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College recruiting is something that seems obvious enough, but many junior tennis players and their parents don't know where to start. Our friends at NCSA Recruiting have a primer with some basic facts and numbers about the process.

(1) Tournament Play

As a tennis student athlete, you need to attend as many USTA and ITF tournaments that you can. Larger tournaments are a great place for college coaches to see you play, so that you can gain the maximum amount of exposure. However it is important to remember that you cannot just show up to these tournaments with no prior relationships and expect to be discovered. While an athlete being discovered at random does happen occasionally, most coaches attend these tournaments with a list of student athletes with whom they have had prior communication. Send an email to a coach before your tournament and let them know what time and the court number they can find you, and send your highlight video to get them interested in you before the tournament starts!

(2) Watch Your Rankings

A large part of the tennis recruiting process is rankings. College coaches use rankings in tennis to determine who they are going to recruit. As a player, even if you aren't ranked high you can still use the rankings to your advantage. Make sure to research rankings before your tennis matches, and if you beat players who are ranked higher than you, use that as leverage during your recruiting process. Let coaches know that you can play against strong competition and win; it makes you a more appealing recruit and can help earn you more scholarship interest.