NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

When NCSA’s team of over 30 Recruiting Expert Speakers deliver hard hitting Presentations, a point of emphasis is finding the “right fit” for athletes at the next level. This article will give you powerful examples of how one young man is nailing the “right fit.”

Bo Calhoun of Washington High committed to D1 Ball State University before his seniors season. Here is a break-down of key factors:

Bo Calhoun of Washington High in action

The “Realistic Fit” Factor: Ball State is mid level D1. Bo Calhoun is 6’7″ and 210 with long arms. He averaged 18 points a game as a junior for Washington High, located in South Bend, IN. As recruiting went along, schools most interested in him were schools like Ball State and Western Michigan. North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and those big boys were not wound up about him. Bo had the wisdom and discernment to see what was a realistic fit athletically for him at the next level.

Rod Creech is the highly respected President of the Midwest Basketball Academy and Director of MBA Select Boys Basketball. He and his staff have been with Bo during this whole process.

“With Bo,” said Creech, “we talked to him about the difference between the College coaches love you and the ones that simply like you. Western Michigan University and Ball State really loved him and a lot of others liked him. Ball State and Western wanted him to commit early because they loved him so much. When you find those kind of schools, you don’t get lost in the shuffle with other players and end up eventually transferring.”

“We talked to Bo about finding the right fit for him,” added Creech. “Take Visits, listen to coaches, get to know them, their teams and Universities. His 6’7” frame and athleticism put him in play with a lot of Universities. He ended up being the number one recruit target of Ball State.”

The “Work Ethic, Character and Academics” Factor: When a person has a combination of God given size, and athletic ability like Bo, and a work ethic, look out! His High School Coach, Chad Johnston, said this to the Star Press:

“He’s got a great work ethic. In the summer I told him he needs to take a week off to let his body recover a little bit. A couple of weeks ago when it was super hot out, I got a call about him working out on the track. I took a Gatorade out to him and said, ‘What are you doing?’ He told me, ‘I’m working to get better, coach.’”

Rod Creech is passionate about preaching fundamentals and work ethic to players MBA works with in their development. It is vital that young athletes talk with their High School and/or Club Coaches at a fairly young age and state what their dreams or goals are, and ask to be held accountable in reaching them.

“Bo has always been a great kid with big dreams,” said Creech. “As a freshman he met with me and made me promise to help him and hold him accountable to do the things it would take to get a scholarship. He knew basketball was a way. He wanted to be a College player so bad, and he knew his family could not afford to pay for College, so basketball was a way to get that Scholarship. We held him accountable with his work ethic and told him the door of opportunity will open and shut quickly. You have to have the character, academics, and stay out of trouble.”

Athletes: Meet with your coaches and guidance counselors, tell them your dreams, and ask them to help hold you accountable to reaching those dreams!

Bo carries a strong 3.1 GPA. He is getting it done in the classroom. No excuses! Through Visits and Research, he also knows enough about Ball State to know he wants to enter their School of Business. While someone with his physical abilities could possibly think NBA or Pro Basketball overseas, he knows the odds are stacked so high that he wants to make sure he gets his education and degree first. Bo comes from a strong Conference, the Northern Indiana Conference, that is close to another strong Conference, the Northern Lakes Conference. These Conferences include power High Schools such as Penn and Warsaw, the South Bend and Elkhart schools, and more.

Know how many of their products are currently in the NFL, NBA, Major Leagues and WNBA? Two. None from his city of South Bend. From where Bo comes from, about 0.0005 % of High School athletes are making the NBA, NFL and MLB.

The “Know Your Weakness” Factor:

College Coaches go to trusted, verified sources to get the scoop on recruitable athletes like Calhoun.

“The first thing College Coaches ask me about are character and academics,” said Creech, who played College Basketball and is also a College Referee, “then once that is cleared the rest can almost be easy if the kid has the ability.”

As we talked about this point, Creech elaborated on how he and other trusted third parties like the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network have to develop a realistic evaluation of a recruit.

“When College Coaches call me about a kid,” said Creech,” I tell them the truth. I tell parents of players that my credibility is on the line and I have worked hard for 15 years to develop trust with a Network of College Coaches. I tell College Coaches about the strengths AND weaknesses and something that is important for athletes to know is that I tell the College Coaches if the kid is working hard on the weakness. With Bo Calhoun, his weakness used to be his jump shot, but he worked so hard on it. I also told the College Coaches about his upside. The weight program isn’t the greatest at his High School. When he adds 20 pounds to his 6’7” frame he will explode.”

Remember, College Coaches project when recruiting. You think they are looking at you as you are, but they are often picturing you at age 20 after being in their weight program.

The “College Coaches are Watching more than your Athletic Abilities when they see you in Person” Factor:

Understanding the importance of being at the right kind of recruiting events is important. Bo really shined at July Showcase events for his MBA Select team, and the College Coaches were there to see him. While Ball State coaches were evaluating him, the South Bend Tribune reported that his team was not doing well and he couldn’t buy a bucket. Calhoun stepped up in a leadership role and righted their ship.

“(The Ball State coaches) knew he could play,” Coach Johnston, his High School coach, told the newspaper, “but when they saw him handle a tough situation, they became very interested.”

That is a HUGE point. The College coaches went from interested to VERY interested based on leadership skills displayed. College coaches know if they want to win they not only have to have kids that can play and handle the academics of college, but that have the leadership skills, competitive fire and the other elements that make up championship teams. If you are at an Exposure Event and on the Lists of Colleges, know they are watching all kinds of things, from how you carry your bag from the bus to how you ask your parents for a sports drink.

“In that game,” said Creech, “he wasn’t playing well offensively but rallied his team with his words. At MBA, we talk daily with kids like Bo about leadership, mental toughness and about TEAM. Offensive won’t always be there, but the ability to support the team in other ways will always be there.”
The “Knowing Who Else is on the College Roster” Factor: The Ball State Coaches have told Bo that he projects to possibly replace 6’9″ BSU senior Jarrod Jones. He has a chance to compete for playing time early. Part of finding the right fit is studying rosters to see who they have coming back. A glut of young players at your position is not the best situation to enter into in College. Bo knew there were only three other post players on Ball State’s rosters and their coaches expect him to play a lot as a freshman. Notice they didn’t promise, but expect, which is the way it should be.

The “factors” that Bo nailed are ones that you need to be thinking about as well. They really go on and on. In talking with Rod Creech, he shared these other valuable insights:

Charlie Adams is one of over 30 NCSA Speakers that can come to your School or Club

“Charlie, parents often think because they get a letter their kid is being recruited. That College may have sent 10 or 200 or more letters out. It’s a start but unless you do the work and the marketing of your child, that may be all you ever get.”

“Charlie, parents also often think that when they get their kids to these recruiting exposure events that everyone there is to watch them. They don’t understand what it takes when they get to these venues. A kid has to be prepared. A lot of parents think you play on a team and go and success finds them there. You have to work hard and be prepared to take advantage of being in that situation.”

Parents have got to understand that College Coaches go to these events primarily to evaluate prospects that they have learned of through trusted, verified third parties like a Rod Creech, the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network and other credible sources. SO many parents trot their kids to various basketball, volleyball, soccer and other Showcases thinking their kid will get discovered. When Bob Chmiel, a NCSA Speaker, was Recruiting Coordinator for Michigan and then Notre Dame, he “discovered” two kids in all his years. Tim Biakabutuka, who flew under the radar from Zaire, and Rocky Boiman. Chmiel always had a list that he developed through trusted sources. It is critical you understand this concept if you want to have maximum success in the recruiting process.

To Talk with a College Scout to See if You Qualify for a Recruiting Evaluation click here

Charlie Adams

Educational Speaker and Recruiting Expert

cadams@ncsasports.org

NCSA recently caught up with MidAmerica Nazarene University Head Baseball Coach, Ryan Thompson to learn more about his program:

1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

I am driven by my values

2. What is unique about the experience at your school?

We are a small Christian school located in a big city.  You get the best of both worlds by living in a small, tight knit community while surrounded by the Kansas City which has a population of over 3 million people.

3. What do recruits need to know about you?

I will be honest with you during the recruiting process.

4. What do you look for in recruits?

We look for guys that fit our baseball team and our University.  Positionally, we look for versatile players that can run well.  On the mound, we are looking for guys that can throw multiple pitches for a strike.

5. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?

Be proactive.

6. What sort of questions do you really like to hear from recruits?

How can I help the program be successful?

7. What turns you off when you are recruiting a student athlete?

Kids that just think about baseball.  Picking a college is a big decision, they need to consider everything about a school.

8. What do you think your program is the most successful at?

Player development and creating a team first environment.

9. Why should a recruit consider your program?

We provide a well rounded athletic and academic experience.

10. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?

Fill our recruit form at our website and email our Recruiting Coordinator Rob Ramseyer at prramseyer@mnu.edu.

For many years my perspective on recruiting came from being a Sports Director at TV stations across America. I interviewed thousands of athletes, coaches and parents on the recruiting experience, and covered all levels of College Sports, giving me a behind the scenes perspective on what College athletics are like at every level.

NCSA Speaker Charlie Adams

From 1985 to 1988, I primarily covered Division Two sports at Cal State Bakersfield (now a D1 program) as well as Junior College Sports at Bakersfield College for KBAK TV in Bakersfield, California. In 1988, I accepted the Sports Director position at WSBT TV in South Bend, where I would cover a heavy dose of Division One (Notre Dame, Big 10) and schools of different levels such as NAIA powerhouse Bethel College.

When I got to northern Indiana from California in October of 1988, South Bend was already cold. As former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz used to say, “There is nothing South about South Bend, Indiana.”

One of my first stories was to go to volleyball powerhouse Mishawaka High to do a story on them as they honed in on another State Championship. I got there and their legendary coach Steve Anderson (now in the Hall of Fame) brought up one of their heavily recruited seniors Amy Rauch to be interviewed by me. He told her I was new to the area.

“Oh, yeah?” she asked. “Where was your last job before here in South Bend.”

“California,” I said.

Before I could say anything else, she blurted out, “WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU LEAVE THE WARMTH OF CALIFORNIA TO COME HERE!!!???”

I still chuckle when I recall that story. She was dead serious. She looked at me like I had mental issues. Like many college caliber High School athletes in frozen tundra areas like South Bend, she was weary of the Lake Effect Snow and depressing winters. She was interested in finding a college that “was someplace warm!” Rauch signed with the University of Tennessee.

For many young people, weather is a factor in where they want to play College sports. It usually isn’t the major factor, but sometimes can be.

Jeremy and Katy Wilkinson were state championship golfers at Clay High in South Bend, IN. Both signed with LSU golf and a major reason was the year round warm weather in Baton Rouge. Jeremy especially had dreams of playing Pro one day, so he wanted to be someplace warm 365 days a year. At the same token, Luke Donald played college golf at Northwestern in the cold, windy Chicago area, and he is doing well on the PGA Tour.

In many cases, Spring Sports athletes consider weather. There are top notch Softball and Baseball programs in the north, but their teams have to travel South to play a lot of games in March.

Notre Dame hardly ever has a coach leave for another coaching position because the school is such a top quality place to coach. Two exceptions have been baseball coaches Pat Murphy, who left for Arizona State, and Paul Mainieri, who left for LSU. The bottom line is that the odds were heavily against them winning a National Baseball Title at a cold weather school. At Notre Dame, Mainieri was able to get ND into the NCAA Tournament, and made the College World Series once, but it was obvious it was going to be hard to do much more at a northern school. In his second year as Coach at LSU, he won the National Championship, and I think he will win several more.

Lindsay Benko, phenom swimmer at Elkhart Central High and eventual Gold Medalist, signed with the University of Southern California swimming. Her Dad, Roger, recently told me weather was a big factor. She wanted to get a quality education for a national power swim program, and BE WARM.

A lot of young people are looking for an invigorating place to get educated and play the sport they love in College. Parents of a highly skilled northern Indiana basketball girls basketball player recently told me she was very interested in Pepperdine, in Malibu, California. It’s very early for her, but like many young people she was intrigued by the chance to go someplace that was 80 degrees practically all year long, and that overlooks the ocean.

Of course, a lot of young people “talk the talk” of going far off to some tropical weather-like college paradise, but in reality are extremely connected to their family and would be homesick. A College within a few hours of home would be a better fit for them.

It’s important to not get carried away with the “weather factor.” The most important thing for a recruit is to find the RIGHT FIT for him or her, and to use athletics as a way to:

* Get a College education and develop the Life Skills that come from being a true College student-athlete, such as competitiveness, team spirit, time management skills, and leadership qualities.

But weather can be a factor. And who says everyone is seeking the sun? Iowa State’s football recruiting class of 27 players from a recent  year included 19 from warm weather states Texas, California and Florida. Those young people know how to buy a coat.

Superstar recruit Manti Teo left Hawaii for Notre Dame. The Irish had a few players from Hawaii on their team. They are still alive and have not frozen solid at last check. I would imagine they will probably end up back in Hawaii one day to raise their families, but they are enjoying the experience of living in a different part of the country and getting to take part in snowball fights.

Many people love living in a place with four seasons. Although the dreary winters here in South Bend can get annoying, they have never bothered me that much. I grew up in Mississippi, and to be honest had “issues” with the brutal humidity as I got older (as a kid you have energy to burn). There are parts of the day from June to October that you don’t even want to go outside. You end up a sweaty, dog-tired mess. It’s like being in an oven.

Of course, when I am shovelling the driveway in bitter February weather, I am longing for that oven.

There are so many factors in recruiting. The bottom line is finding the right fit. When Logan Heastie was being heavily recruited as a High School football player out of Chesapeake, VA, he took visits all over. Down South. Up North. He said this:

“I want a place where I feel comfortable,” he said. “One thing that doesn’t matter to me is the weather.”

He signed with the University of West Virginia. He could have gone to one of the Florida schools.

Being open geographically, whether the weather is terrific or not, is important. NCSA has seen many warm weather High School kids get remarkable packages from northern Colleges, because all Colleges are looking to improve their national ranking, and they want young people from all fifty states.

The late Al McGuire, hugely successful as Marquette’s head men’s basketball coach, was recruiting a young man hard that was from New York City. McGuire wanted him to come to brutally cold Milwaukee and play at Marquette. Tired of the New York cold, the player was intrigued by the warmth of Louisiana, and the recruiting pitches of schools down there.

McGuire, who never missed a trick, asked the young man if he was aware of the mosquito’s in Louisiana that were bigger than his hand? The look on McGuire’s face was dead serious. The recruits eyes bulged. He envisioned being attacked by the massive mosquitoes of Louisiana. He signed with Marquette.

There are no such-sized mosquitos in Louisiana.

When I deliver College Recruiting Simplified, one of the points I emphasize is how important it is to really nail your Evaluation as to what level you can realistically play in College, and all of the other important factors such as Academic fit, size of the College, and do you want to be close to home or get away from home? There is a reason NCSA has “Realistic Evaluation” as number one on the ’5 Things You Must Do’ to have a successful recruiting experience.

From where I live, there have been many examples of young people heading to warmer climates. Ben Larson was a very good basketball player that led Elkhart Central down State when Indiana had the famous One Class Basketball State Tournament. He played College Basketball at beautiful Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Ben stands second all-time with 217 3-pointers made from 1995-99.

This is what their school writes about their weather:

“Since campus is just 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean, everyday is a beautiful day in our neighborhood. Cal Poly is located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, in an area known for the outdoors. Hiking, biking, kayaking, sailing, sport fishing, whale watching, rock climbing – it’s all possible most of the year. Not to mention surfing. Surfline.com ranked Cal Poly as the #3 surf school in th

Weather can be a factor in where a young person decides to play College sports, but when all is said and done, it is usually not a major one.

The Weather Factor is brought up, often in football, as a negative recruiting tactic.  I was glad to read Gene Wojciechowski of espn.com interview top High School football recruits and the vast majority said they were turned off by D1 football coaches that used negative recruiting tactics.

Part of his article had this insight from a top national football recruit: “Good recruiters don’t negative recruit. They don’t say things like, ‘Hey, man, you don’t want to go to that school — they’ve got four feet of snow.’

Many College Coaches, especially in D1 football, will put whatever spin they can on things to get a kid. Check out the Steve Addazio situation. When he was an assistant coach for the Florida Gators he told USA Today this:

“I’ll tell you what. It’s awful nice to wake up every day and have blue skies. It’s sunny. You wear shorts every day to work,” Florida offensive coordinator and recruiting ace Steve Addazio told USA Today in a 2010 article. He points to weather as an increasing factor in talent procurement in the past decade or so. “Warm-weather guys like to stay in a warmer climate, and a fair amount of Northern-climate guys want to play in a warmer climate.”

Well, Addazio was offered and accepted the Head Coaching job at Temple University…in frigid Philadelphia (!), a city that gets so much snow it had to delay a NFL game for two days because of blizzard conditions.

I can just see his spin now to recruits: “Well, I tell you what, it is nice to wake up and be able to not just wear shorts to work, but sweaters and coats because having four seasons is better. Blue skies are overrated. You need dreary skies some, because life is not all blue skies. For a kid to play in the NFL, they need to experience frigid playing conditions and that is just something you don’t get down South. I tell you, that humidity down there will eat you alive…”

Speaking of weather playing a role in pro potential, the player that has legitimate NFL potential and that plays their College football up north often gets better used to cold weather because they play and practice in cold conditions. In the 2010 Sun Bowl game with Notre Dame and Miami, many observers there said Miami was defeated as soon as they came out and experienced the cold conditions of El Paso that day. They were layered up like eskimos while Notre Dame players wore short sleeves and were not affected in the least. Now, there were other factors for Miami’s performance, such as their recent coaching change, but they looked awful in the first half. If the NFL goes to the 18 game schedule, which it will, weather will be a bigger factor as more games late in the season will be played in awful conditions (remember the Bears-Patriots game in Chicago recently?). Those games often have huge implications on playoff status.

Former Ohio State star recruit Terrelle Pryor observed why many northern players do seriously look at playing ball in the South.

“There are a lot of beautiful women. That’s a big thing,” he told USA Today. “I don’t think it should be a reason you choose, but I’ll guarantee you a lot of young males coming out of high school are looking at that. And some guys just don’t like being in the cold.”

All in all, weather is a factor – like a lot of other things – but it isn’t the end-all factor in recruiting. Otherwise, wouldn’t the University of Hawaii be a major power in every sport every year?

Oh, and regarding Amy Rauch, the volleyball player that gave me a hard time for leaving warm weather for cold weather. She signed with Tennessee, but ended up transferring to Michigan State.

Share your observations on weather as a factor in recruiting and in College Sports below. If there are points above you disagree with, or if you have different perspectives based on your sport, please share. Here is what one reader wrote:

“I absolutely connected with Charlie’s story above, as I too grew up in South Bend and played high level volleyball. I was not a top recruited athlete like those at Mishawaka, however, I knew there were smaller schools in Florida that I had a chance at…and did. My dream was to leave the severe winters of South Bend and play volleyball on scholarship for a division II school in Florida. That dream was lived and weather was the number one factor for that choice. Weather can and should be a factor if you want to look at the overall, day to day, satisfaction of college life.” Mary Ellen

Please share your opinions or experiences regarding Weather as a factor in Recruiting and College Choice by writing below.

For a thorough Evaluation of all of the factors involved in finding the Right Fit at the College Athletics level, click here to talk with a College Scout

Charlie Adams, Speaker

NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network

cadams@ncsasports.org

Coach Taylor, when sending highlight videos to colleges you’re interested in, should a cover letter be enclosed or just a note stating my interest. If so, what exactly should it state besides my desire to play for their organization?

I would definitely recommend including a cover letter. The only reason you might not include a cover letter with your video is if you already have sent one to this particular coach. It is a good idea to keep track of what you send to each coach.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when constructing your cover letter to coaches:

1. Most every coach now relies on e-mail to both contact and receive contact from potential recruits. That is the preferred method of communication. To find out the e-mail addresses for the coaches you are looking to contact, simply go to the college’s athletic website and look for a staff listing of names and e-mails or ask your Recruiting Coach.

2. Be brief. Coaches at all levels receive dozens and dozens of e-mails/letters from high school-aged players. All you are trying to do is show you have interest, pass along all of your contact information, your resume, and provide each coach with an upcoming schedule of your matches so he can see you play.

3. NEVER HAVE ONE OF YOUR PARENTS WRITE TO A COACH. You are the one the coach might be recruiting, so he/she wants to hear from you directly. (If the relationship develops and it appears that you might be attending that college, they’ll be plenty of time for your parents to have contact with the coaching staff.)

4. Provide contact information for yourself and your coaches. Nothing is worse for a college coach than to have to track down your coach’s e-mail or phone number. By having both an e-mail address and a phone number listed after his/her name, it allows for the college coach to quickly e-mail or call your private and/or high school coach to follow up.

5. Always include basic information about yourself such as grad year, high school, athletic history, GPA, SAT/ACT scores. Tell the coach why you are a good fit for their program.

6. Do not send a form letter that starts out with “Dear Coach” and does not mention anything specific about his/her program and school. The bulk of your e-mail will be kept the same for correspondence you send out to various coaching staff; however a portion of it should be personalized. Bring in something specific about it that you learned by going through the website. State your interest in the school and specific reasons (like “my Dad went to Madison and I want to carry on the tradition” or whatever fits you personally)

7. Detail is important! Be sure that you use spell check and proper English. This is a reflection of your ability. You may send your letter to NCSA to revise.

8. If you are emailing rather than regular mail, DO NOT mass email a bunch of coaches. This comes across as lazy and shows the coach that you didn’t take your time to personalize for them. Make sure to address the letter Dear Coach [[last name]].

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.

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering the recruiting process of high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations and a longtime professional speaker. He is also one of NCSA’s Recruiting Experts.

As a speaker, I have a few thousand conversations a year with families and coaches that are going through, or have been through, the recruiting process. I often share them in this blog.

During my son’s 12th grade season, I was at a top Cross Country Meet. A veteran South Bend (IN) High School Coach came up and told me one of his sophomore runners had recently done a Recruiting Analysis with NCSA. The Coach said it had an immediate positive impact on the young man.

“This athlete wants to compete at a high level in college,” the coach told me. “During the Recruiting Analysis he told the NCSA College Scout his times. The Scout told him they projected to be D3 or NAIA times. Well, that put a fire in him because he wants to eventually run at a higher level. Then the kid told the Scout he has a 2.5 GPA. The Scout chuckled slightly. It wasn’t in a rude way, but in a way where he was challenging the athlete that he could do better than a 2.5 and that he would need to do better to be in better position for scholarships. Ever since that Recruiting Analysis, the runner has been more focused in practice and has immediately started improving his grades. I have seen a distinct difference in his focus, even as a sophomore. I tell athletes these things all the time, but when it comes from that third party, it’s big.”

THAT can be the power of a Recruiting Analysis. It is important to do one to see where you stand in recruiting. If you have not done one yet, or never set up a time after hearing a NCSA speaker, contact us

Charlie Adams

cadams@ncsasports.org

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering the recruiting of high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations and is one of NCSA’s Recruiting Experts.

I was driving near Indianapolis this week and heard former Indiana University Basketball Coach Dan Dakich hosting his daily talk show on 1070 the Fan. A caller called in a little ‘bent out of shape’ that IU Basketball Coach Tom Crean had recently received two commitments from players that had yet to play a second of High School basketball. Two highly rated 9th graders had made their decision to attend IU. The caller just could not understand how they could be doing that at such a young age. Dakich, who was an assistant coach at IU for years and knows recruiting inside and out, wasn’t surprised. He said back when he was evaluating talent he could often tell if a 7th grader could play at a major D1 level like Indiana and the Big Ten. In recruiting, basketball is especially accelerated and seasoned evaluators like Tom Crean can project early if a kid can play. Back in the 1980′s, Bob Knight went down to Bedford, IN to watch a legendary 8th grader named Damon Bailey play a game. In the book, “A Season on the Brink” Knight made a comment to the author John Feinstein that “Bailey is better than any guard we have right now. I don’t mean potentially better, I mean better today.” Bailey ended up going to Indiana and was a very good player at that level.

It’s not that way for every basketball player that eventually plays D1, but it is for the special ones. Trey Lyles is one of the two players to commit to IU. He stands 6’9″ as a 9th grader. The other one is James Blackmon, Jr. His Dad was a very good player back in the day at Kentucky. Tom Crean and his staff have no doubt those two project to be winning Big Ten players. As Dakich said on his radio show, the IU coaches know what they are doing because they are seasoned evaluators. They have been watching those kids in the July evaluation events.

Less than 1% of the High School athletes will get this kind of “fawning over.” The rest have to be proactive in recruiting, and understand the process starts early whether you are a 6’9″ ninth grader or not. A 5’9″ 9th grade basketball player that is not even on the varsity team needs to understand how important it is to make his baskets in the classroom so that he can have more options in recruiting when he is a junior or senior. That kid may never get a D1 offer, but if he and his family get educated in recruiting and he works his tail off, by the time he is a junior and senior he will have more options in recruiting.

Charlie Adams

cadams@ncsasports.org

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering the recruiting of high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations and is one of NCSA’s Recruiting Experts.

I had a long conversation with a mother and father whose daughter, a soccer player, had just found the right fit for college.

She was found by the college coach when he was looking at another recruit’s video. The other recruit was not clearly identified on the video, and the college coach noticed their daughter making plays on it. This is why you cannot make college coaches play detective in trying to figure out where you are on video, or some other kid will get a scholarship off your tape. I have found the NCSA guidance in this area critical. An arrow pointing at the recruit at the start of a play is very important. One of the points of College Recruiting Simplified is to make a “winning Highlight/Skills video.” The key word there is ‘winning.’ Families often have no idea how much more successful they will be in recruiting if they had a better understanding of how to work the video process. I continue to be amazed at how many families don’t even have a plan for it, and don’t have video of their kid – even as 12th graders sometimes!

The mother, father and daughter made several unofficial visits during her High School days. The young lady evaluated out to be a NAIA or D3 player, so they met with several coaches. One young head coach got all wound up during their meeting and talked about how they would have a “D1 mentality” at the D3 school. He was a little too gung-ho. They appreciated his fever and enthusiasm, but wanted to find someone a little calmer. They continued the process, made more visits, and found a school with a veteran coach who still had the fire for coaching. It wasn’t the reason they picked the school. Their major reason was the school would allow her to grown in her faith, athletics and academics, but they felt this particular coach had the calm, steady approach and decades of experience to better fit her. Now, the next kid might eat up that other coach’s wound-up approach. It’s all part of getting out there and finding the right fit. I spoke at the Mizuno Mid East Regional Volleyball Qualifiers in Indianapolis earlier this year. I talked with one mother whose daughter had already been on three unofficial visits in the Fall of her junior year, and was close to firming up the right fit. It was because she was “out there.”

For an Evaluation of your College Recruiting potential

Charlie Adams

NCSA Senior Speaker

cadams@ncsasports.org

We’ve always said that choosing where you go to school isn’t a 4 year decision, it’s a 40 year decision. Being such a big decision, high school kids should be able to take their time in making such a hard choice, right? Minooka DE Zach Colvin unfortunately learned the hard way that you don’t have all the time in the world to make your decision.

College athletics is a very serious business, and universities cannot afford to sit around and wait for an offer to be taken. Sometimes, the college coach may offer a scholarship to more than one student athlete, and the one who responds the fastest gets the spot. This is an aspect of college athletics that the high school student athlete might not think about or have trouble understanding the concept.

Zach Colvin, 6’4” 225lbs, had a rude awakening when he found out in July that a Big Ten BCS school was withdrawing their offer that he received the offer 4 months earlier. Currently, Colvin has offers from Northern Illinois, Air Force, Bowling Green, Ball State, Memphis, Central Michigan and Wyoming but continues to hold out for that Big Ten perfect offer that he feels comfortable with. Minooka Coach Bert Kooi was quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, “We’ve all learned a lot about the recruiting process. He wants to play at the highest level. We believe he can. [Mid-American Conference] schools have recruited him as hard as anyone. But he is looking for a Big Ten offer.”

For players like Zach, who has many full scholarship offers, doesn’t have to worry too much about not getting any money, but he was humbled by realizing that the coaches list of prospects is a lot longer than he might think, and that coaches just can’t afford to wait around on one player for 4+ months. As important as the decision on whether to take the offer or not, it is the coach’s job to put together a winning team, and who knows if they wait for you and you end up saying no, they could be missing out on someone else on the same level. Time is something that needs to be thought about a lot in athletic recruiting and if taken lightly, may cost you a scholarship offer.

A former Indiana Wesleyan University baseball player, Brandon Beachy, made his first start on the mound this past week for the Atlanta Braves. This marks the first baseball player from IWU to play at the Big League level. To learn more about him and Indiana Wesleyan please click here.

Beachy threw four and a third innings and allowed only one earned run. Prior to starting for the Braves, he was named the Atlanta Braves Double – A Pitcher of the Year. Brandon graduated from Indiana Wesleyan in 2008 and he marks just one of many who have gone on to play professionally after playing at the NAIA level.