Welcome to a new age in college recruiting. With the advent of cutting-edge services, lightening-fast technology and a razor-thin margin for error, the process has evolved into a muddled web of red-tape, rules and resourcefulness.
It’s hard enough for college coaches themselves to garner the recruiting edge. For parents and athletes, who struggle to understand even a morsel of on goings, enormous misconceptions prevail, and they can be costly.
So to help shed some light where, even for a 15-year veteran and former college recruit, much is yet to be shed, below are seven (7) of the more common recruiting illusions, along with my humble attempt to bid some truth.
1. Recruiting begins in my junior year of high school.
2. The odds are in my favor that I will play my sport in college.
3. Most Division I athletes are awarded “full rides.”
4. Since Division III schools cannot award athletic scholarships, these opportunities are far less prestigious and rewarding than Division I or II.
5. High school and/or club coaches control my recruiting fate.
6. Showcases & camps are my best sources of college exposure.
7. If I’m good enough, they will find me.
Myth #1: Recruiting begins in my junior year of high school.
Truth: This might seem the most logical conclusion, especially when we attempt to translate NCAA bylaws or listen to novices explain their theories. In reality, college recruiting begins much earlier than the junior year of high school.
As defined by the NCAA, high school students become prospects on their first day of class in the freshman year. True, the NCAA strictly governs and regulates recruiting activity. True, coaches are permitted more freedoms later in an athlete’s prep career. And true, athletes cannot officially sign with a college until their senior year. But don’t think for a second that coaches nationwide aren’t finding every legal crevice of every loophole to begin the courtship much sooner.
Florida Gators Head Coach, Urban Meyer, proclaimed last month on national television, “We start recruiting players in their freshman and sophomore years.” USC’s Pete Carroll admitted last February (just after the public release of his 2008 recruiting class) that he and his staff had secured verbal commitments from their entire 2009 recruiting class – a full year before these high school juniors will sign letters of intent at USC.
It’s not just happening in college football either. Early-bird volleyball, softball, baseball and soccer coaches nationwide earn proverbial worms in the form of oral commitments, often before Christmas of the junior year. Not only does the strategy enable these staffs to beat league foes to the punch, but huge burdens are lifted from preps who would much rather play out their varsity careers sans the stress and mystery.
Myth #2: The odds are in my favor that I will play my sport in college.
Truth: The probability of extending your playing career beyond high school is 5 percent. In other words, only 5 out of 100 varsity athletes who graduate with you end up filling college roster spots. In short, you’re competing with about 2 million athletes for roughly 100,000 incoming freshman roster spots. That means 5% will play in college, 95% won’t.
Essentially, it’s a race. And the athletes that become proactive and position themselves for opportunities are usually the ones who win the race. Those who sit back and wait for coaches to find them are typically the ones who miss out on the chance to play in college.
Myth #3: Most Division I athletes are awarded “full rides.”
Truth: The term “full ride” is a loose, often misguided misnomer in it and of itself. In short, there’s really no such thing, as scholarships are one-year renewable. So any hopes of getting a 4-year scholarship promise can quickly be dashed.
True, most of major Division I college football and men’s basketball signees receive full athletic grants-in-aid (scholarships). That’s one of the benefits of being recruited to play a revenue-producing sport. In reality, recruited athletes are hardly receiving a free education. Not only is the number of scholarships limited by NCAA, but the average recipient saves just $10,409 annually in college expenses. Compare that to the average college price tag of nearly $30,000, and recruits may still need to offset two-thirds of the bill.
Myth #4: Since Division III schools cannot award athletic scholarships, these opportunities are far less prestigious and rewarding than Division I or II.
Truth: Division III schools cannot award scholarships on the basis of athletic talent. However, like all college coaches, they must recruit to stay competitive and maintain job security. In fact, Division III aid proposals are simply packaged with non-athletic line items, such as endowments, academic scholarships, grants and loans. While their recruiting budgets are typically tighter than larger programs, the rules governing D3’s are far less stringent, so their recruiting strategies and incentives are limited only by the institutions they represent.
In a recent article published in New Jersey’s The Record, Audrey Kahane writes:
“While playing sports at a Division I or II school may be more prestigious, there are advantages to a Division III school. Athletes can still get extra consideration in the admissions office at Division III schools, and even though these colleges don't offer athletic scholarships, they can offer academic scholarships. Playing for a Division III team might mean more playing time, which is important when you love a sport, and the satisfaction of being a big fish in a small pond. Since Division III schools tend to be smaller colleges, athletes may find more personal attention, smaller classes and greater ease in socializing with the rest of the college community.”
Myth #5: High school and/or club coaches control my recruiting fate.
Truth: Nowhere in a high school coach’s contract does it read, “As coach, you are in control of your player’s collegiate futures. You are responsible for seeing to it that your qualified student-athletes are given every opportunity to extend their playing careers into college.” You won’t ever read this because it’s not the coach’s responsibility. It’s the athlete’s responsibility to come into contact with college coaches, and the parents’ responsibility to make sure their own children are positioned for collegiate opportunities.
Having said this, the high school/club coach can and should play important roles in the process. They are around the athlete almost every day. They can speak most accurately to college coaches about the athlete’s potential, attitude, work ethic, strengths, weaknesses, etc. And parents should hope that their child’s coaches would serve as ambassadors, doing everything they can to help their child prosper beyond high school.
At the end of the day, though, coaches aren’t directors. They aren’t producers. They are supporting cast members. They don’t control an athlete’s collegiate fate; they coach, they teach, they develop and they mentor. Most coaches, if asked, admit their ability to adequately promote athletes is limited. It’s only the few with huge egos and personal agendas that miss the complete boat here.
Myth #6: Showcases & camps are my best sources of college exposure.
Truth: While attending camps and showcases can be exposure venues for student-athletes, the real question lends to the timing of the contact. In other words, should the athlete come into contact BEFORE the event, or rely on the event itself to produce the contact.
In some cases, we have a “chicken or the egg” here. Most of the time, however, showcases and camps are best served in an athlete’s recruiting game plan when regular contact has been made well before the event.
Take for example one of the larger national club volleyball tournaments. For every 10 college coaches in attendance, 8 or 9 will tell you they are there to scout players on their “short lists,” or prospects with whom they’ve already developed recruiting relationships. Few will admit they are there to learn of new prospects, or to find that “needle in a haystack.”
So while competing in showcases and attending camps can be outstanding exposure vehicles, they are more effective and best served when they are carefully selected and when coaches have already begun the courting process with you.
And last but not least, the oldest, most legendary recruiting fable of all…
Myth #7: If I’m good enough, they will find me.
Truth: For 99% of the varsity athletes nationwide, college recruiting simply doesn’t work this way. For our blue-chippers, the elite 1%, this old adage holds true. But unless you’re on the cover of magazines and being touted by Rivals.com as the latest and greatest, then coaches won’t find you unless you initiate the process.
Message: Get proactive. Start early. Don’t wait for coaches to find you. Get the help you need and make sure HUNDREDS of college coaches come into contact with you, see you play, and have all the information they need to thoroughly evaluate you.
Until then, you’re at risk of becoming another recruiting casualty.
Yours in Sport & Education,
Rex GraynerPresident/Founder
Student-Athlete Showcase, LLC
rex@student-athleteshowcase.com
