What is Recruiting Success?
April 7th, 2010 - byRecently, I’ve had a number of conversations with 2008 HS grads who didn’t receive any help in the recruiting process. These are student-athletes playing various sports at D1, D2, D3, and the Juco level. These conversations were also with student-athletes who never got the chance to play beyond high school. One thing was common to all I spoke with: They didn’t receive any help in the recruiting process. All expressed a wish to do the process over. Of course, they’ll never have that chance.
I’ve also spoken with over 6,000 families about recruiting and I understand what their hopes, dreams, and desires are. To put them in a few categories would be unfair. Every situation is unique to that family. So each definition of success is unique. However, there are some common themes that emerge – in no particular order. First, a large number of families define recruiting success as getting scholarship money to play a sport in college. For those who have read these pages and all of our education materials, you realize that scholarships are more likely to be “partial” not “full” scholarships. Second, recruiting success is attending a college where the student-athlete gets to play. Over 80% of the student athletes I speak with would like to play during their freshman year in college. Most student-athletes have never sat the bench in their lives. Third, parents want to ensure that their children graduate. Most realize that a child’s success in the classroom will correlate with their success on the playing field. Those parents want the college coach to care as much for their child as they do. Fourth, student-athletes want to play at a college where they can study what they want. Most parents don’t realize that this isn’t available at all colleges. Some are shocked to find out that some college coaches dictate the degrees their student-athletes can pursue. Finally, adults realize better than their children that the college decision will impact their child for the rest of their lives. That’s at least 60 years in this day and age. Getting that decision right is crucial!
So knowing all of this, why do parents insist on entering the recruiting process without competent help? Why do they think that the “fan in the stands” who had their 2nd cousin, once removed get recruited knows anything about college recruiting? Why do parents think that someone who was recruited 20 years ago, know about recruiting today? Why would a student-athlete rely on the high school coach in this process? Most HS coaches don’t have the time or resources to help a child find “Recruiting Success”. They don’t spend enough time getting to know the family to find out what that definition of success is. Why do parents spend thousands of dollars on activities that will not help their child get recruited? I’ve heard of families sending their kids to Australia, Hawaii, Europe, and other exotic destinations thinking this will help their child’s recruiting resume. This is a foolish waste of resources if you have limited funds to devote to recruiting success.
What is recruiting success? It’s what you define it to be. But a family needs to clearly write down those expectations so they can achieve success. If you need expert help to achieve recruiting success, click here.
If you’ve read these pages enough, you know that a college decision is a life-altering, life time decision. To make that decision without fully understanding the vast landscape of opportunities available is irresponsible at best and negligent at worst. Another motivation for doing all you can to make a great college choice is found in