Recruiting Services Review Part 2

Our recruiting services review started with a couple reasons that they are not necessary. You already have a profile if you have a social media account and that’s a very easy and effective way to connect with college coaches. We’ll say for now that you think that profile is worth it and that you aren’t comfortable talking to college coaches. In Recruiting Services Review Part 2, we will give you a couple reasons that can hurt your recruiting instead of helping.

Reason 2A: Recruiting services contact schools that aren’t interested in you.

One of the most annoying things as a coach is not having athletic scholarship money, and getting emails about a player a rising freshman or sophomore saying they are interested in our program. Really? A rising freshman would commit to a program that doesn’t have scholarship money?  First of all, if a player is good enough to play for us as a freshman, just think how good they will be as a senior. If a player isn’t good enough to play for us, why would we offer them? Not only is there so much that can happen during that time, it would be a waste of time for a school without scholarships to offer a freshman.

When I coached at D1 or D2 programs, I received emails from recruiting services all the time about potential players for our program. The majority of players want a full scholarships. It is easy to find players who want a full scholarship. I want to know players who are good enough and who fit what we’re looking for. These are just players that we ended up inviting to camp to help supplement our pay. We had no intention of recruiting them. I have yet to receive an email or phone call from a recruiting service asking what we’re looking for. They just overwhelmed me with emails that I ignored or deleted. Some even go straight to spam or junk folders. One time I had to tell them to stop sending me emails. It was just annoying.

Reason 2B: Recruiting services contact schools that don’t interest you.

I receive emails daily from recruiting services about potential players for our program.  Many of them say they want to major in areas we don’t have.  You might not think that’s a big deal. Think about when that happens to multiple athletes, day after day and year after year. IGNORE!!! DELETE!!! SPAM!!! I’m not the only coach who is getting them or ignoring them or deleting them.

You are paying a recruiting service to misrepresent you. I really don’t think that’s what you want.  Coaches don’t want to hear from recruiting services.  They want to hear from you. So if your recruitment is important to you, take ownership of it.  Do your homework and do things in a way that represent you well.

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