The 2012 NFL football season starts later tonight which means just about all the fantasy football drafts have taken place and the lineups are set. Obviously, the guys and girls over here at College Prospect Network are huge sports fans so, of course, we have a company league. And believe me, Aaron Rodgers will certainly not be under-valued in our fantasy draft.
But did you know that the Green Bay Packers star quarterback was severely under-valued and under-recruited by talent evaluators coming out of high school?
The short answer is the exact reason that we started College Prospect Network: the current system does NOT work. Every year hundreds of incredible athletes are simply missed by scouts and college coaches but you already know that. Today we’re going to focus on why it happened to him specifically.
Before he was creating a national joke with his Discount Double Check commercials, he was playing quarterback for Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, California. He was extremely skilled but physically he was less-than-imposing. Standing roughly 6’0″ and 180 pounds when his senior season began, he didn’t have the great height and physical maturity to “jump off the page” for college coaches and scouts. But as the season progressed, he put in time in the weight room and hit a growth spurt, reaching 6’2″ and 200 pounds by the end of the season.
The problem is, many college coaches and scouts had already decided who they were going to target so his increased physical prowess went completely unnoticed.
According to ABC’s affiliate station KRCR, an Assistant Coach at Rodger’s high school described the situation like this:
He maintained his confidence and enrolled to play football at nearby Butte Community College. There was still no attention coming from Division I college coaches and scouts until one day, by pure luck, the Head Coach of the California Golden Bears, Jeff Tedford, showed up on campus to recruit another player and happened to notice the blossoming quarterback.
Tedford may have been thinking, “Why was Aaron Rodgers not recruited?” but he was more likely thinking about how lucky he was to stumble across this under-recruited QB on accident.
It seemed like meeting Tedford was the break Rodgers needed. He excelled at Cal, winning the Athlon Sports Pac-10 Player of the Year, setting passing records and building his legacy with a highlight-filled 394-yard, 4 touchdown performance in a 52-49 bowl win over Virginia Tech. He followed that season with a 2566-yard, 24 touchdown campaign the next season and was projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NFL draft but that didn’t happen either.
The San Francisco 49ers took Alex Smith instead.
Rodgers fell to the No. 24 pick and we all know how that worked out:
The thing is, you don’t hear any stories about college coaches and scouts seeing him play and underestimating his abilities. All the evidence seems to suggest that they really just had no idea he was out there. The current recruiting system didn’t work for him in the same way that it doesn’t work for a lot of deserving athletes every year.
We would love to tell you that his story is unique but it’s not. All we can do is promise you that College Prospect Network is here to do everything we can to decrease the number of times it happens.
All athletes have to do is apply and work just as hard on their CPN profile as they do in the weight room and on the court/field. All college programs have to do is take advantage of the free trial period to find the next athlete like this.
If we would have been around a few years ago, the questions would not have been, “Why was Aaron Rodgers not recruited?” but rather, “Why didn’t the so-called recruiting experts know about him before CPN did?”
We’ve been sharing the stories that inspired our founding members to come up College Prospect Network. Last month we posted our Vice President’s personal experience and our CEO’s retrospective about watching his younger brother play football. Our President, Thadd Fifer, wants to start this month off by sharing his vision and the ideas and ideals that make him excited to go to work everyday.
For many of my friends growing up, college was nothing more than a place to continue playing sports. They didn’t see it as the life-changing experience that it is because they did not grasp how important it is to a young person’s develop and life path. So, when they didn’t receive a scholarship offer and sports was no longer an option, they had no desire to attend college or find an alternative route to continue their playing careers. They simply accepted that it was over.
Now that we are a little older they are beginning to realize that athletics are not all there is to life. Education and maturation are even more important for young adults.
I always understood their frustration and discouragement because we all felt like we didn’t get the attention we deserved. Personally, I received offers to play football at several schools in and around Texas but I really wanted to play basketball. Many of my friends felt the same way but we didn’t know how to solve it. We had no idea why the recruiting letters weren’t pouring in and, because of that, we didn’t know what to do differently.
Now, let me clarify something. I am not trying to say that every one of my friends was good enough to play sports in college. That is, in fact, beside the point. The tragedy is that many of my friends tied the idea of college directly to the sport they played. When things didn’t go well in their sport, their sole reason for aspiring to go to college vanished.
Because of that, I have always insisted that College Prospect Network is designed not only to give these athletes an outlet to maximize their exposure but also to “coach” them along the way about how important it is to find the right college program. That means everything from academics to campus size, location, reputation, culture and diversity should factor into their decision. These kids need to understand that colleges offer so much more than an avenue to continue playing a sport. And, just because they are going to have to work a little harder for exposure than some other players, doesn’t mean they should give up. Things will only workout well if they are willing to put in the time and effort.
Take those of them that are interested in owning a business for example; they could have found a Division III college with a great business school. Or, if they really enjoyed drawing, they may have been able to find an interested NAIA coach at a school with a great arts program. In other words, just because they aren’t getting offers from schools who play on national television every week doesn’t mean they shouldn’t pursue their playing careers elsewhere.
After all, an education last longer than sports.
We want to give our athletes the knowledge they need to make a good decision about their future. 17- and 18-year old kids don’t know what they want because they don’t understand how vital college truly is.
They deserve a fair opportunity so, when they are 30 or 40, they can be proud of the decisions they made when they were younger.
College Prospect Network gives all kids, regardless of income, academic background, or race, the opportunity to follow their dreams. All they need is a good work ethic, perseverance and the willingness to listen to us and coaches. While following that dream, they will experience growth, maturity and the education that they will be proud of forever.
– Thadd Fifer
Note: We are currently working to offer some great benefits to our member athletes to help them find internships and jobs while they are in school and after they graduate. It’s a huge part of what we want to accomplish so hopefully we will have some great news about the program within the next couple of months.
I’m not going to post my email address here to avoid spam but, if you want to contact me, please use the Contact Us page on our website. I will respond within 24 hours most of the time.
When we tell high school or AAU coaches that our website, College Prospect Network, is completely free for their athletes, many of them are skeptical and say something along the lines of, “I’ve heard this before. You may not charge them to join the site but you WILL ask for money in the future.” We understand the skepticism because there are other websites out there that claim to be free but they charge money to promote paying athletes ahead of athletes with a free profile.
We don’t do that and we never will. College Prospect Network is truly different and we are here to help athletes and the college programs that need them.
We believe that you will understand why the service is free for athletes and their parents once you get to know us a little better. You may have read our Vice president’s story about what inspired him to start the site and now we would like to share our CEO’s inspiration: his brother.
I played football in high school but I was under no misconceptions about my level of talent. I was good enough to start on varsity for St. John Vianney of New Jersey but I knew that was as far as my football-playing career was going. My brother, on the other hand, was a tremendous football player and could have definitely contributed at the next level.
His name is Pat and he was every bit the athlete that I was not. As a high school junior he was 6’1″ and already weighed 225 pounds. He played all over the offensive line, mostly at center, but the defensive side of the ball was where he truly flourished.
Throughout his time on varsity, he played every position on the defensive line, inside and outside linebacker and both safety spots. He basically did everything except play cornerback. He was a three-year letterman, two-year starter and Team Captain his senior year because of his leadership, work ethic and unbelievable motor.
Every weekend I would leave college and drive to wherever he was playing because it made me proud to watch him play. I remember thinking, “Man, this kid has it all. He’s the total package. Why aren’t colleges beating the door down to sign him?”
The answer was pretty obvious now that I know more about the recruiting process. While Pat did have it all on the field and in the classroom, there was a lot that he did not have. Namely: game film, highlight tapes, a recruiting profile, college coaches’ contact information and a clear idea of how to get his name out to coaches and scouts. The thing is, his natural position was Defensive End but, at 6’1″, he was a little under-sized for top-tier Division I programs to pay much attention to him. The schools that needed to see him were the same schools that didn’t have the budget and manpower to get out to Holmdel, NJ to find him.
Once he graduated I stopped thinking about the fact that he should have been recruited. He has done pretty well for himself so it was never a big deal to me. But then I had a revealing conversation with my father about some of the things he missed about having his family all under one roof. Surprisingly, watching Pat play football was one of the first things he mentioned.
It turns out that my father was just as proud of Pat when he played football as I was but for very different reasons.
My father, who came over from Italy when he was a teenager, never knew much about football and never really cared to learn about it. He went to all my games but it still didn’t resonate with him until Pat started playing. As I mentioned earlier, my brother had tremendous heart. He was one of the most intense, fierce competitors I have ever seen on a field, court or pitch. My father didn’t need to know much about the rules of game to appreciate Pat’s near-maniacal competitiveness; he simply loved to watch my brother attack ball carriers and blockers with everything he had. No matter the play or the score, Pat played as if it was his last time to be on a field.
When I told Pat about the conversation with my father, he agreed that he would have liked to continue his playing career for another four years. It is highly unlikely that he had any potential to play professionally but just having those four additional years would have been great for him. And for my father.
– Dominick Lombardi, CEO – College prospect Network
If College Prospect Network would have been around in time to help Pat increase his exposure to college coaches and scouts, we believe he would have had a solid, rewarding playing career in college. The good news is: it’s here now and your athletes/sons/daughters/friends don’t have to go unnoticed anymore. We are growing every week and so is our capacity to help an ever-increasing number of athletes and colleges.
I’m not going to post my email address here to avoid spam but, if you want to contact me, please use the Contact Us page on our website. Also, if you want to share your story, please leave a comment and we will let you know how to do so.
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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.
We won’t bore you with the entire story of how and why www.CollegeProspectNetwork.com came to be but there a few key elements of our service that make us unique. You’ll understand what we do and why we do it once you understand the people who started the website.
Here is the story and inspiration that drives our Vice President, Jacob Harris, to help as many deserving athletes as possible:
I grew up playing baseball. My father coached me every year until I was 12, when he and my mother split up. After he left I lost all desire to play baseball and decided just to concentrate on school and quit playing sports. Our family also went through a pretty significant change financially so my sister and I had to stop going to private school.
8th Grade was my first year in public school and it was a severe culture shock.
I went from being in a tiny classroom with eight other students in my class to a huge campus with over 300 students in my grade. I knew nothing about public school or how sports were organized so I signed up for regular P.E. classes. The thing is, I was already 6’1″ so it took the basketball coaches about half a minute minute to hear that there was a new tall kid at school.
They came and got me out of P.E., changed my schedule and put me into the off-season basketball class.
Now, I only include that first part to communicate two things to you: 1) I didn’t have a father in the house and my mother knew absolutely nothing about how recruiting or any of that worked, and 2) I had never played a day of basketball in my life. I was literally clueless about the sport until the coaches switched me into the basketball class.
For whatever reason, I took to it pretty quickly though. I stumbled around on the 8th Grade B Team for my first year, started on the Freshman A Team the next year and, by my sophomore season, I even dressed for a couple of varsity games. This is at a Texas-5A school, mind you, the largest classification in the state. I grew to love the sport and became a gym rat but I put all my time into working on my jump shot (40 percent from the three-point line by my sophomore year) and offensive versatility and no time into working on defense, rebounding, or getting my name out to college coaches. I just figured that, if I could score, colleges would find out about me on their own.
Wrong.
By my senior year, I was pretty skilled offensively and, as I expected, the letters and calls started coming. However, they were from tiny schools in Texas that I had never heard about, not from The University of Texas or Duke or Connecticut. I was confused and angry because I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting interest from top-tier schools. I had no idea that there was an entire culture of camps, showcases and tournaments where top players played.
I knew nothing outside my high school games and the mid-level AAU scene in Texas. It never occurred to me that college coaches and scouts simply cannot make it out to every city, not to mention every school. They can’t talk to every coach and player and, even if they could, that would be an incredibly inefficient way to find quality players.
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and all the new scouting websites and blogs out there have made it a lot easier to be seen than it used to be but athletes still don’t know how to promote themselves, interact with college coaches and set themselves up for success.
I didn’t know any of that when I was in school and I am determined to make sure the new generation of athletes have a better understanding of the recruiting process than I did.
Luckily, my grades and test scores were very good so I had some options outside of basketball. I didn’t think it would be a big deal if I gave up basketball. I was offended that I didn’t have offers from big-name programs and decided to “hang ’em up” but I ended up regretting it.
Looking back, it was pretty impressive that I had only played basketball for a few years and I still had offers from some schools. If I had it to do again, I would have taken one of those offers and continued my playing career. Maybe I could have transferred to a top-tier program by my junior year and eventually played overseas. Maybe I would have stayed at a smaller school and graduated with a free college education instead of the student loans I am still paying off. The fact is, I don’t know what would have happened because I didn’t know how to maximize my exposure.
I want to help under-recruited athletes avoid the same mistakes I made. Regardless of whether they are Division I-caliber players who are only getting offers from small schools or NAIA-level players who are being completely missed, these athletes deserve to know and understand their options. Nobody should miss out on an opportunity simply because they aren’t experts at navigating the promotion and recruiting processes.
But, if we’re going to help athletes maximize their exposure, we also need to provide a quality product to colleges. One that they will use repeatedly. www.CollegeProspectNetwork.com is quickly becoming that.
In only six months of operation we have over 300 legitimate prospects, roughly 200 high school and AAU coaches and twenty-something college programs using the site. We are growing every single week because we understand what colleges need to see and what athletes need to do and know. We truly offer a unique service for high school athletes, their parents, their coaches and the college programs who need them.
Best of all, our website is completely and totally free for the athletes and their high school or AAU coaches! And the subscription for college programs is basically the lowest amount we could charge and still cover all our bills. We truly are here because we want to help the under-recruited players and the colleges who need them, not to squeeze money out of parents and athletes who don’t have the knowledge they need.
How many other recruiting services can say that?
– Jacob Harris
I’m not going to post my email address here to avoid spam but, if you want to contact me, please use the Contact Us page on our website. I will respond within 24 hours most of the time.
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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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