College Recruiting 101 for Parents

The college recruiting process is often paved with a myriad of mistakes by parents, students, and
high school coaches. Some mistakes are fairly obvious, others are not. Here is a brief list of
common mistakes that can really put you at a disadvantage in your recruiting process. Keep them
in mind.

• Parents often believe their son or daughter is better than they actually are, and assume
they will be recruited while they wait for their mailbox to fill up with scholarship offers or
wait for phone calls from coaches. This is the number one mistake. You have to be
proactive in contacting coaches, and parents should not be the ones to do it all. Coaches
want to hear from the student and people who coach the student.

• Student athletes overestimate their ability and often believe they are better than they
actually are. Again, same situation as listed above occurs. Overestimating your talent can
leave you in the cold for a college career if you only target schools that are above your
talent level. Though many kids make this mistake and end up transferring, a lot just get
cut and never play their sport again. And that's a shame.

• Student-athletes underestimate their ability, and they think they would not be capable
of getting a scholarship and they don't even try to obtain a scholarship. You don’t have to
be the best player in your league or even on your team to get some scholarship money,
but you have to be a pretty good athlete and skilled at your sport. Most of all you have to
try and in many cases have to ask for a scholarship. Scholarship talent is usually noticed,
but not always. Don't be shy about your ability, or about calling attention to it and your
aspirations.

• Parents and student-athletes often see other athletes get recruited and assume the
same thing will happen to them since "I am better" or "I am just as good as they are."
Few people realize how college and professional scouts evaluate players. A .440 hitter in
high school who has reached his talent ceiling will scratch his head when a .250 hitter,
who has barely scratched the surface of his ability is offered a scholarship or drafted.
Stats don't always tell the story.

• Parents and student-athletes often feel anything less than an athletic scholarship to a
Division I program is unacceptable. As the emergence of camps, showcases and private
instruction takes on a new and more important role, many families feel that they need a
scholarship to justify the time and expense they have already put into athletics.
Understand that scholarships are rare, full scholarships even more so, and that a lot of
times, a grant and aid package from a non-scholarship school is more lucrative than one
with athletic aid.

• Student-athletes get a letter in the mail from a coach and think they are being recruited
and think they are now a top college prospect. Colleges send thousands of direct mail
pieces to students on lists they purchase. Be glad you got a letter, return any enclosed
paper work, research the school, wait for the coach to contact you (call them if you don't
hear), and then the actual recruiting process might begin.

• Parents and student-athletes assume that if they are talented enough on the athletic
field, their grades do not matter much because a coach will get them into the school.
Wrong! The first thing a college coach needs to know about a student-athlete is if they are
eligible to play or enroll at their school.

• Parents and students don’t realize how rare a full scholarship is. Aside of Division I
football and basketball powerhouses, most scholarships issued to players are partial
scholarships.

• Parentsand students often receive help and encouragement from people who know very
little about the recruiting process and little about college athletics. Listen to the right
people and do your own homework. Also, beware of any agendas someone might have.

• Parents and students do not always know how to evaluate athletic ability accurately.
Success on your team or league does not mean you are ready to be a college athlete or
capable of receiving a college scholarship or even competing at the college level. Playing
in camps or tournaments out of your local area is a good way to measure yourself against
the larger population of athletes.
 • Families start the process too late and end up making a rushed decision. Start
researching schools as early as possible and make first contact with college coaches at the
start of your junior year, possibly even the end of your sophomore year. Just get your
name in their pipeline by submitting a player profile questionnaire found on-line at any
college sports Web site.

Common mistakes parents and students make in the athletic

recruiting process

This article will give you a glimpse of what to expect, some things to know, and a few things to
look out for. College sports recruiting can be a very complex process, and at times anxiety
producing, but with the right information and a little patience, your child will have a successful
experience. This is only a primer for you, something to wet your appetite! 1) Grades are very
important. The better they are, the more options you (the player) has. Good grades means that
more schools can recruit you and possibly offer more money in the form of merit scholarships.
Grades can keep you from being recruited in some instances.

2) The word "prospective" in the term Prospective Student-Athlete is important. Regardless of

how many letters you get from college coaches, until someone decides that you are the right fit in
terms of athletic ability, grades, position and personal character, you are simply a prospect being
evaluated.

3) College coaches mail out thousands of letters each year as part of their initial recruiting
efforts. Mostly from that batch, the small recruiting classes enrolled each year are formed.
Sometimes an athlete not in that mailing list find their way to the coaches radar screen and is
recruited. The point is, there are a lot of people out there and the right ones are hard to find.

4) College coaches will not “find” you because you are a good player. If you don’t hear from a
college coach, assuming they are not interested in you because they have not contacted you is
false. There is one coach and thousands of athletes, do the math. Learn the meaning of the word
"proactive."

5) It is OK for a student athlete to call, write or e-mail a college coach. In fact, coaches prefer to
hear from the student, not the parent. Overzealous parents can ruin their child’s recruiting
chances.

6) Treat your college search like a job search. Visit college Web sites, study the background of
the coaches and the team’s recent history. Send thank-you notes. Create a professional player
profile with your athletic and academic history. Craft a custom cover letter for each coach you
mail information to. Good letters of reference from your coaches are very valuable. Find out if
you have the right skills for the position. Six-foot-three forwards are common at Division III, but
rare to nonexistent at Division I. Know your target as well as you can.

7) Not every college offers athletic scholarships. Most scholarships are only partial, usually less
than half the cost of attending. NCAA Division I and II schools, NAIA schools, and some Junior
Colleges can offer athletic scholarship aid.

8) Parents tend to freak out the first time a college sports team mails their child a form letter.
Keep it in perspective, mail back the questionnaire and then go research the school. If you do not
hear back from the coach, it is likely because they looked at your information and made a decision
to not pursue you. It could have been for a lot of reasons, some of them surprisingly arbitrary,
but if you feel you are a legitimate fit and want to attend the school, call the coach and find out if
they are interested. If they say no, ask why, and offer to send game film.

9) A recruiting video should be clearly marked with the student’s name, phone number, jersey
color and number, and school or club team name. Put about two to four minutes of highlights and
then a couple of running half/quarters for extended play viewing. A tape is meant to spark
enough interest to continue in the recruiting process, to get a coach to call your references,
request more tape, try to see you play in person, etc. 1

10) While it might seem, after watching BCS football and March Madness television and Internet
hype, that college sports is all big business. The fact is, most college athletes toil in relative
anonymity, playing hard, earning a degree, and learning a lot about what it takes to succeed in
life. The spotlight shines on only a select few.

We’ll stop at 10. We could have gone to 100! Arm yourself with facts, ask lots of questions and
focus on the fit. Where does your child fit socially, academically and athletically? Don't forget to
enjoy the ride.

Myths and realities of college athletics and recruiting

Myth: If you are good enough, coaches will find you Reality: There are too many players and
too few coaches for every player to get exposure, plus many coaches have small recruiting
budgets making it sometimes impossible to see many players in person. Their season is also much
more rigorous and takes place the same time your does, leaving them little free time.
Myth: Division I programs have big recruiting budgets Reality: Some of the larger schools
with top-notch football and basketball programs do have large recruiting budgets, but most do
not. There are very few coaches that have the ability to fly around the country to recruit players
and have an endless coaching staff that they can send out to scout, especially when their team
doesn't generate any money for their school, which is just about every DI team that doesn't play
football, basketball, or hockey.
Myth: Division III Schools are weaker athletically Reality: In some cases yes, but in many
cases no. Many Division III programs have very talented athletic programs, this is often because
players there are there to get an education first and play athletics second. But they are still
talented and dedicated athletes who wanted to continue their athletic career in college, but
wanted to do it on their own terms. If you think you can just stroll onto a D3 program you are in
for a surprise.
Myth: All colleges offer athletic scholarships Reality: Only Division I and II colleges can offer
athletic scholarships. Division 3 Programs cannot offer athletes athletic scholarship money and
many DI and DII teams have little scholarship money to offer. Myth: Most athletes get a full
scholarship or no scholarship Reality: Full scholarships are very rare and most coaches divide
scholarship money up between several players.
Myth: Division I programs do not offer walk-on tryouts Reality: While walking onto the
Kentucky basketball team will be pretty difficult, many coaches rely on walk-ons each year and
will usually conduct tryouts to give as many kids a chance as possible. It is better to find out what
walk-on opportunities exist before you show up at tryouts.
Myth: I shouldn't go to a Division III school if I need scholarship money Reality: Many
DIII schools offer attractive financial aid programs and you should not overlook any school, even if
they do not offer athletic scholarships.
Myth: College coaches will help me get into their school if I am on the bubble
academically. Reality: Coaches can submit a list of names to the admissions department, but
you need to be very close academically to what the school seeks out in any student and you need
to be committed to the coach.
Myth: All Division 1 & 2 programs have scholarships available Reality: While the NCAA
mandates how many scholarships a school can offer for a particular sport, it is up to the school
whether or not they want to and can offer the number of scholarships allotted to them. Example:
Division I baseball programs are allowed to offer 11.7 scholarships, but most Division I baseball
schools may offer only four or five scholarships.
Myth: If you receive a letter from a coach, you are being recruited Reality: Coaches send
out thousands of letters to players they may or may not have heard of and there are probably 500
kids tearing open the same exact letter you got. Receiving a letter means a coach knows your
name. Respond to the letter and follow-up with the coach. Until the coach calls you and tells you
he is interested in you or invites you to the school, the letters mean very little.
Myth: Recruiting companies give me a better shot at being recruited. Reality: Some
recruiting companies offer families the guidance and assistance they need to make better
decisions in the recruiting process and help them put themselves in a better position to be
recruited. Other companies simply take parents money and email and fax out résumés of high
school athletes to thousands of schools throughout the country in the hopes that athlete gets
recruited. If a recruiting company does not help you identify your talent and help you focus on
programs that would be a good fit for you, they will not help you succeed in the recruiting
process. If you do not have the grades and talent to play in college, using a recruiting company
will not really benefit you.
Myth: College coaches only recruit top players Reality: College coaches recruit anyone they
think can play at their program and recruit anyone who shows an interest in their program. Just
because you are not the star of your team does not mean you cannot play in college.

Myth: High school coaches are qualified to determine if I am college athletic material
Reality: While many coaches are, some are not and many never played a sport in college. The
bottom line, there are many factors that determine if you can play in college and your high school
coach may have no idea if you can play.
Myth: College coaches can contact me anytime they want. Reality: There are strict rules as
to when a coach can send you literature and how often they can contact you and the rules vary
for every Division including Junior College and NAIA.
Myth: Playing college athletics will not be much different than high school, aside of the
skill level Reality: Playing college athletics is an unbelievable commitment in time and in
dedication and will be nowhere close to your high school experience. In college you will play or
practice for three seasons, in the fall, winter and in the spring, and be required to do lifting and
running programs as well. You may also be practicing at 6 a.m. or midnight or twice a day
depending what facilities are available when. By Dave Galehouse, varsityedge.com and Ray
Lauenstein, athletesadvisor.com, authors of The Making of a Student Athlete: Succeeding in the
College Selection and Recruiting Process