The three questions every college coach asks about a high school athlete

Time and time again, every prospect must face these fundamental inquiries

Parents of high school prospects can rest assured that when college coaches are evaluating their child that three questions will eventually be asked if the coach is interesting in pursuing that prospect:

Can he, or she, play?

Is he, or she, a good kid?

How are his, or her, grades?

The first question, of course, is all about talent.  An athlete either has it or not.  Putting an athlete in the position to be taught by the best, to improve their speed, strength and agility or add to their skills set obviously helps, but talent is in most cases born and an athlete usually either has it or not.  That said, talent is in the eye of the beholder.  Some coaches rate one aspect more highly than another.  It’s unpredictable to anticipate which coach will like what particular talent or skill.  Nonetheless, the talent has to be there, so coaches will consistently ask about it.

The second question encompasses a wide range of issues.  Work ethic, character, citizenship, cooperation, coachable and teamwork all come into play and are under this scope of consideration.  If a prospect has shown armor dents in any of these, that athlete can be knocked off a recruiting white board without much more than a nod and a dry eraser.  To avoid this, parents should talk candidly to their athlete about what is expected of them in each of these areas communicating clearly that when it comes to the scrutiny of college coaches each area has to be planned and then carefully managed throughout their high school career.

The third question is simple – you have done the work and gotten the results in the classroom or you haven’t.  The problem here is that the dynamics in each household are different and if good study habits and a healthy respect for academics hasn’t been established by the time an athlete starts the ninth grade, altering that course is a very difficult redirection to see through.  In such cases, parents and the prospects have to disciplined and dedicated to making the necessary changes.  It may even dictate that an outside counselor assist by following up on how the student is doing and if the parents are indeed holding the student accountable.  Make no mistake, this is truly a big deal.  It is not unusual for the competition for a single scholarship offer comes down to which prospect has the best academic records.