Week in and week out, college athletes cross finish lines and run past goal lines. They make catches in the outfield and catches while tight-roping the sidelines.
And while some players only do one of the above mentioned, dual-sport athletes such as LSU sophomore return specialist Trindon Holliday and sophomore wide receiver Jared Mitchell do both.
Although Holliday and Mitchell suit up to play football for the Tigers, they also fill in as a member of the track team and baseball team, respectively.
Much like other LSU athletes, Holliday and Mitchell were aggressively recruited by many colleges, with the process differing because of their multi-sport abilities.
The NCAA has specific rules when it comes to the athletes’ recruiting processes. This process becomes even more complex for dual-sport athletes.
NCAA rules state prospective athletes can only be called once a week. Because of this rule coaches of different sports must share the allotted contact times.
NCAA rules also stipulate when these contacts can take place.
LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver said the recruiters from different sports discuss and may alternate calls and visits to a prospect to remain in compliance.
“Sometimes [football and track] will try to go and see the person together to use up his one contacts,” Shaver said. “Because those are based on a certain day.”
Coaches and recruiters can only have three off-campus visits to a recruit’s home, and recruits receive one official visit to the University.
LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said recruiters will discuss what they tell the player to effectively use contact opportunities.
Mainieri also said coaches discuss how the player’s time should be spent between the two sports.
“We have to be on the same page on all of that,” Mainieri said.
Mitchell said he was able to spend time with the coaches from both sports during his official visit to LSU.
“I took my official visit on a football visit and did all the football stuff,” Mitchell said. “They scheduled time for me to go and meet the baseball coach and do baseball stuff [too].”
To prevent universities from overstocking on football players, an athlete can only receive a scholarship for one sport.
If a dual-sport athlete plays football, the NCAA rule states his scholarship must be for football. Mainieri and Shaver said this is to prevent schools from using other sports to give football players scholarships.
“He has to count toward football’s limit,” Mainieri said. “They do that simply so [teams] don’t hide a football player in other sports. Schools shouldn’t be able to give a football player a swimming scholarship and have it count against swimming. It is a way that they protect against abuses.”
Mainieri said recruiters from both sports will alert each other of a potential recruit.
“Usually football finds it out first, and they let us know,” Mainieri said. “But sometimes it happens where we will see a baseball prospect that we really like and find out he is a really good football prospect. We will contact the football office and, if he is on their list, then we will start coordinating.”
Holliday said some schools only recruited him for track and field. He found out he could play both sports when he took his official visit to LSU, which was a big factor in his decision to attend.
“I got a lot of calls from just track, but then I found out LSU would give me a chance to do both so I came here,” Holliday said.
—–Contact Amos Morale [email protected]