Young athletes walk a tightrope. Some make it to college. Others drop off. The fall is often life-threatening. How is it that a good high school athlete and kid fails to play at the next level? How can a youngster who was perhaps a can’t-miss prospect lose his or her way over a two- or three-year … Read more
An eighth-grade girls lacrosse player recently made a verbal commitment to Syracuse. Penn State recently received a verbal commitment from an eighth-grade boys lacrosse player. An eighth-grade girls soccer player recently committed to Texas. Arizona received a commitment from an eighth-grade softball player. An eighth-grade football player already has received offers from Alabama, Michigan State, … Read more
Coaches are like piñatas being wildly swung at by blindfolded parents. “My son isn’t getting enough playing time.” “Her practices are terrible.” “He treats my kid like [bleep].” It goes on and on. But hindsight tells us that what happens to athletes — bad or good — is more telling in the future than in … Read more
College prospects should know that when they are practicing, they are honing their craft. We rarely think of sports in that vein, but it is time we do. The days have passed when athletics were played on sandlots, empty streets or vacant fields by unsupervised youngsters simply because they loved the game. Now kids are taking grounders, … Read more
Today, there are lots of softball prospects who decide not to play high school softball. It’s an ongoing discussion that will continue to evolve as the college softball recruiting world continues to evolve. When you ask the question of “how important is travel ball” in college softball recruiting, it’s huge. That’s not to say you … Read more
I was recently talking to a parent of an athlete who told me his son would have almost enough credits to graduate after his junior year, so he was going to take a bunch of easy classes his senior year to pump up his GPA. I immediately replied: “No, no, no.” I may have said … Read more
We have lift off at National Scouting Report. NSR, the nation’s oldest and largest high school scouting and college recruiting organization, reported a successful launching Tuesday of Evolution 2.0, an upgrade of its state-of-the-art, interactive portal system for its 200 on-the-ground scouts and thousands of college prospects. Coming nine months after the original, Evolution 2.0 … Read more
It’s no fluke that four former National Scouting Report prospects will be playing in one of the biggest college football games of the young season Saturday afternoon, said Robert Cagle, National Director of Scouting for NSR. No. 1 Alabama, featuring former NSR prospects O.J. Howard (senior tight end), Bradley Bozeman (redshirt junior center) and Matt … Read more
Tabby Tindell is absolutely killing it in college. The former National Scouting Report soccer prospect was one of the nation’s top high school players out of Trinity Catholic in Ocala, Florida. A four-year varsity starter, Tindell tallied an incredible 160 goals and 80 assists during her high school career. As a sophomore, she led the nation with 44 … Read more
High school athletes who want to be recruited go through three distinct phases. Orientation: Grades 9-10 High school student-athletes intent on advancing to the college level must initially cope with the jump in competition from youth to high school and more competitive club or travel sports. It’s no easy jump for a majority of athletes. Most … Read more
