5 Common College Recruiting Mistakes
The college recruiting process can be very exciting! But it can also be complicated, overwhelming, and scary too. If you’re not well informed on eligibility requirements, athletic preparation, marketing strategies (how to effectively get your student-athlete’s name out there), and recruiting (the calendar, official visits, unofficial visits, what to ask, etc), I can GUARANTEE you you’re missing out on opportunities.
That said, as a former player who signed with a DI college as an athlete, as a coach who works with high school aged athletes, and as a parent of young athletes, I am going to share with you 5 Common (and sometimes costly) College Recruiting Mistakes that I see many student-athletes (and their familes) making as they go through the process.
1. Thinking 2.0 is “Good to Go”
In Hawaii, the majority of the high schools used to have a 2.0 rule for high school eligibility. I’m not sure what the standards are in other areas of the country, but basically, if you didn’t have a 2.0 GPA, you didn’t play. Now our public schools have even dropped that down to 1.8 which I think is just ridiculous. But the main problem I see is student-athletes basically striving for or focused on just being eligible to play in high school. They do “enough” to stay off of the list of student-athletes that are academically ineligible to play. The problem with this is it’s often NOT enough for moving on to the collegiate level. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen student-athletes who had NO problem with academic eligibility in high school have their college options severly limited due to academic reasons. Their GPA is not high enough. Their test scores are not high enough. Let’s face it. There are some schools who require a MINIMUM 2.8 GPA to get gain admission to the school. Then I have those students who tell me, “Well, I don’t need a 2.8 because I don’t want to play ball in college.” Actually, they’re correct. They need a HIGHER GPA because the 2.8 is the “special” standard available to ATHLETES! If you’re just a regular student trying to get in, they deny you outright if all you have is a 2.8. So just because 2.0 is “good to go” for high school ball, it’s certainly not what you need to give yourself the most options when it comes to moving on to the college level.
The other mistakes I see are as follows:
2. Taking the SAT/ACT late
3. Sitting Back and Waiting
4. Choosing the school that offers you “something”
5. Starting Late
More comments on each of these areas (and why they are potential costly mistakes) is available to you via audio at www.allaboutfastpitch.com/5mistakes.html.
It’s a free audio, so head over and take a listen for the full explanation of these 5 Common College Recruiting Mistakes. Not only that, the audio also contains answers to 5 Common College Recruiting Questions as well.
Happy listening!
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