NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

If you are fortunate enough to have options to choose which travel baseball team you should play for over the summer here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1. Which team are you going to receive more playing time with?

The only way to get better in baseball is by actually PLAYING the game.

2. Which team is playing better competition?

In addition to making sure you are playing, you have to make sure it is against good competition. The best way to get better is to play against guys who are better than you.

3. Where is the team traveling?

The summer time is an important time that college coaches do their recruiting. One of, if not, the most important factor coaches take in to account is seeing you play in person. Playing for your high school summer team usually doesn’t fit the bill in terms of gaining exposure or playing against good competition.

4. What is your budget?

In these economic times this is a difficult question, but it is a factor you need to consider. Many times the more travel required, the more expensive the team is to play for.

Don’t forget to incorporate attending some college camps and making a few visits over the summer. If you are traveling to a showcase or tournament with your summer team don’t be afraid to stop by some campuses to meet with some coaches. Lastly, be sure to be pro-active in terms of inviting college coaches out to see your games.

Last week, April 15th to be exact , marked a significant recruiting ”first down measurement” for football players in the class of 2010.  It was the first day that they could receive phone calls from DI college football coaches.  While the date that a college coach can call a prospect for the first time varies depending on the sport and level of play…that initial phone conversation is a big step in developing a recruiting relationship.  Unfortunately, many prospects have no idea what to expect from that phone call and we figured this was a good time to shed some light on how prospects in ALL sports can prepare for a phone call from a college coach…Before we get into what a recruit can expect from a phone call from a college coach, here are a few important ideas to keep in mind:

- The first day a college coach can call a prospect is not always the first time they have spoken on the phone.

• As we have pointed out many times in the past, prospects are able to call college coaches at any time. The prospects that are farther along in the process might have already made phone calls to college coaches and spoken with them prior to the initial period which makes it permissible for a college coach to call the prospect. In cases like this, the phone call might go a little differently than for the prospects who are speaking with a coach for the first time.

- By the time the first day a college coach can call a prospect rolls around, many student-athletes already have offers!

• This is very important to realize. DI college coaches in just about every sport have already begun to offer scholarships to 2010 (junior) graduates…and some might even be finished recruiting the class of 2010 completely. This has all taken place and coaches haven’t even been able to call them yet in some sports! This should be a strong indicator of how early college recruiting takes place and why freshmen and sophomore year are so important in the process.

- Know the dates for your sport!

• The first thing every recruit should do is to learn when a college coach is able to call them for the first time. Although April 15^th happens to be the first time a DI college football coach can call prospects, we realize many of you do not play football…so find out that date for your sport. If you are unsure when this date occurs, be sure to download the “Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete” Here.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about some of the most common questions prospects can prepare for when speaking with a college coach.  Obviously every staff will ask different questions, but many will have an actual script of questions and topics to assist the coaches in their phone call…It might be a good idea to have a script of your own, or at least some answers prepared in advance.  Here a few of those questions as well as some advice for answering them:

Q:  How are you doing in school?  What is your GPA, test scores, etc?

Advice: Make sure you are always aware of your current academic standing.  Always know your GPA (both core and cumulative), class rank, and test scores.  Even if your GPA or test scores are lower than you would like, be honest with the coach and let them exactly what you are doing to improve.  Tell them you are receiving extra tutoring or taking a SAT / ACT prep class to raise your scores.  The worst thing a student-athlete can do is simply not know their academic information.  If you don’t know your GPA, what do you think a college coach will assume? (Hint…they are not going to assume you are earning straight A’s)

Q:  What are your strengths as a player?

Advice: Do not be modest here!  This is your chance to shine and tell the coach what you do best.  Be informative and honest.  You have been working your whole life to develop these strengths…be proud of them and communicate their value with answers that consist of more than one word.

Q:  What areas of your game are you working to improve?

Advice: While this can be a tricky one, it is important to be honest.  Do not spend too much time discussing your weaknesses, but rather let the coach know how your off season workout is going to address those areas and how you are going to turn them into strengths.

Q:  What are your goals for the upcoming season?

Advice: This is something every student-athlete should think about.  We encourage student-athletes to set measurable goals and write them down to hold themselves more accountable.  Make sure to mention both team and individual goals.

Q:  Do you think you are capable of playing at our level?

Advice: Always Yes!  Explain why you think you can compete at their level or what you are doing to ensure you would be an asset to a team at any level of play.

Q:  What improvements have you made over the past couple of years?

Advice: Focus on things you have done to improve your game over the years.  Do not be afraid to tell the coach how much better you are now than a year or two ago!

Q:  What type of scholarships are you looking for?

Advice: This is your chance to bring up financial issues if they will be a determining factor in your decision making.  Be open to options and always ask about other types of aid besides athletic scholarships.  Never directly ask for a scholarship, but rather let the coach know what sort of impact that need will have on your decision.

Q:  What are your interests or hobbies?  Do you have a  girlfriend, boyfriend, etc?

Advice: This is the coach’s attempt to get to you know you on a personal level.  Remember, in many cases, these coaches are many years older and they are doing their best to relate to the prospect.  Let the coach know more about you!  This will help you connect on a more casual level and also give the coach something to ask you about next time you speak.  Have some fun with this question!

Q:  Who is going to help you make your college decision?

Advice: Let the coach know who will be a part of the decision.  Will your high school coach play an integral role?  Will the decision be made by you and your parents?  Are your parents involved?  This information will greatly help the coach understand who needs to be included and involved.

***This is the million dollar question***

Q:  What other schools are recruiting you?

Advice: Let them know who else is interested…and be honest!  If the coach finds out that many other schools are recruiting you then you will immediately look like a better recruit.  Try to let them know about schools that are similar to the one you are talking to.  For example, if you are speaking with the coach at Yale and you have heard from four other Ivy League schools, make sure you go into detail about their interest.  No coach wants to lose a recruit to a rival school.

This is your chance to show off how wanted you are by other coaches with the hope that it motivates the coach you are speaking with at that time to take action.  If you have offers, let the coach know.  In order to create this type of leverage, you must have a number of options.  If you are concerned about the number of options you currently have, be sure to expand your search and let more coaches know about you.

Q:  What questions do you have for me?

Advice: Be sure to check back next week when we explain what sort of questions prospects should be asking when they have the opportunity to speak with college coaches.  This is your chance to find out valuable information…don’t pass it up!

 Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw knows a lot about recruiting. She has signed America’s top girls high school basketball player, Skyler Diggins of South Bend Washington, to a national letter of intent. Muffet coached Notre Dame to the 2001 national championship with a first class group of recruits.

In the book “Courting Success” Muffet shares insights of what she looks for in recruits. In her case, they would be girl’s basketball players, but you can take a lot of these principles and apply them to all recruit able athletes. Here is part of what Coach McGraw says she looks for:

“So what impresses me on a home visit? I expect a prospect to look nice. She should be in appropriate attire, dressed neatly. I want her to make eye contact with me. I want her to ask questions. That shows interest. I want her to be assertive enough so that her parents don’t do all of the talking. And, of course, she should hide her trophies!

I really get a good picture of the kind of person I’m recruiting when I get to see the recruit interact with her mom and dad. I am interested in how much she respects her parents. I want to know whether or not she’s spoiled. I can learn a lot about how a recruit will be on our team just by looking at that relationship she has with her parents. I don’t think the parents should be waiting on the daughter all the time. I remember being in a home once when the doorbell rang and the daughter said, “Mom, are you going to get that?” And I was thinking, “Geez, you’re 18 years old, get off your butt and answer the door!”

Here’s one thing I always notice when a player and her parents visit us at Notre Dame. When they’re on campus, they always go to the bookstore to buy a souvenir, and I notice which ones ask, even demand, a credit card from their parents. A recruit who says, “Thanks so much, Dad, for the sweatshirt” or “No thanks, Mom, I really don’t need a sweatshirt” impresses me. It shows how much she appreciates what she has and shows what kind of person she is. These are just some little things I pay attention to that are cues into what kind of people they are, and the cues I’m sure they have no idea I’m noticing.

In terms of skills, I look for intensity. I also look at how they play defense. Young players rest on defense. I like players with pride. I look at a recruit’s face after someone scores on them. I hope it bothers her, because I guarantee it will bother me.

We look at ball handling and aggressiveness. Does she dive on the floor for loose balls? Does she crash for rebounds, or just sort of hang around the outside?  Does she sprint the floor every possession? Is she willing to take a charge? This is something that tells me she is a team player, she’s aggressive, and she’ll sacrifice her body for the team. This is the most unselfish act in basketball. At any summer game, if a player takes a charge, you’ll see all thecoaches in attendance take out a pen and make note of it. A lot of great players don’t want to take a charge because ‘it’s not their job.

‘We look closely at attitude. What happens when the coach yells at her? Is she making eye contact? Is she sulking? Is she pouting? When a player gets in foul trouble, is she complaining to the referees? How is she when the team is losing? Is she yelling at her teammates?

Actually, I prefer to see a recruit’s team lose. When a team wins by 20, that’s easy. There’s no adversity. I like to see a player get into foul trouble. How does she handle the frustration? Does she possess self-discipline? I’ve noticed that with girls you have to see them play a lot to get a feel for them. They can be up and down. You can see a player on a great day, and on a bad day. The difference is striking. It can be the difference between offering her a scholarship and wondering why she was on my list in the first place.”

Head Coach Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame Women’s Basketball
from the book ‘Courting Success‘ (Taylor Trade Publishing)

Any college coach with a successful program knows that things can turn south quickly with out a constant attention to detail.  Making sure their programs are stocked with top level talent has become a year round job.  Coaches know if they don’t play the game correctly they will soon find themselves out of the job.  The Detroit Free Press recently detailed the current calendar for college football recruiting.

During February and March, schools host Junior Days. These events allow potential recruits and their families visit campuses and get to know the staff, as well as the school’s academic and athletic programs.

In March and April, schools will not only have spring practice, but host prospects on unofficial visits. Coaches often encourage recruits to come and watch a practice to see their particular position coach in action. These sessions are a great opportunity for recruits to not only develop more rapport with the coaching staff, but see the players in action, too.

In May, the evaluation period begins. Over a six-week period, coaches are allowed to visit a recruit’s high school and make one phone call to him. Coaches can’t have conversations with recruits at high schools, but they can say hello and make it apparent that they are there for a good reason. One of the best ways for a recruit to judge a school’s interest is whether they send the coach to the high school during May.

Once the summer hits, it’s camp time. Michigan State has several camp sessions in June and July. It is at these camps that coaches get to work with recruits one-on-one.

After the camps come the regular season. Coaches aren’t only allowed to call home and stop into school, but they can also set up unofficial visits for recruits to visit campus and watch games. The final stage is securing official visits for the most sought-after players and their families.

Potential recruits should look at the calendar and see two things.  The first is that many of these events can only happen if the recruit is being pro-active in the recruiting process.  Unofficial visits evaluations at camp can only occur if recruits are actively contacting schools to promote interest.

The second is point is to realize the long evaluation process that needs to be set into motion as early as possible.  Unless a recruit is on the ball, the process will be going full steam before they even have a chance to get realistically evaluated.If you are hoping ot get recruited the cycle nees to get going now!

One of the key components of a student-athlete making their college choice is their experience that they have while they are on campus for their visit.  Sometimes, the visits last 48 hours but often they take place on a Saturday morning for 4 hours.  While this is a great opportunity to see the campus and having the ability to meet with a handful of faculty and staff it is just the tip of the iceberg.  Schools are showing off their best in a 4 hour span and this makes everything about the school appealing at the moment.  The best way to get a true understanding of how life would be like at that respective school is to take in the experience as much as possible. This would include staying in the dorms and having that feeling that this is a place where you can see yourself.  The hands on experience is the ideal way to truly gauge if that is the correct fit for you and your future.  Eating the cafeteria food making the walk to the athletic facilities from the dorms, and interacting with people that are on campus all the time can benefit you if you use them as a resource. Camp is a great time to compete and train at a high level but the biggest advantage is to take in the actual college experience first hand and to have the opportunity to work with the coaching staff.  Attending one college camp is something that I would highly recommend to do at least once in your high school years.  If the schools of your choice don’t offer a camp then it is still beneficial to attend a camp at another institution so that you can use your camp experience and compare it to the campus visits that you take down the road. 

Many baseball student-athletes and families ask the question, “What camps or showcases should I attend over the summer?” and “What is going to give me the best exposure?”

In order to attain the most exposure for your recruiting over the summer here is what you should do:

1. Play with a competitive summer team. Send your summer schedule to any college coach you are communicating with or are interested in. Also remember, this is one of the most important times to be improving your game.

3. Attend college camps. A college coach needs to evaluate you in person. This is the easiest way to accomplish this. Attend camps for colleges that you have been communicating the most with. Also, this helps you see the campus and talk with the coaches personally. Make sure you contact coaches prior (introduce/re-familiarize/let them know you will be there) to and after (to ask for personal feedback).

4. Attend one to two showcase events. The most effective showcases are ones in which you know what coaches are attending. If you do not know what coaches are attending, it is likely not worth attending, but it may be good to understand more about who you are competing against. It also gives you an understanding of what a showcase is like. Make sure you contact coaches prior (introduce/re-familiarize/let them know you will be there) to and after (to ask for personal feedback).

5. Continue to communicate with your top colleges at least monthly. Ask each coach, “What is the best way for you to evaluate me?”

BEWARE:

Do not go in to any camp or showcase with the idea that you are going to be “discovered.” Go to a camp with the idea that you can gain knowledge about what that coaches are teaching.

The eyes of pro football scouts are focused on Indianapolis today for the NFL Combine.  The nation’s elite prospects will be under tremendous scrutiny as they try to convince pro teams that they are worth a multimillion dollar contract.  However, potential high school recruits can learn a lot about the evaluation process by paying attention to the stories that will emerge during the week.

-Numbers Matter -No, not actual stats like touchdowns or tackles, but heights, weights, strength and speed numbers.  Scouts spend hours pouring over these numbers attempting to relate them to the ability to succeed at the next level.  College coaches do the same thing. 

Naturally, all of the athletes have spent the last month preparing for these drills and arriving in peak condition.  High school recruits need to recognize the importance of these numbers and do the same.  All speed drills should be practiced prior to attending a combine.  Recruits should constantly be practicing and working to improve their combine performance.  Just arriving and performing is not an option.

-Your Personality Matters- Most fans don’t realize the importance many teams place on face to face interviews as well as a variety of tests that teams use to get a better handle on a players personality and intelligence.  Prospects have fallen several slots after poor intelligence test caused doubts that a player can handle the mental aspect of playing the game at a high level.

Recruits should understand that their grades and test scores are also viewed by college coaches to gauge their ability to contribute to a school.  Recruits should take the time to visit schools to build relationships with college coaches.  The more comfortable a coach feels with a recruit, the better his chances of receiving a schoalrship offer.

If you are still doubtful about the importance of combines take a look at the weekend’s big story; the disastrous appearance and then disappearance by Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith.  Prior to last weekend he was viewed by scouts as a potentially overall number one pick.  A player that a franchise could invest up to $50 million dollars in to be the cornerstone of an offensive line for the next 10 years.  Andre arrived at the combine out of shape, refused to take part in the individual drills is rumored to have bombed his interviews and  to cap things off he strangely disappeared and left the event early.  Needless to say his stock is bombing.

The large majority of these elite prospects prepared diligently for the event.  They correctly view the combine as part of a job interview process reaching its final stage. Every potential recruit needs to view their efforts to land a scholarship in the same way arrive for their interviews prepared.

College coaches are always looking for information on recruits.  They want to as much as possible to accurately evaluate a recruit’s ability to thrive at their school.  For many sports the information that is biggest grey area are seemingly black and weight statistics.  Height. Weight. Wingspan. A 40 Yard Dash.  The American Statesman recently published an article describing the difficulty many coaches have in trusting the published information.

Odessa Permian offensive lineman Garrett Porter, who will sign with Texas today, is listed anywhere from 6-3 to 6-6 and weighs somewhere between 271 and 308 pounds, depending on whom you’re asking. And Madisonville running back Chris Whaley — another future Longhorn — is listed anywhere from 217 to 249 pounds.

“He’s probably around 239 right now,” Madisonville coach Greg Morgan said. “But he gains and loses weight a lot. He also runs a legitimate 4.4.”

How do these discrepancies happen?

One reason is that the recruiting process now lasts a couple of years, and as recruits grow and get stronger and faster, sometimes Web sites aren’t updated.

But more often than not, it’s another reason.

“People lie,” said Gerry Hamilton of Burntorangebeat.com, Scout.com’s Texas site. “You’ve got high school coaches who are trying to help their kids. You’ve got kids trying to add an inch or 10 pounds.

“I would say I get wrong or inaccurate information 60 to 70 percent of the time. You hear one thing, and then when you’re standing next to the prospect, you can see it’s not true.”

While fans are often left guessing what is accurate and what isn’t, college coaches don’t take any risks.

“I don’t look at any of the sites or even scan rosters for heights and weights,” Texas recruiting coordinator Bobby Kennedy said. “Most of the time, you go by the eye test. I know how tall I am and how much I weigh, so I kind of size up our prospects when I’m standing next to them. You watch how they look during their athletic periods and practice. You really don’t go by what’s reported.”

It’s hard to believe any of it.

That is why NCSA recommends all of our athletes get to a combine to get accurate results to college coaches.  By giving a coach a verified number he can at least feel comfortable to express serious interest.  Then the all important eye-ball test can be conducted on unofficial visits or at a camp.

College coaches need to be able to evaluate recruits accurately.  NCSA suggests that student-athletes give them that shot.

Every parent who wants to help their child play at the next level will be investing a lot of time and money in that goal.  99% of parents I speak with don’t have the experience or knowledge on how to allocate those scarce resources (time & money) to maximize the recruiting opportunities for their child.  They compound that inexperience or lack of knowledge by relying on information from non-experts.  Non-experts on recruiting include HS coaches, Club coaches, friends and relatives who may have had a successful recruiting experience, or hear-say.  As lawyer friend told me, “a person who represents himself in court, has a fool for a client.”  A college decision for your youngster will impact them for the next 50-60 years.  Should a parent leave that process in the hands of amateurs?  I guess it depends on how serious a parent is about finding the right academic and athletic fit for their child. 

 So let’s get to the point:  How much time and money needs to be spent on a child’s recruiting?  Let’s start with some assumptions based on facts.  First, unless your child is the bluest of the blue chips, they will not be discovered by college coaches.  There will be over 75,000 high school student athletes graduating this year who will be on college rosters next school year.  Less than 7,000 of them will fall into the “Blue Chip” category.  The other 68,000 student athletes will have engaged in a lot of effort to make recruiting happen for them.  The sad reality is that 1/3 to 1/2 of those students will make a wrong choice because they had to settle for what was available.  How does a parent avoid this for their child?  They MUST invest in the recruiting process.

You’ve read on these pages the 5 things you need to know and the 5 things you must do.  But no one has written about specific costs.  Regardless of the sport your child plays, they will need to participate in events outside of their high school team in order to get placed on a college coaches’ radar.  Depending on the sport, those are club, travel, elite, premier, AAU, or other teams.  These clubs spring up and die all of the time so make sure your travel team is participating in the right tournaments.  If your child is a football player, they’ll need to attend camps and combines to improve their skills.  From the time a kid is in 6^th grade until they graduate, a parent can expect to pay $3,000 to $5,000 per year on club fees, travel, lessons, personal trainers, etc.  If you aren’t doing that, you’ll have a severe competitive disadvantage with families who are doing that. 

The frustrating thing for parents is that all of that investment will not get a kid looks by college coaches.  A travel coach will promote her/his team by saying s/he participates in all of the right tournaments and that 100’s of college coaches will be in attendance.  While the college coaches will be in attendance, they come with a list of specific players to evaluate in person.  They do not attend with the idea of discovering players.  So, in addition to all of the funds parents have spent on the above activities, they still NEED to market their child.  Marketing costs break down this way:

Most parents don’t have the time to devote to all of these activities.  If they separate these activities among different vendors, they run the risk of not using an expert.  For example, how many video companies use music to enhance the video?  How much are you paying for that feature?  Now, how many college coaches have the volume turned on when they’re watching the video?  ZERO.  Then what parent has the expertise to lay out a comprehensive marketing plan for their child?  What parent can transfer ownership of the process to their child?  As a parent who has been through this, the hardest thing some parents can do is to encourage their child to do the work necessary.  Where does that empowerment come from?  It comes from an expert’s knowledge.

Parents who truly want the best for their kids and want to help their kids achieve their dreams, must be willing to invest the TIME and MONEY to make that happen.  Only in the rarest of cases, will a parent hit the lottery with a gifted, hard-working student-athlete who will get discovered and recruited by her/his dream school college coach.  In all other cases, parents should not rely on “LUCK”.  As a wise man once said, luck is the residue of clearly defined goals and hard work.  If you need help defining that game plan, start here.

 As spring comes student athletes across the country will be flooded with various brochures and letters inviting them to camps and combines.  Some camps can be extremely valuable, and others can be a complete waste of valuable time and resources.  However, combines can be seen in a completely different light. Almost every single student athlete can greatly benefit from attending a combine.Why? A college coach depends on certain measurables to take some of the guess work out of recruiting.   Coaches also want to look at objective measurable indicator like height, weight, strength and speed numbers the same way they look at an athletes GPA and test scores.  The problem is that while these numbers seem very clear cut, they are often the exact opposite. 

In most circumstances athletes supply coaches with data that they simply can’t trust.  Families may have the best of intentions while reporting numbers that are slightly fudged to help give their athlete an edge, but they actually end up working against themselves.  A family decides to add one inch to a player’s height to seem like a “true” shooting guard.  Another family shaves .2 seconds off of a 40-yard dash to show “breakaway speed.”  Still another adds a few pounds to a squat max assuming the athlete will be able to make that sort of gain in the months ahead.  You get the idea.   Suddenly an objective statistic becomes just another overstated and meaningless number. 

Other families think the solution is to supply information from a high school coach. 

Sadly, the college coaching community has become jaded to the point where they won’t even accept verified data from a high school coach.  Some coaches think they are doing their athletes a favor by giving them a slight boost.  However, this type of fudging can only hurt the athletes and can even lead to an entire high school being labeled “untrustworthy.”  Even a coach with the best intentions of supplying accurate data will have to overcome the stigma of providing a result that could be unintentionally manipulated by a number of factors like wind, timing equipment, etc. 

High school athletes work extremely hard for the opportunity to go and play in college.  In addition to the hours spent playing and practicing their sport, they go to great trouble contacting college coaches.  They are constantly calling, mailing and emailing trying to find ways to get film and an athletic resume to college coach. Unfortunately, all of that effort could be wasted if the college coach can’t trust the numbers he receives.  If he is unsure of an athletes speed on film and he can’t trust a 40 yard dash time there is a chance that the recruit in question will move to the bottom of the board.

For that reason I suggest athletes in every relevant sport attend a combine (especially football).  Nike, Adidas, Schuman, Under Armour and other companies all host combines across the country.  They are usually only one day long and relatively inexpensive.  The results from these combines will be as close to 100% accurate as possible.  Even, if a surface is slow the playing field will be even for every athlete in attendance.  Plus all the results are published online so that college coaches can verify information about athletes. 

As a bonus these combines can lead to increased exposure for athletes.  While Division I coaches are barred from attending that doesn’t mean that their eyes and ears aren’t present.  Numerous recruiting “insiders” will be eagerly watching for elite athletes that are not yet identified as major prospects.  Great performances can often lead to invites to elite level exposure camps.

Recruits should know that there are two types of camps exposure camps and University camps.  Exposure camps are a chance to gather top performers to compete against each other to identify “the best of the best,” a huge benefit for athletes competing in lower division levels against unrecognized talent. Conversely, University camps are a chance for coaches to tryout players they are already recruiting.  Keep in mind that very few if any athletes are actually “discovered” at these large camps.  You should make sure you are attending camps where you have a realistic chance of being evaluated.

Combines can help players get more realistic about the level they can compete at in college. Far too many athletes aren’t focusing on schools that are a realistic fit for their athletic abilities.  By attending a combine athletes can get a first hand look at the other athletes in attendance and get a chance to see how they stack up against the competition.  Once an athlete has a clearer understanding of where his measurable match up, he or she can focus on the right types of schools.

Combines also publish historical data online.  An athlete can compare their combine numbers directly to the high school results from today’s college stars.  If they think they are good enough to play at a major Division I program they can look at the direct measurables to get an honest opinion.  Again, the numbers don’t lie!

Of course no coach would ever suggest that recruiting is as simple as looking at a few numbers and making a snap decision.  That is why it’s also important for recruits to understand that coaches won’t hand out scholarships strictly based on a 40 yard dash time or an extra inch in the vertical data.  They have to understand that verified data is only one of the first steps in the process.  Coaches will always place the bulk of their decision answering the simple question, “Is he good enough to play for my team?”  Obviously, watching a recruit play will be the biggest factor in answering that question.  Still, I would encourage athletes to make sure that they give college coaches every opportunity to evaluate their talent with on as many objective scales as possible.