eliteathletesrecruiting

Signing Day Is About More Than Signatures

Posted on January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 by eliteathletesrecruiting

February is a month of important dates. Most dates on the calendar people know; Super Bowl (Feb 1), Valentines’ Day (Feb 14), Presidents Day (Feb 16). But, for most senior student athletes there is one very important day in February … Signing Day!

Signing Day is also known in the athletic world as the day athletes sign their National Letter of Intent. It is the day when verbal commitments between college coaches and student-athletes become solidified thanks to a well executed recruiting strategy. (Tip- verbal are not binding until you sign on the dotted lines. College coaches and student-athletes are notorious for verbally committing to more than one college or student-athlete..thus the hats:)

Here’s a quick review of the NLI Signing Day

What is a National Letter of Intent?
A National Letter of Intent is signed by a college-bound student-athlete when the student-athlete agrees to attend a Division I or II college or university for one academic year. Division 3 and Junior Colleges (JUCO) do not have formal signing days (yet). The NLI is a binding agreement between Participating institutions agree to provide financial aid for one academic year to the student-athlete as long as the student-athlete is enrolled in classes and academically eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules.

Off Limits
When a student athlete signs his or her National Letter of Intent ends the recruiting process and competing schools are prohibited from recruiting that student-athlete.

Change Your Mind

Once a student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent she or he may request a release from his or her contract with the school. If a student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent with one school but enrolls in a different college or university, she or he will lose one full year of eligibility. To be athletically eligible the student-athlete must complete a full academic year at their new school before being allowed to compete.

Different Signing Days for Different Sports

Signing day varies by sport. The reason for this is because some spring sports like baseball, softball and track do not conclude until after February 4. Signing day for different sports is April 15. I posted the chart to reference.

Screen Shot 2015-01-23 at 6.48.08 PM — Chart provided by the National Letter of Intent homepage

Good luck to all the senior student-athletes signing to play college ball next year at the college or university of their choice.

Coach Mike Woosley is a National Scouting Director at CSA-PrepStar. As a professional collegiate sports scout Mike works with qualified next level student-athletes to find the right college athletic and academic fit.

Poise over Panic: Prepare for the Unexpected in Recruiting

Posted on January 18, 2015 by eliteathletesrecruiting

I’m a big Ohio State fan. No matter where I’ve lived across the country my Buckeye allegiance has always run true. So, obviously winning the National Championship this season is a great accomplishment, especially considering the tremendous amount of unexpected events that this team had to overcome to achieve their goal; injuries, expulsions, even death to name a few!

I see a lot of similarities between the recruiting process and the recent Ohio State season. There are lots of unexpected events that can happen to throw you off track. But with the right preparation, teamwork, and a little luck, the unexpected can be overcome to reach your ultimate goal of playing sports at the collegiate level.

Anticipate the unexpected

Let me give you an example of what’s happening now for seniors who didn’t anticipate the unexpected. Right now, many senior athletes are scrambling to sign with a college. Many of them didn’t have a recruiting strategy going to start the process so now they are panicking to find an available roster spot. Last minute panic for athletes is never good. Here are a few reasons why.

Last minute panic doesn’t always assure the right fit.
- Many athletes settle for a college because they need both athletic and academic scholarships to afford colleges. As a result, a student -athlete signs with a college without doing adequate research on the available positions he/she can compete for or looking into the quality of academic programs offered. (Athletes- never compromise and sign with a college that doesn’t have the major you want to study! Always seek academics first and athletics second!)
Last minute panic doesn’t always get you adequate scholarship money.
- Be aware colleges will take advantages of desperate athletes. There’s only so many scholarships and only so much scholarship money to go around, so schools will do what they to get the best deal possible.
Last minute panic may result in not getting a scholarship.
- Athletes know that every play ends, every game times out, and every season concludes. The same is true with every recruiting period. Time will eventually run out.

Poise, not panic

We all know that its nearly impossible to avoid the unexpected, it is possible however to avoid panic. In fact, the opposite of panic is poise. Athletes that have poise are able to perform under pressure and adversity.

So, how can you avoid the last minute panic? Simple. Be prepared, work with a team, and hope for a little luck. Follow these simple tips and you’ll be poised for success.

Be prepared for recruiting by designing a game plan.
- Like all good coaches, develop a winning strategy before the game begins and make adjustments accordingly.
Teamwork is necessary for recruiting.
- Games are not won by individuals; teamwork in games! This team may include parents, coaches, school administrators, counselors and recruiting coaches. Please, don’t fool yourself by thinking that you can get a scholarship all by yourself. Every one of your recruiting teammates will have a crucial role in helping you get to the next level.
Luck is defined as success or failure brought on by chance rather than one’s actions.
- Like unexpected events, luck sometimes luck brings you unexpected opportunities. From time to time athletes need a little luck.

A Great Plan Makes for a Great Celebration

To wrap up, look at recruiting like this. Ohio State didn’t win the championship because they had a great player. No, they won because they had a great plan, great team of players and a little luck to help them along the way.

Finally, the recruiting process is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. It isn’t supposed to be stress-filled panic. And most definitely the final months of recruiting shouldn’t be a scramble, but a celebration.

Proof that Stats Matter

Posted on January 10, 2015 by eliteathletesrecruiting

Geometry and Sports

Anyone remember learning how to do proofs in Geometry class? For some of us learning proofs may have happened a long time ago. We learned how to write proofs to show the progressional steps of our work and prove how we arrived at the correct answer. In recruiting it is necessary that you have accurate facts if you are an athletes looking to catch the eye of a coach. Accurate statistical information is an invaluable assets to the recruiting process. Game stats, like proofs, are a series of facts that prove the correct solution to the problem a college coach is looking to solve.

Stats as a Coaching Tool

Unfortunately, too many high-school coaches do a poor job of keeping and posting accurate stats. When scouting prospective college athletes, I see it everyday. One reason I suspect that coaches don’t keep and post accurate stats is simple; stats can highlight a player’s weakness. A lot of coaches are sympathetic to the athlete and don’t want to make them feel bad about their overall performance. But, good coaching is about helping players accentuate their strengths and work on their weaknesses so that they become strengths!

Overall, I believe good coaching includes keeping accurate stats because these stats help players become better players! Ultimately, a coach that does not post stats doesn’t help his/her players and consequently does a great deal of harm to the athletes’ prospect status.

Proofs that Stats Matter

Here are three reasons why stats matter.

First, stats indicate ability to perform. Some athletes are blessed with size or speed. Other athletes have to rely on stats to prove that they have the ability to compete and excel at a high competitive level.
Second, stats provide proof of progress. When an athlete is working on their game stats tend to improve. College coaches use stats to see how you’ve improved your game from week to week and season to season.
Third, stats show strengths and weaknesses. Athletes need to be driven to improve so stats highlight areas to work on. For example, if a batting average that progressively rises shows that you’ve been working on hitting. Or your goal count increases from one season to the next indicates that you’ve been working in the off-season to be more offensively aggressive.

Stats Show You are the Solution

All in all, stats leave a trail for college coaches to follow to determine if you are the athlete they are looking for. Like your high school geometry teacher grading the steps to your answer college coaches are looking to find players to be solution to their problems. So without accurate, thorough and up-to-date stats college coach may never be able to determine if you are the solution.

Share the Responsibility of Stats

One final word to parents. Most coaches, high school or club, aren’t lazy they have many other responsibility than recording and posting game stats. Many coaches have a profession, teach classes, grade papers and try to maintain family life on top of all the team responsibilities. So, if your high school coach doesn’t post stats parents please step-up and offer to help! It just may make a difference in a student-athlete being passed over and a student-athlete presented with an opportunity for an athletic scholarship.

Coach Mike Woosley is a National Scouting Coordinator at CSA-PrepStar. As a professional collegiate sports scout Mike works with qualified next level student-athletes to find the right college athletic and academic fit.

Some Instruction Required. Making sense of the contact period for hopeful college softball players

Posted on January 2, 2015January 2, 2015 by eliteathletesrecruiting

Breakdown of recruiting contact period.

takaratomy-qsteer-2 — College recruiting regulations can be hard to figure out without someone to help direct you through the process. Sometimes rules need to be defined and broken down so they are easier to understand. One rule is the contact period rule.

Have you ever tried to figure out how to put together something without instructions? This Christmas my son got a remote control car from Santa (;0 ) but it didn’t work right out of the box. Some assembly was required. Disappointed, I looked in the box no instructions were to be found. To say the least, it was a bit frustrating. Where do the batteries go? What were the extra wheels for? And why weren’t the remote commands and combinations noted? Without the instructions to direct us my son and I had to figure it out on our own.

High schools softball players, do you know that today, January 2 begins the college recruiting contact period? Are you aware of the guidelines that college coaches must follow as they try to recruit you? If you’re as confused about recruiting as I was trying to put that child’s toy together, then this blog is for you! Here’s a breakdown of what the contact period is, what coaches can do and who can be evaluated during this time.

College Recruiting Contact Period

By definition provided by the NCAA Guide for College-Bound Student Athlete, a for D1 prospective student-athletes contact period is the time frame where, a college coach may have in-person contact with an prospective student-athletes and/or his or her parents on or off the college’s campus. The coach may also watch prospective student-athletes play or visit their high school. Athletes and parents may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone prospective student athletes during this period.*

College recruiting regulations can be hard to figure out without someone to help direct you through the process. Sometimes rules need to be defined and broken down so they are easier to understand. One rule is the contact period rule.

Breakdown of the rule

So what does that mean? Here’s the breakdown in simple terms.

Basically, the contact period is the only recruiting period where a college coach can both evaluate and communicate with a player.
- This is important to know because other recruiting periods have greater contact restrictions.
PSA’s and coaches can talk to one another on or off campus.
- Specifically Junior and Seniors
Coaches can evaluate players by watching games or practices.
- This includes underclassmen as well. Its a great opportunity to catch a coaches eye!
Contact with PSA can be made through phone, letter, email, text, and social media.
- Underclassmen will only receive school info as noted in my previous blog.
PSA’s can take unofficial and official college visits during the contact period
- Mostly, upperclassmen take advantage of the allotted visits.

A few other important notes. Contact periods are the least restricted of of the four recruiting periods. For many juniors and senior athletes this is also time where scholarship are offered, agreements are drawn up and athletes make commitments to colleges.

Lastly, if all of this is as confusing to you as instructions printed in Korean feel free to reach out to me by leaving a question in the comment section or finding me on twitter @michaelwoosley.

How to Enjoy the Recruiting Experience Your Senior Year

Posted on December 27, 2014December 27, 2014 by eliteathletesrecruiting

Almost every athletic competition has time constraints. For example, soccer has two 45 minute halves, basketball four 8 minute quarters, even track and swimming measure placements by time. Baseball and softball limits games by a specified number of innings. Clearly, time management is vital to every game. Usually, the winning team at the end of the game is the team that managed the clock best. In contrast, the team that does not always relies on last second miracles to pull out the victory.

Last Minute Miracles

Athletes in the midst of their senior year should not rely on last minute miracles to land a scholarship. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that miracles happen, but I’d much rather be confident that everything has been done to assure that victory is certain. Think of it like this. Would you rather hurry and scurry around as the clock winds down hoping to score at the last second or would you prefer to know that victory is eminent as you take a knee allowing time expire and relish the moment of celebration?

Senior year should be one of recruiting celebration not recruiting anxiety.

Often, I speak with parents and athletes who didn’t take the time earlier in high school to design a recruiting plan. For many reasons these folks are in a panic. Each day anxiety builds up more and more because they are aware that the clock is winding down; the phone’s not ringing, no letters are in the mailbox, and no coach’s emails in the inbox. Truly, I feel for these folks because a miracle is the only hope they have for a scholarship offer.

Tips to Enjoy the Recruiting Process Senior Year.

Senior year is supposed to be an enjoyable year, not one of anxiety. Follow these few tips to be certain that you’ve met your goals and victory belongs to you!

Stay true to your recruiting plan. Start working the plan early and stay the course. This is where years of recruiting exposure will pay off.
Keep focused in the classroom and on the field. This is not the time to let your performance slip.
Be familiar with the recruiting timeline. Depending on the sport, calls from college coaches for recruiting can begin in June, July and September.
Know that you can contact college coaches. If they haven’t called you, then you call them. Communicate with as many coaches as possible. Show them that you are interested.
Take official visits to colleges recruiting you. Five official visits are permitted, use them wisely. Make sure you know the academic and athletic expectations for athletes at each school.

NIL Signing Day

When its all over, the goal is to sign your letter of intent in February. Circle this date on your calendar. National Letter of Intent signing day is always the first Wednesday in February. Also note that the NCAA has 346 D1 member schools, 291 D2 and 439 D3 schools all with athletic programs! Many of these programs will not complete recruiting athletes until well into the Spring. Some Spring sports however have extensions, such as softball and baseball. Due to later season play, regular signing period for these sports are typically April 16 through May 21 for Division I athletes. For Division II athletes the regular signing period is April 16 through August 1^st.

Want to receive the Elite Athletes blog as your email? Simply click on the follow button above.

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.

Score Junior Year When the Recruiting Plan Begins to Comes Together

Posted on December 19, 2014 by eliteathletesrecruiting

As a young boy I was a big fan of the A-Team. Regardless of the challenge that faced them, the A-Team always overcame the odds finding success in the plan. I will forever be reminded of that show when I hear the famous line, “I love it when a plan comes together!” Any good plan will come together with the right execution.

In the sports world coaches talk a lot about execution. Good execution requires that you step up to your responsibility and deliver results. In the timeline of recruiting, the Junior year is when the execution of your recruiting plan should begin to come together.

The challenge to execute the recruiting plan for every hopeful college athlete can be daunting. Similar to the pressure of hitting that last second shot, driving in the game winning run, or rushing against the clock to score the game winning touchdown. But, a well prepared athlete, isn’t flustered. They know that hard work, preparation and planning has prepared them to accomplish any objective. So when you’re number is called, you relish the pressure to score one for your team!

SCORE

These tips are sure to help you SCORE that scholarship.

Stay focused on academics by scheduling to take the ACT and SAT test no later than the spring.

Create your junior season highlight video that should include your updated skills video along with quality live game footage

Only send your profile and recruiting video to colleges that match your competitive, geographical and academic interests.

Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center and complete the amateurism certification questionnaire (www.eligibiltycenter.org).

Engage interested coaches by planning to attend sport specific camps and combines.

Bring about Victory

You’re number has been called to execute the plan and bring about victory. The Junior year is when coaches can start to talk scholarship opportunities with prospective athletes. Off campus contact and official visits are permitted for many sports.

Finally, a good plan needs good people to see it through. Don’t hesitate. Contact me to get the help needed to execute your customized recruiting plan. I can be reached around the clock on twitter @michaelwoosley.

~Coach Mike

Avoid the Sophmore Slump with a Focused Recruiting Strategy

Posted on December 12, 2014December 12, 2014 by eliteathletesrecruiting

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.

Want to receive the Elite Athletes blog as your email? Simply click on the follow button above.

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

Crucial Do’s and Don’ts of the Freshman Year Recruiting Strategy

Posted on December 4, 2014December 5, 2014 by eliteathletesrecruiting

Screen Shot 2014-12-03 at 11.31.40 PM — The Freshman years is the year you need to stay focused on your plan.

Every day I talk to parents and athletes that have no recruiting strategy. Every athlete dreaming to sign a national letter of intent has to have a recruiting plan. I shared last week that the key is for your recruiting plan to be put in motion during junior high years. But what about now that you’re a big shot high-schooler?

If you put your plan in motion in junior high you’ll be ready both as a student and an athlete. This helps high school student-athletes be prepared for more than a new regime of classes.

According to the NCAA, you become a prospective student-athlete (PSA) on the first day of your Freshman year. But, don’t expect to get a scholarship offer your Freshman year because college coaches are limited by NCAA recruiting guidelines for contacting Freshman athletes. In comparison to upperclassmen, coaches can only send PSA’s institutional educational information as well as questionnaires, and camp invites. One note to parents, be aware that at this point camp invites are more about bringing revenue to the sports program than evaluating athletes. The reason for this is because most student-athletes will undergo a significant transformations between Freshman and Senior year. Coaches know this too. That’s why the focus of the Freshman year should be to work on the 3 S’s.

3 S’s
Smarter– athletes that are great students are more desirable to colleges. Most schools won’t risk giving a scholarship to an athlete that may not be eligible to play.

Speedier– focus on running, agility, and conditioning drills will make you faster. When comparing two athletes, most colleges go with the smarter and faster of the two.

Stronger– weight training should be a vital part of your fitness regime at this stage. Your body needs added strength to withstand the long season.

Crucial Do’s and Don’ts
The Freshman year is pivotal to the plan you put in motion in junior high. Here are five Do’s and Don’ts to guide you through Freshman year.

Do
-Make grades a priority!
-Start taking the required courses to meet the NCAA 16 core course requirements.
-Research colleges you’d like to play for.
-Email college coaches to ask what it takes to play for them.
-Keep record of your academic and athletic accomplishments at the competitive level.

Don’t
-Worry if you don’t make the varsity team.
-Worry if you don’t have game film or skills video.
-Worry about attending combines or showcases.
-Worry about taking unofficial college visits.
-Worry that you’re phone’s not ringing. (It’s not supposed to …yet)

Again, as a Freshman, personal contact or phone calls initiated by a college coaches from Division I & II programs are not allowed. But the good news is that they are permitted your Sophomore year. Next week, I’ll keep the guide alive by giving you valuable recruiting tips for your Sophomore year.

Please follow the blog and 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

Beginners Guide to College Recruiting

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by eliteathletesrecruiting

Parents of junior high athletes often ask me when they should begin the recruiting process for their son or daughter. Typically, my reply is an emphatic, “Now!” The most frequent response I get from that parent then is, “well, we have time.” Sorry friend, that’s just not true. Here’s why. According to the NCAA student-athletes become college prospects the first day of their Freshman year. So while the goal is not to get a college scholarship in the 8th grade, instead, the goal should be to use the junior high years to get your student athlete prepared for the recruiting process. This week, I’m going to help you come up with that plan as part of my beginners guide to recruiting series.

Parents of young athletes with big dreams need to start planning now.

It may be true that only a select few athletes get on college recruiting boards the first day of Freshman year, it is equally true that you need to start making plans for your student-athlete if he or she ever expects to get noticed by college coaches.

The Junior high years, 7th and 8th grades, are the formidable years of athletic development. This is the time when athletes start to take an interest in favorite sport. Also, it is during the Junior high years talent begins to either blossom or wither.

Look for the 3 D’s
During the Junior high years parents need to look for the 3 D’s. Junior high is a great time to test for the 3 D’s. As a scout, I measure athletes by the 3D’s because they are found in the DNA of elite athlete, The 3 D’s are desire, determination and drive.

Desire– athletes that have an unyielding passion for the game. They eat, sleep, and breath it!
Determination – athletes that motivated by the “have to” effect. These athletes have to master there position.
Drive– athletes that thrive on competition and the relentless pursuit to be the best.

The 3 D’s separate good athletes from great athletes. Good athletes get by on talent. Great athletes put in the work to become great. Almost every athlete has some amount of the 3 D’s, but I’m looking for the student- athlete that has noticeably more dedication to the 3 D’s than their peers. So parents, if your student athlete a shows measurable amount of the 3 D’s then its time to devise a plan.

Plan the plan
Usually, we fail when we fail to plan. If your goal is to get a scholarship to play a sport in college now is the time start making a plan. Remember to keep in mind that plans are flexible, not rigid. So my advice is to devise a plan, work towards that plan, and if necessary, adjust accordingly. Advice that I was given when I was young sums it up completely, “Plan the plan.”

Put the plan in motion
Now that a plan is coming together, start putting that plan in motion. Plan to be in the midst of your plan on day 1 of Freshman year. Here are a few suggestions to consider when putting your plan in motion.

Practice frequently
Get private position coaching
Go to sport specific camps.
Start playing on a competitive travel ball team
Start planning your high school course load.
Excel in the classroom and get good grades. (Only eligible players can play. )
Learn good study habits
Research your local high school, find out how many teams it has (Fr, JV, Var) and get to know the coaches.

All recruiting begins with a plan. These are just some the beginning steps to get you started with college recruiting. Next week’s post of the guide to recruiting with focus on Freshman year. That’s when the real fun begins!

So, if you want to be sure to get all the posts take a moment to click the follow button to make sure you get the entire beginners guide to recruiting sent to your email.

As always, readers are welcome to leave comments to this week’s post or ask questions to be answered in next week’s post. Tweet me around the clock with questions or comments on Twitter @michaelwoosley.

Useful tools to simplify the recruiting process

Posted on November 21, 2014November 21, 2014 by eliteathletesrecruiting

People often ask me what they get if they unlock their PrepStar profile. My response, when you unlock your profile you get amazing tools to help you take control of the recruiting process. Tools make thing easier today. The tools you get by unlocking your PrepStar profile take away the guesswork and help you monitor progress, interest and offers.

Plus, with the PrepStar profile, the headache of keeping track of all paperwork is gone. Say goodbye to trying to stacks of folders and pages of notes to try to track your recruiting contacts. Prepstar makes it simple to keep track of all your college contact in one place. The instructional video below shows you how to use your Prepstar profile to its fullest potential.

Helpful tips this video covers:
1. Building your profile – update your profile in real time.
2. Editing your profile – catch the attention of coaches by adding new information, videos, accomplishments, and transcripts
3. College view– see coaches that are looking at your profile
4. Contacting college coaches– emails of every college coach is preloaded for you! Plus you can email them directly from your profile!
5. Recruiting calendars– contact periods, non-contact periods, signing dates.

Why wait until the last minute to start getting nationwide recruiting exposure? Get started by unlocking your profile today! Don’t know how? Message me so I can tell you how.

PrepStar is an exclusive collegiate sports recruiting organization that qualifies student athletes for college athletic and academic scholarships.

Here’s how you can contact me. Email me at mwoosley@csaprepstar.com, call or text me at 805-622-7827, Tweet me @michaelwoosley on Twitter.