In the coming month, Elite Basketball Training, LLC will be working alongside with The Highlight Reel recruiting service as I become the owner and operator of its Central Jersey branch. The Highlight Reel is the nation’s premier one-on-one recruiting service and has given over 1500 student athletes the opportunity to pursue their dream of playing a college sport. Below is a list that was put together by Dominick Ferraro, Owner of The Highlight Reel, that outlines how to prevent potential recruiting mistakes.
How to Prevent Recruiting Mistakes:
1. Parents often believe their son or daughter is better than they actually are, and assume they will be recruited while they wait for their mailbox to fill up with scholarship offers or wait for phone calls from coaches. This is the number one mistake. You have to be proactive and market your son or daughter the proper way. This is what we do, by getting your student athlete in front of hundreds of coaches.
2. Student athletes overestimate their ability and often believe they are better than they actually are. Again, same situation as listed above occurs. Overestimating your talent can leave you in the cold for a college career if you only target schools that are above your talent level. Though many kids make this mistake and end up transferring, a lot just get cut and never play their sport again. And that’s a shame.
3. Student-athletes underestimate their ability, and they think they would not be capable of getting a scholarship and they don’t even try to obtain a scholarship. You don’t have to be the best player in your league or even on your team to get some scholarship money, but you have to be a pretty good athlete and skilled at your sport. Most of all you have to try and in many cases have to ask for a scholarship. Scholarship talent is usually noticed, but not always. Don’t be shy about your ability, or about calling attention to it and your aspirations. This is why we are so successful in obtaining scholarship money for our athletes.
4. Parents and student-athletes often see other athletes get recruited and assume the same thing will happen to them since “I am better” or “I am just as good as they are.” Few people realize how college and professional scouts evaluate players. A .440 hitter in high school who has reached his talent ceiling will scratch his head when a .250 hitter, who has barely scratched the surface of his ability is offered a scholarship or drafted. Stats don’t always tell the story.
5. Parents and student-athletes often feel anything less than an athletic scholarship to a Division I program is unacceptable. Don’t be foolish; remember you are going to college to receive a college degree. As the emergence of camps, showcases and private instruction takes on a new and more important role, many families feel that they need a scholarship to justify the time and expense they have already put into athletics. Understand that athletic scholarships are rare, full athletic scholarships even more so, and that a lot of times, a grant and aid package from a non-scholarship school is more lucrative than one with athletic aid. This is why we stress the importance of financial aid and academics as well.
6. Student-athletes get a letter in the mail from a coach and think they are being recruited and think they are now a top college prospect. Colleges send thousands of direct mail pieces to students on lists they purchase.
7. Parents and student-athletes assume that if they are talented enough on the athletic field, their grades do not matter much because a coach will get them into the school. Wrong! The first thing a college coach needs to know about a student-athlete is if they are eligible to play or enroll at their school.
8. Parents and students don’t realize how rare a full scholarship is. Aside of Division I football and basketball powerhouses, most scholarships issued to players are partial scholarships. Again, this is why we stress and obtain the need for financial aid and academic money as well.
9. Parents and students often receive help and encouragement from people who know very little about the recruiting process and little about college athletics. Listen to the right people and do your own homework. Also, beware of any agendas someone might have. Do not rely on your coaches, they have full time jobs, families and are volunteering their time to be a high school coach. You as the parent or student athlete need to seek out help when needed and that is why we are here.
10. Parents and students do not always know how to evaluate athletic ability accurately. Success on your team or league does not mean you are ready to be a college athlete or capable of receiving a college scholarship or even competing at the college level. Playing in camps or tournaments out of your local area is a good way to measure yourself against the larger population of athletes.
11. Families start the process too late and end up making a rushed decision. Start researching schools as early as possible and make first contact with college coaches at the start of your junior year, possibly even the end of your sophomore year. Just get your name in their pipeline by submitting our student athlete profile.
