The New Recruiting Process: Adapt or Be Left Behind!
June 30th, 2008 - byEach morning a new article is written in some regional or national newspaper about how early the recruiting process begins. Typically the article has a negative spin about the accelerated process and the young age at which college coaches are recruiting potential student athletes. Only this morning, this article was written in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. I am sure many people have heard about USC offering an eighth grade basketball a scholarship which has seemed to serve as the poster child example for the new early recruiting craze.
While the vast majority of people will agree that recruiting student athletes this early has negative aspects, the fact remains that it is happening more and more everyday. While administrators and parents can spend time trying to fight the new recruiting timetable, the smart parents will find a way to make this work in their son or daughter’s advantage. Knowing how early the process starts, for those student athletes who are truly committed to playing collegiate athletes, would it not make sense to start becoming educated about the process as early as freshman year?
Rather than spend so much time opposing what many consider a negative trend, some parents and families should simply learn how to begin successfully navigating this process immediately. I have often related this new trend to career placement recruiting in college. I would guess that 20 years ago, seniors in college rarely had job offers in hand first semester senior year and most likely waited until second semester. However, aggressive employers and potential employers wanted to get a leg up on their competition and started seeking each other earlier. Even though this might have certain drawbacks, knowing how important a job is, wouldn’t you want to start as soon as possible?
July 1st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
That is a great comparison with how the job market worked 20 years ago. Something that every parent can relate to at one point in their life is the job search process. Why should recruiting be treated any different? Families should use all of the resources they can to make sure they find the right fit. If you can obtain a scholarship to go to college…isn’t it just like picking up a job that is worth over $100,000 over the next 4 years?