Getting Recruited for College Athletics

I find it interesting who gets a college scholarship and who doesn’t no matter the sport. Having good grades is super important and can be the difference between you getting a free ride in college or losing out to a guy with the same skill level but a better grade point average. I remember when Michael Collins was a senior. Every time someone mentioned him and his college choices they always pointed out how good of a student he was. They also mentioned the high character person he was as well. So if you are looking for an athletic scholarship don’t be a knucklehead or slacker in the classroom. Now if you are Lebron James type athlete you can get F’s in school, be a bad guy, and still make it big time. But Lebron is .00000000001% of the population so don’t count on that!

I also hear a lot of talk about kids being disappointed that they did not get promoted to colleges by either their parents or coaches. I’m sure that is the case but the responsibility still lies with the student. Personal responsibility is key in every aspect of life. If you think you have a chance to go to college to play football and don’t know how to get started, go ask your coach or research in online or get a book on it. There is no excuse in today’s information age for not finding out on your own what you need to know to make your life better. If you want recruiters to see you then they need to “see you”. The best way to do that is to get your DVD highlights in front of them either by getting them a DVD or getting the highlights online for them to see. The key to getting recognition is to make connections. Keep in mind that to get what you want you have to help others get what they want. In other words don’t just think “I want a college scholarship”. Think, “how can I help this University’s baseball team”.

I recommend reading Guerrilla Marketing which is for business but can be applied in the recruiting process. Also read Seth Godin’s blog, which is about marketing and you have to market yourself unless you are the next Michael Jordan (there is no next MJ by the way). The point is if you are like Washaun Ealey with immense talent then recruiters will know about you easily. If you are not a super talent then you need to market yourself. A good free resource is woodsrecruiting.com