Below is an old document that was shared with us during my son's recruiting process. He is a current Junior in college and he was in the process before the "September 1" rule change was put in place.

Some of may be dated but I believe it can still shed some light on what college coaches look for. I would pay particular attention to the very last section.



Duke Lacrosse Recruiting Prospectus

As a top academic school that is committed to competing for the ACC and NCAA Championship every year, we choose to take a very calculated approach to the recruiting process.
We feel strongly that our approach has played a major part in the success of our program as well as the academic, athletic and personal success of our many players.

We are highly selective in our recruiting process and take enormous pride in the team culture and chemistry that exists within our program.
We place tremendous emphasis on getting to know our prospects and their families during the recruiting process. This experience has proven critical in finding players who will be happy and successful
student-athletes at Duke University.

When evaluating prospective student-athletes for our program,
there are four major components that we factor in:

Academic Fit
Athletic Fit
Personal Fit
Interest in Duke.

ACADEMIC FIT

Our admissions process plays a critical role in our recruiting process. We have between 7-10 spots to work with each year. Prospective student-athletes must fall within the parameters set by our admissions office to be considered for an athletic admissions “spot".
These parameters are as follows:

3.2-GPA or higher
1200 SAT
26 ACT

GPA: Our admissions office prefers prospects with a GPA of at least a 3.2 in a challenging curriculum where students are enrolled in honors/AP courses or are on track to take these courses in their senior year.

SAT's: Again, with the recruiting process beginning so early, we recommend that prospects consider taking the exam earlier as well. In addition, it has been our experience that writing component of the exam makes the test longer and therefore more challenging for most students. We recommend that prospects plan to take their standardize tests THREE times--Fall, Winter, Spring—in their junior year. Options include taking a combination of SAT's as well as the ACT exam.

The sooner prospects take these exams, the sooner we will know if they will be a good academic fit for Duke. 

Red Flags:  Two issues that would be considered "red flags" in the admissions process would include:
Multiple C's in core courses (Math, English, Science, History)
A score below a 550 in either Critical Reading or Math.

Exceptions: It is important to note that there are exceptions made for students who fall below the the standards listed above. These are handled on an individual basis. All of our students who have fallen in this range have graduated from Duke.

ATHLETIC FIT
Our Needs: Each year, we do our best to bring in players who will meet our greatest on-field needs. Often, we do not have a solid command of those needs until we have completed a full season with our newest players. By late May, we have been afforded the opportunity to see our freshmen and younger players grow and will better have a sense for where they will fit into the scheme of things throughout their career. These determinations help us to decide who we will zero in on for the next class.

As the recruiting process has accelerated so greatly, we do our best to “anticipate” what our needs will be as early as possible and communicate those needs to our prospective student-athletes. It is possible that our priorities will shift in focus from fall to spring based on our team’s development.

What we look for: We typically like to fill a class with 8 -10 players. We consider overall character to be the most essential piece of the process. Talent is extremely important, as all great teams have talented players, however when talent is even character rises. What are the athletic qualities we consider to be paramount? Speed, athleticism, game sense, sticks skills, coachability, adaptability, work ethic. Intangibles: competitive nature, heart, determination, love of the game, will to improve and will to win a championship. Lastly, we are looking for those strong enough to persevere through this process with confidence in their ability to reach set goals. The Duke experience is about maturing into a man of consequence and character.
 

PERSONAL FIT
Finding a great fit: When considering future players for our program, we first look for students who feel that Duke University will be a great fit for them. We encourage our prospects to not only visit Duke unofficially but other schools as well. The process of visiting schools, touring with admissions offices, and meeting coaching staffs will no doubt help them to determine if Duke could be a good fit for them.

Camp: As official visits have become virtually non-existent in the recruiting process, we encourage interested players to attend our camps. This will give prospects the opportunity to stay on our campus, meet our players, and spend time working with our staff. This experience is a valuable one in the recruiting process because it gives prospects a great feel for what it is like to be part of the Duke Men’s Lacrosse Program.

Sophomore Days: We offer sophomore days by invitation only. These are typically in the fall semester once we have had the chance to evaluate players academically and athletically through the early summer months. It is important for you to know that if someone isn’t invited to our sophomore day, it does not exclude them from being recruiting by us. We have many players on our team who never attended a sophomore weekend at Duke.


Our team: We have a team full of exceptional student athletes who do a tremendous job of balancing the demands academics, athletics and normal college social lives. Along with emphasizing a balanced approach, our program also very much embraces a "family" atmosphere. We feel strongly that this enhances the experience of our students academically, athletically and socially. We are looking for players who will embrace this aspect of our program.


INTEREST IN DUKE
Should all else be equal in evaluating prospects for our program, we are always going to choose kids who really want to be at Duke. A unique spirit is woven through the fabric of our university when it comes to athletics. There is total commitment to achieving excellence in the classroom, on the athletic field and in life. We want players in our program who is going to embrace this spirit and who feel a strong connection to our players, coaches, the program and the university environment as a whole.