NSR Scouts On the Ground Because College Coaches Expect It From Us

Choose to be Evaluated, Not Overlooked, by College Coaches 

Recruiting has changed in big ways which many prospects, parents and their coaches seem blind to. And, for those that cling to the “old” ways, they are missing out on potential college scholarship offers.

College coaches are getting farther and farther away from high school campuses. When was the last time you saw one at your school? Maybe if there is a high-profile, DI prospect playing you will see a coach. Or perhaps the on the rare occasion that a local college coach has a night off you might get a glimpse of him or her sitting alone in the bleachers. But otherwise, college coaches have abandoned high schools and are now exclusively doing their recruiting in two places: their offices and club/travel events.

Technology has opened up a significant time saver for coaches. That is to say, they can sit at their desks and peruse recruiting sites for prospects or accept emails from scouting organizations offering more prospects in thirty minutes than a coach can conceivably scout at one high school event. But, and here’s the rub which prospects, parents and coaches must come to realize — college coaches do not surf the Web for prospects and they do not go to what is called “open-enrollment” sites. Instead, they go to reputable scouting sites and only accept and look at prospects from those companies.

Do it yourself, if you need proof. Go on the Web. Then go to sites which may sound like they would have the most prospects. You know, sites that are owned by big media groups. Then, go through those prospects. Are viable prospects easy to find? No. Do their profiles include info which would make a college coach stop and actually evaluate those prospects? No. That’s because these sites are set up for advertisers, not for prospects. They make money from the sidebar advertisers and could give a flip about whether or not the prospects are actually seen and evaluated. That’s business as usual with these sites.

Then, there are the other open-enrollment scouting sites which require passwords to enter. They look fancy, but coaches find that once inside they are unable to actually find viable prospects to evaluate. That’s because the open-enrollers, or let’s call them low-rollers, don’t care if their clients are real prospects or not. They are only looking at cash flow, not results for their clients. Their reputation with college coaches is not at stake because coaches do not regard them as serious and reliable sources of college prospects.

College coaches are inundated with info from these sites, it’s true, but they only trust a few. NSR is one of those few because our on-the-ground scouts actually vet prospects with the intent of only representing clients with the abilities to be genuine college student-athletes. We do not accept non-qualified prospects. And, we will only represent those prospects which meet our high standards and that college coaches would realistically recruit.

Moving on, club and travel tournaments are where coaches do their in-person scouting. But, and here’s the point: they go to these events to verify talent, not to discover prospects. Coaches learn about viable candidates in a variety of ways, but it is a proven fact that NSR is one of their most trusted sources. For 32 years, we have provided college coaches with top-quality prospects. That is born out in our 90%+ success rate in getting prospects offers. Prospects, in general, who do not enroll with NSR only have a 10% chance of receiving an offer.

Moreover, what you see in the way college coaches scout is the same method NSR practices. We go to these events to scout prospects that we already know about and who want us to scout them. (The next time an open-enrollment company calls you out of the blue and wants to you to sign on with them, ask this simple question: “When was the last tournament you attended and scouted?”) Our on-the-ground scouts really scout, really assess talent, really meet the prospects and do the preliminary work for college coaches which in the end saves them tons of time and recruiting dollars.

When a major tournament is being held, we contact coaches and let them know, too, that we will be there scouting and in turn coaches give a list of prospects to evaluate for them. Then, we send them detailed evaluations. They trust us to do the work which other scouting organizations, especially the low-rollers, cannot and will not do for them. Our scouts talk to college coaches every day. Every day. We call them and talk to them directly about our prospects and about their recruiting needs. We are on the ground, not in the cubicle. We are there, on the ground, where it counts.

Want to be taken seriously by a college coach?  Then contact your nearest NSR scout today. Ask to be evaluated in person. Ask to be interviewed and to have your qualifications carefully considered. Then, if you indeed qualify, watch what happens and how your life will change. Why? Because at NSR, our reputation really matters to us, and to college coaches.