BELLA VISTA WRESTLING

Recruiting Realities

The following is information I received from a Division II school's athletic director. While all of these are very true, it does not mean there aren't exceptions to these thoughts. The idea here is to keep athletes and parents "grounded" about the possibility of wrestling at the next level, and open minded to other wrestling opportunities at the next level (like wrestling division III or NAIA)

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1. Less than 1% of all high school athletes get Division I scholarships.
    

2. Letters from college coaches mean almost nothing; they are simply keeping a large pool of athletes available. If they want you, they'll call. If they really want you, they'll visit you or fly you out.
    

3. Nobody outside Sacramento reads the "Sacramento Bee". Name in the paper does not equal college interest.
    

4. Most division 1 athletes have been identified by their sophomore year. If you are a junior and don't receive phones calls, you're not a priority.
    

5. College coaches run summer camps to make money, not to find diamonds in the rough. They invite their top recruits personally to these camps.
    

6. If college coaches happen to be in attendance at an event, they are there to see specific kids they have identified as "A" list recruits. They don't attend events to look around at other athletes unless it's by chance.
    

7. If any school offers you a partial scholarship, there's a school out there that'll give you a full scholarship, it just may not be the school of your choice.
    

8. If you want a full scholarship, you will not pick the school, you will simply choose from the schools that picked you (probably DII or DIII). Only prized national recruits choose which school they want to attend for free.
    

9. College coaches don't read letters of recommendation, no teacher/coach is going to write a bad letter. If they're interested, they'll call.
    

10. Don't send video's unless specifically asked for. Don't send highlight tapes that show your kid pinning someone every five seconds. Send an uninterupted block of action, 2 or 3 matches against quality opponents.
     

11. Division I schools are about your kids making them money, graduation rates are around 30% nationally (among all sports). D2 & D3 schools care more about your kid and graduation rates are around 90% nationally (among all sports).
     

12. If you want to be in the recruiting pool, send a one paragraph letter to the head coach (by name, not "To Whom..."). They send back a generic questionaire, fill all these out & that puts you in the recruiting pool. The real trick is that you need to do that for about 400 schools!
     

13. Here's what you do want to do: Get on the "NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse List" available at the councelor's office at school; or go to www.ncaaclearinghouse.net, click through to "Prospective Student-Athletes". Ideally you should do this your freshman or sophomore year.
     

14. www.ncaa.org also has all the information you need about college student-athletes.
     

15. If you send out 400+ letters to colleges (D1, D2, D3), you'll get real interest from about 30 schools, of which maybe 8 will actually call you & maybe offer you a paid trip to visit. You get 5 visits, then you choose (most likely D2 or D3).
     

16. It is critical that you respond to every inquiry about your athlete, keeps you in the pool of recruits.
     

17. Services that will sell you to universities are fine, but dump them if they want to put a highlight tape together instead of real continuous action footage. It's the tell tale sign of a good or bad agency.
     

18. Remember that D2 & D3 schools don't have the budgets that D1 schools have, so they can't afford various "top recruits" lists that are published, so you can get on a short list by getting your information to them.
     

19. D3 schools don't offer scholarships, but they can get you grants, which is still a free education for you.
     

20. Schools want students from all over the U.S. and world, so the farther you're willing to go away to school, the better odds you have of going on scholarship.
     

21. If you receive a phone call, ask specifically what job they hold with the team. Head coaches call the top 10 recruits, 1st assistance call the next 10, and so on. Who you're talking to will tell you where you fall on their list of potential recruits.
     

22. If they offer you a paid visit to their campus that's good; but if they'll fly out to see you first, that means you are a priority for them.
     

23. All divisions of schools can pay for you to come visit their campus. If they say they can't, you're not a priority for them.
     

24. Remember that it's about getting a free education. Find a school at any level that will pay for your education. Get off the name game! UCLA doesn't want you, but Assumption University does, it's a free $80,000 education! And they want you! And you get to play, instead of being a practice partner for someone else.