Where not to skimp in the athletic recruiting process

There is no doubt that money is a factor in the athletic recruiting process for everyone.  Some families have more than others and that affords them the luxury of going on unofficial visits at the drop of a hat.  Others struggle to get outside of their hometown because of a lack of transportation options.  This happens all time unfortunately.

And while I have talked about different ways to save money throughout the recruiting process overall, there are also a few areas that you should skimp on when trying to get a scholarship offer.  I have come up with five areas that are worth investing in to help you overall with the recruiting process.

1.) A Recruiting Highlight Video
With the ease of hudl, either take the time to get it done yourself at a high level or hire someone.  This video is absolutely vital to get your foot in the door with college coaches and for them to get taste of your abilities.

2.) As many unofficial visits as possible
I hate to bring you back to my glory days when I played athletics but because of our lack of vehicles that could travel far, I only ended up making one college visits.  Shockingly, this was the school I ended up attending and played at over the following four years.  But if I had a chance to do it again, I would have tried to figure out a way to get to more schools.  I am not talking about unofficial visits across the country where you need to fly.  I am talking about in-state visits to schools at all levels (Division I, I-AA, II, III, NAIA, and even Junior College) that you can drive to.  The reason is that you want to get a taste of what all these schools can offer you overall.  And while the Internet is great for finding some information, a visit to the school is priceless to see what kind of feeling the place gives you.

3.) Phone time with college coaches
If you have a son that is a sought after football recruit who is getting call after call in the football recruiting process, make sure their cell plan has unlimited minutes.  The last thing you want to do is limit your son and their exposure to these coaches.  The more that call, the better even if the phone bill will be a little higher (hopefully not a great deal higher).  So call your phone provider because it may be your son’s cell phone getting the calls from coaches.

4.) Summer college camps (football)/AAU team (basketball)
Very rarely does a basketball player end up getting a Division I scholarship without playing AAU basketball.  It unfortunately just works that way and there is not a lot you can do about it.  What that means is it is important to get on a good team, even if you have to pay a little money out of pocket.  Not all teams are sponsored so your money will help pay for tournaments.  As for the summer camps, it is vital to at least get to a few one day camps (turn them into your own one day camps) so the college coaches can get a taste of your ability.  If they don’t think you are good enough at the camps, then you can move on and look at other schools that think you are good enough for a scholarship offer.

5.) Time for research
Parents and kids need to invest the time into researching schools that fit them and marketing themselves to those same programs.  Everyone might want to play at USC but what if a school like Florida Atlantic has the location you want, the major you are looking for, and success in athletics as well?  The big name schools are not always the best option so pour some time into the process and research programs as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

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How does a college coach offer a sophomore or freshman during the football recruiting process?

If you are reading this site, then there is little doubt that you have read articles at Rivals.com, Rise.com, and similar sites that follow prep athletes and how the recruiting process is going for them.  And when reading about the top sophomores and sometimes freshmen on these sites, some of the football players claim to have scholarship offers from some of the top programs across the country.

So how exactly does that happen, if according to NCAA rules, college coaches cannot do more than send a questionnaire or a camp invite to an athlete until September 1st of their junior year?  There are a few ways that all college coaches can make it work if they really want to offer a prospect before that September 1st date.  Here are three different ways.

Speak with the high school coach
From my experience in following these early scholarship offers to football recruits, speaking to college coaches actually seems to be the most prevalent.  In this example, the high school coach has a relationship with the coaches at State University.  The high school coach has sent tape of you, only a sophomore right now, to the college coaches and they were impressed.  Your high school coach has also raved about your abilities, your work ethic, and maturity.

The college coaches trust your high school coach and came in during the spring evaluation period to do the eyeball test on you.  This is something you have passed so they call the high school coach and tell them that they have a scholarship offer waiting for you.  The high school coach then passes that information off to you and tells you that you received your first scholarship offer.

In this example, I have actually seen a high school coach relay the offer to the high school prospect and the coach then relay a commitment to the college coach after a short period of time.  It is always interesting to see this at work.  It takes a helpful high school coach, but honestly, a high school coach should be thrilled to be passing the good news.

If you have a high school coach who is extremely helpful in the recruiting process, what he will do is make sure that the other schools recruiting you know about the scholarship offer.  Last summer, a running back prospect received a scholarship offer from an out of state program through this method.  The high school coach called/emailed State University and told them that there was an offer on the table from one of their rivals.  That prompted State University to pull the trigger on a scholarship offer that day.

Relay the message that you need to call the coach
One thing college coaches often do is tell the high school coach about the offer but say that they want to speak with you, the athlete, about it.  In this situation, the high school coach basically just tells you that you need to call Coach Johnson and gives you his number.  With everyone having cell phones these days, an athlete can make the call at the school and find out about the offer.  This is a pretty straight forward method of doing it but you must call them in order to do it.

Talk to you at their summer camp
If you are attending a camp at State University and just wow the coaching staff, then they may tell you before you go that there is a scholarship offer waiting for you.  These camps give the college coaches a chance to see you in person and will give them a better feel about your abilities and overall skills.  Plus they get to see how well you take to new things and handle college coaches.

This is rare but some sophomores do leave college football camps with a scholarship offer.  It is a great thing to have as it really says a lot about what the college coach things and how they feel about your skills on the gridiron.

These are the three main ways that college coaches can offer a football recruiting process before their junior year.  Please note that if the school really means is with the offer, it should be officially mailed to you early in September of your junior year.  It doesn’t always happen that way but if the college coaches are confident about you and your abilities, this is something that they should be doing.

 

 

 

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Part 2 – What role should your high school coach play in the athletic recruiting process?

One thing that you will definitely want to speak to your high school coach about is sending game tapes and highlight tapes. Honestly, not all coaches have the time to keep track of where to send highlight tapes and where to send game tapes. That is why it is vital for you to talk to your coach about it.
The first area to discuss is regarding the creation of your highlight video. Some coaches are willing to produce them for the athlete and doing that would help save them a great deal of money during the process. You must make sure that they are able to product a quality highlight video in order to send out to colleges. If the coach does one that is not very good, it is worth investing a few hundred dollars into getting one professionally made.
If the plan is to handle the highlight video yourself, you must also speak with the coach about getting your hands on copies of the game tape. Some coaches burn all games on DVD and have great organization of their videos. Others will have a pile of tapes in a number of different spots that has no organization whatsoever. Hopefully having a conversation with the coach beforehand will help them remember that you need a few game tapes.
If the quality of the tape is poor, you need to look into having your parents video tape the games themselves or hiring it out. At the very least, you need to make sure that there is good footage to be able to work with on the highlight video. Even the most expensive video production teams can only do so much about a poor game video.
Once you have the highlight video planned out, you also need to speak with the coach about who is going to forward them to college coaches. If you feel better doing it yourself, than you may want to ask your high school coach to forward all requests for tapes. That means if you are organized, you can handle it yourself. I myself have requested many tapes from coaches but usually only see a few come my way just because how busy the coach is.
You will also need to talk to your prep coach about what he or she has done in the past about preparing athletes for playing college at a high level. They may recommend extra workouts and doing different things to make you better. And again, if you want to play at that level, this extra workload is something that you must be excited about it. If you are going to go through the motions during it, don’t waste everyone’s time.
Another important thing a high school coach can do about you is follow up after sending video highlights. For example, Division I coaches will take the word of a high school coach because they don’t want to burn that bridge. If you personally sent a highlight tape two weeks ago, see if your high school coach will call an assistant coach at the school and see if they have watched it yet.
Your high school coach can also call college coaches or email them about you as a player. This sometimes just depends on their connections and if they have sent any previous players to the Division I level.
If you have your prep coach on your side during the recruiting process, it can be a huge advantage for you. While it does not mean a scholarship is in the bag, it does put someone else in your corner that could help you in the eyes of college coaches. Most coaches at the next level do believe what a prep coach has to say and will take that into account during the recruiting process.

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Football camp invites, calls, and Division I interest

As I have mentioned before in a number of articles, summer football camps provide two purposes.  The first is to help the college coaches figure out who they want to extend their scholarships to.  It is never an easy question but working with the athletes on campus does help further things along in the recruiting process.  And the second is to help the coaches supplement their income.  While many are making big bucks, the camps help a graduate assistant who may only be making $10,000 per year.

While all schools send out a lot of camp invites, one school that may honestly send out the most that I have heard is Kansas State.  I have spoken with many athletes who have told me about their recruiting and for whatever reason, the Wildcats are the only Division I-A school recruiting them.  The athlete doesn’t think much about it being strange.  One had limited college interest but mentioned to me how bad Kansas State wanted to evaluate him at their camp.  And while I don’t want to pick on Kansas State because I know a lot of other schools across the country send out camp invites to a lot of athletes, you really need to realize how serious that they are about you in recruiting.

A parent recently asked me about a school that had been recruiting him and wanted him to go to their camp.  The reason why it was a difficult situation was because the family was unsure how serious the school was about him and if it was worth it to attend the camp.  My thoughts are unless you receive a phone call from them during the May evaluation period, then chances are slim that you will receive much of a look from the coaches at camp.  Now that doesn’t mean coaches from other schools won’t start recruiting you after the camp.

To me, a school like Kansas State is doing whatever they can to have the biggest camp possible.  I have been amazed at some of the names of athletes that have been “invited” to their camp.  It seems as if you played varsity football last year, the Wildcats want to bring you to camp so that they can evaluate you.  As they mentioned to a recruit last year, if you are the best quarterback there, then you will get a scholarship.  That quarterback ended up going to a non scholarship I-AA program that was just starting.  I guess they will say whatever they can to get recruits to their camps.

At this time of year as many top football recruits head off to camps throughout the country, think seriously about the schools that have sent you camp invites.  Have they called you?  Did they invite you to a Junior Day?  Are they sending hand written letters?  Have they really been showing the type of interest that makes this camp invite truly real?

As I talked about earlier in the article, the athlete that I spoke with did not find it strange at all that Kansas State was the only Division I-A school recruiting him.  My guess is that when everything is said and done, he ends up at a small Division II or III school.  And while it was not my place to say anything to him about what camps he does and doesn’t go to, I think it is important to really think about the schools that have invited you to camps.

The reason that you put up the money to go to these camps is because you want a fair shot to be evaluated.  Getting that evaluation may not lead to a scholarship but getting that chance is something that everyone looks for.  But if you have not gotten any interest outside of a minimal camp invite, then it may not be worth your money and time to make the trip.

Note: I know this article talks a lot about Kansas State but many other colleges send out camp invites to a lot of recruits as well.  It just seemed that in the Midwest, the Wildcats do it the most to pad their numbers.  While it is legal by all means, I question it ethically to try and get non-Division I kids to your camp so you can evaluate them. 

 

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Football Camps & Basketball Camps: How to know if you performed well in the eyes of college coaches

I can only imagine the hundreds and thousands of dollars each year that are spent on football and basketball camps throughout the country.  While I am sure everyone has dreams of a scholarship during that time, the realistic factor is that it rarely happens.  I am willing to guess that the percentage is somewhere in the single digits.

But lets say you received a lot of interest from schools via the phone during May and you attend their camp.  While you may think you did outstanding, how exactly do you know that you have been standing out against the stellar competition?  Outside of receiving a scholarship offer, there are important things in each sport that show you have excelled against your opponents.

In football camps, the main thing that the coaches will do if they are pleased with a handful of prospects is pull them aside away from the bigger group.  What the coaches are usually doing is having the best among that group go head to head and see how they react and respond when going each other.  These talented prospects are no longer going against kids that hope to start varsity the next season.  They are now going against potential college players.

This happens very often at the line positions.  As I have mentioned before, it is very easy to figure out the top few linemen at a camp where they go 1-on-1.  The coaches may pull aside the linemen and have them battle better prospects on the side.  While it doesn’t mean a scholarship is in the bag, it does show that the coaches have been watching you.  And now you will have the opportunity to go against more talented competition.

Please note that all coaches are going to tell you throughout the camp that you are doing a good job.  With the money that you spent to make an appearance there, don’t expect them to tell you suck and that you are wasting your money.  Basically what I am saying is don’t put too much stock into what a coach tells you during drills.

Some camps may also hold the top prospects back after the day and have them tour the campus.  If the coaches eventually feel that you are good enough for the offer, they want you are familiar with the school as possible.  They use this approach in both football and basketball camps so them inviting you to stay later for a tour is usually a great thing.

In basketball camps, what a lot of college coaches will do is have their own players work the camps.  The majority of the camps then will have games at night where the college players are playing pickup basketball.  If a recruit does really well and shines during the camp, he will be asked to play that night against the college competition.

If you get that chance, let me stress that there is a huge difference between college and high school basketball.  It will be a big change for you but you might as well give it your all.  I have seen many college basketball coaches do this so they can get a feel for the player.  Afterwards, the coach can talk to his players to see what they thought about you.  While watching is a great tool, hearing from someone who just competed against you may be even better.

And the final indicator of a fantastic performance following a camp is having the head coach bring you into their offices (Expect huge offices for Division I coaches) and eventually offering you a scholarship.  If that is not the case, get ready to hear the most over used line in recruiting.  We will keep evaluating you and your progress this fall.

 

 

 

 

 

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Do Division I-AA (FCS) schools call during the spring football evaluation period?

I have spent most of the spring evaluation period talking about the importance of calls from college coaches at the Division I-A (BCS) level. These are so vital because this is the first time that football recruits can actually get a good feel for where they sit with a college. If the school calls, then you are on their scholarship radar. If not, then you may need to look for some new programs.
But one question that was recently asked involved Division I-AA/FCS schools during the spring evaluation period. Can these coaches call athletes? Are they allowed to stop by the high school? Can they do anything in comparison to their bigger brother I-A/BCS schools?
Regarding calls from college coaches, these Division I-AA schools definitely have the option to call football recruits across the country. There is a huge difference in terms of the athletes that they call. I have said before that I believe 95% of athletes who get eventual scholarship offers from a school receive a call from that same program at the Division I-A level. For Division I-AA schools, I really believe that number to be lower simply because the recruiting process is so much different.
For example, a Division I-AA coach may not call a recruit during the spring evaluation period because he has an offer from a Division I-A school. If the Division I-A school eventually gets a commitment out of another kid at that same position during the summer and the athlete is now offer less, I would expect the I-AA school to jump in and start recruiting them more.
In 100% of the situations that I have seen, unless the Division I-A school is either very far away from home or there has been a coaching change (meaning you weren’t there recruit), an athlete will pick the Division I-A school over the Division I-AA program. These FCS schools know that and they are not going to waste their time going head to head with a BCS school for a player.
Again, these Division I-AA programs are free to call kids during the spring evaluation period but it really depends on the school. From what I have seen, most do call athletes. If your area has a good Rivals/Scout site, then try to look up the name of the a certain school recruiting you to confirm if they called athletes. While this is not a sure fire way to tell, it could provide more information as to who they are recruiting.
These same FCS coaches will likely also have spent the spring evaluation period on the recruiting trail. This will give them an opportunity to talk to coaches, find out about prospects flying under the radar, and see if you can pass the eyeball test. Because budgets are limited, these coaches do not get to as many schools as those at the Division I-A level. Division I-AA may send a college coach to recruit California for a week or two instead of sending them to more specific areas.
But again, it depends on the coaching staff and the program. The football recruiting process for Division I-AA schools is much different than Division I-A programs. While most good staffs should be using that time to evaluate prospects and make connections with high school coaches, it doesn’t always happen that way. And if you are worried about it, you should contact them to see what is going on with their recruiting and the overall process.

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