Five articles for those interested in the college athletic recruiting process. Three of them have practical information for families in the recruiting process. If you’re expecting something definitive, be prepared to be disappointed. As usual, so much depends on the individual situation. And there are two “big picture” reads just so that you have no illusions as to what sort of swamp you’re entering.
Softball
What Do College Softball Coaches Want-2015?
Three years ago I looked up the college softball recruiting questionnaires for the then top 12 rated D1 softball programs in the country. The idea was to see what college coaches wanted, or at least appeared to, based on the information they asked from their prospects. This could help players make sure their athletic resumes covered all the important points. And it revealed some interesting tidbits about the schools. So I thought it was time to revisit the topic and see what, if anything, in college softball recruiting has changed.
What the Super Bowl Can Tell Us About College Rankings
In case you haven’t heard, the Super Bowl is this coming Sunday. Sometime during the ridiculously overdone coverage, viewers will see the starters from each team announcing their alma maters. And this has got me thinking. Here you have the two best teams in a championship game based on wins and losses with rosters of players from colleges ranked on wins and losses. Maybe, just maybe, the Super Bowl has something to teach us about rankings including US News College Rankings.
OU Football Coach Supports Paying College Athletes?
If you have even been in a conversation about the role of college sports, at some point someone will talk about misplaced priorities in terms of spending and complain that the football or basketball coach makes more than the university president, much less the highest paid professor on campus. Another person will inevitably respond with that no one pays to watch a professor teach biology. It’s about the money. Since people are willing to pay for it, then the school is justified in spending it.
What to Read to Understand the O’Bannon vs. NCAA Trial
Now I’m not saying you should know what the O’Bannon vs. NCAA trial is about or even care. If you have any interest in college basketball or football, it’s highly unlikely that you haven’t heard about the trial. But if this is all new to you and you start to wonder what all the fuss is about during the expected two-week trial, I suggest reading the following resources.
Free College Admissions Resources You Should Know About: Guides for Athletes and Students with Disabilities
It’s easy to spend a lot of money on books and services to help with the college admissions process. The problem is that families often don’t know enough to know which questions to ask to find the best resources for them. Fortunately, there are a variety of free college guides available that can serve as a place to begin the search.
College Athletic Recruiting: Some Reading Suggestions
There’s a lot of information out there and not enough time to figure out what to read, much less actually read it. So I thought I would suggest a few articles that are worth reading. Some are more “big picture” or “policy” type articles that hopefully you won’t run into playing college sports, but you never know. Others are more along the lines of practical advice recruits and their families need to know.
10 Steps to Help Your Child get Recruited by a Coach
The following is a guest post by Joie Jager-Hyman, college consultant and author of B+ Grades, A+ Applications. Joie was an Assistant Director of Admissions at her alma mater, Dartmouth College, and has a Doctorate in Education Policy.
Many students dream of playing sports on the college level but most athletes don’t know how to get started with the college recruiting process. How can you tell if you’re good enough to play for a university?
Strength and Conditioning for Incoming College Freshman Student Athletes
If you read any books on college athletic recruiting, you’ll come across a section that discusses the biggest surprises to new college athletes coming from high school. I can’t think of a single one that doesn’t mention the dramatically harder strength and conditioning programs. In fact, I’m willing to bet it would come in first by a wide margin over anything else.
“Student-athletes we interviewed overwhelmingly reported that one of the hardest adjustments they had to make was in the level of physical endurance and fitness they were expected to meet to perform at the college level.” From Win a Sports Scholarship
