Athletic recruiting counselor?

Parents Forum
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<p>Sorry to hear of those with difficulties with the process. We must have been very lucky!!! It was pretty straightforward for our family. D1 turned down athletic $$$ for academic $$$ at a LAC. We don't believe she would have received as much if she wasn't a recruited player. D2 chose a DI school with athletic $$$ and she is the better student. Go figure! Anyway, we found the process relatively pain free. We started the process by sending out player profiles to schools they were interested in and alerting coaches to when and where they would be playing. Coaches came to watch and emails followed. Visits set up, some clicked and some were eliminated. Offers extended and they made their choices. Both girls picked schools they were drawn to and coaches were a close second. </p>

<p>So what problems did you all run in to???</p>

<p>Emm...really??? The coach the most important person in their life during college??? Not true in our case. What if there is an injury and you can't play? The school better have something else to offer!</p>

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<p>Unforeseeable events can always undermine assumptions. But unless the student is gaming the system and simply using athletics to gain admission with the intention to quit, you have to plan on the coach determining what the student will be doing for 1 1/2 per day, all year round--even in a DIII program. Moreover, during the season (and perhaps outside it) the coach and his assistants will constantly interact with the student in intense, highly-charged situations where the coach will model attitudes and behavior for the student.</p>

<p>Except in the most general terms, you cannot predict any similarly-important influences on the student during his college career.</p>

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<p>There are a lot of books on this topic. Hit the library.</p>

<p>For DI football and basketball, my understanding is that a key question to ask the coach is "Are you offering us an expense-paid trip to your school?" and if they are, you know they really are interested. </p>

<p>For DIII, I feel sorry for the coaches, since they have to try to recruit a lot of athletes and have no idea who is actually coming - feast (too many and you have to cut several whom you "recruited") or famine.</p>

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<p>I agree that an athletic recruiting forum would be a good addition to CC, with subforums on DI and DIII and Ivy. (I suppose DII goes with DI.)</p>

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<p>"For DIII, I feel sorry for the coaches, since they have to try to recruit a lot of athletes and have no idea who is actually coming - feast (too many and you have to cut several whom you "recruited") or famine."</p>

<p>At the most highly selective schools, the coaches deal with this problem by often conditioning their support in the admission process on a binding ED application.</p>

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<p>Does any one have experience on gymnastics recruit? Is it pretty much the same? Thx.</p>

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<p>And how about hockey?</p>

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<p>cottonwood...I know very little about hockey except that my two nephews played at a "hockey" boarding school here in MN. They both went straight to juniors and then got recruited for college. Seemed like a lot of their friends went that route rather than HS to college.</p>

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<p>As the parent of a D1 athlete, I agree that the process can be confusing. I would be much better if I had to do it again. I hate to be too cynical, but the one thing you need to remember is that you are there to protect your child's interests and be the bad guy. Your kid is the happy, good cop and you are the bad cop. That means your child should be telling the coach how much he likes the school, their program, and would commit right now if only his parents would sign off, and the parent should be asking the coach the hard questions like, "Are you offering my child, when does your current contract expire, etc" And it you aren't asking, then look it up online. Almost every school has an online forum for their sports teams. I know in football and BB, it is Scout.com or Rivals.com. Become a member and start reading what the fans are saying. Take all of the negativity, subtract half and you will get a feel for what is going on. Non-revenue sports may be a little harder to find, but boards do exist. Look up ex-players and call their parents. I did this through a connection I found and got an earful about one coach from three sets of parents. No one currently connected with the school will ever tell you the truth. Current athletes and their families have a vested interest in being extremely loyal to the coach, even if they hate him. </p>

<p>CHOOSE THE SCHOOL, NOT THE COACH. Yes, make sure the coach is someone your child wants to work with, but they leave, die, get fired, etc. The recruiting relationship is akin to a courtship/honeymoon phase. Once the athlete is on campus, the relationship is more likely to be that of a powerful employer who's chief concern is productivity. I do not know about D2 or D3 sports, but if you are thinking a college coach will be a parental substitute in any way, I personally have not found that to be the case. Their interest in your child is similar to your boss' interest in how you can help him meet his numbers that quarter.
Do not forget that kids get injured all of the time. D1 sports are grueling and not every athlete can play all four years. Make darn sure they are at a school they would choose even if they never play a minute of their sport. Finding the right school should be the top priority. Unless your child is an olympic athlete or a future first round pick professionally, then they need to pick a school they like without the sport.</p>

<p>One HUGE mistake I made was to view the schools through the eyes of the athletic department on official and unofficial visits we made. In retrospect, I wish I had taken the time to attend information sessions meant for the general public. I had the luxury of time since I knew my son would be offered at certain schools and I wasted it. I now know that, even though my son loves his current school, there was a better school for him and his eventual area of study that we wrote off after a visit with the coaches and cheerleaders where we only talked of the sport and athlete perks like tutoring, etc. If I had taken the time to attend a general info session, I would have learned a lot more about the school's academics and alumni connections.
One more thing to remember, recruiting is a very different game for each athlete depending on how hot a commodity he is. If he is a top 10 in the nation, "program-changing" athlete, and colleges are knocking down his door, then he holds a lot of power during the recruiting process. He can make coaches wait for his decision, forget to return their calls, and generally handle things however he likes. A lower ranked athlete needs to recognize their station and act appropriately. No matter what coach tells you, they are recruiting lots of kids at your child's position. It is okay to ask how many. They will lie, but at least they know you are paying attention. Your athlete MAY be their number one choice, but they will take number two if they can get a commitment. Look up the team roster and see where your athlete will be on the depth chart. If the crew team has four sophomores ahead of your son at the same position, that will likely affect his minutes. Do they have a zillion walk-ons? One big sports school I know had 47(!) kids on their water polo team. That is like seven full teams. The kids would be rotated in and out of these levels and many would not travel or attend competitions.
I could go on and on. We should have a sports board so different topics could be addressed. Good luck with your son. If you can afford to visit on your own, there is no shame in scheduling an unofficial. Your son can get to know the coaches and they him without the pressure of them waiting until they know for sure he is the ONE they want to offer. If there is a school your son likes and fits in with crew-wise (i.e. similar times, similar physical attributes, etc), then visit early and often and try to get an offer. Although my son had an offer when he took an unofficial to the school he ended up at, his declared love of the school and obvious fit academically led the coaches to wait for him to commit, even when a higher ranked athlete expressed interest in the program.</p>

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<p>I would like to relate our personal experience with the recruiting process. However, S's sport was not crew, but another sport (non revenue) that has an objective measure of performance.</p>

<p>S started the whole process by picking schools in which he was interested in attending, even if he were not to play the sport. Since he wanted to be an engineering major, he picked about twenty five schools with excellent engineering departments. They included SEC, ACC, Big 10, Ivy, and Patriot League schools. They ranged in size from small to very large. Along with filling out online athlete profiles he sent athlete profiles with accomplishments and progressions to the coaches of the schools that did not have online profiles. He also sent an unofficial transcript and test scores. He received emails, team viewbooks, and letters from the coaches. On July 1, he received about ten phone calls, with several to follow in the following weeks. During the conversations, he got a feel for the coach and the team and the coach got a feel for him. During the summer, S made a shorter list of schools within a driving distance to make unofficial visits. In August, we, as a family, took two road trips of about four days each to make the visits. In total, we visited, I believe seven schools. Along with taking admission tours, we set up meetings with the coaches and S had the opportunity to sit down and talk to them and even meet some of the athletes. The coaches were straight forward on their interest and what they had available in terms of scholarships. At this time, he was also offered official visits. By the time school began in late August. He had four schools on his schedule for official visits, of which two were Ivies. He kept one available in case something else came along at a later date. After three of his official visits, he determined that the fourth school was no longer on his top list and notified the coach so he could offer the trip to another recruit. By the end of the whole process, S had his choices down to two schools. One was a school that offered no scholarships (Ivy) and one was an OOS D1 state university. After alot of deliberation, S chose the OOS D1 state U with scholarship $. He signed his NLI on signing day which resulted in a very stressless remainder of senior year.</p>

<p>To be quite honest, we enjoyed the recruiting process. We did not find it overly stressful. All the coaches we met were very straightforward, intelligent and interested in their athletes. We were not necessarily out for the big athletic scholarship bucks, but were happy to receive some. The offer he received was, in our minds, fair. Our main goal was to have S comfortable in the environment he was going to be in for at least the next four years of his life. This fall, he will be entering his junior year and says he could not imagine having gone elsewhere. Besides the athletic aspect, he has had several other opportunities to grow as a student and young adult.</p>

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<p>3xboys-
Put 'college crew recruiting' into the Yahoo search box. You will find some resources that might help.</p>

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<p>Varsityedge.com:</a> athletic recruiting advice and information, athletic scholarships, college athletic recruiting, high school recruiting, high school athletes</p>

<p>Comprehensive, straightforward, great links, no bull. Get the book too. Invest a little time in getting information, assesing child's strengths/weaknesses, develop recruiting strategy. This site is one I recommend to many.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much to everyone for your thoughts, experience and insight. I have read the books that are out there - but there is very little in them about crew! That said, crew is fairly straightforward as sports go - there are no "positions" to speak of and there are, as has been pointed out, some significant objective measures that coaches go by. I am confident that he would be happy at any of the schools that have been most assiduous in their contacts with him - we'll just have to wait and see who calls on July1 - and then try to figure out where he is on their list! Thanks again.</p>

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<p>3X...you're right...if they want you, they will let you know! That's why we're done with the process. In her sport they want you early before they can call or she can make an "official" visit. She will have a relatively stress free sr. yr. If you Google 2009 committments you will see how many kids have already committed in different sports to different schools.</p>

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<p>I second the recommendation of Varsityedge.com. Definately buy the book. It really covers all aspects of recruiting regardless of the sport. We used the book extensively and found all the info to be correct and useful. BUY THE BOOK.</p>

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<p>3xboys, my son and I have used a FREE website called  JumpForward</a>  -  Revolutionizing Sports Communications  . JumpForward provides an athletic recruiting roadmap through its "Athlete Knowledge Center". It highlights all of the academic and athletic eligibility rules and provides parents with a FREE NCAA Core Course Grade Tracking Worksheet for NCAA Division I or II athletes.</p>

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<p>For crew, the big deal are the "ergs". The standard is the 2K. To be recruitable, I've been told that 650 or so is the magic number. Other factors will be considered as well, such as the types of races your kid has been in and experience. Size and weight are also issues. But the deal breaker is that 2K erg number.</p>

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<p>Could someone please help us better understand the contact rules? I'm much more clear about what the school can and can't do, than I am what the student may do. From what I understand from the chart on the NCAA website, my D who is rising junior, can make unlimited unofficial visits now, and those visits could include meeting a coach?</p>

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<p>Yes. Your student athlete can unofficially (read: pay for her own expenses) visit any number of schools she likes and can sit down with the coaches, meet current athletes, academic advisors, and generally do everything except let them pay for anything. (Not sure if she can practice her sport with the team while on an unofficial... better to check that out as it probably differs from sport to sport and from unofficial to official, season to off season, etc.) Basically, the NCAA contact rules are set up to (ostensibly) protect the student athlete from unwanted pressure from member institutions and coaches. If your daughter chooses to initiate contact with a coach, she can do so anytime or anywhere she likes with the exception of certain competitions where contact with a coach is prohibited. If you have any questions, no matter how small, about what is permitted or not, please call the NCAA office. They are there to accurately answer any compliance/eligibility questions you have and you usually do not have to wait long on hold before they pick up. I have called a few times regarding my Div. 1 athlete. Unless you wish to create a file for future reference (after actually becoming a d-1 athlete), the whole process is anonymous.</p>

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<p>My daughter (D-1 x 4 years) has graduated, but, I totally agree with CHOOSE THE SCHOOL. </p>

<p>When we were going through this, I read a document put out by Harvard, and, sorry, I don't have any links to it and I am not researching it for this thread, but it talked about admissions decisions and "the broken leg theory": if the student-athlete breaks his/her leg and can no longer participate in their sport, are they still a desirable recruit and do they still bring value to the school?</p>

<p>Following an Ivy deferral, I then urged my daughter to reverse that question - what if she ended up hating the coach, or got injured, or (???). Would she still be happy attending four years of school there? So, pick the school, not the sport/coach etc. </p>

<p>It worked out for us (by sheer bumbling accident, certainly not because of any competence on our side) and my daughter ended up with academic AND athletic money, but, at the end of the day, IMO, unless the student athlete is specifically looking for a draft house, you want to look at the school, not the athletic problem. I think it works out wonderfully when the school is awesome totally outside of athletics.</p>