Around the country, college coaches are huddled around their fax machines, waiting for the NLI’s from student athletes across the country, hoping that in the last seconds their rival school didn’t steal their top recruits. Today, NCSA had the pleasure to watch as one student athlete finally make his dreams come true. Maurice Fleming came into NCSA Headquarters at 8 AM to sign and fax his National Letter of Intent to the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was surrounded by his biggest fans: his mom, his grandma, and his high school coach.
Following this special moment he called his future coach to let him know that the fax was on its way. Both Maurice and the Hawkeye coaching staff could not be more excited for their futures together.
Maurice hopes to make an impact on the field as early as his freshmen year. During an interview with the Daily Iowan, a reporter asked him questions about his future with the Hawkeyes and how he felt switching from the offensive to the defensive side of the ball. Like any true athlete, he said that he was hesitant at first, but he knew that with hard work and his athletic ability, he would be able to transition into his new role as a defensive back just fine.
Despite missing the majority of his senior year due to an ACL tear, Maurice is expected to make a full recovery. He is already at 85% and working out five days a week, and thankful that the Iowa staff stayed loyal to him throughout his injury and recovery. He is prepared to take on the demands of being a college athlete and cannot wait to take the field in black and gold.
Everyone at NCSA is extremely proud of Maurice and cannot wait to watch him continue to be an Athleader,by empowering others to lead through sports and giving back in his community. Congratulations Maurice, you have just opened the doors of the rest of your life.
My high school team is not very good should I transfer high schools to play on a better team? I’m afraid college coaches won’t recruit me because my team is bad.
Sport: Women’s Soccer Position: Left Defender, Central Defender, Right Defender, Stopper High School: Schaumburg High School ( Schaumburg , IL ) Graduation Year: 2012
Committed: University of Texas
C.J. Irvin
Sport: Football Position: Center, Offensive Tackle, Long Snapper High School: Manteno High School ( Manteno , IL ) Graduation Year: 2012
Committed: Illinois State University
Congratulations to both Alison and C.J. not only on their commitment for the next four years of their lives, but for the next 40 years!
Navigating through the recruiting process can be very overwhelming for a family, especially for the athletes themselves. These 17/18 year old student athletes are faced with a decision that will affect not only the rest of their athletic careers but their entire lives. It is important that student athletes are educated on every aspect of each school that they are deciding on. It is important when an athlete makes a final decision that they would want to go to that school if they were not going there for athletics.
Why?
Reason number one is that as an athlete you are only one ACL tear or break away from never playing sports again. Before you commit somewhere, ask yourself “If I can never play sports again will I still be happy at this particular school?”
In recent years a new issue in college athletics has created another reason student athletes need to chose the school based on other reasons outside of how much they like the athletics. As college coaching veteran Randy Taylor always says “make your decision based on the school, not the coach…”. While a coach can have a huge impact on your experience as an athlete, in this current environment college coaches are being fired, leaving for other schools or going to the pros. Coaches leave schools all the time and as an athlete you should have the security that if during your career, your coach happens to leave you will still be happy with where you are.
This is an issue that is most recently facing the 2012 football commits for Rutgers, yesterday in a very quiet move head football coach Greg Schiano was hired as the head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A move that not even his assistant coaches were aware of until news broke via the media. News broke while the assistant coaches were waiting for him at Don Bosco Preparatory School to lock up two more top recruits. Rivals.com has noted that Rutgers currently has 17 verbal commitments before Schiano’s left for Tampa, many of whom took to twitter to express their frustration and shock. In what could have been Rutgers best recruiting class to date, five days before signing day many of their top recruits are now questing whether or not they should jump ship, to the other top schools who are now coming after them.
These student athletes world has been turned upside down, but before de-committing from the Scarlett Knights they need to sit down with the significant adults in their life and go over the reasons they originally committed to Rutgers, if it was because of the coach they need to look at their other options, however they should also keep in mind that any school they go to there is a chance that during their careers that coach could leave as well.
Making a decisions as a young adult that will affect the rest of your life can be a lot of pressure on these kids, especially if they are only thinking of things from an athletic stand point. As an athlete you need to remember that less than one percent of all athletes will go pro in their respective sports. It is important to remember that they are going to school to receive an education and set themselves up to succeed for the next forty years of their lives.
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?
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 brings 23 years of experience covering high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations. He is also one of NCSA’s Athletic Recruiting Experts. Adams wrote the following observations below:
I was at a Club Swim Meet this past weekend and struck up a conversation with a former longtime High School basketball coach from a large conference. “What I found,” he said when reflecting on his experience of coaching kids capable of playing college ball, “was that many kids of this generation are very big on playing time. It’s not like a generation ago where a lot of kids were content to pay their dues and play as a junior or senior in college. These kids today want to be on the court. When I coached High School varsity, I only kept about 8 or 9 on varsity because they all want to play so much. When I coached and kids asked me about playing college, I always suggested to them to go to a level of college ball just under what they were capable of playing, so they would get playing time.”
Ironically, after talking with that former Coach, I came across an article of a young lady who fits that mold. Sarah Hall has committed to play college soccer at Western Illinois. She plays for traditional soccer powerhouse St. Joseph’s.
“I always wanted to play D-I,” Hall told WSBT TV. “And I wanted to make sure I went to a school where I could play right away, and not have to sit the first year or two on the bench and just watch, because that’s not the kind of person I am. I want to be out there.”
Did you get that last sentence? “I want to be out there” is what she said. Some kids have that burning desire to be competing. They play High School and Club ball constantly and want to keep that going.
The Recruiting process certainly starts in the 9th grade, and earlier for some elite athletes. Part of that process is spending time determining how important playing time is to an athlete. Had Sarah tried to bite off a major D1 Soccer powerhouse such as UCLA, Portland, Santa Clara, B.C. or some other juggernaut, she might have had to be a reserve for awhile. Some kids are fine with that while others HAVE to be out there competing from Day One. You have to really spend a lot of reflection on that, or you could end up frustrated.
student athletes across the country, hoping that in the last seconds their rival school didn’t steal their top recruits. Today, NCSA had the pleasure to watch as one student athlete finally make his dreams come true. Maurice Fleming came into NCSA Headquarters at 8 AM to sign and fax his National Letter of Intent to the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was surrounded by his biggest fans: his mom, his grandma, and his high school coach.
