DI Mid-Major coach chiming in.
When recruiting, what do you look for in an athlete besides times?
Grades are big for me. Having to worry about an athlete being eligible is a PITA. No coach wants to be receiving emails from the academic coordinator about so-and-so being at risk. Also, it makes me look bad when my teams GPA is low or when students I recruited are always missing class and appointments. At a school my size teams can get a reputation that lasts for a long time.
I'm interested in an athletes character. On recruit visits I pay close attention to how the athlete talks to their parents and people they meet with. Do they respond in a timely manner. Are they polite when speaking to strangers. "please and thank you", opening doors for others, etc. Comes down to team culture. Kicking kids off the team gets harder as the years go on. coaches have to be smart on the front end and if I get a bad feeling about an athlete, I look elsewhere.
Avg. size of roster per year
Cross is 10-16 per gender, add 20-30 more for the track side and that's the team most years.
Minimum time standards for walk-ons
We really dont have them. Yes, we publish walk-on standards but it's more of a walk-on number. All of our event coaches will usually have 2-3 walkons that we feel will be good leaders, a GPA boost, or just a pleasant athlete to work with. If a guy is running 18 minute 5Ks then yes, we will pass. Most of the time though, if we like a kid, we'll let him on the team if he checks the other boxes.
How many scholarships you have to work with/how you decide who gets what
We've got 10ish mens scholarships and 15is women's scholarships. Money goes to athletes that can score at conference. We care a bit about NCAA success but the 1st round is getting so tough we keep a conference 1st mentality. At any given time we're likely to have 2-3 kids a gender on a full but most everyone else is on 20-40% to start and we work them up from there. Our school has good academic aid which helps also. And yes, if we like an athlete we were planning to scholarship we will give a little extra to make sure they sign.
What happens if a runner gets injured/doesn't perform? Is their spot on the team/scholarship in jeopardy?
Well, I can't take a scholarship for that reason so it's sort of a non-issue for us. It's annoying to invest in an athlete and they get hurt for a dumb reason (skateboarding) but usually when injuries happen it's a combination of factors and they don't last forever. If they are looking at missing two seasons something is done. For performance, can reduce or take for that. Also annoying since athletes get lazy/complacent. Some can fool you in recruiting or we just misjudge. I'm a stubborn SOB so if I've got an athlete that isn't getting better I keep pushing. They'll either step up or step down. Either way, no one in my training group coasts on their money.
Anything that you think I should add that is important for high schoolers to know as they look towards continuing their running career?
Tell them to be realistic. If you aren't being contacted by a certain type of school (Ivy, P5, whatever) then it may not be the best fit for you. That's OK. College is a big decision but at the same time, they've got 80 years of life after (hopefully). If you like the coach, team, school, and academics then go if the money works out. Kids need to know that their parents can absolutely ruin their chances at a scholarship or a spot on the team. I'm not recruiting a kid if I think their parent will be an issue in four years. The family needs to talk before going on a visit so everyone is on the same page. The coach wants time with the athlete, not have a parent interjecting constantly or asking basic questions they could have looked up online (What's our mascot? Really? ). Lastly, don't think you're special. A good coach is recruiting a lot of athletes. A family can have their time frame but if I give you a deadline, I mean it. No employer is giving you six months to decide on taking a job and neither does my staff. Do your research and be ready to act if all the pieces fall in place.
Hope that helps.