AACC coaches said a lack of personal contact with university recruiters hasn’t harmed any Riverhawk athletes’ chances of playing for a four-year college next year.

“Even if this [pandemic] wasn’t going on, we share videos and we passionately share knowledge of our players [with other coaches and recruiters],” Men’s Basketball coach Joe Snowden said.

While four-year coaches and recruiters are not able to meet with student athletes personally, they are relying mostly on game film of players and word of mouth to see if who fits their programs.

Athletes who are in their last year at AACC and are looking to get recruited said they feel good about their chances of making a four-year team.

Lacey Hinkle, a second-year nursing major who is a Women’s Basketball shooting guard and plays defense for Women’s Lacrosse, said coaches have been reaching out to her.

“I feel pretty secure,” Hinkle said. “The coaches I have talked to [over the phone] have expressed a lot of interest in me, and we have stayed in communication.”

Hinkle has an offer to play lacrosse for Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia.

Athletes said their coaches here are trying to help them get recruited.

Connor Bittner, a second-year transfer studies major who plays defense for Men’s Lacrosse, said his head coach has helped a lot during this process by keeping in touch with coaches from four-year colleges.

“I don’t have too many worries [about getting recruited] to be honest,” Bittner said. “I have been talking to my coach a lot, and he has been reaching out to a lot of the coaches for me.”

Bittner said he is interested in multiple schools, including Palm Beach Atlantic University, Stevenson University and Wilmington University.

Joe Stanilaus, the head Men’s Lacrosse coach, said his goal is to help athletes get to where they want to go.

“Our main goal is to get anyone who wants to go to a four-year [college] to a four-year,” Stanilaus said.

Coronavirus has made some parts of recruiting more difficult, starting with the cancelation of all AACC spring sports.

Stanilaus said he has been working with college recruiters a lot during this time.

AACC coaches have been “reaching out to four-years about our guys that are not going to be here next year,” Stanilaus said. “We probably have six, seven, eight guys that might be graduated by spring’s end, and [we have to] contact coaches that are trying to find the right fit” for their four-year programs.