Common Myths, Misunderstandings & Misconceptions
Many student-athletes and their parents fall into common recruiting myths & misunderstandings and they miss recruiting opportunities or even fail to execute an effective plan all together.
Here are some:
1. If I’m good enough, the coaches will find me.
A very small number of recruited athletes are “discovered” by college coaches. The majority of student/athletes have to take the initiative to contact coaches.
2. My high school coach will take care of my college athletic recruiting responsibilities to get me recruited with an athletic scholarship.
High School coaches are a great resource for college coaches. Few high school coaches have either the time or knowledge to take charge of your recruiting. It’s your responsibility to market your talents and get your name in front of college coaches. The average high school coach has personal relationships with less than 3% of the collegiate opportunities across the country.
3. I’d have to be the best athlete on my team to get a scholarship.
There are scholarship opportunities other than D1. Less than 1 % of high school student-athletes receive a fully-funded Division I scholarship. There are hundreds of outstanding Division II & III colleges around the country that provide scholarships, grant money, discounts and an outstanding education! Coaches do not have the time, budget and energy to tour the country to find qualified student-athletes.
4. If college coaches are not visiting my school to watch me play, then I’m probably not good enough to play at the college level.
The college coaches for your sport are busy coaching the same time you are playing. While some sport programs use scouts, the majority do not have the budget or the staff to visit every school for every recruit. They depend on you sending them your profile & film.
5. I can wait until my senior year to look for an athletic scholarship.
The recruiting process will take time; you will need to start as early as possible. The best plan is to begin contacting coaches when you have stats and film to show, usually by your junior year. You’ll want to get on the coaches radar as early as possible.
6. If I’m not good enough to play at the Division I level, then I’ll play at the Division II level.
While that may work out for you, there are hundreds of outstanding Division III colleges around the country that are extremely competitive programs, provide grant money, discounts and an outstanding education!
7. Once a student-athlete is a senior, it’s probably too late to be recruited.
Other than the Division I schools, the major of athletic recruiting takes place during your senior year. 80% of the college programs make their final recruiting decisions after January 1st of the student-athlete’s senior year.
8. The best way to get discovered is to go to college camps because this is where a student-athlete can get discovered.
Every college will market their camp to you. Camps are expensive, time-consuming and do not always have the same college coaches participating. Many have local high school and student coaches teaching the camp.