It's a busy time of year in the recruiting world as each weekend brings dozens of official visits and, typically, a fair amount of subsequent commitments.
A prospect's journey through the recruiting process is often well documented -- they collect scholarship offers, trim their lists, take visits and make a decision. College coaches have a process of their own, but it's not as well known because they can't publicly comment on potential recruits.
Coaches identify their needs (typically based on position) in the class, evaluate talent, typically offer scholarships to a few players at each of those positions, prioritize the prospects they've offered and attempt to schedule their visits accordingly.
This is where the timing of visits, and so the strategy of scheduling them, becomes critical as each program tries to maximize its chances with top targets while also building in contingency plans. Here are three typical courses of action when scheduling official visits.