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

Last week we hosted an exclusive webcast explaining the most cutting edge methods to producing a college recruiting highlight video.  If you missed the event, you can check it out HERE!

Based on the success, we are excited to announce a surprise PART 2 to air on Tuesday, October 19th at 9 pm EDT / 8 pm CDT / 6 pm PDT.

We encourage you to tune in and watch the NCSA Video Team and Coach Taylor talk about:

- The best way to distribute your highlight video

- How college coaches evaluate recruiting videos

As always, you can view ALL our live web events on the following link:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/randy-taylor-presents-college-recruiting-simplified

If you click the link, you can “RSVP” at the bottom of the page which will help you remember to tune in.

***If you would like to learn more about taking advantage of the NCSA Video Team to produce YOUR highlight video, call 312-205-7519. They have enhanced more than 17,000 Recruiting Videos in 27 different sports**

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 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

The importance of a skills video in a sport like baseball goes unnoticed at times. Just because you state on a piece of paper that you throw 86-88 MPH consistently does not mean a coach is going to automatically recruit you. It’s the same way that just because you earn a 3.8 GPA doesn’t mean you will be accepted in to every school. Interviews and essays are just as important as mechanics in a sport like baseball.

A video is not the “end all, be all”, but it does open the door for you if a college coach is wary about your true ability on paper, especially if a program is far away. Once you have video available it is important to sap as much out of that as possible. Much more important questions can be asked after a coach can evaluate footage of your at your position.

Families always ask me how to decide between camps and video is one of the most important parts of this decision making. It is vital that you try to get a feel for the coach’s interest by asking for feedback on a video before figuring out where you need to spend your money and, most importantly, your time throughout this process.

Many people believe game footage is vital for a sport like baseball, but a coach does not have the time to sit down and watch a video of you in an entire game. Also, it’s hard to figure out what angles and footage a coach wants to see. If you have not put a video together yet, be sure to check this page out for more information about how to put a quality video together. After you have created your video this cloudy process will begin to clear up a bit for you and you will understand what you have been missing out on.

Q: How important are stats in the recruiting process?

A: Stats can be important to college recruiters because they give them insight on your game performance. However, they are not the only thing that coaches look at. A big part of an athlete’s evaluation is looking at their tools. These are various skills within a sport which help coaches see the potential within an athlete. The best way to showcase these is through well made highlight videos, skills tapes, and game films.

Here’s another great recruiting question, keep them coming!

Q: How do I make a highlight video?

A: Check out these past articles: this one will show you how to make your video and this one will tell you what to do with it. You can even look at examples on NCSA’s YouTube page.

I came an article about a 2010 football recruit from Pennsylvania named Dakota Royer and it sparked so many thoughts about how complex the recruiting process can be. This young man has emerged as a top prospect for the class of 2010. But it didn’t just happen for Royer. He has put in an extraordinary amount of hard work and made good decisions that have allowed him to become someone college coaches are looking at and talking about.

An all-state defensive end during his junior season, Royer decided to use his speed and strength to help the offense this season. Royer’s high school football coach Mike Williams says, “He became a complete player.” Not many things are more appealing to a collegiate coach, than knowing an athlete can serve more than one purpose on their team. If you want to increase your value as a student-athlete, make sure you are the complete package. Get stronger and more familiar with different positions on the field. If you are a swimmer, look at mastering other events and strokes. If you are a pitcher, become more dominant by adding more pitches to your arsenal. If you are a golfer, be certain your putting game is just as strong as your drive off the tee. There is always more you can be doing and ways you can be getting better to increase your value to a coach and their program.

After his freshman year, Royer transferred to a different high school because of their agriculture programs. His interest in that field is something he plans on pursuing in college. Royer said he had nothing against his previous high school. “It was great there,” he said. “There was not a problem. It’s not like I had to get out of there. I just wanted to do the best thing for my future.” Whatever college Royer decides on, he will be starting off with a great academic foundation and a plan for what he wants to pursue off of the football field. It’s so important to remember you are a student-athlete. Your college search cannot just include the athletic side of things. You don’t have to know exactly what you want to study or major in, but you should have an idea of what kind of academic school you are interested in. Look at everything from class sizes, to what academic programs are offered, to coursework requirements. Part of being the “complete package” for a coach is how you perform in the classroom. So make sure you stay educated on everything regarding your education.

Because Royer has been so proactive in his recruiting process (making his own highlight DVD and attending football combines since his freshman year), he now has the option of choosing from over 20 Top Division I football programs. A decision he will make within the next month – before taking even one “official visit.”

As he has narrowed his choices to a “Top 5,” Royer gave a brief explanation for his interest in each school. This is what grabbed my attention the most from this article. His answers covered such a large spectrum of things that could possibly make or break a student-athlete’s decision on a school. A great example of how multi-dimensional the recruiting process is. From that list of 5, here are some things that Royer considered: familiarity, being close to home, an NFL team’s proximity to the campus, condition of the campus, social aspect of the campus, football stadium, team contract with NIKE, locker room perks.

Finally, in a move fitting of what we now know about Royer, he decided to increase his marketing appeal to college coaches – and perhaps even future NFL scouts. After hearing that a newly-drafted NFL player drew attention on ESPN for making a clean jump OUT of 3-foot deep swimming pool, Royer knew there was only one thing he needed to do. Make that same jump out of 4 feet of water. So, that’s exactly what he did. Now his video is getting hits all over Youtube.

Dakota Royer is the consummate recruit. He has looked at and contemplated everything that will give him the greatest college experience possible. Now it’s just a matter of prioritizing. Out of all of the information he has collected he will choose which school and football program meet his priorities the best. He knows that the decision on where he will go to school and play football is HIS. And the reason he is sitting so comfortably in the driver’s seat: Royer has made himself the kind of student-athlete that college coaches are looking for – “the complete package.”

SI has posted a story entailing how the future of media broadcasts of prep games may be decided through a recent legal dispute.

Ownership of scholastic athletics coverage is at stake in a legal tussle brewing over a Wisconsin newspaper’s decision to carry a high school football game live on its Web site last fall.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association sued The Post-Crescent of Appleton and parent Gannett Co. as well as the Wisconsin Newspaper Association after the newspaper carried the state playoff game on its site Nov. 8.

The association said it believes it owns the rights to the online footage because it organized, supervised and sponsored the football tournament. The lawsuit, which is scheduled for trial Feb. 8, also said the association’s ability to generate revenue needs to be protected. The association has a $7.1 million budget this year.

WIAA executive director Doug Chickering said the association is seeking only a ruling about its role and rights, not monetary damages.

Dan Flannery, executive editor of The Post-Crescent, said local sporting events represent the essence of local news coverage, and media outlets should be able to provide Internet coverage the same way they write stories or produce videos.

The newspaper wants the court to recognize that the WIAA is working on behalf of public schools and declare its no-bid, long-term contracts for TV coverage and photography unconstitutional.

Peter Fox, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, said the case “has advanced further in the legal system than in any other state.”

Athletic associations and newspaper groups elsewhere are closely watching.

“Fundamentally, this comes down to TV revenue for the associations,” said Don Craven, an attorney who worked for the IPA and helped settle the dispute two years ago. “They don’t own a commodity to sell, market or otherwise control. They should put on a very nice tournament and get out of the news business.”

If the WIAA is successful in barring the free online broadcasting of prep games it may cause other high school sports associations to consider doing the same. Athletic associations may begin to use high school games as a source of revenue by selling the games to the highest bidder. Games between nationally ranked teams have shown to draw huge ratings as ESPN has recently broadcasted several high school games.

How would this effect recruiting? It limits athletes’ exposure by taking away an outlet for coaches to see game film. This makes it even more important that a recruit find other ways to display their highlight films and game films, as well as showcase their athlete resumes to college coaches.

It is critical to have a video of yourself playing points out or drilling with your coach or pro. When playing out points coaches are looking to see the level of play that you are currently at and the potential that they see in you. What this means is that if coaches were able to get you on their campus they would know how to coach you to maximize your potential. If you are shooting a match video with points it is important to have the player that you are playing with be equal of talent if not better than you. Beating up on a weaker opponent will not help you but only hurt you.