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Why are you "NOT" being Recruited?

  • Writer: Jeff White
    Jeff White
  • Mar 15, 2019
  • 4 min read

Updated: Jan 9, 2024

I've seen it all with college recruiting over the years. I've heard all the excuses in the world as to why someones child isn't being recruited and everyone who's to blame, whether it's the high school/travel ball coach who didn't like Johnny, the fields they played on, the competition, the equipment used or my personal favorite...the college. Well, there are only two possibilities and neither of them are listed above. Truth be told, if they were even a decent player in high school, they probably could've played "somewhere." So obviously, somewhere along the line, somebody thought they knew more about recruiting than they actually did. That being said, I'm not a fan of, The Blame Game nor do I enjoy roaming or dwelling in negative air. I'm all about fixing a problem, and the first step in solving a problem...is recognizing there is one.


TOP 5 REASONS YOU'RE NOT BEING RECRUITED!


1. A University sends you a letter or email. It looks great and feels even better....It should be great, right? Well, its probably not what you banked on. This is the biggest recruiting mistake all athletes and parents make. Is the communication an invite to participate in a showcase so your skills can be evaluated? Is it a camp? Or is it something different? Either way, you're on cloud-nine after reading it. You now know you’re good enough for college coaches to find you, right? Well, proceed with caution! Are you currently ranked as one of the top 500 high school athletes in your sport in the country? if the answer is "no," then thinking you’re good enough for the coaches to find you will probably lead to disappointment. You think that your high school coach will get you recruited. I guess anything is possible, if you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated coach with the time and resources to get you recruited. Most coaches responsibilities are not to get their players recruited, but to coach teams, and in most cases, to teach, develop and win games. Getting you a college scholarship isn’t possible for most of them. And as I've said before, some may have a couple college contacts, but that certainly doesn't mean they have an influence over a college coach's decision making process. Furthermore, not many coaches have the time to develop contacts with college coaches at all levels, much less outside their immediate region. Remember, they're typically teachers first and coaches second.


2. You don’t start thinking about recruiting until your junior year. Haven’t you heard? There are college coaches with verbal commitments from some very young players. NCAA programs can't do this anymore, but many schools still can.


3. You need to understand the general recruiting timeline for your sport and your level. Division I is always going to be earlier than other divisions since they possess the largest scholarships and most high-profile playing opportunities for student-athletes. And because they’re Division I schools, that means that there are some pretty strict rules about when and how coaches can contact players. This is another misconception. When I ask parents if their child has been in contact with college coaches? They typically respond, "oh, heck no! He's only a sophomore. College coaches can't contact him until after Sept.1st of their junior year." This one usually makes me cringe. Let me tell you something. If you were really wanted by that college coach, all he has to do is call your high school coach and say, "Hey Coach Smith, could you please have Mike give me a call back at my office?" The player calls the college coach back later without violating any NCAA rules.


4. You look at too few schools. Coaches of select colleges can sometimes send out thousands of letters to recruit for less than ten positions. Sometimes being on the radar of just 20 area coaches is probably not good enough to ensure that you’re going to be recruited. Just looking at five to ten schools will more than likely, result in disappointment. The more schools you target, the better your chances.


5. First and foremost, matching schools by ability is only the "first step." After that, you’ll have to eliminate the colleges that don’t have openings for your position, don’t meet your academic or financial needs, or where the coach simply isn’t interested in you. This is a "total" funnel situation. A lot goes in at the top, only a few come out at the bottom. If you want to have the opportunity to actually choose the school that’s the best match for you, you’ve got to start with a large list (50-75 schools is not an unrealistic number). That's right. If you want to do it the right way, you have to do it in numbers.


NOTE: Another option is to find a great recruiting agency. The only issue, is there are literally hundreds of them scattered across the country. And although very few have perfect-high placement rates, there are several that do. These are the ones you want to target. The better ones typically know a lot of college coaches personally, and will "hand-pick" their student-athletes. It can also be difficult to book with them, as they typically don't accept a lot of players at one time due to the attention needed for the selected few. Whereas, many of the other recruiting agencies never even "see" the student-athlete perform. They secure names and contact information from high school and travel ball rosters, then simply send out hundreds of thousands of letters/emails (playing the numbers game), in hopes of obtaining a few paying customers. The larger downside to that? Many have placement rates as low as 35%. I don't know about you, but I would never trust those odds with my own son. I'm very fortunate and blessed to be in the position I am, for him. Aside from myself, there are several scouts in agencies that I would trust, even with my own son's recruitment. They all have hundreds of college coach connections and to be perfectly honest, they're very good at what they do. It's people like them that make the difference in this world. They're not incredibly wealthy. They don't travel the world. And they don't own flashy items. They do it for the kids with the best of intentions.............they do it, for the love of the game.





 
 
 

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