Road to the Show

Many professional athletes are cherished for their innate abilities on the “big stage”. However, many people don’t know the struggles these men and women face when starting their careers at the high school level. This is when high school players begin their recruitment process as well as their trek on the road to “the show”.Becoming a top college athletic recruit requires hard work and natural talent. Many people don’t realize that the college recruitment process relies heavily on networking. In order to catch the eyes of a major college you have to know the right people. The system requires you to not only be highly gifted with athletic talent, but also willing to put in the time to separate yourself from the pack, and into the exclusive, elite group of higher level athletes.“I think I do things that other kids don’t,” varsity basketball guard Jonah Mathews (’16) said. “I workout at four in the morning with my trainer every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”Though the recruitment process varies from sport to sport, the first step is always performing well. Athletes have to prove they can play up to the school’s standard and they have to believe that these athletes can compete at the college level. Recruitment is not a one-game affair; consistent high-caliber play against tough opponents is a must. If an athlete constantly performs well, buzz begins to grow around them. This is a product of the countless hours an athlete spends committed to their craft. All the early practices and late-night workouts finally start to show on gameday.Olivia Lubarsky (’16) is a gymnast headed to Towson University to play National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I gymnastics on a four-year academic scholarship. Despite the scholarship being academic, she received enough attention to earn a walk-on spot and secure a position on the team. A walk-on is when a player has to tryout for the team but in Lubarsky’s case, she is guaranteed a spot.“I went to one of [Towson’s] training camps and I didn’t really stand out,” Lubarsky said. “I was mediocre, but I showed them my great work ethic. During the camp, I crashed on the bars and cracked my sternum, but I got back up. I didn’t cry because I knew how important this impression was. It hurt to breath and it hurt to go upside down, but I kept going.”Once an athlete garners enough attention, colleges enter the picture. In the beginning, a college may send a scout to get a first impression. A college scout’s job is to see if a player is a right fit for their school. Then the scout will report back to the coach of the college team and give their thoughts.However, recruitment continues to become a more regulated business. New rules are implemented every year by the NCAA and many schools have limited their budgets for athletic scholarships. As a result, the entire process becomes more competitive and cutthroat. Certain schools don’t even offer full scholarships for particular sports.Recruitment calendars are also a huge part of recruiting. According to ncaa.org, there are four major periods on the calendar: quiet, dead, evaluation, and contact periods. When there is a quiet period, coaches can’t attend an athlete’s game and can only have face to face contact on the college’s campus. A dead period is when a coach can’t watch a player or have face to face to face contact. In the evaluation period, a coach can’t have face to face interactions, but they can attend a game. Finally, there are contact periods, where the coach can visit the player.If the athlete makes it through that first step, they can get a letter in the mail. This is an extremely exciting moment because this can be the first contact an athlete has had with the college. This letter is mostly asking for the player’s contact information and letting the player know that they are on the school’s radar.After the letter, the scout may appear again. This time the scout will try to find out more about the player in particular. They will do this by interviewing the athlete’s high school coach and interviewing the player just to get more of an idea of if they are right for the school or not. The scout will then watch another game or competition, evaluating even more closely to really make sure they are getting the best player available. A school may be looking at up to 10 players who play the same position at a time to see who they want because teams are only allowed to give out a certain number of athletic scholarships.At this point, if a school is following a player this closely, it is more than likely that other schools are becoming intrigued. The athlete now has to deal with the pressure of performing for multiple scouts each game, trying to balance school, and not let all this new attention go to their heads.For certain sports, players even become ranked. ESPN ranks the 100 best high school basketball players in the nation (Mathews is 72 and varsity center Jayce Johnson (’16) is 83), along with sites like 247, Scout, and Bleacher Report. Colleges will use these tools to find players.Mathews is a top recruit for many schools and is regarded as one of the best players at his position in the nation. For a player like this, recruitment is an ongoing process and there are plenty of options available. Mathews was able to cut his list down to four schools: University of Utah, Gonzaga University, University of Southern California (USC) and San Diego State University.“I’m looking for a good education, a team that wants to win and a school that feels like home,” Mathews said.Johnson is currently a four-star (out of five stars) recruit and the number two center in the state, according to scout.com.“Having coaches that want you and that see your talent is very exciting,”Johnson said.“This summer I blew up and I would get calls all the time. It has been a long process but love it. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s starting to pay off. [But there is] still a long way to go”.After the scouting, the prospective coach gets involved. Sometimes the coach will go and meet the player personally and maybe go to their home in order to make their case as to why the player should choose that certain school. A coach will use many forms of communication to get in contact with the player. This is all during the “contact period”, which is a time where the NCAA allows coaches to make their pitches. Coaches will constantly be in contact with players in order to advertize their school’s program. College coaches spend countless hours talking to recruits; from long phone calls to organized late-night dinners.For example, Lowell Schipper (’16) is a second baseman and is headed to the Division I baseball team at Richmond University in Virginia on an athletic scholarship. He was able to recall all the attention he began to get from schools early last year and chose Richmond after weighing all of his options.“They don’t give full scholarships for baseball anymore,” Schipper said. “The most you will get is around 65%, but that’s it.”After that, the player is probably scheduling visits, which is when the player begins to cut down their list. There are official visits and unofficial visits. Official visits are paid for by the college. This is when players will get shown around and be given the ultimate recruit experience. Unofficial visits are when the athlete’s family pays for the trip but they get three free tickets to the school’s home game.After the whirlwind of recruitment, it’s time for a player to decide. A player really knows they are wanted when they are offered a scholarship, the final arrow in the coach’s arsenal. At this time, a player will choose a school by verbally committing or signing. The difference is big. If a recruit verbally commits there is a chance for them to change their mind. If they sign, it’s a done deal. Now they have arrived at “the show.”