Do not procrastinate at any time throughout the college recruiting process. It is very important to come up with a strategy of contacting college coaches and for student athletes to be seen by those college coaches.
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No one is recruiting you for your sport because you are so hung up on D-1 programs that you overlook all other programs. Every high school student athlete can’t play at the major college level. You may have talent and the skill to play at a major college level but you have a 1.5 GPA and didn’t bother to take either the SAT or ACT tests.
Now you got game, you’re one of the best players in your state but you did not take care of your business in the classroom and that can be a problem.
Everyone has lied to your ass, from coaches to recruiters to the bad recruiting service to everyone and now you can’t get on at a junior college because you got the wrong advice.
You’re playing too many high school sports and not focusing on the best sport that is going to give you your best chance to play in college.
You’re not going to get in college because you are not doing enough to get your name out there, every day, to the right college programs. Think about this: most high school student athletes will, at some point, receive letters and phone calls from D-3 schools. Now how did they hear about you?
If you get your name out there often enough to D-1 and D-2 programs then you give yourself a greater chance of getting recruited by those programs. You may not end up at a major college program but you never know until you try.
Most student athletes are lazy and will not do what is needed to let college programs know where to find them.
This to me is one of the major reasons why students will not get into college.
Do all of the little things or you will not get into a college for your sport!
Whether you play football, volleyball, run track or you’re the best baseball or basketball player in the state, the college recruiting process is all the same.
For parents who will spend money on their very talented kid, here are some things that could be helpful:
1. Take the SAT or ACT tests early and often and keep trying to get a better score each time. The test scores carry more power than the GPA. Many student athletes make the mistake and wait to take the test in their senior year. At the latest, take the ACT or SAT during your junior year. You can take the practice tests, too.
2. Go to camps or events or showcases where you know there are going to be a number of college coaches in attendance. If enough college programs can see you play over a long summer then that’s a good thing. Never go to an event and there are no college coaches there. You’ll be wasting your money.
3. Get a good DVD made. This is very important because college coaches are not coming to high school games anymore. Get a copy of a good game and mix in some highlights. Make sure you identify who it is in the DVD. I would say get 100 DVD’s made and mail them to 100 college programs.
Mix up your list of programs of big programs and small programs. Also, make sure you have the talent to play at any of these programs before you mail the DVD. Have some extra DVD’s just in case someone did not get one or you think of another college to mail to or better yet, a coach calls and asks for a DVD. You can have tape or film when talking to a college coach. It’s all the same. Get them a DVD!
4. Have the student athlete in the family call the coach or an assistant coach and let that coach know who you are and that you have an interest in their program. If you’re a little shy, write them a hand written letter. That will make a great first impression! Email will at first get lost with all the other junk that’s out there so write to the coach.
That is just a small list of things you can do to get you going with the steps you need to make it to the next level.
Congratulations! You have been successfully recruited by a good college program! You are happy and your parents are happy and relieved that you have found a college program that you are excited about. You have spent many hours in the process of trying to get recruited and you’ve spent a lot of money over the last few years. You went to all the events, the camps and you did all the workouts. You did it all and it all paid off!
When you’re being recruited by a college program, do you really know what you’re getting? Think about that. All high school student athletes who are the chosen few who do make it to the next level are special. You are the best athlete at your school and in your home state. When you are going through the recruiting process you receive a lot of attention from many college programs and the college recruiters are your best friends. They are very nice to you and are glad to talk with and your parents. But sometimes this is not all it seems to be.
How many times have you heard of a high school student athlete who is now with a college program but for a great many reasons wants to leave that college program? This happens on all levels of college programs, large and small ones. Why does this happen? Why do high school athletes who, just a few months ago, fell in love with that college program and now can’t wait to get the hell out of there?
I think that part of the reason is, and I am going by what I’ve heard form college players, coaches, parents and my own personal experience, is that a lot of college coaches will tell high school players and their families anything just to get those players excited about their college program.
Many college coaches will tell players that they will play right away or they will be given a scholarship the next season. Many college coaches will make ridiculous promises to high school student athletes and parents all the time in an effort to get that kid in their program. Some of the things college coaches have said that were told to me by many parents over the years is that we are going to have the best workout facility. Now, that could be a problem at many smaller programs like on the Division-2 level.
Coaches have said things like: ‘you will play’, ‘you’re going to be a major part of our program’, ‘we treat everyone fairly and all the same’, ‘we care about you’, ‘you’re going to be the best player’, ‘we will help you with your academics and studying’. This is what college coaches say to players and it’s all a part of the college recruiting process that goes on every day.
These college recruiters know what to say to parents and student athletes. They know which buttons to push when recruiting. These coaches know the rules and know how to play the game and in some ways, they can. Parents and student athletes are often at a disadvantage because the playing field of college recruiting is not level.
Another thing you hear coaches say is “just keep working hard and you’ll play”, or “you are going to play” but only to get jerked around by the coaches in the end. These things and many more are why players, once placed in college, feel that they want to leave and transfer to another program.
Right now, there is a football player who is at a Division-2 program in West Virginia. This young man was recruited by a huge number of college programs but ended up at a small D-2 program. Now this young man and his father are ready to leave that program because number one, it’s very small and they feel he could be playing at a higher level. The problem is he’s good but he’s not that good.
They really did not know what they were getting into with this smaller program. Many families feel that they can transfer to another college program like changing jobs or moving to a new house or buying a new car. College programs don’t work like that. If you’re there at a program that recruited you then there’s a reason for that. Many parents feel “well after a year he can just transfer to some place else”. Parents, it don’t work like that and you’re just giving your kid false hope.
As a college basketball player back in the 1980’s, I played at a small college program in West Virginia. The head coach lied to all the players on that team. It was mostly done to get us in that college program. That coach had everyone fooled into believing that he was a great recruiter and a good basketball coach. No, he was a great liar! When he recruited most of the players, he told me that it was about getting an education and building a great basketball program. This man said all the right things and more just to get us on that campus and in that basketball program.
There were no rules. It was the wild, Wild West at that college! Some of the players, though not all, were using drugs and the head coach knew about this but let it go on. This coach only cared about winning ball games and would do anything to win. Cheating at that school was rampant, paying players money every day! It was like playing college basketball was a part-time paying job! Players would come and go and this coach did not care as long as you could help the team win!
I felt this coach was using all of us for something bigger. You know when you win a lot of games and bring in a lot of talented basketball players from all over the country, people take notice.
This coach did not know how to coach. Like most college coaches, they are students of the game. They know the X’s O’s of basketball strategy. Most college coaches study the game, write about the game, and attend camps to learn about the game. Most college coaches were assistant coaches at other programs so that they can get the coaching experience that you must have in order to build a college program. Coaching is more than game strategy; it’s about people and families’ lives. This coach cared about none of it and when he did, it was to make himself look good. What a fake! And he’s still a fake to this day!
This man and I can’t really call him coach, gained major attention from Dale Brown, the head coach of the LSU basketball program. In the late 1980’s, Coach Brown was impressed with how that coach was able to build a big-time program at the small college level with no real recruiting budget. Coach Dale Brown wanted my coach to join his staff at LSU as his top assistant. This man did just that- join the men’s basketball program at LSU.
To make a long story short, within 7 years this man has gotten himself fired from the Head Assistant Basketball coaching job. Come to find out he really could not coach basketball at all! What he did at LSU was much of the same thing at West Virginia State-got on all the players’ nerves, caused radical tension, lied to everyone and tried to overtake the basketball program at LSU! This man was not fit to coach basketball or to oversee young men’s lives.
This coach tried to ruin that basketball program. He went on to say that he got Shaquille O’Neal to come to LSU! I heard him say that on T.V., “I got Shaquille”. That statement, along with many other things, got that man kicked out of that major college program. When a coach is at a major college program and gets fired, what do you think his chances are of getting a coaching job anywhere else is? Zero!
Now he’s coaching at some D-2 program way, way out in Montanasomewhere. This man can never get a good coaching job anywhere because of his horrible reputation.
This coach is blackballed. He can’t get a better coaching job because of his horrible reputation in the college coaching community. Had I known more about the recruiting process back then, had more facts and information about this coach and his program.
I would have never gone there and I’m sure most of my teammates feel the same way!
Most young men want to do the right thing. They want to go to a college program where they are playing by the rules, where it’s fair and it’s a good environment. I point this out because it happened to me and it still goes on. Parents, make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Parents, when you are looking for a college program for the student athlete in the family make sure you do your research thoroughly. Check out everything Find out if they graduate players that are in their program. Have the coaches been in any trouble? What are the players like on that team? What is the campus like? When you do go on a recruiting visit, talk to the other players on the team and find out what the program is like for them. Talk to more than 1 or 2 players and try to get a feel for the program.
Make sure that if your student athlete does get in that program that you know what they’re getting. Make sure that he or she will be given a fair shot of playing. Make sure of the scholarship that you are getting. Many times families and student athletes jump at the first college program that makes an offer. If you are lucky enough to get multiple offers look at all the programs make sure you understand what you’re getting.
I would think the worse thing would be to be apart of a program and that everything that was promised to you turned out to be wrong.
Many high school student athletes who are being recruited sometimes lose site over the big picture instead of doing some research on the college programs that are recruiting you. You just don’t take the word of that coach. Many times in the Woods Recruiting college recruiting service there have been athletes who will call me to say that they are unhappy, they are not playing, they are being treated unfairly and they want to leave. This happens all the time. Sometimes there is good reason for this and most of the time there’s not and the student athlete wants to leave that college program.
We all make mistakes but if you make a mistake with choosing a college program it could cost you. Remember, you are being recruited. They want you so in some ways, you have some power. Don’t make the mistake of not checking out the college programs that are recruiting you, you’ll be glad you did!
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In this new world of recruiting high school student athletes do stats really matter? Now these days with so many message boards, websites and blogs you can get the latest news and information on just about any high school player’s games and their stats sometimes written up minute by minute in real time.
Think about this one for a minute: do stats help you get recruited for college or not? I have seen many high school football games where it’s a blow out by half-time and the coach takes out all the starters. One may be a quarterback or running back whose numbers may not look too overwhelming. If it’s a quarterback and he passes for just 200 yards in the game, if he’d played until the 4th quarter he may have passed for 300 or maybe 400 yards in that game.
When you read about that game in the Sunday paper, that team won but that quarterback only passed for 200 yards some would think he had just an average game and others may think that he’s not as good as some other player across town. Did this quarterback’s stats really tell the full story or can these numbers be somewhat misleading? You be the judge.
What about the basketball player who, just like in football, does not play the whole game and their numbers are down but with more playing time could have a 20 point or higher game average. Sometimes the numbers don’t tell the true story. I have seen high school basketball players who average 30 points per game in high school and when their stats are published in the newspaper you would think that this player can really play ball and that they are on their way to a major college program. Big numbers really catches everyone’s attention because if you didn’t see the game that’s all you would have to go on, right?
There are factors involved that the average person or fan of high school sports may not truly understand. What kind of competition are they playing against? What is the talent level of the other players? Often, the numbers don’t tell the story and should not always be used to make it seem like one player is better than another player. The numbers or stats, if you will, cannot really tell if that player can play at a high level college program.
Here’s something that will not make since to you at all about stats and recruiting. Most of the time recruiting is done by mailing or emailing information to college coaches about players. And most college recruiters will see the numbers. That is one way to get the college coaches attention. If a player was rushing for 250 yards per game or scoring 30 points per game coaches would take notice right away because the numbers have gotten their attention.
The numbers cannot always be used in getting a player recruited for college or trying to get a college coach’s interest. In my many years as a college recruiter I try to tell the story about that player’s story; about what he or she is capable of as an athlete not the numbers. The thing is that college coaches want to see more of than numbers and stats is ability and skill and heart and passion for the sport. Can they really play?
Many times the real followers of high school sports will know that it’s about that player’s talent level, can they play at the college level and are they any good? Many high school players with big numbers sometimes get more hype because of message boards, websites and blogs, the sports page and T.V.–because they have great numbers.
It’s always a better story to cover a basketball player who scored 50 points in a game or the football player who rushes for 300 yards in a football game. They make for better sports news. The player who only gets 100 yards passing or 15 points in a basketball game will not be mentioned anywhere. My point here is seeing is better than reading the numbers.
Many years ago there were two brothers who played on a good high school basketball team coached by their father. These players were very good. Both were about 6’5 maybe 6’6 and they played at a school just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Every day I would read the paper and see their stats which read like 30 points, 20 rebounds and other items as well each week. The numbers were very good and sometimes good and often better than the week before.
Back in those days I use to attend a lot of ballgames to scout players for my business. It was a great way for me to meet players and their parents. I would go and see these guys play and they seemed to be very good and I, as a college recruiter, wanted to see what was really going on.
They were that good! When I got to the game these two brothers, coached by their father, really had game! But the points they scored were true; they got those points if it was 30 points or the other brother got 40 points, those numbers were real. But when I read the sports page the next day the other stats were not so real; 20 rebounds or 15 assists and I said to myself- I know they did get those other numbers but if I hadn’t seen the game with my own eyes, I would be lead to believe that they didn’t it all.
Come to find out, there were deeper issues with this family and the father who was their coach. The family acted as though they were free agents in pro sports moving from school to school, team to team. Their reason for doing this was to create buzz about themselves only.
These very good high school basketball players did not need to embellish their stats. They were looking for major college programs to come and see them play. That was their only goal. These two did end up at mid-major basketball programs and really went no further than that. They both had just typical college careers, nothing more. Stats mean something but they’re not always the true test of a player’s ability.
When it comes to recruiting, it’s about size and speed and what players can really do out there in the games against other good high school athletes. College coaches will recruit with their eyes and try to use good common since and not only see the numbers.
Many times, parents will put pressure on high school coaches to play their kid more or play them the entire game just to get their numbers higher. Most high school coaches want to win the game but also give the other players a chance to play as well.
The difficulty with stats is when it comes to being recruited, what should you use to measure one’s playing ability? Is the player who scores 12 points per game less of a player than the one who scores 20 points per game? Or what about the football player who gets 150 yards rushing per game and some other player gets 250. Who’s really better?
With stats, it’s a hard thing to measure one player over another or even use in recruiting. Think about the players who may not get as much playing time but are very talented or the players who are in the dog house with the coach and get no playing time.
Just remember: stats are not everything when it comes to who’s better, who’s not, who can play in college or even the level of college. Just look at the player. Can he or she really play?
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Is there too much coverage of high school sports?
It seems to me that the coverage of high school sports is growing to the level of coverage that college and pro sports receive. There are many people out there who wish that high school athletes receive no coverage so they can focus on their sport and academics. Maybe too much coverage can be a distraction to some high school student athletes.
I’m sure some high school athletes played to the cameras because they knew the cameras were in the gym or on the football field or the baseball diamond. Some coaches play towards the media as well by over-reacting or over-coaching when they see TV cameras.
That’s one of the examples I can think of regarding too much coverage of high school sports and how it can go to your head, in other words you would get big-headedness.
I can remember a long time ago when I was in high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, when there was very little coverage of high school sports. On the local news channels the sports coverage would have some highlights and the scores of the games but that was about it.
In those days, you knew very little about the other players on the other teams because there was absolutely no coverage of what the players were doing. There was also no Internet so any information you heard about players was all rumors or speculation on what was going on in your league.
I think what changed was the fans who enjoy high school sports wanted to know about the players in the communities. It became a fascination of gathering information about high school athletes from all sports, from all cities and towns. We all wanted to know where the local kid was going for college or who was recruiting which players.
High school players have always been talked about in the newspapers, now that’s changed to having discussions on the Internet. High school athletes are being written about on blogs, message boards and many websites. If you want to see a player’s latest game just go to YouTube and just type in the athlete’s name and you may find a video. In most communities throughout this country, high school sporting events are being covered on local TV and streamed over the Internet. ESPN is now covering high school ball games.
The coverage of high school sports is big and getting bigger. It’s all because of the fans’ fascination about high school players. The public wants to know about these players so much that this is why there is TV networks covering all high school sports; why there are so many blogs posts and message boards about high school sports. So much exposure of these student athletes does help with recruiting. Recruiting is such a critical aspect of high school sports that many parents believe if their son or daughter is on the team that is getting national coverage those players will receive national recruiting coverage and exposure. I believe some of that to be true but you still have to be able to play the game, be an outstanding student and an outstanding person to get into college in the first place.
At some point, college athletes are going to get paid-it’s bound to happen and because high school sports is extremely popular those student athletes will also be looking for some kind of compensation. Look at it this way: no one is buying a ticket to see some student take a math test, who cares? But a lot of people are buying tickets to these high school games all the time because they, the fans, do care. High school student athletes at some point will receive some kind of special compensation for being an extremely privileged athlete.
There are some parts of this country where high school sports is so popular that the players are treated extremely special. Some communities have raised enough money where they have built incredible football stadiums or basketball facilities just to support high school sports. Now if that’s not privilege, I don’t know what it is!
This might sound kind of crazy but, I always felt that if high school coaches were paid full time to coach their sport like college coaches do I believe it would be a huge benefit to the sport, to the parents and most definitely the student athletes.
Paying high school coaches to coach full time would only work with high revenue producing sports. So if the soccer coach is not selling out a lot of tickets they wouldn’t be eligible for this new coaching role.
Recruiting is such a big deal these days; by having the high school coach totally focused on their players I believe this would help eliminate many recruiting problems and issues going on now.
There’s no way around it: high school sports is more popular than ever. The players are being over-exposed but that might not be a bad thing. If more people are talking about high school sports then that’s always a good thing.
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