Top Myths of College Recruiting

There are so many different myths out there and people sharing information about the recruiting process and really misleading parents and their children into tough situations. For me it's very frustrating because for the past 20 years, I have been here and see it happen over and over. It happens because each year there is a new group of parents going through this process for the first time so they will listen to whoever talks the loudest or whoever is the most "powerful" person within their world as it relates to their child. As you read through just use your imagination and you can see what I am talking about and I am sure you have heard all of this before.

1. Students who earn all state and all region team honors in Arizona should be able to play pretty much anywhere in college.

2. The sobering truth is just because you stand out at your school, your region and even your state doesn’t mean you’ll stand out in the pool of players nationally. College coaches do not anxiously await the All-State team to recruit from, it's just much too late in the process for that and they also understand those selections, although quite an honor, are not the best way for them to see what students are the best fit for their school

3. Getting an athletic scholarship is all about strategy

4. Playing your cards right can help a little, but we’re talking maybe 5 percent of the equation. Bottom line is either you are good or not. Stats can be manufactured and coaches can see through the attempts of students (and their parents) to jazz up some un-exciting stats. Many parents think they need to get EXPOSURE - this is true but that strategy used at the wrong time is most definitely a disaster.

5. Getting a scholarship is all about pulling strings

6. If only college coaches had a nickel for every mother who has a friend whose uncle is on the board of trustees. Don’t be deluded by the idea that your close family friend, your high school coach, your club coach or whoever can peddle influence can get you a scholarship. Unless your dad IS the coach, you’re better off just being good enough to actually play there.

7. College recruiting is a crapshoot

8. Baseball decisions can seem random because high school students and their parents don’t see the big picture. The goal of every college program is to assemble a diverse and talented class and everybody who is recruited and offered fills a role for their team. The odds of even being recruited at a particular school can change from year to year because both the pool of recruits and the baseball programs needs change from year to year. You might be able to play at a particular college but for your recruiting class they just don't need you because they already have plenty of players in your position already on the roster.

9. The college recruiting process is fair

10. Life isn’t fair either. As eluded to earlier, just because you are good enough does not mean you’ll get recruited to a specific college or have the opportunity to play there. You are competing against players from all over the country for these opportunities, including the players already on the current roster as well as the junior college transfers that played high school baseball 2-3 years before you and are already 20-21 years old with experience playing at the college level. The good news? If you look at a sensible list of colleges, your college search will be a success, even if you can’t control what happens at any particular college, you will have plenty of options.