Athletic Scholarship Advice for HS & JuCo Athletes
A: One of the toughest adversities all athletes face are injuries, particularly season-ending or career-ending injuries. From my experiences, they are much tougher mentally on most players than physically and a setback you can likely overcome. From a recruiting standpoint, not all season-ending injuries will effect your potential to earn a scholarship. From my experiences, college coaches will often stick …
A: Walk-ons make the team in two ways: as a preferred walk-on or through a tryout. Believe it or not, walk-on spots at many schools are just as competitive as scholarship spots—they are very limited! To become a preferred walk-on, coaches need to see you play—either in person, or on video. For any roster spot, coaches are looking for size, …
A: Yes, if a coach is trying to get you to visit campus, they’ve heard something and have some level of early interest. They’ve heard or seen something about you that interests them and they want to get to know you better, meet you in person and show you a little bit about their program. The only exception is if …
A: Every coaching staff will say that they put priority on keeping the best in-state players at home. But when making scholarship decisions, it’s irrelevant to coaches where you are from. They are looking to sign the best players that they can, period! Being in-state does help you get your foot in the door. Many programs split up the home …
A: No, camps are just one way to get noticed but not your only opportunity! If possible, try to get to a local camp or talk to your coach about taking your team to a local university Team Camp. Camps are great opportunities to get on the map with colleges –but you won’t be eliminated from recruitment if you can’t …
A: As a prospective college athlete understand that not only are you being evaluated by your skills, size, speed and grades, your character is also under the microscope. It’s not just about what you put out there in your words, it’s also very telling who you are connected to and your communications with them! While you may be trying to …
A: Coaches are evaluating skill, size, strength and speed. Most players may not be great at all four, but being exceptional with any of those qualities can help you get on the map or get the recruiting conversations going. Never let someone tell you that you are “too small” or “too slow” to play college sports—if you have the talent, …
BE SMART! You may be trying to impress your friends, but you may be turning off the coaches who have the power to offer you a scholarship. Is broadcasting certain thoughts and opinions REALLY that important if it could cost you a scholarship opportunity? Think, the head coach at your dream school could be out there saying this… “I’m ready …
Players may begin to be recruited by college coaches if they… #1: Were named as a great player by a reputable scouting service on a national or regional report that the coaches subscribe to #2: Had impressive regional or national combine results (height, weight, speed, vertical, stats, notes) that were sent to the coaches #3: Were an impressive player at …
A: Most likely yes, unfortunately. Your recruitment by a particular school can end at any time, with no warning, sometimes for reasons you can’t control. Coaches offer more scholarships then they have available. And until you sign your National Letter of Intent (NLI), nothing is “official” on either side. Each coaching staff breaks down their depth chart for each graduating …