She got game: Investigating how reputation can be leveraged to improve recruiting effectiveness in National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s basketball

Abstract

Although recruiting processes and outcomes in National Collegiate Athletic Association sports is an incredibly important facet of collegiate athletics, it is underdeveloped in several areas. Gaps in knowledge exist when it comes to better understanding actual recruits obtained, the role of reputation, and what factors may influence the school-choice decision of elite, female student-athletes. Probit analyses examining data from 500 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female basketball players, approximately 100 universities, and 20 National Collegiate Athletic Association conferences yield that recruits' decisions are primarily influenced by the total number of Elite 8 teams and national championships from a team's affiliated conference, geographic distance between recruits' hometowns and the university, average arena attendance, and the percentage comparing the basketball arena capacity and game attendance. The results make both theoretical and practical contributions by demonstrating the predictive power of reputation, while also offering recruiters actionable information that potential recruits likely are considering each recruiting cycle.

The Technology of Educational Games for Support Science Learning: A Preliminary Study

“…Students would be more likely to learn if instructional games are used because they will offer a learning experience and inspire creativity. Representations can lead to new levels of comprehension [31].…”

Factors Influencing College Selection by NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Players

“…In several Power Five football conferences, Caro (2012) found that between 63-80% of team's success could be attributed to recruiting. Other findings in DI athlete recruitment include connecting recruiting success with positive performance outcomes (Dumond, Lynch, & Plantania, 2008;Evans & Pitts, 2017); reputation matters to athletes (Magnusen et al, 2018); past coaching success impacts recruiting (Treadway et al, 2014); and post season success, and academic rankings have been associated with success in intercollegiate athlete recruitment (Magnusen et al, 2017). DI recruiting research has become flooded with studies that have examined a variety of factors that play a role in athlete recruitment from a largely economic standpoint (Evans & Pitts, 2017;Harris, 2018;Rhee et al, 2018).…”

“…Other research has indicated that this is one of the top factors for student-athletes (Goss et al, 2006;Judson et al, 2004;Konnert & Giese, 1987). The academic reputation of a school has also been found to positively influence athlete college selection (Magnusen et al, 2018;Pauline, 2010). Additionally, career opportunities after graduation are important to athletes in their college selection (Kankey & Quarterman, 2007;Pauline, 2010).…”

“…Many colleges/universities have academic degrees that they are part of their reputation. Reputation is important for coaches to incorporate at all stages in the recruiting process and this has been found to have an influence in recruiting (Magnusen et al, 2017;Magnusen et al, 2018). While this seems logical, DIII coaches often get enamored with a player who will help their team regardless of that recruits' academic interests.…”