So how does a school from California hear about a player from Moorestown?
Well, that's the simple part.
Savino took it upon himself, with the aid of his father, Joseph, to make a video and send it to colleges.
"We had a recruiter come to the high school, and he said that there is no magic thing called a radar," said Sharon Savino, Nick's mother, who joined him on the recruiting trip to UCSB.
"The recruiter said if you want to be seen other than by people who your coaches know, you have to get your name out there."
So Nick Savino did that, and apparently the video he had made was worth more than any craftily worded resumé.
"Every day, I get three to four e-mails from goalkeepers who want to come here," Stuart Dobson, who coaches UCSB's goalkeepers, said in a telephone interview. "Sometimes, I will get sent tapes that are 10 minutes, some are an hour, and I usually only look at a few clips."
That was all he needed to see of Savino to be impressed.
"He sent me a few, and straight away I said this kid has something," Dobson said.
It also helped that Dobson was familiar with this area. He used to live in South Jersey while a backup keeper for the Major Indoor Soccer League's Philadelphia Kixx.
One of the people he knew was Paul Wimbledon, the owner and director of coaching at Three Lions Soccer Academy, where Savino competes.
"I have yet to see him play in person, but I was going off the video and Paul Wimbledon, whose opinion I really value," Dobson said.
So recruiting isn't as sophisticated as some might think. Players are still presented offers without the coach seeing them compete.
The only way that occurs is if somebody does his homework in recruiting the way Savino did.
Other than UCSB, Savino was considering schools in the East. His twin brothers are seniors at Penn, so the roots are in this area.
