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Remember the song “Only the Strong Survive”? It was a big hit back in the late 1960s, its lyrics coinciding with a popular phrase of the time. The message was not subtle.
In high school athletics, however, that message is not so true today.
To the surprise of many, including parents and their children, an athlete doesn’t have to be a high school star to play at the college level. National Scouting Report scouts have seen it over and over again — support players who go on to have successful college careers.
There are lots of high school athletes who don’t make headlines but are good enough to play college sports. They simply need to be exposed to college coaches.
College coaches look for all sorts of athletes when putting together their teams. Yes, they want the best athletes they can find, but they also need ones to fill specific roles, who show a glimpse of promise, display versatility, or whose mere presence ignites a team’s spirits through their work ethic, grit and determination, personal values, humor or personality.
Coaches might stumble upon these athletes at a tournament or game when they are there to scout other more well-known prospects. Or they could discover them through NSR, whose goal is to identify, promote and place prospects who can fit into college programs of all levels.
Bryan Black, NSR Area Director of North Central Alabama, has years of experience observing unheralded athletes being offered college scholarships or roster spots.
“When our scouts are evaluating talent, we aren’t just scoping out the stars – those players that coaches tend to flock around,” Black said. “Our view is much broader. We also try to identify athletes with really good grades, some desirable skills, excellent attitudes and a keen desire to play in college. Those are kids we can work with as productively as top-tier athletes, promote to coaches, highly recommend and place them [at colleges] where they are valued for their overall contributions, regardless of the sport.”
Not every college coach has the luxury of recruiting top-rated prospects. After all, there are only so many of them. Plus, there is a pecking order in recruiting. However, that is not to say that coaches in lower divisions or with substantially lower budgets have to settle for less-skilled athletes.
Most college coaches will tell you they are steeped in reality when it comes to recruiting. The athletes they follow, contact, recruit and offer fit into a fairly narrow box. Those prospects may not have the size, speed, quickness or strength to qualify for higher-profile programs, but they are nonetheless skilled. Many of them have been support athletes throughout high school.
That leaves the doors open for high school athletes who may not consider themselves college prospects, but who really are.
I personally have worked with high school athletes who never made an all-conference team or led their own teams in any statistical categories. But I never hesitated approaching athletes whose attitude, drive and teamwork apparently had an impact on their team. I did that knowing college coaches would love to evaluate, meet and recruit them.
College coaches want and need those types of athletes.
National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.