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Recruiting for the Class of 2012 may be working towards its conclusion, but it is always recruiting season. The spring season will soon be over, and coaches will turn their full attention to recruiting.

Unfortunately, many high school tennis players have misunderstandings about the college recruiting process. Some of these misunderstandings can lead to awkward situations between players and coaches. We put the question to our panel of college coaches.

Q) What is one thing that you wish all recruits knew going into the process?

Mark Jeffrey, head coach, Louisiana Men

One of the misconceptions is that college coaches will be the ones doing the calling or contacting of a players. In reality, coaches have many, many players on their radar - not only from the USA, but from around the world. Make sure that you, the high school student-athlete, make initial contact to introduce yourself and to provide and obtain information.

Also, I would advise all prospective recruits to pick 10-15 schools that are not on your radar and make inquiries into those programs. You may gain some valuable information that could help in negotiating your way to a school that is a great match. I believe it is hard for a high school athlete to know right away which university is for them - or even what group of universities. So educating yourself - and finding out what schools from a larger spectrum offer - will not only help you narrow down where you want to go, but it will also give a road map of which road to take. I believe that 70-80% of high school athletes start down a road of narrow scope focusing on 3-5 schools and find that they have to make a decision between the lesser of two evils in the end.

So in conclusion, broaden your search, contact coaches for information, educate, educate, educate, and you will be on the way down the right road which will eventually lead to a better outcome - the right university and tennis program for you.