5 reasons high school athletes are overlooked

Do you know any high school seniors whom you thought would play college sports but were not recruited? Do you know any whom you thought would earn athletic scholarships, but received little or no money?

Are you one of them?

The NCAA’s early signing period begins next week. Thousands of high school seniors, including dozens of National Scouting Report prospects, will be signing National Letters of Intent. Thousands of other seniors will wait until the regular signing periods in February or April. However, the vast majority of seniors will never sign at all.

There are several reasons why you — or somebody you know – might have been overlooked by college coaches. Here are five of the biggest:

1. You don’t fit the athletic mold.

This is certainly no disgrace. You aren’t big enough, strong enough or fast enough. You aren’t as talented as other student-athletes on a coach’s recruiting list. Perhaps you set your sights too high. Most high school athletes – about 94 percent – will never play in college. With 1.875 million high school seniors competing for 112,500 NCAA freshman roster positions, only 6 percent of high school seniors will have an opportunity to play Division I, II or III athletics. Only 2 percent will earn athletic scholarships and just 1 percent will earn full rides. The odds are stacked against you.

2. You don’t fit the academic mold.

This is something you can control. The better you do in school, the better your chances are of playing college sports. Why? For one thing, more schools will be interested in you because you can meet their academic requirements. For another, you’ll be able to compete more favorably against other college prospects. Let’s say there are two prospects with equal athletic ability. One of them sports a 3.5 grade-point average. The other has a 2.5 GPA. Guess which one receives an offer to play? You guessed it. Every 10th of a point on your grade-point average is critical. Every point on your SAT or ACT counts.

3. You put all your eggs in your coach’s basket.

High school and travel coaches who help their athletes get recruited should be applauded. Unfortunately, many don’t. Can you really blame them? They’re not paid to do it. They also don’t have much free time. Remember, most coaches also have full-time jobs in addition to being husbands, wives and parents. How much time can they devote to the recruiting process, especially if they try to help multiple athletes? Even if they do have time, many have limited college contacts. Bottom line: If your coach doesn’t help you get recruited and receive scholarship offers, he/she is not paying for your college education and there are no second chances in recruiting. You need all the help you can get.

4. You didn’t get enough exposure.

Exposure is the key to being recruited. The last thing you want to be is the tallest midget in the circus. You can be the greatest athlete in your high school, but if college coaches don’t know who you are, where you are and how good are, you won’t be recruited. Don’t be fooled by the adage: “If you’re good enough, college coaches will find you.” Nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s not always the best athlete who gets recruited; it’s the best-known athlete. Recruiting is a numbers game. The more college coaches who know about you, the better your chances of receiving an offer.

5. You started the recruiting process too late.

It’s never too early to get recruited. Many college coaches recruit years in advance. If you wait until your senior year to start the process, you likely will wait forever to receive an offer. If your goal is to play college sports, you should start the process your freshman or sophomore year, perhaps even sooner. Did you know numerous 13- and 14-year-olds already have received college offers? A 10-year-old basketball player from Cleveland — son of the NBA’s greatest player — has received multiple offers. What are you waiting for? Contact an NSR scout in your area or sign up for a free athletic evaluation at nsr-inc.com.