College 101
Getting Recruited Article Type: Quick and Dirty
Every athlete wants to be the next LeBron James and skyrocket from high school straight to the big leagues. Almost every athlete thinks they are good enough to do it, but the unfortunate reality is they’re not. Only 0.03% of male high school basketball players are drafted to the NBA. Out of 156,00 ballers, only 44 make it to the big show. Further, only a couple of those are destined to be superstars, so the odds are actually around 0.001%. We wouldn’t take those odds, but hey, millions of people buy lottery tickets every year even though the odds of winning the jackpot are 0.0000006%, according to the Huffington Post.
For the rest of us, we turn our talents to the amateur career of college athletics, where we think that scholarships grow like weeds and talent can get us into Stanford or UCLA with a 3.0 GPA and 1800 on the SAT.
Needless to say, the myths about the process of recruiting are abundant, and you may think that you are special enough to not get caught up in them. We can help you cut through the obstacles so that you end up at the school that is right for you. Think of yourself as Goldilocks picking the best soup instead of Prince Charming sword slashing through the forest.
Before we get into the myths and how to avoid their traps, we should re-iterate that this process is about finding the school that is right for you. When searching for a school, you should look for one that fits academically, socially, and environmentally. You will go on tours and hear countless accounts from older friends or alumni about how great the college is. You'll compare graduation rates with job placement statistics (or at least your parents will). Because you're a social butterfly, you'll check to see if there is a big fraternity presence on campus or if there is a poetry club. After you check the average temperature for the year, you might decide that 2 degrees Fahrenheit is way too low for your liking. All of these aspects you consider regarding your academic experience should be applied to the athletic side as well.