5 Lies Recruits Tell During the College Recruiting Process
Too many times recruits and families think of it as a game where you try to manipulate offers and opportunities to get the best offers. The most successful recruiting processes are ones in which both the coaches and the recruits win.
We’ve heard all sorts of bad advice about how to get the best offer, how to get coaches’ attention, or how to get ahead of other recruits; below is the list of the five most common lies about the recruiting process.
Making up Scholarship Offers
If you are fortunate enough to receive a scholarship early or a walk on offer, it can be a great opportunity to let other coaches know, and sometimes that can help increase the offers you receive. However, making up a scholarship offer just to try and drive the price up on another program is a huge no-no. The coaches talk to one another, and one way or the other, they will confirm your scholarship offer; but if they found out you lied, of course they won’t be offering you a scholarship, and neither will the school whose offer you just made up.
Making Yourself Taller, Faster, or Better Than You Are
It is so tempting to make yourself a little taller, faster, or have better grades when you are talking with coaches, but don’t do it. Ultimately, every coach looks to verify the information they receive from recruits; and if your stats don’t match up, that is going to be a very big red flag.
Lying About What Other Recruits Are Doing
Recruiting classes for any given program can have hundreds of athletes, and competition is fierce. There are a lot of ways to make yourself a more attractive recruit and move up the recruiting board, but one sure fire way to drop off the board is lying about other recruits. Making up stories about injuries, character issues, or grades of other recruits can be tempting; but it is really just a desperate move and something that will not work in the long run.
Coaches Will Find Me if I am Good Enough
This is more a lie recruits and families tell themselves. The fact is coaches probably won’t find you- unless you are being proactive in recruiting. It’s so easy to contact coaches through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and just picking up the phone. If you aren’t reaching out to coaches, recruits with more determination are, and they will be recruited ahead of you.
Coaches Look on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
Did you know college programs are now being held responsible for what their athletes are doing and saying on line? Additionally, almost all universities and athletic departments actively use social media for recruiting. If you think you can say or do whatever you want on line and coaches won’t know, you are wrong. Not only will coaches find out, but it will factor in to your evaluation and can cause coaches to drop you from their recruiting class.
Do you have any questions about the recruiting process? Do you need help contacting coaches? Leave your questions in the comments section below or contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+!