, basketball and a lot of non-revenue sports. But with a lot of players that we recruit, they're being recruited by your typical blue bloods, some of the schools that have had success and have been top 10 and have really reached the heights in the pinnacle of the sport. I think our sell is so much different, because before last year we had never been in the Top 25 ever. And this year, we're hoping to compete for championships at the conference level and national level. I think that's kind of different and unique and refreshing, whereas they can talk to other schools and they're saying, we've already done it here. Come jump on the bandwagon, which is cool, and attracts a lot of players. I think the guys that really gravitate to us, it’s because of the uniqueness of what we're able to sell, and that we haven't done it before. You're going to be the guy that's going to bring this thing to the top.”

What is your best piece of advice for recruits?

“Make sure you go out and play and you put results on a piece of paper so that coaches don't feel like they have to take a chance on you in terms of the results aspect. You want to shake their hands. You want to be straight up with the coaches, but also go out and play so much tennis that's going to make you a better player. The results will come and you're going to improve, and you're going to be at the school you want to be at. But a lot of these kids get worried about playing because they don’t want their UTR or Tennis Recruiting standing drops. But then it really hamstrings them, because then they don't have any results to show coaches. Every day is a new day and a whole new group of coaches who could be watching. All you really need is one coach to see something in your game or see you put up a big fight or a good result against a good player and that is the memory that will stick with them.”

About Ethos School

We are excited to have Ethos School as the title sponsor of the Recruiting 101 series of articles at TennisRecruiting.net.

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].