Should You Look at Out-of-State Sports Programs?

We hear back from a lot of our CSA Prepstar athletes and parents who we work with that they're amazed at the number of colleges most end up hearing from as a result of our contacts with college coaches.

But they're also surprised that they hear from so many schools that are outside of their region of the country. They hear from interested schools that are two or three states away, or even schools on the other side of the country.

That brings up an important question for prospects: Should you consider out-of-state offers from interested coaches?

Here are a few things to keep in mind as a potential college athlete:

• Remember, you don't get pick the college you'll play for. What do I mean by that? I'm saying that colleges will end up deciding if you're right for them. Unless you're one of the top 100 or so players in the country in your sport, you have to wait for the offer from a school. You can't just "choose" the school and ask them for a scholarship. It doesn't work like that. So, because you don't get to pick the college you'll play for, you need to be interested in any and all offers that come your way. Even offers from schools in another state that you may not be familiar with yet.



• Colleges want the best athletes. And, they'll go out-of-state at times to find them. In fact, being an out-of-state athlete can be a big advantage to you. Some colleges are mandated to have a good variety of athletes from different parts of the country, so you may fit into that plan for them by being as good (or better) than some of their "local" prospects. College coaches at every level, in every sport, want the best athletes. And, they'll go across the country to find them and use an organization like CSA Prepstar to get qualified prospects interested in their opportunities.



• Use the four hour rule. In other words, if you're thinking you wouldn't want to play for a school because it is out of state or "too far away", remember this: Even if you went to school in your home state, if that school is four hours or more away, you probably won't be driving home on the weekends. In other words, you'll be on campus for the majority of the year aside from holiday breaks and summer vacation. So, does it matter if you travel four hours by car or four hours by airplane? My point here is simple: Don't rule out an interested school just because it seems far away. As a college athlete, you're going to be tied to whatever school you go to and not leave campus all that often to come home.



• Take time to find out more about a new interested college. Take interest from a new school seriously, and research the area where they are located and what the school and sports program offers. Here's an example of what I'm talking about: I'm a graduate of California State University, Bakersfield. Most of you probably have never heard of the school. But lets say you're a good basketball player who is interested in playing and getting your business degree. Did you know that the team plays in a new 10,000 seat pro-style downtown arena? Did you know they were now a D1 team? Did you know that the school's business program is highly rated among west coast business schools? My point is this: This school might be a perfect fit for you, but if you don't take the time to find out you might miss out on a great opportunity.

Recruiting happens once in your life. Do your college athletic career a favor by exploring every opportunity that comes your way, and don't shy away from a school outside of your area.

If playing college sports is your goal, you need to be open to looking at any and all colleges that show interest in your abilities.

By the way, if you think you're not getting enough attention from colleges but feel you have what it takes to play at the college level, let CSA Prepstar go to work for you. We work with thousands of athletes from every sport, and have contacts with college coaches who are actively searching for qualified prospects. E-mail me if you have questions, or click here to register.

UPDATED! New Sports Scholarship Opportunities Posted by CSA Prepstar's National Headquarters

Here is a sampling of the most recent recruiting requests that CSA Prepstar has received from college coaches as of July 3, 2007.

If you are a CSA Prepstar athlete and think you might be a good fit for any of these programs, contact your personal CSA Prepstar Area Scout immediately and let them know you are interested.

Not a CSA Prepstar registered student-athlete? Click here to get started.

Here are some of the college coaching requests for this week:

• NY - D3 Volleyball program has full scholarships available for a qualified setter and a qualified hitter.
• NY - D2 Volleyball program has a full scholarship available for a blocker. Minimum height 5' 10" with 20" vertical leap.
• NC - D1 tennis coach has partial scholarship for female singles player with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
• TX - D2 women's soccer program looking for multiple positions still unfilled. New coach just taking over and rebuilding the program, needs interested athletes ASAP.
• OH - D2 women's golf coach looking for one more golfer who can break 80 and be a part of an up and coming program.
• CA - D1 Football program looking for 2009 offensive and defensive line prospects. 6' 4" 250 lb minimum size. Well known coaching staff, full scholarships.
• FL - D1-AA Football program has partial scholarship to give to WR/DB prospects that are recent 2007 grads. Also looking for preferred walk-ons.

Every week, college coaches rely on CSA Prepstar to get them information on athletes from around the country. Make sure you are registered as a verified student-athlete prospect in the CSA Prepstar database as you head into the 2007-2008 season.

College coaches are searching, and you might be exactly what they are looking for.

Now Is the Time to E-Mail Coaches

Last week, a dad who was hoping to start the college sports scholarship recruiting process for his son e-mailed me.

His question was simple: "Dan, what's the best way to get started when it comes to contacting college coaches?"



I had two options that I presented to him. First, I recommended that he look into registering with CSA Prepstar so that we could include his son in our online database for coaches, and start sending information to coaches in the areas that he would want to receive offers from. For only a couple of hundred dollars, its almost a no-brainer for someone looking for fast, wide-spread exposure.



The other thing I recommended, whether or not he let CSA Prepstar start telling coaches about his son, was that he and his son sit down and pick no less than fifteen college coaches to e-mail.





Why e-mail, and why at least fifteen coaches?

• E-mail is quick and free. It's something that both teen and adults feel comfortable sending, and can be a great start to kicking off a conversation with a college coach.



• The more coaches you contact, the more likely you'll hear back from some. Not all, just some. One of the fatal mistakes I see parents and athletes make when they look at college sports scholarship opportunities is that have too narrow of a focus. They have their two or three favorite schools or coaches, and they focus only on those two or three opportunities. That's way too few! You need to be in contact with fifteen schools at a minimum before you have any business being even remotely secure in the prospects for finding an opportunity at the college level. When CSA Prepstar works with an athlete, they send the athlete's profile to several hundred colleges at a time. Why? They realize that not every coach is going to be interested in that athlete. So, in order to get multiple opportunities in front of a family, they distribute the information to as wide an audience as possible.
  
  

If you want a good starting point for this easy-to-do project, use CSA Prepstar's free Campus Visit page. You can get access to every college website in the country, where you can find the appropriate coach's e-mail address and send him or her an e-mail stating that you are interested in their program.

Coaches love to hear from prospective athletes, and now is the right time to start contacting them. They are just beginning their new year of recruiting, and you have time away from the classroom.

Don't just sit there and wait to be "discovered"...get to work so that you can get noticed!

Scholarship Available for 2007 Golf Prospect

Are you a talented female golfer who is still looking for an opportunity at the college level? Here is one of the alerts we got from the college coaches this week:

Eastern Kentucky University
InquirySport: Golf
Gender: Female
AthleteDivision(s): '1'
Athletic Requirements: 4 or lower handicap
Minimum SAT: 900 Minimum
ACT: 21

Comments: Have a full scholarship to award for the fall of 2007. Need a tournament experienced player who knows how to compete. Must be registered with NCAA Clearinghouse and have ACT/SAT score that make her eligible for fall.

If you're interested in getting information on this opportunity and have an updated profile on record with CSA Prepstar, contact your Area Scout immediately or e-mail me at dtudor@csaprepstar.com.

How Early Do Colleges Start Recruiting?

College coaches interact with the CSA Prepstar staff on a regular basis, looking for athletic prospects and letting us know what they need. Here's an e-mail we received from a D1 volleyball coach recently:

Thanks for the continued updates but we are done recruiting for 2008 and
looking at 2009 and 2010.

Please send any prospects you have for the class of ’09.

GO COLONIALS!

Sincerely,

Jojit Coronel, Head Women's Volleyball Coach

The George Washington University

The point of me sharing this letter? Simple. It's critical to get recruited by as soon as possible. After your senior season is completed is probably going to be too late. Your sophomore and junior years are ideal. The summer before your senior season is fine, too, but time is of the essence. If you're sitting there reading this and thinking "my senior season will show everyone who I am and why I deserve to play at the college level", think again. After your senior season, as I just said, is too late.

Contact coaches immediately. E-mail them, call them, send them your video. Getting yourself in front of as many coaches as possible is critical to your chances of playing at the college level.

The e-mail we got from Coach Coronel is just one example of the type of communication that is getting more and more typical. Coaches want to find athletes as early as possible. Do you have the attention of college coaches that you're hoping to be hearing from?

Is It Smart to Commit Early?

There has been a quiet shift in the recruiting landscape over the past two years.

Have you noticed it?

For decades, and certainly up until just a few years ago, athletes and coaches played by a cordial set of rules. Those rules had coaches present their best pitch to their prospects, the prospects would weigh the best options, and announce their decisions at the end of the recruiting cycle.

Then the shift happened. Coaches from all sports, at all levels, kept trying to beat the other guy by a step. And then another step. And another, and another. Before long, the shift had happened. Athletes were committing at the start of their senior year. And then it moved to giving their verbal commitments the summer before their senior year. Now, its not uncommon for a prospect to give their verbal commitment to a coach in their junior year...or even earlier. One D1 program is raising eyebrows by making

a verbal offer to a 14-year old basketball prospect!

Forget the ethical debate of "how young is too young" to start recruiting for college sports. Instead, focus on the underlying reality that I think every athlete should embrace: More and more, today's prospects are looking to commit early.

There are a few reasons for this shift in thinking when it comes to a prospect committing:

Recruiting is stressful for athletes. Because of that, you might be looking for stress-relief in the form of ending the recruiting process early.

Prospects want security. You know recruiting is competitive, and you might be starting to put a priority on enjoying your senior year of high school knowing that your college future is secure.

Colleges are putting pressure on prospects. Earlier application deadlines, stiff competition for admissions, and pressure from college coaches on athletes to give their commitment early to secure their spot on the roster.

With that in mind, is it any wonder that prospects like you are looking - and maybe even expecting - the opportunity to commit early to a program? I'm not just talking about big time college football or basketball, either. Early commitments can happen in any sport at any level - from D1 tennis to D3 softball.

We're starting to get reports in from our athletes who are CSA Prepstar clients that they are getting offers from college coaches as they head into their senior year. Some of our athletes are getting attention from a lot of colleges that have started to contact them now that they know about them and can track their progress in the CSA Prepstar athlete database. "Is this much early talk about an offer normal?" asked one parent? Yes, it is.

Do early verbal commitments "guarantee" that the college will follow through with an actual written offer? Yes. If a coach makes a verbal offer to you as an athlete, they will follow through with an offer. Not to do so would kill their reputations as recruiters, and would hurt their chances of ever signing another athlete in the future.

The big question: Should you accept an early offer, or hold out for something bigger and better? Is that smart, or does it jeopardize your chances to play college sports? We'll tackle that question next in next week's CSA Prepstar Recruiting Expert newsletter.

If you have immediate questions about an early offer you've received, and need expert advice, e-mail me at dtudor@csaprepstar.com. We're here to help.

Its easy to see why early commitments are becoming popular among prospects and the college coaches who are recruiting them. If you're an athlete that isn't getting attention from college coaches, but would like to start getting in front of the right coaches before opportunities are lost, click here.

Available Scholarships for June 19, 2007

Each week, the staff at CSA Prepstar gets calls and e-mails from college coaches who are searching for pre-qualified student-athletes for scholarship consideration. We want to make you aware of these scholarships, and see if you might be a good match for any of these college programs:

• D1 Golf Scholarship in Southeastern U.S.: 90% out-of-state athletic scholarship to award for the fall of 2007. They are searching for a golfer who is looking for a university and a women’s golf program they can be proud to be a part of and who will be an asset to the school and our team. We have a lot to offer at at our University. Our golf program is well-respected in the state and throughout our region. We are a Division I program, and we play a good tournament schedule each season.
• JC Basketball Scholarship in Southeastern U.S.: They have one full tuition scholarship available to the right player. Need to fill this position ASAP.
• NAIA Football - Multiple Scholarships in Midwest U.S.: Looking to complete their roster for 2007, as well as get info on talent for 2008. Minimum 2.5 GPA, 850 SAT, 17 ACT. Partial to full scholarships available. D1, D2 caliber athletes encouraged to contact them ASAP.
• D3 Volleyball Scholarships in Western U.S.: They are in need of two middle hitters/blockers right away with potential of starting this year with no returning middle from 2006 season. Significant scholarship money is available. 5' 9" or taller.
• D2 Men's Soccer Scholarship in Midwest U.S.: Goalkeeper needed immediately at this Division II program. 850 minimum SAT or 18 ACT minimum. Scholarship money available for 2007 high school graduate.

This is a sampling of the coach recruiting requests that have been submitted by college coaches this week to CSA Prepstar. If you are a CSA Prepstar client, please notify your Area Scout of interest in any of these opportunities. If you have questions, please contact Dan Tudor at dtudor@csaprepstar.com.