Subscribe to the NCSA BlogAn Academic Edge in College Sports
January 29th, 2009 - byEveryone knows that recruiting is the life blood of every college team. But, the key to a coach’s success is how he molds his high school recruits into successful four year scholarship players. Obviously practice time is key part to that equation. Potential recruits that can get extra practice time will continue to coveted by college coaches.
How do you practice more? By enrolling early and taking part in an extra semester of practice. Even programs outside of the BCS like TCU are joining the trend by enrolling recruits early. The Star-Telergram described the thought process behind incoming freshman quarterback Casey Pachal decision to enroll early.
Pachall said the decision to leave early was easy.
“My thinking was that coming out of high school, I wanted to prepare the best I could and get most acquainted with my teammates and also with the system I’d have here at TCU,” Pachall said. “One benefit is getting in shape because the workouts here are very tough. They’ll get you where you want to be.”
In addition to the extra time in the weight room and at workouts, enrolling in January is beneficial for academic reasons.
Pachall is taking 15 hours in his first semester. And the transition from high school to college should be easier because there are only about eight hours of football work a week instead of the 20 or so in the fall during football season.
His early enrollment clearly will be a boost to TCU, but potential recruits need to bear in mind that Pachal wouldn’t have even had the opportunity if he wasn’t an excellent high school student. Recruiting smart students continues to pay off for college coaches across the country.
