Transforming the college recruiting process into a modern, athlete-first digital platform.

https://levelupcollegerecruiting.com Project Overview

Level Up College Recruiting was created to help student-athletes and families navigate the overwhelming and often confusing college recruiting journey. The goal was to build a platform that gives athletes the tools, visibility, and guidance they need to stand out to coaches earlier and more effectively.

I led this project from 0 → 1 as the sole Product Designer and Product Manager, partnering closely with one engineer to take the product from idea to working MVP. Together, we used AI-assisted workflows and rapid prototyping tools inside Replit to dramatically accelerate product development, testing, and iteration.

I owned the end-to-end product experience including:

Product strategy

UX/UI design

User flows

Information architecture

Wireframing & prototyping

Brand identity & visual direction

MVP prioritization

Feature planning

Design system foundations

Cross-functional collaboration with engineering

AI-assisted product workflows

This was a highly collaborative two-person build between myself and a solo engineer, where agility, fast iteration, and creative problem-solving were critical.

The recruiting process is fragmented, outdated, and heavily favors athletes with access to expensive recruiting networks or large-school exposure.

Student-athletes often struggle with:

Knowing how to get discovered

Creating professional recruiting profiles

Communicating with coaches

Tracking recruiting progress

Understanding what coaches are actually looking for

Parents also lacked visibility into the process and needed a more centralized solution.

We wanted to create a modern recruiting ecosystem that:

Simplified athlete profile creation

Increased athlete visibility

Helped coaches evaluate talent faster

Empowered families with better recruiting tools

Used AI to create smarter, faster recruiting workflows

The long-term vision was to level the playing field for athletes regardless of geography or school size.

Because the product involved multiple user types (athletes, parents, and coaches), the platform architecture had to support several unique workflows without becoming overwhelming.

We had to constantly balance:

Speed vs. scalability

Feature depth vs. usability

Innovation vs. simplicity

Parents and athletes needed to feel confident that the platform was legitimate, professional, and easy to use from day one.

Successfully launched a working MVP from scratch

Built the foundation for a scalable recruiting platform

Created a modern, athlete-focused UX experience

Established a recognizable recruiting brand identity

Accelerated product development using AI-assisted workflows

Demonstrated how a lean two-person team could rapidly ship product

The platform positioned itself as a more approachable and modern alternative to traditional recruiting tools, especially for families looking for clearer guidance and easier onboarding.

This project strengthened my ability to:

Operate as both a designer and product leader

Build products in highly ambiguous environments

Prioritize ruthlessly for MVP execution

Collaborate deeply with engineering

Use AI tools strategically within product workflows

Move quickly without sacrificing user experience quality

It also reinforced how powerful small, highly collaborative teams can be when paired with modern AI-assisted development tools.

Figma

AI-assisted coding workflows

Product strategy frameworks

Rapid prototyping methods

Responsive design systems

Level Up College Recruiting was more than just a design project — it was a true startup build experience. From product strategy and UX to branding and AI-assisted execution, I helped bring an ambitious vision to life alongside a single engineer.