There has never been anything quite like the 2014 Battle for the Gulf Combine! That’s not hyperbole; it’s a fact. College Prospect Network, Texas Hoop Recruits, and Louisiana Basketball Report are literally bringing basketball players in the gulf region something that has never been done before.
What Makes This Combine Different
Quick answer: the TELEVISED all star game. But we’ll come back to that.
Let’s start with the price. A quick glance at the registration pages (below) and you will see that the base price is $75, but we DO NOT want you to pay that amount. We want you to register before March 7, 2014 ($10 off) and mail us a copy of your transcript and test scores ($25 off). Do the math. We WANT you to pay $40, not the full price and definitely not the $125 or $150 that other companies charge.
We would love to make the base price $40, but then none of you will bring your transcripts or register early, so we use those discounts as incentives to get the information we need to be able to help you. Think about it this way: how can a scouting company say that you are a Division I prospect if you aren’t going to be able to qualify? They are wasting your time and college coaches’ time if they don’t have an idea what schools are a good fit for you athletically AND academically.
The early registration discount is also a big help because it helps us get more college coaches to come to the combine. For example, if we can say, “We already have 110 players registered and expect at least 50 more.” then colleges are much more likely to take money out of the recruiting budget to send scouts out to the event.
In other words, you pay one-third of the price you are paying for other combines and we are already doing things that other companies don’t do before you even walk in the door.
(By the way, all attendees will also receive a free ticket to the 2014 Battle for the Gulf the following day.)
Our Scouting is Better
To our knowledge, there has never been a combine where you could get scouted by three separate scouting services at once. And we don’t mean that three organizations are going to get together and talk about how to rank you; we mean there will be three completely separate scouting reports going out to ALL of the client schools for each service. College Prospect Network will do a full report for every player. Texas Hoop Recruits will do a full report for every player. And Louisiana Basketball Report will do a full report for every player.
There is virtually no chance that you will be missed if you can play at the next level. Trust me, if one of us misjudges your talent, the other two will not.
Our All Star Game Will be on TV, Radio, and Internet
A lot of other groups do Top 20 games or Top 40 games at the end of their combines, but how many of those are on television, radio, and streamed online? And better yet, how many of those give you the opportunity to play against some of the best players in Texas and Louisiana, many of whom have already signed with Division I schools?
The best players from the combine on Friday night (March 21, 2014) will be given a spot in the inaugural Battle for the Gulf the next day.
Aside from the fact that playing on television is a great and unique experience, it also gives you a chance to show what you can do against top-tier talent. If you come out and look really good against a team of players who are all signed to play Division I ball, it will really help your chances of getting the type of offers you have been expecting.
**Note: As of now, the girls all star game will not be broadcasted on television. I will update this blog if that changes. However, everything else in this blog entry is true for both the boys and the girls combines.
College Prospect Network, Texas Hoop Recruits, and Louisiana Basketball Report are glad that we can bring such a tremendous opportunity to basketball players in Texas and Louisiana. We hope you take advantage of it and we look forward to seeing you play.
We understand that players have many events, tournaments, camps, clinics, and showcases from which to choose, but there are five big reasons that College Prospect Network’s “50 to Follow” should definitely be on your list.
Our events work! – Over 20 of the seniors at our Lafayette, LA showcase last year received offers, and 13 of them ended up signing with the school that recruited them specifically because of our event. It doesn’t matter if you have D1 potential, but you are only getting D2 interest, or you have NAIA talent, but you are not receiving any recruiting interest. If you can play at the next level, we will get you matched up with the right programs so you can have a successful college career.
Njee Armstrong enjoying life at Presentation College
You get great video. – We film every drill, measurement, test, and game that we put you through. You are filmed from the time you walk in the door until the time you get in your car to drive home. We do this because college coaches want to see film. If a scouting agency tells you that a college coach will sign you simply because they say you can play, do not believe them. Coaches want to see for themselves before they are willing to offer you a scholarship.
Every single player is scouted. – Part of the reason we film everything is that we take the time to go back and watch every minute of the showcase three or four times to make sure we don’t miss anything. (Yes, we really do this. It takes 7-10 days, but we do it for every event.) Many of the other agencies get 100 kids in a room, try to identify the 20-40 best players, and forget that the other 60 are even there. The other 60 kids are basically wasting their money because it’s impossible to scout 100 kids without recording it. If you come to a College Prospect Network event, you will be scouted and colleges will see a detailed description of your abilities.
The price! – Speaking of money, why would you pay $75 or $150 to a scouting agency that doesn’t provide the level of service that we provide for $35? Granted, our base registration price is $50, but we DO NOT want you to pay that price. We want you to upload your transcript ($10 off), and register early ($5 off), so that you pay $35. It makes it easier for us to help you when we know your grades and test scores, and it also helps if you register early to make sure your name is on the preliminary roster that goes out to colleges before the event.
Our reports go to over 60 schools. – Even though we are still a new agency, we make sure that your name gets out to colleges all over the country. If there is a place for you, we will find it.
If you are one of the 50 best under the radar players in Texas/Louisiana, you need to be at College Prospect Network’s “50 to Follow” showcase at Dobie High School on October 19 from 1:00 – 6:00. Get your transcript and register early so you will get in before the roster list goes out to college coaches.
College Prospect Network recently held a combine and showcase for under-recruited and unsigned players in the San Antonio area. The event was held at the George Gervin Youth Center and featured players from across the state and even a couple of guys from Louisiana,
Overall, we had a great time and met some really great kids and good basketball players. There were even a trio of attendees who have a legitimate shot at becoming Division 1 scholarship earners.
This is the statistical report and breakdown of everything that happened at the showcase. (Note: It is NOT our official scouting report. The scouting report is only available for college coaches. If you are a college coach and you are not on our mailing list already, please send me an email at jharris@collegeprospectnetwork.com and I will get you a copy of the official report.)
First, let me start by explaining a little about our scoring system. Basically, we chart the stats for the entire day and award points based on where the athletes ranked in each individual category. There were 24 players in attendance, so the highest scoring player for the category gets 24 points, the next gets 23 points, and so on. For example, Jordan Burns dished out an astounding 20 assists, which was by far the highest number, so he gets 24 points for the assists category. The person with the fewest assists would only get one point for that category.
And with that, let me announce the two guys who tied with 172 points once all the categories were tallied…
Chase Malbrue (left) led all scorers with 15 made 2pt FGs and 36 pts. He also finished second in rebounding and in the top five in several other categories. Josh Solis (right) had the fastest lane agility time and was strong in almost every category across the board.
Chase is a 2013 graduate of Westminster Christian (LA) and Josh is a 2012 graduate of Pasadena High School (TX). Chase is likely headed to Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts after an impressive showing of athleticism at this combine and one of our previous event in Lafayette, LA. You can see his highlights here. Josh attended Hannibal-LaGrange University last year, and is currently deciding between a couple of options to land as a transfer. (If you would like to contact Josh, email me at the address above.)
There were also two underclassmen who had great statistical days…
Michael Johnson (left) was absolutely on fire. He finished third with 165 total points, mostly off the strength of his 6/7 shooting from inside the arc and 4/4 performance from deep. Jordan Burns (right) wasn’t on Michael’s team, but he was doing his best to set everybody else up for buckets. As I mentioned before, he dished out 20 assists in under 40 minutes on the court, which is truly impressive when you consider that the player with the second most assists had seven. He also performed well in the other categories and ended up tied with Andrew Logan for 156 total points.
Below you will find all the stats. Once again, this is not the scouting report. Please contact us at jharris@collegeprospectnetwork.com to request a copy of all the players’ contact information and a detailed scouting report of each player.
The College Prospect Network founders and staff have been fans of Denard “Shoelace” Robinson for a while now but that is not why we are writing this blog. We want to highlight some of the things that went on at Michigan State because they are another example of how players do not realize how precarious their status as a scholarship athlete really is.
The Michigan State football team took to Twitter during the September 1, 2012 Michigan-Alabama game to mock and ridicule their rival’s quarterback. The statements they made are definitely going to become bulletin board material for the Wolverines and their star QB but the repercussions could last a lot longer than that for the Spartans and the players who tweeted them.
(We are not going to post the actual tweets here because we don’t want to focus on them but they are not hard to find with a quick Google search.)
The athletes who posted the tweets were forced to apologize publicly and speak to the media about the mistakes they made. All three of them explained that they didn’t think of the tweets as a big deal until they saw themselves on ESPN because of what they said.
Luckily, for the athletes involved, the transgressions were not enough to result in a suspension or lost scholarship but the situation speaks to the fact that so many athletes don’t understand that the things they say and do are always under a microscope. Nothing goes unnoticed.
Even if you play sports at a much smaller school than Michigan State, you are still a celebrity on your campus. There are alumni who donate money to the school and local business owners who follow the sports programs that follow everything you do simply because you play a sport at a school they like and follow. It’s not like being in high school where there is another school 10 miles away. The college is the center of attention for the area, regardless of how large or small that area is.
That would not be a huge concern for athletes except that scholarships are given out from year-to-year. That’s right. There is no such thing as a four-year scholarship. So, if you do or say something that upsets your coach, school administrators, business owners who donate to the school or alumni who give the school a lot of money, you run the risk of losing your offer and needing to look for a new place to play next year.
There are a lot of people out there who care what players on every college team say and how they act. And there are even more media outlets, blogs and networks like ESPN who are always looking for ways to drum up controversy so that they can get more attention and make money off the mistake you just made. Even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal.
So, if you have something to say, say it to your friends and family; don’t post it on the internet.
Oh, and make sure there isn’t a web cam or video phone recording it when you do it.
One of the things we focus on at College Prospect Network is ensuring no recruiting violations occur on our website. We strive to maintain an environment where Head Coaches can give an Assistant Coach or scout access to the site without having to worry about them breaking a rule that can get the program in trouble. We also want high school and AAU coaches, parents and athletes to know that they are not going to make a mistake that may jeopardize the athlete’s eligibility.
(If you were looking for the NCAA recruiting calendar for football, click here.)
College Prospect Network’s messaging system follows the NCAA recruiting calendar but here are some of the important dates you need to know for September 2012:
Division I Men’s Basketball
Quiet Period – Colleges are not supposed to have any contact with recruits from August 1st through September 8th.
Contact Period – Beginning September 9th and extending through the end of the month, colleges are allowed contact within the typical NCAA rules. There are some exceptions and additional guidelines throughout the basketball season but these don’t start until October and November.
Division I Women’s Basketball
Quiet Period – From August 1st through September 15th there is no contact allowed between college representatives and athletes.
Contact Period – September 16th through October 6th is a contact where college representatives can reach out to athletes. This includes the weekend of September 28th through 30th when members of a college staff can evaluate prospects at non-scholastic (AAU) events.
Quiet Period – From August 2nd through September 6th there should not be any contacts between colleges and players.
Contact Period – After September 7th colleges are free to call, text, email, and visit potential prospects in person. This period extends until the middle of October.
Division II Women’s Basketball
The dates for the Women are the same as for the Men during September so please see the section directly above this one.
Division III Men’s Basketball and Division III Women’s Basketball
There are currently no limitations on DIII programs but proposals are on the table to “tug on the reins“. The lone exception to this is that DIII coaches, regardless of the sport, are not allowed to contact athletes until their junior year of high school.
NAIA, Junior College and NCCAA
There are virtually no restrictions on NAIA and NCCAA programs. The guidelines for junior colleges can differ depending on the state you live in so leave a comment below if you have a specific question and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
All of the dates listed above come from www.ncaa.org and are accurate as of September 2nd, 2012. If you want to know more about how College Prospect Network helps their member athletes and colleges avoid recruiting violations, you can use the Contact Us page on our website. We will usually respond within one business day but may need a little more time if your NCAA recruiting calendar question is very detailed or specific.
“Character is who you are when no one else is watching.”
Yesterday we wrote about the situation Aquille Carr, a Top 50 basketball recruit from the Class of 2013, is in and how it may negatively affect his future as a basketball player. Today, we want to get back on a positive note and talk about the inspirational speech by Denard Robinson at the 2012 Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon.
Denard “Shoelace” Robinson was raised in a poor neighborhood in Deerfield Beach, Florida. When he was growing up, he was so embarrassed of where he was from that he held “recruiting visits at (his) grandparents’ house” so that college coaches wouldn’t see his neighborhood. He also shared the fact that he lost his brother when he was 10 years old and that, when he graduates, he will be the first person in his family to ever graduate from a four-year college.
He didn’t dwell on his background though because, as he put it, the theme of the speech was “choices,” not obstacles or excuses.
While he talked about his road to Michigan, the Big Ten and the podium where he was standing to deliver the speech, he explained that, over time, he became more comfortable with where he was from and even began to look at it as a source of pride. What he may not have realized was that the tone of the inspirational speech by Denard Robinson mirrored his life’s story.
As he spoke, he became more and more comfortable and even threw in a few jokes directed at himself and his coach. He was growing more confident on the stage as he was speaking about growing more confident in where he was from and how he was “blessed” to be in the position he was in at Michigan.
Being on that stage to headline the 2012 Big Ten luncheon is probably more than Shoelace could have ever imagined. Where can you see yourself four or five years from today? Watch the video below and think about whether your story is going to be as impressive as the inspirational speech by Denard Robinson.
Here are some of our favorite quotes from the speech:
It’s easy to do the wrong things but “it’s tougher to do the right things.”
“What made it possible were my two parents, who had nothing and gave everything… (and) the coaches, the teachers and everyone else who unselfishly gave themselves so I, like many, could have choices.”
“Those teammates were my brothers and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”
“We don’t only represent ourselves; we represent our schools and each other.”
“I was told I was too short. I was told I couldn’t make it at a school like Michigan. I have been told many things, but my choice not to take the easy way out has led me to play for the University of Michigan and set college football records.”
“I used to be so self conscious of where I came from but today I realize I’m blessed and I embrace it.”
“I met the President of the United States. I met Lebron James. And they both knew who is was!”
When Shoelace was in high school at Deerfield Beech and then Miramar, do you think he knew President Obama and Lebron would ever have any idea who he was? Probably not. But he made an effort to make the right choices and it led him become the Heisman candidate and household name that he currently is.
College coaches are looking for players that stand out on the field and off the field. One of the things that they always tell us is that we should not have to point out the player we are trying to show them because they will see him/her. The real prospect will stand out on his/her own. Think about that not only when you step onto the practice field this year but when you step into the classroom. And remember this quote from the inspirational speech by Denard Robinson:
“It’s okay to work hard. It’s okay to be uncommon.”
Here at College Prospect Network, we exist for one reason and one reason only: to help high school prospects on all levels to maximize their exposure and match them with the right college program. Unfortunately, sometimes that means we need to discuss the mistakes of one or two guys to make a point that will resonate with a larger group of players and help them avoid making the same mistake.
Let us start off by explaining that we are not passing judgment in the Aquille Carr assault case in any manner. Our position is simply that he placed himself in a situation which could have been avoided and that it will have lasting repercussions. We do not pretend to be judge, jury or executioner, so to speak; but we do feel that more recruits need to understand how fragile their scholarship offer is until the day they play their first game in a college uniform.
Aquille Carr poised to take off. Hopefully his mistakes won’t keep him grounded.
The first time we saw Carr play was the 2012 Dan Finn Classic Invitational in New Jersey. College Prospect Network was a brand new company at the time – our website had not even launched yet – and the invitational was the first event that we ever sponsored. The field was loaded with outstanding teams and top-level recruits like Kyle Anderson (UCLA) and Melvin Johnson (VCU) but the lightening-quick PG was by far the most exciting player.
Patterson High School was beaten badly by St. Benedict’s of New Jersey but Carr dropped a game-high 38 points on 13/23 from the field and 5/7 from the three point line.
The 5’7″ junior had a huge smile on his smile through the entire game, stopping only to remind the St. Benedict’s defenders how helpless they were to stop him. In fact, the only people who were happier than Carr were sitting directly behind us and wearing Seton Hall hats and hoodies. And why wouldn’t they be? He was considered a Top 25 recruit by most scouting experts and a Top 50 recruit by everyone else. And, as far as they knew, he was guaranteed to go to Seton Hall.
What nobody in that gym realized, however, was that Coach Kevin Willard and his staff were also pursuing other recruits just in case Carr didn’t end up on campus.
Sterling Gibbs (former Pittsburgh Panther Ashton Gibbs’ brother) is transferring in from the University of Texas and Class of 2012 prospect Tommy Maayan will begin his career as a Pirate this year. Gibbs is applying for a hardship waiver from the NCAA so that he can play this year but, even if he does not get it for the 2012-2013 season, he will be on campus next year and is bigger and better-suited for physical Big East play than the 140-pound Baltimore product.
In addition to Gibbs and Maayan, Assistant Coach Shaheen Holloway makes it clear that “a lot of point guards are really interested” in attending a school with a coaching staff that can develop PGs and get them ready for the NBA as well as Willard and Holloway do. Fellow Class of 2013 recruit, Nigel Johnson, is among the PGs capable of stepping in for Carr.
Carr, like most prospects, usually conducts himself pretty well and does a decent job of keeping everything in perspective, but the Aquille Carr assault case may change all that for him.
Coach Willard has worked hard to improve the reputation of the Pirates basketball program and he may be reluctant to risk undoing all that hard work when the program has two very capable point guards on the way and several more interested in attending. Seton Hall is on an exhibition tour in Spain as we write this so we will see what the Head Coach decides when he returns to the states. But the chances are at least as likely as not that Carr will never end up wearing a Pirate uniform.
Regardless of what happens in the Aquille Carr assault case, another highly-touted basketball prospect will not be accepting any scholarships this season and will probably never play another meaningful basketball game again.
Tony Farmer, the former Top 100 recruit from Garfield Heights in Ohio, assaulted his girlfriend and has been sentenced to three years in prison. He was obviously not thinking about his future as a basketball player on the night he chose to commit the crime and that is the main thing we want you to take from reading this post.
You can be a YouTube sensation, Top-25 prospect and have a signed scholarship but there is always someone waiting right behind to take your spot when you make a mistake.
No matter how angry or frustrated you are in a situation, think about your future and how much you love playing your sport.
When you don’t feel like going to class or studying for a test think about what it is going to feel like if you have to miss a game or you lose a scholarship offer because of grades.
Keep your eyes on the prize. – Even if you don’t go pro, college graduates make over $1 million more than people without a college degree in their lifetimes.
If the jury and judge hand down a verdict in the Aquille Carr assault case that exonerates the basketball star and finds him innocent, we wish him the best and hope that he realizes his dream of playing in the NBA and becoming a star with millions of dollars in endorsements. If he is proven to be guilty, we hope that he serves an example of what not do so that none of you make the same mistake he made.
When it comes to making a good impression on college coaches, athletes need to understand that their off-field behavior can be just as important as their on-field performance.
College coaches realized a few years ago that text messages are the best, most efficient way to reach the recruits they are targeting. The NCAA finally decided to cooperate earlier this year (2012) when they removed restrictions on text messaging and social media contacts to allow college coaches and scouts to send texts almost whenever they want. Of course, ESPN, Twitter, Facebook and every college recruiting blogger in the country immediately weighed in on whether or not colleges would be able to control themselves and be reasonable with their number of texts.
Oddly, we did not hear a single commentator or read a single article about the fact that so many texts could put the athletes in a position where they might say something that would damage their reputation and hurt their recruiting status.
Athletes, put the phone down for a second and stop to think about something: Even if you’re a blue-chip recruit, coaches are not just texting you; they are also texting your backup and your backup’s backup. That’s because they have been burned in the past by recruits who verbally commit and then back out last minute or get into legal trouble or don’t make the grades to get on campus.
In all honesty, they may even think of you as the backup and they may be sending texts to the guy they think is better than you are. You would never know.
College coaches are never comfortable until you are on campus, in uniform and playing in your first game. And probably not even then. In other words, just because you are receiving text messages from a coach doesn’t mean your scholarship is set in stone. That means making a good impression on college coaches with every text, phone call, tweet, Facebook post and email that you send them is vital to securing your scholarship offer.
So, here are some pointers to keep in mind when you are texting a coach:
Do NOT use the “N” word or any other slurs. – You may be surprised that we have to start the list off with this but you would not believe how many athletes use those words when conversing with college scouts and coaches. Athletes get comfortable with a particular coach and begin to think of him/her as a friend, rather than an authority figure. Coaches play this relationship up because it gives them an edge over other schools and, the next thing you know, the athletes starts to use language that they would normally use with their friends. The problem is, college sports programs get in huge trouble when a player says, tweets or posts something that can be construed as racist, sexist or insensitive so they are very wary of athletes who don’t know when to use certain language and when not to use it. Think about the fines and suspensions NBA players have received in the last few years because of inappropriate language. College coaches do not want to have the same thing happen to their program.
Try to spell things correctly and at least make an attempt at grammar. – This one is simple. You all know that players who don’t pass can’t play in games. It may be funny and acceptable for athletes to intentionally misspell words and use slang with their friends but it will make coaches feel more comfortable if they’re confident you can at least get a “C” if you have to write a college paper. (By the way, “conversing,” which I used in the previous paragraph is the correct word. “Conversating” is not a word.)
Do NOT talk about relationships other than a serious long-term relationship. – Locker room conversations should stay in the locker room. Tell your friends or your siblings but don’t mention anything about it to a college scout or coach. Even something trivial like, “Sorry I didn’t text you back Coach. I was on the phone with this chick.” can give that coach the impression that your priorities are not in the right place and that you are not dedicated to your sport as much as you should be. Just don’t mention it.
Don’t reply late at night. – Even if a coach texts you after 11:00pm, don’t respond until the morning. Some of them may just be testing you to see if you stay out late or if you’re out partying the night before a game. Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, wait until you wake up the next morning to respond.
To sum it all up, making a good impression on college coaches is easy if you treat every text message like a job interview. After all, that’s what it is. As we said about Facebook and Twitter posts, if you wouldn’t want your mom to read it, don’t send it.
When we speak to parents and coaches, one of the first questions they ask us is inevitably, “Should athletes be on Facebook and Twitter?” Unfortunately, we’ve all heard the stories about high-profile recruits getting into hot water because they post or tweet something inappropriate but does that mean that it is a bad idea for your son/daughter/team to be on Facebook or Twitter?
As with most things, it all depends on the person.
According to http://www.onlinecolleges.net, 80 percent or more college programs use social media to connect and communicate with potential recruits. That means those websites can be an outstanding tool for athletes to raise their profile and get more colleges interested. But, if the recruit has even one lapse in judgment, the consequences can be great.
As a parent or coach, if you have to ask yourself, “Should athletes be on Facebook or Twitter?” when you think about a particular student, then the answer for that student is probably, “No.”
The risks can sometimes outweigh the reward, especially for high-profile recruits. Athletes who are already receiving attention from Division I programs don’t have as much to gain from having a Facebook or Twitter profile. It is true that those programs use social media sites to connect with recruits but, if they want a player badly enough, they will find other ways to communicate with that recruit. For example, the NCAA recently deregulated rules and restrictions governing text messages and phone calls.
High-profile recruits run a much smaller risk of saying something inappropriate when they know that they are “texting” a coach or scout than they do when they are posting or tweeting things for public consumption.
Under-recruited athletes, on the other hand, need social media websites to reach out to as many college programs as possible. However, even when it comes to them, the answer to, “Should athletes be on Facebook or Twitter?” is not necessarily, “Yes.”
Mid-level recruits are walking a fine line when it comes to recruiting. There is a much larger pool of prospects who are good athletes than there are great athletes so things like academics, work ethic, character and leadership play a vital role in a college’s decision on which player to give a scholarship offer. In other words, high-profile recruits have to do something pretty bad in order to lose their scholarship offers and options. Mid-level prospects can post or tweet something that really hurts their chances, even if it is seemingly innocent.
Take, for example, two 6’4″ power forward with comparable athletic attributes, grades and stats. A smaller school may be interested in both, even though they are under-sized for power forwards. But if one of them tweets something like, “Coach is making us workout with the football team this week. Man, this is some bull.” that can be enough to give the other player the edge.
If a 6’9″ power forward says that same thing, he is still 6’9″; if a 6’4″ player says it, coaches will think he does not have the work ethic, weight room habits and drive to make up for his lack of height.
Because of the possible pitfalls of social media, we advise all high-profile recruits we speak to, especially if they are in the ESPN 150 or a comparable listing of the best players in the country, to limit their public posts and tweets. If they want to use the sites, they should opt for private or direct messages if there is any chance the post will reflect negatively on their character. Once they are enrolled at a university and have talked to their college coaches about the good and bad aspects of those sites, they can resume regular use of the site as long as they keep the guidelines their coaches prescribe in mind. We also tell mid-level recruits and all under-recruited athletes to talk to their coach about what they should or should not post.
A good thing to keep in mind is, if it’s something the athlete would not want their mother to read then it should not be posted anywhere online.
Of course, some prospects are more likely to say or do something that will look badly. Those players should probably pass on those Facebook and Twitter completely. Instead, have athletes promote themselves on a social media site that is built specifically for athletes and does not give them the opportunity to post or tweet something that will hurt their recruiting.
www.CollegeProspectNetwork.com is made specifically with these situations in mind. Our site has all the benefits of social media but there are no public posting or commenting areas for the athletes to say something they will regret. We are also currently working on adding a commenting feature that will allow for sharing and posting through previously-composed texts that cannot be altered. That feature should be available by the end of November 2012.
So, “Should athletes be on Facebook and Twitter?” Maybe and maybe not. But they should all be on College Prospect Network.
For more information about our service, use the Contact Us page on our website.
We received a message from one of our athletes yesterday asking if it would hurt his chances of being recruited if he moved schools between his junior and senior years. Of course, we do not know the details to every situation and we certainly cannot speak for every coach and college in the country but, generally speaking, it should not make a big difference.
The fact of the matter is: If you can play, colleges will want you.
But there are some things you should think about when you ask yourself, “Does transferring my senior year hurt my recruiting chances?’ We will run through the considerations here to give you an idea of the research you need to do before you transfer schools.
*Before we get started, let us start by explaining that we are assuming that all things are equal when you transfer schools. We are not considering transfer from a small school to a nationally-renowned program or the other way around. We also assume you are not moving schools because of athletics, as that is disallowed in most states. We are working under the assumption that you are moving purely because of something like: your parents got transferred at work or maybe just bought a new house in a different part of town. But back to the material…
Ask yourself these questions:
Am I currently being recruited? – If so, colleges will continue to be interested as long as you continue to perform. It really doesn’t matter where you’re playing if they are already interested.
How helpful is my current coach? – If your current coaching staff is very helpful, especially if they have a member of the staff devoted specifically to recruiting, then you should be glad to be in your current situation. Don’t take it for granted; not all coaching staffs are as helpful.
How helpful is the staff at the school you’ll be attending? – Do some research. Many schools post stats of how many college players they produce each year, etc. However, many coaching staffs who are very helpful do not post these stats so you can’t go purely off an internet search. Call the school and ask the coaches how many colleges call and visit them in a typical year and which coaches they are connected with. Don’t be afraid to call a local college program for your sport and ask them what they know and think about the coaching staff at the school you’re considering.
Do the use College Prospect Network? – Obviously, since we are writing this we are going to be biased but the thing about http://www.CollegeProspectNetwork.com is that we require some information from your coaches before we can approve your application to join our site. Even though it only takes about 3-5 minutes for a coach to register on our site and help their athletes get recruited, some coaching staffs are not willing to do that little effort. That will give you an idea how willing they will be to help you when a school calls and asks about you.
Will you play? – Keep in mind that you don’t have to be just a little better than the players you are hoping to replace; you have to be much, much better. The coaching staff at the school you’re considering has been working with the athletes they have for at least three years and they have developed a trust and working relationship with those players. That means you have to win the job without question or you may not get the playing time you were receiving at your previous school.
Can I do anything about it? – If you have to move because your parents are moving or there is something else that you cannot avoid, then you have to make the most of the situation. Don’t be afraid to call the coaches and let them know you are coming and that you fully intend on winning the starting varsity job at whatever position you play. Do your homework first, though. If they have an All-State running back and you’re a running back, then tell them you intend to beat out (the current player’s name) but that you also return kicks or play slot receiver. The same goes for basketball. If you’re a PG and the school has the PG spot secured, tell them you’re a shooting guard who can also play point.
More than anything, keep these two things in mind: “First impression is everything,” and, “Be careful what you wish for.” If you’re situation is good at the school where you are now, then do your best to stay there and maximize your opportunity. If you have to transfer, make sure you make a great first impression. Tell the coaching staff you are coming before you arrive and make it clear that your intention are to win the starting job and play well for them.
Also, make sure coaches from both staffs know when and why you are leaving and that they both remember you. You have a chance to have great feedback from two different coaching staffs and help from them to be recruited so you have an even better opportunity than most to find a college where you can be an impact player.
So, to recap, we can’t provide a comprehensive answer to, “Does transferring my senior year hurt my recruiting chances?” But we want to make it clear that you must always do your best to impress every coach at every stop that you come across. Keep in mind that you never know who is watching.
If you have any questions or would like more specific answers, you can leave a comment here and we will do out best to answer it promptly. You can also send us a message at www.Facebook.com/CollegeProspectNetwork or tweet @cpnsports.
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