High School Athletic Prospects: Know your end game

Developing a Plan and and Plan B is your best course of action

One aspect of college athletic recruiting which gets little mention is the necessity of high school prospects having an end-game plan as they enter the recruiting arena. As college scouts at NSR, we seldom see it. Instead, most prospects have a Plan A which is good, to be sure. But, every prep student-athlete should incorporate a Plan B, too, which should take into account the various scenarios which may or may not present themselves during the recruiting process and, more essentially, what to do if the Plan A situation never really materializes.

Dreams are admirable, but practicality has its place as well. When entering the recruiting fray, high school prospects should keep their eyes and their hearts fixed on the top prize – their ideal school. However, so many uncontrollable variances are at play in recruiting. Ability. Size. Speed. Strength. Athleticism. Academics. These and other elements are pieces to the final puzzle which college coaches are constantly attempting to fit together when they evaluate, contact and then eventually recruit high school prospects. The reality is that every high school prospect does not match the needs of the coaching staff at the prospect’s favorite college. That is not to say that the athlete is less capable of contributing at the college level. It may mean, however, that they don’t measure up at that particular level of competition for that particular program.

That’s why high school prospects should begin their goal setting by keeping in mind that if their dream situation fails to surface, what’s next? We are in the recruiting game every day and at every level. NSR scouts are on the ground level and engage with prospects that face every conceivable option. NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA opportunities avail themselves to prospects at unpredictable times. And if prospects have not considered these potential options in the first place, some extraordinary chances can pass them by like a momentum-gaining train.

We encourage high school prospects to shoot for the stars, but to keep their feet on the ground at the same time. Dream schools have dreams of their own and if the two for some reason don’t intersect, the prospect must be able and prepared to move to the next, best train depot and wait patiently for their shot at moving on down the line toward a college athletic career.