NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

You have to make it easy for College Coaches to recruit you.

Not that getting a scholarship is easy, but you have to make it easier for the College Coaches to know about all that you have to offer as a student-athlete.

My point is, with this being 2012, it is important to understand the impact technology has on recruiting and the importance of having an online profile to showcase the athletic, academic and character strengths of your daughter or son.

NCSA Recruiting Education Expert Charlie Adams

In 2000, when I worked with families to help connect their athletes to College coaches and scholarships, we would send out paper resumes and follow up with VHS tapes. That seems like the Jurassic Park Days because technology has really infused itself into recruiting.

Why? One major reason is families now have the ability to do such a thing. College Coaches love being able to do an initial evaluation of a prospect online. Obviously, a lot more will go into the recruiting process. They will need to see the recruit in person, get them in for Visits, and much more, but the online profile is an effective way to open the door in recruiting.

I was speaking to Mishawaka High School Principal Jerome Calderone recently. He talked about how an online profile “got his son out there” in recruiting.

NCSA sent me to speak at the New Balance Track and Field Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. While there a Pac 10 Head Coach came over and said “One Stop Shopping” was what he preferred in recruiting. He wanted the ability to see verified academic information, athletic resume, and some video all in one place. Why? Because it can be done nowadays. It is a luxury College Coaches didn’t use to have. It makes it easier on them and families. This trend has really started to take effect the last two years and it is getting stronger every year.

Within one week recently I got an insight into where technology is heading in general in High School sports. While speaking at Indianapolis Cathedral High School, a coach there told me how they were now exchanging game video with other teams online. He shook his head as he talked about the adjustment, but then mentioned it was a good thing. A few days after that Talk, I was at South Bend Adams High School when Athletic Director Bill Groves talked about how their whole conference is moving that direction. They are adjusting to the times. No longer do they have to mail film or drive it across town.

Times change. Roy Williams, 2-time National Champion coach of North Carolina, used to have a job as a Carolina assistant where he would literally drive big tapes of “The Dean Smith Show” all across North Carolina to TV stations. The show would be taped on the weekend, and young Roy would then load up the tapes and make sure they got to the TV stations before they were to air on Sunday.

Nowadays, “The Roy Williams Show” is sent via satellite to all the stations that carry it. No reason to drive it. Times change.

Here is another example to help you understand the advancement of technology and where it stands in recruiting. I got into recruiting education based on my 23 years as a sports anchor across America. I interviewed thousands of athletes and coaches along the way about recruiting and came away with a perspective of what it takes for High School athletes to truly find the ‘right fit’ to play in College. Along the way I interviewed one-on-one peak performers such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Larry Bird and Coach Pat Summit. Because of those interviews, Schools often asked me to deliver motivational talks at their banquets. I decided to include some video clips. Ten years ago, I carried these cumbersome VHS tapes around. It wasn’t long before people asked, “Aren’t you going to put those on DVD?” They looked at me like I was in a time warp and hadn’t figured out times where changing. I stayed old school for awhile with my VHS tapes and it got to the point I HAD to switch to DVD because they said they couldn’t even play VHS anymore.

My point is that in recruiting, the DVD is getting to the point where I was with my VHS tapes. DVD’s will be around to some extent for awhile longer (a Plymouth High 4-sport athlete sent DVD’s to Colleges he was properly evaluated to play at and got a nice response because he alerted them the DVD’s were coming). You will see families taking them to Combines and on trips and they will continue to have some purpose, but what is happening is that if an athlete reaches out to a College program, the Coach is going to ask for academic information, video and other information. “Can you send me a link to your Profile?” is what the Coaches are saying more now. Sure, you can send the ol’ DVD packet, but it makes a lot more sense to be able to quickly fire off an online Profile with the “One Stop Shopping” so many College Coaches prefer.

I spoke to the Altitude Volleyball Club parents and athletes recently at the Merrillville Fieldhouse. Regarding where technology is in recruiting I told the parents of the 9th and 10th grade players that they needed to REALLY be aware of this transition to online profiles.

I was in the office of a D1 Top 25 ranked men’s tennis program recently. The head coach said they only had one DVD sent in recently. Everything else was online. Now, some of it was good. Some was awful. He brought me over to show some of the emails. They were links to You Tube video.

“This player has gone way too long on his forehand video,” said the Coach.

Delete.

He didn’t have the time to wait for the video to get to the backhand. He deleted the crappy ones left and right. Zap. Zap. Zap. Off they went into internet oblivion.

He showed me some good ones, and more bad ones, but the point was just about everything was online.

Jimmy Gonzalez is one of our NCSA Speakers. He was involved in recruiting at such schools as Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. While talking to him recently, he recounted in the old days of having to reach here for the kid’s DVD, there for the transcripts, and over there for other information. He marvels at how it can all be put together in an online profile today. It makes it easier for everyone. The coach, the athlete, the family.

I saw this first hand recently as the father of a cross country athlete. We took advantage of NCSA’s connection with college coaches and developed an online profile. After a realistic evaluation of his athletic and academic goals, NCSA sent it out to College Coaches. My son ended up getting serious interest from over 20 schools, multiple offers, and ended up finding the right fit for College and significant funding. The College Coaches told him they liked being able to see his actual transcript, actual SAT and ACT scores, verified times, academic and athletic resume, and several minutes of video of him running in competition.

One Stop Shopping.

You have one shot in the recruiting process. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression on College Coaches. As competitive as it is for those scholarships out there, I have heard it put bluntly: Either get online or in line behind the families that are going all-out to get their athletes scholarships.

To Make Sure You are Up to Speed in Where Recruiting is in 2012 Click Here to Set up Your Personal Evaluation with a College Recruiting Expert

Charlie Adams

NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network Recruiting Expert

cadams@ncsasports.org

To bring Recruiting Education to your School, Club, Tournament or Special Event

Want a new highlight video?  You can win one by sharing your Recruiting Profile with your friends!  The contest is simple:

1.  Copy and Paste Your Recruiting Profile on www.facebook.com/ncsasports (If you don’t have a profile yet, you can always create one HERE for free!)

2. Ask Your Friends to Like It!

It’s that simple.  The winner with the most likes on March 31st at 12:00 CST wins a new NCSA highlight Video!  Good Luck

My son has college offers of admissions, he has plenty of incoming mail of interested colleges for him to “take a look” at their program, but no recruit offers as of yet.  He, a huge fan of his sport, is discouraged, what is the protocol for contacting coaches now for finding out about the walk-on process, working out with the team, etc?

Walking-on at a College or University is a decision that depends greatly on the student-athlete and what he or she really wants.  Many athletes who have offers from smaller schools choose to walk-on at a larger school in hopes of earning a scholarship.  Often times this is a very risky decision for a few reasons.

1.  There is no guarantee of the student-athlete making the team
2. If you do make the team, playing time is never guaranteed
3. Also, a walk-on may not receive all the same privileges as a scholarship player would

The decision to walk-on is a tough decision that depends on what the athlete wants, how dedicated he or she is, and how badly he or she wants to go to a particular university.  There are numerous success stories of walk-ons turned stars.  The choice to take this risk rests with the student-athlete and his or her parents.  Before you make this decision, there are a few questions you should ask the coach at the school you wish to play for.

. Am I a preferred or recruited walk-on?

. How many walk-ons do you take per year on average?

.Will you guarantee that I will earn a roster spot?

. Is there potential for me to earn a scholarship in the future? If so, what will this be based on and can you put it in writing?

. Will I have access to the academic support systems available for scholarship athletes, such as tutors, preferential course registration, etc.?

. Will I receive the same equipment, clothing and access to the training table as scholarship athletes?

. Do I report to campus at the same time as the scholarship athletes?

Good Luck!

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272