Parents Common Mistakes
Thinking they
understand what is happening.
"Every parent
I ever asked about recruiting stood there nodding their head, 'Yes, yes,
yes,"' said future hall of fame USC Volleyball coach Pat Powers.
"Recruiting is like someone who buys a new car once in a lifetime from
someone who sells cars 50 weeks a year and has been doing it for 15 years. One
doesn't know anything, the other knows everything. Who is going to get the best
of the deal?" he asks.
Rather than acting
knowledgeable, parents must become knowledgeable, by asking questions,
evaluating answers, seeking information and asking more questions.
Ohio State
quarterback Joe Germaine was 1997 Rose Bowl MVP for leading the Buckeyes over
Arizona State. He grew up 10 minutes away from the ASU campus, attended games as
a boy but was not recruited by his favorite school because Jake Plummer was
their quarterback of the future. Plummer had a great career, but only because
Stanford did not want him. Then Cardinal coach Bill Walsh, renowned for his
ability to develop quarterback talent, chose to recruit Scott Frost from
Nebraska instead. But when Frost got to Stanford, Walsh turned him into a
defensive safety. Frost transferred to his home state to play quarterback for
the Cornhuskers.
That is the way
recruiting works. When athletes are in high school, no one knows who will be
selected and who will be rejected, who will play and who will sit.
Thinking they can
evaluate their child's athletic talent.
Howard Garfinkel,
founder of the famous Five Star basketball camp, tells athletes to "seek a
college one level below what you think you are and two levels below what your
father thinks you are." College coaches talk about parents of high school
sophomores wondering if their child can play at our level, then two years later
wanting to dictate playing time."
Everyone who
attempts to project the ability of high school athletes to compete in college
sports makes mistakes. Penn State's Joe Paterno thought NFL running back Eddie
George should play linebacker. North Carolina's Dean Smith rejected NBA star Joe
Smith, and Paterno and Smith
are at the top of their respective
professions. Imagine how often the regular coaches are wrong!
Still, the best assessment of an
athlete's ability will come from people who are very familiar with college play.
Few high school coaches, and far fewer parents, have that familiarity. When they
do, a love of the athlete still can cloud the evaluation.
Losing track of
the importance of a college education and a college degree.
"In choosing a
college, education should be the first consideration, then athletics second, not
the reverse as is so often the case," said legendary UCLA basketball coach
John Wooden. "The college education will be the important part, because it
can be of great service throughout life. He or she will be an athlete for only a
comparatively short time. A limited few play after college, even though they all
think they will.
"Young people
have difficulty thinking about the future," Wooden continued. "Parents
can help them, but to do that parents have to separate themselves from the
thrill of
being recruited." "Will my son
start early?" was, and is, asked more frequently than "Will my son
get a good education?"
Believing
"if a college wants my child, they will find a way to get him/her into
school."
"The academics
of the athlete has been taken out of the hands of the college coaches; 100
percent of the responsibility is on the athlete and the parent," said LSU
men's and women's track coach Pat Henry. Athletes have three basic
responsibilities before they can receive a scholarship: to pass designated
courses with a certain average; achieve a certain score on a standardized test;
and report both results to the NCAA Clearinghouse. Parents can help their
children by overseeing this process, which begins with calling 1-800-638-3731
and ordering a copy of The NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete.
Read the guide at least twice, discuss it with the high school coach and
guidance counselor, then read it a third time.
Thinking that a
letter means a college scholarship.
"We've got
garbage bags full of letters," said the father of a Big Ten recruit.
"They mean nothing, burn them. They don't mean a school wants you, they
just mean you are on a list." A Texas high school coach adds, "You are
not being recruited until someone walks down your sidewalk, sits in your living room and starts showing you
shiny brochures and videotapes."
Yet every year
parents call colleges after the signing period and tell the secretary, "We
thought our child was going to receive a scholarship here." Such stories
are sad, but they can be avoided by understanding the process. The reality is
that football schools have a mailing list of more than 1,000 names per class,
and award 25 scholarships or less; women's volleyball schools have nearly as
many names and usually sign two to four athletes a year. A letter is only an
introduction, not an offer.
Expecting the
high school coach to guide an athlete through the recruiting process.
High school coaches
are paid to be full time teachers or administrators, and receive a small
supplement for their added coaching responsibilities. Their time is taken. Yet
many do a marvelous job promoting and guiding athletes, not just their own but
even those from other schools. At the same time, other coaches hate the
"selling" side of recruiting. "If I wanted to sell, I'd be in
business making a lot of money," they figure.
Parents must
discuss the process with the coach, find out what has to be done and what the
coach is willing to do. What remains? What can the athlete do? The parents? How
will the right colleges see the athletes? Can friends help? Does a scholarship
marketing organization make senses?
Now, is the time
for you to investigate all these issues. Start working with your child when in
the 9th grade and follow the above advise and below listed time line.
Time Line
