A university’s sports teams are an important part the school’s identity. So how do coaches attract talented athletes to Iowa State?

“Recruitment is an ongoing, never-ending process of salesmanship and marketing,” Bob Carskie, director of football operations, said.

Tim Floyd, ISU men’s basketball coach, said the National Collegiate Athletic Association has very strict regulations regarding recruiting.

He said the recruiting process for his sport starts July 8 with a series of basketball camps throughout the United States. The 200 best players in a particular region are invited to these camps, where they are evaluated by coaches and recruiters.

Carskie said that football recruiting is going on right now. The identification process takes place between February 1 and May 1. He said the ISU coaching staff has called every high school in Iowa to ask coaches to recommend juniors who will be looked at for future recruitment.

After May 1, the evaluation period starts. During this time, coaches are able to go off campus to advertise the Cyclone program. Football coaches go to schools across the country to they evaluate players. There are only 20 days in May in which the coaches are allowed to recruit off campus.

Like the basketball squad, the football team also holds camps during the summer. There is a kicking camp, a padded camp and a one-day passing tournament. Seventy to 80 teams participate as the coaches evaluate players.

Women’s Basketball Coach Bill Fennelly said that his ballclub does not have an official recruiting period.

He said there is summer basketball camp held at ISU, but it does not serve recruiting purposes.

Fennelly agreed with Floyd about the strictness of regulations regarding the way coaches contact recruits.

He said prospects can start receiving mail during their junior years, and that the following summer they can take one phone call per week. The autumn of their senior years, potential players are allowed to make official visits to university campuses.

For the men’s hoops squad, Floyd said the calling period starts in July, while in football, Carskie said the calling period commences in August.

Floyd said that in August the coaches try to establish home visits with recruits and their parents. They also encourage those who live nearby to visit the ISU campus. From September 8-25, coaches are allowed to make home visits.

Carskie said football coaches are allowed contact with recruits during December and January. He said this includes home visits as well as official visits to campus.

An official visit is any paid visit to a university campus. Each recruit is allowed a total of five official visits, with no more than one to a single campus. However, recruits are free to make as many unofficial visits as they wish.

Floyd said the men’s team is allowed to bring 12 players to campus for official visits. He also said there is a period of 40 days during the season which are “evaluation days.” These days are used by coaches to watch players but not have any contact with them.

Men’s basketball has two signing periods. The first is the second Wednesday in November, and the other is the second Wednesday in April. For football, Carskie said the first Wednesday in February is the signing date.

Carskie said the most important part of recruiting process is evaluating a student’s transcripts through their counselor’s office. He said they want to make sure the player is within the ISU guidelines when evaluating the character of the player.

Carskie said he tried to get athletes who will help the team fair well in the Big 12 Conference. He said they want “players who are good enough to win, not only [good enough] to compete in this conference.”

Fennelly said there are unlimited ways in which coaches identify prospects. To identify recruits, he said they use newspapers, recruiting services recommendations from alumni and friends, as well as by word of mouth.

Fennelly said some students work through admissions, and the team gets their name admissions. He said there is a lot of overlap between the team and difference colleges and offices on campus.

Fennelly said recruitment takes up a large part of the team’s annual budget. He said team travel is the largest expense, with recruitment coming second.

Carskie agreed that the whole process is costly but the dollar amount spent on football recruitment is “competitive to the budget the league is in.”

All three Cyclone coaches said the majority of their players come in on scholarship. Carskie said football has 85 scholarship athletes and at least 30 walk-ons.

Fennelly said the 1997-88 women’s squad had 10 scholarship athletes and three walk-ons. Next year, the program will have 13 hoopsters on scholarship.