Step One; Choosing a College

Most folks are lost in the College recruiting process, right from the get-go. It has been said, “the best place to start is at the beginning”, however most players and parents, don’t know where to start. The best place to start IS the beginning, CHOOSING A COLLEGE. By in large, most student athletes rely on the old adage, “If I am good enough they will find me”. Not a good bet. Choosing a perspective college or school should be done, by first assembling a “Team” to advise you with the process. A good team can consist of parents, coaches, alumni, teachers (they ALL went to college some where), as well as any professional people you may know, (Doctors, Lawyers, Business people, Clergy etc.). The first step to choosing a College is to prepare a list of schools,

You think you would like to attend. Then ask yourself this question WHY? If athletics is the answer, ask your self this question; if I couldn’t play baseball here, for any reason, would I still want to go to school here? If the answer is NO… keep looking.

The single most used excuse, for not doing enough research into a school that we hear is “ he’s only 18 he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life” well it’s time to grow up. A career path or academic game plan MUST be devised regardless of age or maturity; this is in most cases the first ADULT decision most young student athletes have to make. If your hard earned dollars are going to be used to pay for college, or as with most students and parents somebody is going into debt, doing the research into a school up front, can save thousands of dollars down the road. The priority for student athletes in choosing a school should be as follows; Academics, Finances, Environment and Athletics

In the next few weeks we will tackle how to research, but for now get busy picking your team