[Football] Approaching Patriot League Schools

Athletic Recruits
1

I’m a junior, and I’d like to pursue football recruitment at schools in the Patriot League, such as Fordham, Bucknell, and Colgate. D3 like Tufts, Carnegie Mellon, and Hopkins as well

  1. Is it worthwhile to attend the June and July summer camps and if so which ones? Should I be doing the larger ones like the New England Elite to try and get a lot of schools in? Or the camps at the schools I'm by far the most interested in? I just didn't know if certain camps might be more worthwhile than others. I don't have the biggest financial budget to work with
  2. Should I contact coaches with my academics once I receive a good SAT score? Or even just now with a score that is ok but not outstanding?
  3. I have my tape made from junior year football season, and I have all of my stats ready. Is there anything else I should be doing?
  4. How does receiving a scholarship work, and when would I find that out in the process?
  5. Do I have no shot at schools that aren't approaching me? Or I should just suck it up, give it a shot, and be proactive?

As some background, I’m interested in the Patriot League because I’ve been getting approached by schools in comparable leagues but that are of a lower academic stature. For example, some schools in the Colonial Athletic Association and Northeast Conference, like Sacred Heart, Wagner, and Albany

Academically, I go to a strong public school that is one of the top rated. My GPA is about 3.2. I took the SAT without studying and got a 1590 (1040 without Writing). I will take the SAT again in June and am studying my butt off, so I’d like to think I’ll score at least in the 1700s. I don’t know if my current score is too low for the Patriot League, but I imagine if I pull in the 1700s, it’ll be ok

Am I not maybe getting contacted by schools that are better academically because they don’t think I have strong enough academics?

2

I think that a 1700 with a 3.2 is probably still pretty low for many of the schools in the Patriot League as well as Hopkins Tufts and CMU. Even a 1700 would put your SATs in the bottom 25% of admitted students at Fordham, and below the 25% line at Bucknell and Colgate. I would assume you would be below the 25% line at Tufts, CMU and Hopkins as well. While football can really help with admissions at selective schools, it is not a silver bullet. More importantly, the lower your stats, the better you have to be athletically. You are in a better position to judge how your athletic talent stacks up against the kids going to those schools, but I would venture a guess that anyone getting admitted into the Patriot League with a 1700/3.2 is going to be an outlier as far as talent level.

If I were in your shoes, I would figure out who your recruiting coach is at each of the schools where you are interested. You should be able to get this from the web site. Likely it will be listed in each coach’s individual bio. Send a link to your hudl tape with a short bio and your academic stats to that coach and let them know you would like to attend their camp this summer, but you are not sure what your academic status is relative to their school. Mention that you are planning on retaking the SAT and feel confident of a score in the 1700s. If you get a response, then try and start a dialogue and figure out where your numbers have to be. Some schools may not respond at all, which at this stage of the game is its own response frankly. I would not put down the cash for a camp until I had the new SAT scores and some information that you were in academic range for the particular school.

As far as camps, my son did not do any of the big prospect camps, so my advice on those may be worth bubkis. My guess is that if you are at a point where you feel like you are not getting attention from enough schools in the aggregate, not specific schools, but just in sheer numbers, then a big prospect camp can help get you “out there”. If, on the other hand, you feel like you are getting communication from a lot of schools, even if they are not the “right” ones, then I am not sure I would invest in a prospect camp like NE Elite. I think if you are trying to be efficient, both from a money and time perspective, you should camp at schools that have shown you individualized, consistent interest. Personal e mails, a phone call during this April 15 to May 30 (I think) contact period, visits to your school, that kind of thing.

I would worry about the mechanism of the scholarship later on in the process. The only thing I will say on that point is that you will know when someone is offering you a scholarship/likely letter/support thorough admissions. Listen carefully to what the coaches are saying to you, and don;t get caught up in the flowery “we want you”, “we are committed to you” kind of talk. When it comes down to it, a conversation where they are offering you will be different and unmistakable. But worry about that part in its time. Right now, you have about a month to make contact with these school and start a dialogue, and then a decision to make on where to put your resources for camps. Good luck!

3

Thanks @Ohiodad51 for your feedback!

If I’m understanding you, you’re saying to email the coaches my video, my athletics stats, and my academic stats. Even though my current SAT is low, I should tell them that I’m retaking it soon and am anticipating something higher
Maybe to do the NE Elite camp? And then any other camps only if they are at places I’m really interested in?

Ultimately I’m ok if If my grades and scores are too low for the Patriot League, Tufts, Carnegie Mellon, or Hopkins.

I’m targeting these places largely because I know folks in older grades from my school or the nearby high school who ended up there. My thought is that I can’t be too far off athletically if other D1 coaches are already talking to me.

My coaches and trainers give me the impression that I’m on par with these other guys athletically when they were in high school. Knowing of them personally, I can’t imagine they had high scores or GPA. However, I don’ t know what they did behind the scenes in terms of recruitment because I’m not close with any of them

The one guy I am close with is much better than most of these other guys athletically and just waited for places to contact him, and he barely got a D1 offer. In the end, no D1 offers from good places academically. He didn’t go to one camp or do anything pro-active. Much better athlete than I am or any of these other guys who went on to a top place academically. He has a good personality. I think he was just very naive about the process, and these other people were probably more strategic and pro-active. I don’t want the same thing to happen to me if I can do something about it

4

I think you are on the right track with being proactive. From observing my son and his teammates over the last few years, I think camps are, generally speaking, a pretty big deal in recruiting, especially if you play in a school that doesn’t tend to attract a lot of interest from D1 schools generally. I have watched a few kids take the “if they like my tape they will offer me” attitude, and pretty consistently all of them have ended up with a less impressive offer list than I would have expected given their talent relative to others.

I really don’t have much to offer about NE elite. As I said, my son did not attend any of the big prospect camps. His situation was maybe a bit different since he attends a very high profile high school and coaches from a lot of schools at all levels are in constantly to watch work outs or talk to kids, etc. If you read this board, it seems like a lot of kids pointing towards NESCAC schools found NE elite valuable. I guess I am just leery of how much evaluation can get done when you have a dozen coaches watching a hundred plus kids run through drills. But I have no personal experience.

And yes, my advice would be to reach out to some of the schools who interest you. I would not just limit it to Patriot schools. Looks at some of the other CAA schools with generally strong academics (William and Mary, Villanova) as well. I would try and initiate a dialogue, to see which schools show interest and then camp at 3-5 of those if you can swing it. Many times D3 coaches will attend D1 camps, so you can kill two birds with one stone. I am not sure I would invest in a school’s camp where I was coming in “cold”, meaning with no prior contact with the coaches. I think you would have to really flash to catch the interest of a coach running drills at a camp day who wasn’t already looking for you. At least that is the path my son followed last summer, and the path most of his teammates followed. Generally speaking they went to camps where the coaches were recruiting them already, and the camp served as a kind of confirmation, rather than an introduction if that makes sense?

5

As always Ohiodad is spot on. Please consider taking the ACT with writing as an alternative to the SAT, as many students do better on the ACT. Most top colleges super-score the test results (i.e. take top grade in each category from different tests) so it is highly advantageous to take the test repeatedly.

6

@zenator Yes I’m signed up for both tests in June! Should I tell the coaches about both scores or just which ever one works out better?

7

@Ohiodad51 I had the same concern about the NE Elite that it might just be too large and chaotic. It’s great that D3 coaches will be there too. My concern is whether it’s a good place if you’re already on the radar of coaches or whether it’s for coaches looking to find new people

8

fbislife: As a general rule, go with either the ACT with writing or the SAT. A few top colleges additionally require SAT2 scores. There is an expensive ($700) 5-day study course offered the week before the ACT by a private tutoring service, which has a great track record. If you can afford it, you should consider it.

After getting a 25 ACT without studying in February, it was strongly recommended to my S that he take this course before the June 12 ACT. First time around, he had one very low score so he was told to privately to focus on that section and then follow up with tutoring course. The name of the game apparently is to try, with superscoring ,to achieve a combined score of 28 or above.

I know nothing about your HS or your situation, but strongly suggest that you speak with your HS head coach to request assistance and fill out the registration forms with the colleges that interest you. By now, most Patriot League schools are busy trying to identify prospects, watching highlight film and reaching out to coaches. Ohiodad really knows all about this process. This is my first time through with my junior S, but know that transcripts are already being requested, personal evaluations solicited and the window has now opened for direct communications.

Best of luck

9

Thanks @zenator ! May I ask which caliber of schools your son is targeting? Ivy and top D3 like Amherst? Also, may I ask whether your son is planning on attending any of the larger camps like NE Elite or a smaller one like the ones at the school itself?

10

@zenator @Ohiodad51 Two questions.

  1. Should I briefly mention in my email to the schools that I'm already talking to other D1AAA schools? I thought about doing so just to help legitimize that I'm not just some random football player and help make clear where I stand athletically, that I'm not a D1 hot shot but I'm not half bad. Or does that come across as too arrogant.
  2. Should I be sending a copy of my transcript out now or only after they respond? And if so, can an unofficial copy that I get though my online account suffice or must it be an official scan of the transcript through my guidance office?
11

@zenator @Ohiodad51 Also, do you have any opinion on BC v.s. NE Elite camps? I like that the BC camp is just 1 day and partly because of that a lot less expensive. I’ve generally been reading better things about the NE camp. The BC page is not as thorough, but it sounds like a similar crop of coaches will be attending? Or, should I be looking at the 3-day BC camps? I don’t quite follow how to read the BC page

12

I will take a shot in order

  1. I would not mention that you are talking to other schools. I don’t know that it makes you sound arrogant, but I don’t think it really gets you anywhere at this stage of the game. A couple months from now if you have a relationship with a few schools and one asks you to come up to campus or gives you an offer, them you can think about mentioning it to other schools recruiting you as a way to ferret out where you are on their board. But not yet.

2)I would send gpa, test scores, the information that you are sitting for both the SAT and ACT in June, your physical measurables and a link to your Hudl tape. It is a good idea to grab an unofficial copy of your transcript from the guidance office before school ends. That way you have it if someone asks for it down the line. A note about your initial contact email. Do some youtube digging, and look for something small and specific you can mention in the email.

“Coach X, I wanted to introduce myself, I am a 6’3”, 250 lb rising senior OL at Y HS. Last year I played Z, and this year will look to do thus and so. I am very interested in talking with you about how I can fit in at school A. I really like how you seem to blitz a lot from the weak side, run out of the spread, (whatever it is). At Y, I do a lot of (this and so) and believe I could be a good fit in what I can see of your scheme.

In addition to athletics, I am interested in A because of its great academic reputation. I have a (. ) GPA, and a (. ) SAT on my first sitting. I am taking the SAT and ACT in June, and am confident I will improve. I have included a link to my junior Hudl highlights. After you have had a chance to review my tape, I would love to hear your thoughts on how I can become a better player, and whether you think I could be a potential fit at A. I am also interested in hearing your thoughts on camps this summer. I can be reached at joe@blow.com.

Thanks in advance for your time."

3)I really can’t be much help about the big camps, sorry. I am a fan of individual school camps, provided you can get them talking to you before the camps start.

Good luck, and don’t be afraid to ask questions! Not just here, but your high school coaches probably have a lot of insight as well.

13

@Ohiodad51 Thank you for all of that! As I’m going to the webpages to get coaches contact info, I’m noticing a lot put their twitter account up. Should I start following them on twitter now or does that look like I’m a stalker? I’ve only started following just 2 or 3 of the coaches who I’ve already met in person

14

@zenator @Ohiodad51 Also, should I be writing to the recruiting coordinator for my geographic region or to the coach for my position or both?

15

Write to the recruiting coach. It is his job to vet all the kids in his region. Sometimes, as recruiting goes on, the recruiting coach will “pass” a prospect to the presumptive position coach or even the head coach. But it all starts with the area guy. I wouldn’t bother following coaches on Twitter until you are much farther along in the process.

16

Thanks @Ohiodad51 Some of the schools webpages make it extremely clear who the coordinator is for my state, and some a lot less so. For some, at best I can find a coordinator for a state near mine, so I hope it’s ok just to pick that person. I figure that person can just pass it along to the appropriate person?

17

Yes, if the web site, and particularly the coaches individual bios, don’t mention recruiting responsibilities for your state, then pick the guy with responsibilities in the closest state. I would look closely though. I would thin that if there is information as to who recruits some states, then there will be info for all, or at least regional info, like “mountain states” or “New England”

18

Ohiodad is really better on the subject of camps.

My S filled out a bunch of registration forms and then attended an Ivy and a NESCAC camp as a rising sophomore. He also visited a number of D3 colleges and spoke with coaches. As a junior, he has received no interest to date from any of the Ivies, has positive interest from a couple of D1s, 4 Patriots, 5 NESCACs and a number of D3 LACs. The interest level takes the form of communications with his coach, transcript requests, personal emails, and a couple of direct communications. According to his head coach, it is still early and colleges are still just casting a wide net.

In terms of camps, my son was originally going to do camps in June, but switched to July camps after suffering minor injury during spring football. His HC advised him only to play at a camp, if he knows that he will show well. Our current plan is to visit a bunch of interested colleges in June and meet with coaches. My S will then whittle his list down attend a maximum of 5 camps in July.

Hope this helps.

19

For what it is worth @zenator, I think you and your son have a solid plan. Best to do your prep work before dropping the money on camps where your son may not be a fit for whatever reason. If I may, tell your son to make sure he is in good shape and healed up before the camps start. Form work, form work, form work! Take care of the low hanging fruit, and then have fun competing. Best to him and you this summer. Enjoy it, I had a blast last summer traveling around with the kid, and just being guys.

20

Ohiodad: Thanks for all of your advice and help. His head coach and you in combination have proven to be our most reliable sources of information. BTW, one of your most valuable contributions concerned the need to get one or more disinterested evaluations regarding where S realistically projects as a college athlete in terms of level and position. Another one was to become familiar with the gpa and test scores needed to have a realistic shot at X college. With my S retaking the ACT on 6/12 and obtaining the benefit of super-scoring, we plan, again pursuant to your recommendation, to bring copies of his HS transcript and test scores to camps. Thanks again for all your help.