A Prime Example of How Athletes Get Overlooked

One of our CSA Prepstar area scouts in Florida shared an amazing story with us the other day. It's a prime example of just how easily good (in this case, great) prospects get overlooked by major colleges.

One of the athletes that enrolled in the CSA Prepstar program with Chad Bell, our area scout, is now getting interest from lots of large programs: Florida, Miami, Florida State, LSU...and about 60 other D1 programs around the program.

The athlete's name is Matt Patchan. He plays football, and while he's happy with the way his recruiting experience has unfolded so far, he still hadn't heard from his dream school: The USC Trojans.

So, Chad used the CSA Prepstar registered coach directory to get in touch with Brennan Carroll, the son of Head Coach Pete Carroll and an assistant coach with the Trojans. Chad e-mailed him Matt's Prepstar profile and told him that USC was at the top of his list. All of this was made easier by the fact that USC, like most colleges around the country, are registered with the CSA Prepstar searchable database for college coaches.

Two days later, Chad received a personal e-mail from Brennan. He couldn't believe that they weren't aware of him, and didn't know that USC was the top choice for this prospect across the country in Florida. Coach Carroll gave Chad his cell phone number and told him to have Matt, the prospect, to give him a call.

Here's the point in telling you the story: Sometimes, even highly regarded prospects like Matt Patchan get overlooked by the schools they really want to go to. The old adage that you've probably heard, "If you're good enough to play in college, they'll find you", isn't always true. Much of the time, in fact. Even top recruiting programs like USC let people slip through the cracks from time to time.

If you're a CSA Prepstar athlete, and there is still a school out there that you haven't heard from that you really want to look at, get in touch with your personal CSA Prepstar area scout right away. This is the perfect time of year to make sure that all of your top choices are aware of you and are able to give you feedback as to whether you are a legitimate prospect for them or not.

If you aren't a CSA Prepstar athlete, you should click here to get the process started. If you want to do the work on your own, you can. There are a couple of vital points you'll want to focus on as soon as possible to give yourself the best chance at being recruited:

• E-mail the coach at your "dream schools" and let him or her know that you want to look at playing for their team once you graduate.



• Follow that e-mail up with a phone call within 48 hours. Late morning (coach's time) is the best time, in general, to contact the coach.



• Ask them to honestly assess your talent, and what they think the chances are of you getting a chance to play for them at the college level.



• If they tell you that you probably would not be a good fit, don't lose hope! There are over 1,400 four-year schools out there looking for athletes. You've just taken one step closer to finding the right school for you.
  


• Never, ever, give-up. Keep contacting coaches and repeat the process that I've laid out for you here.

Persistent pays off when it comes to ensuring that you aren't one of those overlooked athletes. Make sure you make your search for the right program a priority on your weekly schedule.