Avoid the Sophmore Slump with a Focused Recruiting Strategy

Ever heard of the “Sophomore slump”? In the sporting world the Sophomore year is often the year when performance in the classroom or on the field doesn’t quite meet expectations. How do you avoid the Sophomore slump in recruiting? Simple. All it takes is to be prepared and focused!

For most college sports nearly 85 percent of collegiate athletes are identified by college coaches by the end of their sophomore year. This is true because college coaches can only begin making contact after sophomore year. This means coaches are paying attention to what athletes do Freshman and Sophomore year.  Therefore, the goal with preparation and focus is to get noticed. And to get noticed you have to prepare.

“It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that.  It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”  ~Paul “Bear” Bryant

Prepare

The Sophomore year recruiting strategy is to prepare.

• Prepare in classroom.
• Prepare in the weight room.
• Prepare on the practice field.

Why should you prepare? Because, otherwise, if the Sophomore slump gets to you, the only kind of notice you’ll get from coaches will be disappointment. Conversely, if you want coaches to take note of you, you’ll have to defeat the Sophomore slump with hard work.

Focus

This is the year where the recruiting plan that you put in motion way back in back in Junior high really begins to come into focus. Athletes, the focus should be on putting yourself in position to get noticed by college coaches for your performance in the classroom and in the lineup.  Once again, for most sports, coaches begin to take note of and reach out to contact contact prospective athletes following their sophomore year.

Sophomore Year Recruiting Tips
As a potential collegiate level student athlete you’re sure to be prepared and focused your sophomore year if you keep these recruiting tips in mind.

• Play up to your potential, avoid the slump.
• Maintain grades, keeping on track with NCAA core requirements.
• Research list of potential schools
• Create a player profile – update it quarterly
• Start collecting video of game-film and athletic skills footage
• Record accurate athletic metrics
• Work towards goal of starting on the varsity team
• Attend sports camps to continue to improve

Being prepared will help you so say so-long to the sophomore slump. Being prepared will help you get that call or letter of interest after your Sophomore year. So focus on these final recruiting tips is to help you prepare and focus.  Parents and athletes need to know the recruiting timeline. By the time  sophomore year, athletes can receive questionnaire of athletics interest, institutional educational information and camp invites. Personal contact with DI and DII college coaches is not permitted until after your sophomore year.

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Readers are welcome to leave comments to this week’s post or ask questions to be answered in next week’s post.  As always, I can be reached around the clock on twitter @michaelwoosley.

~Coach Mike