The biggest misunderstanding I see when meeting with recruits about the recruiting process is that they think, “If I am good enough, coaches will find me.” This is almost never the case, and I am going to explain three very significant reasons why.
1. Recruiting Budgets for 95 Percent of College Programs don’t Allow Coaches to Travel the Country Looking for Recruits
Coaches have to stretch their budgets, and that means they are only going to see recruits they know they want to have on their team. In a great article about the difference between big-time college football and smaller programs, Steve Megargee of Rivals details the experiences of coaches on the recruiting trail. There is one excerpt every recruit needs to pay attention to, when Coach Franchione of Texas State says, “You watch your money . . . when I am booking a flight I am always asking how can I save money.” The number one way for coaches to save money is to be flying to see recruits they have already evaluated on film or at camp. Ninety-five percent of coaches don’t have the money like Urban Meyer to fly out to see one recruit at a time.
2. Outside of Big-money Sports Such as Football and Basketball, Recruiting Budgets Are Almost Nonexistent
These budgets are under a couple of thousand dollars per year. Recruiting budgets for these coaches are usually just enough for a couple of flights a year to major tournaments or showcases and to bring a few athletes in on official visits. These coaches rely on quality video available online for initial evaluations. Furthermore, they want to know your schedule so they can plan on seeing you at big tournaments. Chances are unless you are a local athlete, these coaches won’t be making home visits or flying to watch your high school game.
3. You Might be Athletic Enough, But Coaches Need to Know More About You Before They Spend Money Recruiting You
Just being good at your sport is not enough for a coach to recruit you. When coaches are at smaller programs, they need athletes who will fit their program. This is because they can’t afford to have athletes transfer in and out like larger schools. Coach Thurmond of the University of Washington says when he evaluates recruits, “What I want to learn is what really makes them tick and what are they going to be like in our team environment.” Coaches can’t know this kind of information unless you take time to introduce yourself.
In my experience, the only reason recruits or families actually want a coach to “find them” is for pride and bragging rights. Of course, we all want to be the recruit with scouts and coaches at every one of our games, but that just does not happen. Coaches don’t have the money, time, or motivation to recruit you unless you are willing to put in the work yourself.
Are you not getting recruited but think you are good enough? Leave your questions in the comments section below or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+!
My son just finished him sophomore season of basketball what should he be doing in the recruiting process.
@2e460be2ba5a1075539cfb8d37689c9b:disqus Thank you for your question. It is critical that he play for a Club/AAU team. In addition, I would look at putting together a school list and contacting college coaches. Has he spoken with his coaches about what division level might be right for him? Too many times, athletes focus only on big D1 schools and miss out on opportunities to get scholarships and great educations from D2 or NAIA schools.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks
My Junior basketball season just ended…….Other than going to the gym trying to improve my game everyday……..What should I be in the process of doing?
@295e5400e0f40bef2ff381e0a39d0443:disqus That is an excellent question. Club/AAU season is critical for basketball. Are you going to be playing for a club team? If you are, you need to email coaches you are interested in playing for and letting them know where you will be playing. Also, I would work on getting a highlight tape together, getting it on YouTube. Once you have that you can email and call coaches to generate some interest.
Please let me know if you have any questions, I am happy to help.
My son is in junior year and he was golf district champion last fall. He would like to go for college with scholarship, specially at U of Wash. What should he do now for being recruited ?
@7ae669bbedd7607b22ad85f4a4fef9af:disqus thank you for your question. UW is a great University and very competitive golf program. Coach Thurmond, the head golf coach there runs an excellent blog I would encourage you to go to that blog and ask him questions directly (here is the link
http://coachthurmond.tumblr.com/).
Also, I would encourage you and your son to look for more schools. UW can be a great goal but make sure to have 10-15 other coaches you are talking with encase UW doesn’t work out. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks
how do i get get in contact with the coaches or scouts
Onugherbert, thank you for your question. You are able to find the contact information for college coaches on their school website. Also, we run a college coaches database where you can search for schools and get the contact information for coaches. Here is a video about our database
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF4SReosA3I.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
My son (a high school junior) is a very talented baseball player, mainly as a pitcher but is one of those players who is an asset anywhere on the field. We live in a small community; what is the best way to go about sending video and getting his stats and info to college recruiters?
@f76c008511651f772be9f3172f7fabab:disqus Thank you for your question. It is really a matter of doing research on what programs fit your family and your recruit. I would suggest our college coaches database for researching programs. Here is the
link you need to create your account on our database (http://www2.athleticscholarships.net/athletic/customers/athleteRegistration).
You can use this link to log in (http://www2.athleticscholarships.net/athletic/).
You might
also find this video useful in helping you get started http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF4SReosA3I.
Please let
me know if you have any questions.
Hi, I am an international applicant for college tennis(w) 2013. I have not enough budget to go US for just meeting coaches. Is it so crucial to get seen in this big tournaments or showcases?
Hi Burcu, Thanks for your question. Tennis is all about playing experience, it will always be best to meet with coaches in person, but they understand not athletes are able to do this. Are you ranked on ITF or any other national/ international tennis rankings, something that coaches will be able to access to see how you are officially doing on rankings?
Each college coach is going to be different in how they prefer to talk with recruits.
What you should be doing this year is reaching out to coaches now and sending them your sports resume with all your academic and athletic abilities, and a highlight video of you playing. Here is more information on doing that: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/How_to_Create_a_College_Recruiting_Resume_E-Book.pdf
At this point do you have any colleges in mind? Do you know where you would like to go or what division level you would want to compete in? We are all here to help you learn the recruitng process so please let us know if you have more questions.
My son is a senior in high school and is interested in schools in Florida, but has no clue where to begin with the recruitment process for basketball. How do we get coaches to respond to our pleas for a chance and he is interested in D-III schools or NAIA, what do we do???
Thanks for your question. Since your son knows he wants to stay in Florida, he needs to start reaching out to college coaches now. He needs to send them a sports resume & video:
http://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/How_to_Create_a_College_Recruiting_ResumeE-Book.pdf Coaches at the DIII and NAIA level should be easier to get in touch with, but because its the start of their season too he may not hear back from them until the end of football. Either way he needs to reach out to them asap and let them know he is interested in their program. Our database will help him search for the schools too:
http://www2.athleticscholarships.net/athletic/ Please let me know if you have any other questions- I will be happy to help you through the process.
Good Luck!!
Hi, I am the only girl on my baseball team and I a sophomore in high school, and if coaches hear I am a girl playing on a all boys baseball team they are going to think I am a joke, but I am not. I don’t know how to show them that I am very serious about this sport and playing for college. What do I do?