How to court a cub

For most people, attending Princeton is the opportunity of a lifetime — one that's difficult to pass up. But when it comes to recruiting, Princeton's athletes try to make it, well, an offer recruits can't refuse.

Last weekend, several of Princeton's teams had groups of recruits visit campus to get a taste of what it's like to be a student-athlete at Old Nassau.

It's true that many of the students who choose to enroll in Princeton each year are tempted by its reputation for academics, and there's no question that the school's scholastic prestige is a huge boon to coaches trying to recruit fresh talent. But when recruits come to visit campus, the teams try to focus on other areas of student life.

"Princeton mostly speaks for itself in terms of its academic prestige," women's soccer senior goalie Maren Dale said. "We do point out just how pretty Princeton is, hopefully."

Still, if recruits come during the school week, classes are always worked into their schedules — especially if there is an opportunity to use Princeton's academic star power.

"We usually deliberate [among ourselves on] the team who has the most entertaining classes, and we take them to two or three of them," junior squash player Mauricio Sanchez said. "If someone is taking a class with someone famous, we take [our recruits] over there."

But beyond Princeton's celebrity teachers, teams find that the most enticing aspect of a student-athlete's life is the tight-knit team dynamic.

"I think our biggest selling point is our team," Dale said. "I guess our main strategy is being ourselves. We want recruits that will mesh well and create good chemistry, and we definitely want them to see what our team chemistry is like."

Over the course of the visit, hosts will try to show off the team support group that will be waiting should the recruit choose to attend Princeton.

"The only real strategy we have is to show them that the squash team is quite close and that if they come here they could easily be part of the group," Sanchez said. "We usually make sure that most guys on the team get to talk to the recruits or introduce themselves. The recruits appreciate how close the team is, because they know that if they come here, they will already have some good friends from day one."

Of course, no visit to Princeton would be truly complete without a visit to that pinnacle of nightlife, the Street.

While there are strict rules regarding behavior at the eating clubs, they are usually on the itinerary, either for meals or for other nighttime diversions.

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"Most recruits are usually quite interested in the social life at Princeton, and we usually do take them to the eating clubs," Sanchez said. "Most recruits are usually underage and therefore can't drink, so we usually take close care of them."

On the whole, a recruit's visit isn't particularly manufactured.

Most teams find that the everyday life of a student-athlete is enough to convince their recruits, so they don't need to plan any special activities to ensure their visitors have a good time.

"They get to see what we do before a game and how many traditions we have," Dale said. "They go to one class, eat in the dining halls and hang out with their host and their host's friends."

As it turns out, the persuasive power of a Tiger student-athlete's daily activities is hard to refuse, indeed.