College Sports Recruiting Starts Early

Imagine Johnny, a freshman in high school,  loves soccer, has a good skill set, and wants more than anything to play in college. 

By his junior year, he decides on a few schools at which he would like to play and sends the coaches of these schools his information.  He receives an email or letter back from the coach explaining that his recruiting film is impressive as well as his skill, but the recruiting class for his age is already filled. 

In truth, many Division I Men’s Soccer Teams would have probably filled the roster for the grade below Johnny as well.  At this point, February of 2011, many schools may only have a few roster spots available for sophomores, none left for juniors or seniors. 

Waiting, stalling, or getting in the game too late can be absolutely fatal in the college sports recruiting process.  Through the years college recruiters have gone after students at younger ages, especially in the sports that have elite club and traveling teams.  Don’t let your student athlete miss out on his or her opportunity.

I’m often asked, “How do I get on Rivals?”  My answer is simple, “Get noticed by college coaches.”  This usually receives a puzzled look.  ”Doesn’t Rivals discover talent?”

The answer is simple, “No, they report on who has been discovered.”  If a recruit runs a 4.2 at a camp, trust me that information will be in the hands of a college coach before the report is up on the web.  If Michigan offers an athlete, he will skyrocket up any internet list of recruit rankings.  Star ratings double and a recruits video on youtube reaches viral rock star status.

The key thing to understand is that this all begins with a recruit being identified as an elite prospect by college coaches.  So how can you get identified by coaches?  By connecting to them on the Athletic Scholarships Network.  NCSA has successfully connected over 92% of the verified recruits in our network with college coaches.  By giving coaches a unique opportunity to make quick and honest evaluations we bypass the various other methods that are so costly to both parties.

So my advice to recruits is simple find a way to connect to coaches and internet fame will follow shortly.

To kick off the first thought of the New Year I wanted to take some time to make sure everyone starts of 2011 on the right foot.  As we think ahead about all of the things that we as individuals, and as a collective whole, are going to accomplish in2011,  every individual that aspires for something greater than where they are at athletically, academically or in life should believe in the concept of being prepared.

Being prepared for whatever comes your way whether its expected or unexpected, it is an essential tool for success. For many of you, you will be graduating and moving on to play sports in college. For those that are younger, well you will be moving up the ranks in the totem pole and it will be your time to shine, and for those of you who are even younger than the younger, so technically the youngest, well, you must ready and excited to learn from those that are older than you because someone eventually needs to carry the torch when you grow up.

In the sporting world you will never see any team or individual win or achieve any level of success without being prepared. Sports crowns victors and victors are crowned because they are prepared.

In the arena of high school recruiting, many seniors are getting ready to sign their National Letter of Intent on February 2^nd or on April 13^th, and many are trying last minute to find where they will fit in, if anywhere at all. Juniors, sophomores, and freshman you will be next. As a scout in the industry of helping young men and young women realize their dreams and their potential, I find that only those who are prepared for success will experience it.

The fact of this industry is that there is a limited demand for college athletes and an unlimited supply wishing to be “the next”. Those that read this will be better served if they understand that not everyone can get to college athletics, it’s not for everyone. But if you are an athlete or a parent of an athlete who one day is striving to achieve greatness in college sports I would like to leave you with one message: Be prepared. Be prepared for that phone call from a college scout to tell him or her who you are and what you do. Be prepared to ask the right question that elevates your recruiting status. Be prepared to describe yourself and portray yourself as a must have college prospect. Be prepared to shake anyone’s hand and at moments notice and tell them who you are and why you can deliver what they are looking for. Most importantly be prepared for success.

If you are not prepared, you will be passed up by the next person that is. It is your job to prove why you are better than that person and if you aren’t prepared to tell the right people why you are, then the next person will.  Don’t let yourself miss out on your dreams. You are far too young to start off your path like that.

Best of luck to all of you in 2011!

Does your Athletic Director support your efforts to play college sports?  What can he do?  Can he call college coaches for you?  Can he send hundreds of emails to coaches?  Can he drive you to camps and combines? Can he create a highlight video for you?

It would be ridiculous to expect him to do any of these items.  It would be realistic for him to bring a college recruiting expert to your school.

The debate has raged for years about whether or not college athletes should be paid for their hard work and the money they generate for Universities.  Some argue the athletic scholarship is payment enough while others believe they should receive some of the riches bestowed upon the school by seven figure media deals.  This recent CNN article compares the state of college athletics to a “sweatshop.”

What do you think?

Should college athletes be paid?  Comment below and let us know what you think!

We met hundreds of recruits this past weekend at the US Army All-American Bowl. However, despite some of their considerable talents, they lacked a general understanding about the college athletic recruiting process. If recruits don’t understand what they have to do, the chances of being overlooked by college coaches skyrockets. If you are serious about college athletic scholarships, you need to get educated.

Coach Muschamp isn’t just recruiting talented players, he is looking for the right fit!  How will you find the right fit!

“Just like I did when I was defensive coordinator at Texas when I ran the defensive [recruiting] board. We’ve got certain things that we’re looking for at each position. It’s about evaluation. It’s about taking the right guy. Not necessarily taking the best player at that position; he might not be the right fit for your football team or your university. That’s a huge part of what we do as coaches, is evaluating and taking the right players because there are a lot of good football players out there.”

“I’m not worried about the guys that don’t sign at Florida, I’m worried about the ones that sign at Florida. We need to do a great job of developing those players. A lot of these young men that go other places, I’m going to see them once a year. So I’m not as worried about them as I am the ones we are going to have on our campus.”

Note: I received the following letter from a college coach because my name was on a recruiting website.  I am 30 years old and I can assure my eligibility is used up.

Are you on a list or are you getting recruited?  There is a big difference.

Hi Corey,

****I would LOVE to invite you out to State College for a recruit day on March 5th. There will be a full campus tour, meeting with a admissions counselor, meeting with us coaches after lunch and a full volleyball workout. Please bring everything you’ll will need for volleyball. It will start about 9 am on Saturday morning and run for about 3 hours. After we will have lunch followed by admissions and campus tour. After the tour we will meet with each player to answer and questions and let you know what we think. We would like to offer you the opportunity to stay in the dorms with the volleyball girls. You don’t have to but with starting so early in years past the girls liked it, plus you get a little insight of what campus life is like. As much as we would love to we WILL NOT be able to pay for any flights here or home. What we can offer is your flight being your only cost. We can cover all food, room to stay in, we can pick you up and drop you off at the airport. Your parents are more than welcome but are unable to stay on campus. I am working with a couple hotels in the area trying to get a very low rate for this event. Please let me know if you have any questions and if you plan on attending. I would really love to have you here. If you happen to have a teammate that would like to attend with you either on your high school team or club team please send me their info and bring them with you. We are a very young team on the way up and are very interested in any player that is interested in putting in hard work and helping State College Volleyball get where we would like it to be. I hope to see you there!****

College coaches receives thousands of inquiries from high school student-athletes every month (if not week).  How do they sort through the various emails, letters, DVD’s, Video files and phone calls?  Its pretty simple really; THEY DON’T.  Coaches don’t have the time to search for the diamond in the rough, so they rely on reliable sources to cut through the clutter.  What is a reliable source?  Someone a coach trusts.  The largest source is the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network.  Athletes interested in athletic scholarships can contact NCSA Scouts at 866-579-6272 to see if they have it what it takes to make it to the desk of a college coach!

I hear way too many student-athletes talk about hopefully they have a chance to go pro.  The real number they should be things about is their chance to play past college!

A new NCAA study that was released examined the professional probabilities of athletes in mens and women’s basketball, football, baseball, men’s hockey and men’s soccer.  The results may shock you.

If you REALLY want to play college sports, your options are very clear.

1. Be a top blue chip player in the country with dozens of scholarship offers by sophomore year.
2. Hope that you get luck and get “Discovered”
3. Do the hard work.  Get your name out to coaches.  Take control on your future.