Monthly Archives: January 2011

Four Things I Dislike About Parents Of High School Student Athletes

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Parents have high expectations when it comes to the college recruiting process especially when they’re spending their own money.

I’ve dealt with a lot parents as a college recruiter and many feel that if they can put some money on it the college recruiting process will work exactly how they want it to work. Because of that mindset, many parents of high school athletes have problems and I thought I would develop a list of 10 things I dislike about parents in the college recruiting process.

Ridiculous expectations when it comes to playing time. I’ve attended many high school sporting events and there have been times where I’m sitting there next to some out of control parent who’s complaining about how their kid is not getting enough playing time.  Parents like that find every excuse in the world to find fault with the high school coach. These knucklehead parents will complain about the style of play, the outcome of the game or anything else that seems, in their opinion, wrong.  This is why many college programs don’t want to have anything to do with parents at all.

Parents tell many lies. The college recruiting process sometimes comes down to stretching the truth. In all the years that I’ve been a college recruiter, I have heard some of the strangest lies coming of the mouths of parents.  Parents will tell me or even college coaches that their son who plays basketball is 6’4 and 212 pounds. When more investigation is done, we find out that the kid is only 6’1 and 190 pounds.  Stretching the truth about the GPA is also a problem but many parents do not have a problem with falsifying information because they think it will give their kid an advantage with college coaches.

Parents not knowing anything about the recruiting process. When it comes to the college recruiting process, a huge percentage of parents know absolutely nothing about how the college recruiting process works and many parents don’t care.  Parents would rather let the high school coach be totally responsible for getting their kid recruited for college programs.  If parents knew more about the college recruiting process they could better assist their student athlete and assist with all the many details that are involved in the college recruiting process.

Parents should not talk to college coaches. Parents should be involved in the college recruiting process but there should be limits.  Some parents believe that they are the ones who are being recruited by college programs so therefore, they want to be the ones to place calls to college coaches, take phone calls from college coaches and dominate the conversation with college coaches.  College coaches are only interested in the student athletes, not having some long, boring conversation with the parents.

Final thoughts: I truly believe parents want the best for their kids when it comes to going from high school athlete to college athlete.  But parents need to take the time to understand the college recruiting process and stop blaming others for their lack of participation.  The college recruiting process is not easy and, for the most part, it makes absolutely no sense which is why all parties who are involved in the process need to begin the college recruiting process very early.  Give yourself enough time to try and make sense of what’s going on.  Understand how to gain the exposure, understand how to build a strong list of college programs and also understand that things may not always go your way.

Should high school coaches be paid full time to coach their sport?

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The high school coaching profession is extremely challenging; the hours are long and the pay is low.  Many high school coaches do outstanding and unbelievable work every year for the student athletes that they coach.  Should high school coaches be paid full time to only coach their sport?

This question will spark a huge debate because many people do not believe that high school coaches bring any value to their sport or to their schools.  I believe high school coaches are a critical aspect to the success of high school athletes.

School coaches, in my opinion, bring a lot of value to the schools they coach for and for the players that they teach and coach.  If they did not matter what high school teams were doing then no one would show up for the games.

I know every school district would not be able to afford to pay a coach a full time salary to only coach.  Maybe high school coaches in revenue-producing sports such as football and basketball should be paid full time.

What are your thoughts?

I know that it may not be a great idea to hire someone to just coach their sport and do nothing else, but it’s done at the college level. I do understand that colleges and universities have the money and the resources to pay a coach full time to only coach. I’ve heard stories of how the head coaches would use their coaching salaries to pay assistant coaches and to put money back into their program.

There can be creative ways to possibly raise money to pay a high school coach’s salary to coach full time.  At the college level, I do know that they have basketball camps to help fund their athletic programs and pay for a coach or two.

Maybe this process can work at the high school level where there could be some sort of fundraising for basketball camps or host an event where money could be raised to pay a coach a full time salary or give them a larger piece of the pie.

I’m sure there are many parents and fans of high school sports who do not understand the amount of hours that it takes to coach high school players and to develop that program in which they coach. In my opinion, and maybe I’m wrong but it is my opinion and I believe high school sports is a critical part of a school’s curriculum.

I understand that education is extremely important but I also believe that playing sports is also important.

In many school districts throughout this country high school sports is everything to a high school kid that play sports. Many of these young men and women look to high school coaches as father-figures or role models and I believe there is a huge value to having a full time high school coach.

The world is changing; the things we use to do 15 or 20 years ago do not apply to young people today. Everything is different and I believe having strong mentors as head coaches can do a lot for the young people who play a sport and uplift a community or even a high school.

There is a crisis in this country when it comes to the many school districts that are having financial problems.  Enrollment is dropping at many school districts and that affects money but I believe more creative thinking can create a better future for the overall success of high school coaching, athletics, school districts and, of course, the students.

A huge number of student athletes will never get recruited for college

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Are you going to be one of the millions of high school student athletes who never get recruited for college?

Why should we care if you don’t get recruited for college?  So many high school athletes are giving everything they’ve got to get recruited by a college program that does not care about them.

Millions of high school athletes and their parents are going to great expense, frustration and anxiety over the college recruiting process when in reality, they’re wasting their time because nobody cares.

When the college recruiting process begins college coaches more than like will already have players that they’re interested in.  If you’re a high school athlete and you’re not on their exclusive, highly privileged list, then you have absolutely no chance of ever being recruited by that coach.

Anything you mail to these coaches will get thrown in the trash.  These college programs are not going to look at your DVDs and could care less about your academic transcripts. Most of the college programs could care less about your team’s win/ loss record and most of them do not want to hear from you because they don’t know you and they don’t like you.

If you go to a camp or an exposure event, so what. Who cares? What’s the big deal? The college programs that are in attendance at these events are still not going to pay any attention to you.

I’m sorry, but its true; college programs only care about the players who can, without a shadow of a doubt, help them win games as soon as the season starts.

College sports has changed so much that it’s only about winning and in order to win games, college coaches are only going to recruit blue chip, superstar athletes and everyone else who is not in that category have absolutely zero chance of ever hearing from that college program.

Someone may ask if there is a solution for high school athletes looking to play ball at a major college program, and my answer is plain and simple: there is absolutely no solution.

The dream for many high school athletes is to have the opportunity to play their sport at a major college program that has their games on television. Who wouldn’t want their games played on TV?

The fact of the matter is, it’s not going to happen for you no matter how hard you try.

Every now and then, a very talented high school athlete will fall into the hands of a college program but, that is very rare. If you’re thinking that you could be one of those rare, talented athletes out there forget about it, because that’s not going to happen.

Even the division two level of college athletics are becoming extremely challenging in terms of recruiting.  The players who were overlooked by the big-time college programs end up going to the top quality division two programs.

Your ass is now in serious trouble. As a high school athlete, you may become invisible. As a matter of fact, there is a strong probability that college programs at the D-2 level will not want your ass either.

The competition for the absolutely best high school players around the country is extremely competitive.  If a college coach manages to bring in an outstanding recruiting class, this could make all the difference in that coach’s future and ultimately determine how much money that coach will be paid.  A college coach only wants the best players and it’s also true at the lower level division programs. They need great players to win games, to keep their jobs and to get paid.

For student athletes who may be average players, you have absolutely no chance of going to college and playing ball so you should think about doing something else.  College coaches are only going to talk to the best players and you’re not one of them.

3 key elements of not getting recruited for college

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Lack of understanding on how the college recruiting process works is a major reason why high school athletes and their parents screw up the college recruiting process.

Laziness on the part of parents is the number one reason why the process of going from high school athlete to college athlete does not always work out for them.

There are so many factors that totally ruin the college recruiting process for many high school athletes each and every year that I thought I would come up with 3 key elements on why student athletes will never get recruited or placed in college.

Parental Laziness I believe is a major reason why high school athletes end up not going to college or end up at lesser-known colleges that is beneath their athletic ability.  The college recruiting process is really about getting an all expense paid college education that will last that student athlete for the rest of their lives.

If getting an education is that important and critical to the future of a student athlete, then why do parents take a sometimes lackadaisical approach?

I believe the reason for the slow motion approach to college recruiting is because the process is confusing and some parents don’t want to take the time to find the information or resources that they need in order to get a better understanding recruiting and all that it encompasses.

The process of going from high school and college is like trying to put together a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. You know that’s going to take a long time to complete.

The easiest thing for parents to do is to let a college recruiting service handle all the responsibilities.  The other alternative to not using a recruiting service would be to deal totally with the high school coach. Dealing with the high school coach has many limitations; one of which is the lack of time each and every day that at a high school coach would be available to work on recruiting for your daughter or son.

My suggestion for parents is to get off their lazy asses and figure out how the college recruiting process works and then do all that you can to help your high school athlete get recruited.

Lack of academic understanding is another huge reason why many high school athletes end up going to junior college or prep school or end up filling out an application at the local the McDonald’s.

During my years as a college recruiter, I spoke to many high school athletes who were in their senior year and many of them had not even taken the ACT or SAT tests. Not taking the standardized tests until your senior year could ultimately kill your chances of ever going to college.

Without taking the tests and getting a high score means that they may end up going to a junior college to play their sport and to me that would be a total waste of time and athletic talent.

I could never understand why high school student athletes in their senior year would wait so late to take the standardized tests.

Taking the standardized tests is just as important as all the hours you put into developing your athletic talents.

I don’t care what your excuse is, take that test now!!

I believe all high school student athletes should began to study for the standardized tests the summer before their freshman year of high school.  There are books at the library on how to prepare for the standardized tests so there is no excuse for not being prepared.

The GPA is also very important, but it’s really going to come down to your core GPA in a subject that will ultimately get you into a college or university. I would check with the NCAA website on which core courses are most important.

Sometimes, school administrators will place high school athletes in classes that will not help them.  Be aware of the classes and the subjects being offered to you.  There are also school administrators that will put the athletes in classes that they will get a very good grade in just to maintain their eligibility with the high school sports program.

Be careful and pay attention to the types of courses you are taking in high school.  Always pay close attention to your official high school transcript that’s going to be the information that all college programs are going to ask for because it’s a permanent record of the student athlete’s academic history.

The lack of exposure for high school student athletes is another key major element on why many high school athletes will end up just being a student at the local community college or try to walk-on somewhere at a major college program.

It does not matter how good you are athletically because if nobody knows you exists, then how would a college coach recruit you?

Long gone are the days that college coaches come out to individual high school games to recruit high school athletes.  So if that statement is true, then I would say that most high school athletes who are not blue chip superstar athletes are in serious trouble of slipping through the cracks of the college recruiting process.

The only way to get around this problem of lack of exposure to college coaches is to be seen by college programs. You can do that by going to exposure events and tournaments where college coaches can see you play.  Whatever sport you play, make sure college coaches can see you play with their own eyes.

Make sure that college coaches can see you play over many years and many summers so they can see improvements in your athletic abilities.  I believe it’s important for student athletes and parents to be seen at many different events by college coaches in order to build some type of relationship and trust with college coaches.

My final thoughts on the college recruiting process are basically whatever you do, a great deal of time and effort will be involved and a great deal of money will be spent.  The process of going from high school athlete to college athlete is not easy therefore, the more time you have to make the college recruiting process work for you, the better the results will ultimately be.

Branden Padgett High School Basketball Player

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Is this high school basketball player the real deal out there on the basketball court or is he just another player looking to fit in?

Do you think Branden Padgett is a major college recruit? Do you think this young man has the skills, the talent and the ability to compete at the major college level?

What are your thoughts on Branden Padgett? Has he proven to be a legitimate college recruit or is he all hype and no action?

Is Branden Padgett being recruited by the right college programs or is he slipping through the cracks of the college recruiting process?

There are many extremely talented high school basketball players out there, is Branden Padgett one of them?

In terms of skill and talent level, do you think Branden Padgett is one of the best players in his state?

There is much information all over the Internet about talented high school basketball players.

Do you think Branden Padgett is receiving his fair share of high school basketball recruiting coverage or do you think more can be done in terms of his getting the right exposure on the Internet and exposure to college programs on his behalf?

ASICS Gel Kayano 15 Running Shoe

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The 15th version of the ASICS GEL-Kayano running shoe lives up to it’s reputation of delivering cutting edge components to complement the shoe’s exceptional performance and comfort.

A new Asymmetrical Lacing design for improved upper fit and a new midsole platform that delivers the famous GEL-Kayano ride that runners expect.

Asymmetrical upper enhances upper fit and comfort while minimizing the potential for irritation.
ASICS Gel Kayano 15 – Mens – White/Onyx/Flame

3 things you should know before becoming a college recruiter

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For those of you who may not know, I started my professional career as a college recruiter back in 1989.  I thought it would be a great professional business opportunity for me to get involved with.

I played basketball on every level so I thought with the knowledge I had, I could use it to help other student athletes reach the college level.

Back then, there was basically no information available on how to become a college recruiter. There were no college courses to take, no information on the Internet, basically there was nothing available.

There are so many people out there who are fascinated with the entire process of being a college recruiter that I wanted to provide my perspective on the things you will need to do to become a college recruiter.

GO TO CAMP.  One of first things I did as a college recruiter was go to camps. I started out with basketball because that was the sport I played all my life.  By going to camps all over the country, it helped me to get a greater understanding of what parents are seeing and thinking about when it comes to their kids and college recruiting.

Going to camps also helped me gain exposure to college coaches and build up a strong network.  I felt that if these coaches knew who I was, then I could develop some kind of professional relationship and a level of trust.

I believe it’s critical for all new college recruiters to be seen by parents, players and especially the college coaches. This will help build your reputation as a college recruiter.

LOOK THE PART. Being a college recruiter is just like any professional business; you need to look the part.  If you’re serious about being a college recruiter then get yourself some clothes that represent the fact that you are a college recruiter.

Maybe get a polo shirt or some kind of athletic-looking gear that has the name of your company on it.  Also get your fat, out of shape ass in the gym and at least look like you played sports by having an athletic body or something close to it.

I’ve been all over the country to many tournaments, exposure events and camps and have seen many of these wannabe college recruiters who look like they’ve never picked up a ball in their life.  Get in shape! Look like something out there.

GET THE EQUIPMENT. To be taken seriously as a college recruiter you’re going to the need a blog.  I would choose a blog over website because you can update your blog with NAIA news and fresh information all the time and it’s easier to use than the old-fashioned websites.

Get a domain name that says you’re a college recruiter and then your company using something that’s short and catchy.

It’s important to get all the necessary tools and equipment to be taken seriously as a college recruiter.  Get business cards and hand out to every athlete and every parent of an athlete.

Also your email should be off of your domain name and not one of those freaky mail services. Again, it’s all about professionalism.

Technology is critical so get a cell phone with plenty of minutes on it so you can be available to your clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Computers are, of course, just as important as anything you would ever need in your business. Go out and get the best computers available, in your price range of course.  I believe it’s important to have at least two desktop computers and maybe later a laptop or Ipad.

Your computers are the engines for your business because this is where you will write your athletic profiles on high school athletes, email back and forth with college coaches and your prospective clients.

For me personally, I have two desktop computers that I use in every aspect of my business.

GET BUSINESS TO COME TO YOU. It does not matter how smart you are, what college you went to or even what college coaches you may know. If you cannot get businesses to consistently come to you every day, then you’ve got nothing.

Just because you want to help high school athletes get into college doesn’t mean a damn thing if you cannot get a huge number of student athletes to talk to each and every week.

You must advertise your business in order to get business, you must find out online and in the newspapers where the student athletes and their parents, who are most critical in this process, will be.

I believe it’s easier to reach a larger number of parents of high school athletes over the Internet because that’s where they’re going to look for information on how to get recruited for college.

One of the best resources available to market your business is on the Internet. Message boards that talk about high school sports or websites or blogs that talk about high school sports are the best places to advertise your business.

The most important things to remember is you DON’T want to spend your advertising dollars on a message board or website that has very little traffic and little exposure. You want to advertise on message boards that are extremely popular with the parents of high school athletes.

You are marketing your business to the parents of high school athletes because they’re the ones who will pay for anything their child needs on their way to getting recruited for college.

IN CLOSING. I believe these are very important steps in the process of being a college recruiter.  When I first started, I went out to camps and exposure events for years. Even though I was a former high school athlete, a college athlete and then a professional athlete, I felt I needed more inside information on how the college recruiting process worked.

Keep in mind, there are no college courses available on how to become a college recruiter.  What I did was go out and I talked to people.  I talked to the parents at the camps that I attended, I talked with the players at the camps and I made a point to get as much information as I could from college coaches.

My opinion of the college recruiters out there today is that many of them do not know what they’re doing and they only care about the money and not about getting the kids in college.

I think it’s important to think about how you can best help the parents and the student athletes get into college and you will make a lot of money because you will have a great reputation of service to others, so you will get paid.