Best Timing to Get Recruited by Division 1 Schools With Tim Ryerson And Wendy Lynne
Channel: Mental Toughness Trainer
Date: 17/09/2013

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Best timing to get recruited for Division 1 Schools 

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"Yesterday would have been better than today, but today is better than tomorrow",as far as when you should get started.  It is kind of a catch-22, because a lot of times the recruiting process, especially in sports like football and men's basketball, it is pushed off so early.  

Coaches are looking at kids, honestly, at sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, in these sports, especially at the highest levels.  

So the catch-22 is, by the time an athlete is physically, mentally, emotionally ready to start thinking about getting recruited for college, it's too late for them.  

A lot of kids they are going through their life as a young adult and they've got a lot going on.  By the time they get to the beginning of their senior year, they start to seriously think about playing in college.  

It would be great if college coaches would just wait until everyone was a senior and then evaluated them equally and then recruit the ones that are good.  

The problem is the coaches are competing against one another.  It's competitive and they are trying to get an advantage and they are trying to reach the kid earlier and earlier.  

It's becoming such a problem in the last ten years that the NCAA is currently working on some legislation to try to prevent this early recruiting from happening.  There are a couple of things they have done to try to curb this, but it is still a big problem.  

The problem is that the recruiting evaluation is happening during seventh and eighth grade and because of that it is in your best interest to get started as early as possible.  

Now, I would be lying to you if I said you had to do something in eighth grade or you're not going to get recruited.  

But I do think that if you do get started around eighth or ninth grade, it is not essential to get recruited, but the great thing about it is it gives you a year or two to understand the process to learn to adapt to it.  You only get to go through this thing one time.  

If you go through it the right way, it can be an awesome and fun process.  If you wait too late, it can be rushed and stressful.  If you make a mistake here in this recruiting process, it prevents you from playing college sports and you'll never play college sports again.  

There are not many 45 year olds out there playing college sports.  It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you will get that education that comes with it of course is important.  

Sometimes sports help kids get that education.  

The point is that it is a really important thing that you want to get it right, so we always encourage athletes to start early.  They learn and they can understand how the process works, so that when the really important time comes, they are ready.  

Now the second part of your question was is it too late for D1 recruiting?  

That is what I would probably tell some kids that there comes a time when most of the Division 1 spots are full.  Kids that go on to actually play Division 1 sports hear from college coaches at least by their sophomore year.  They are going on visits and getting serious attention from colleges during their junior year.  

Sometimes it is one of those things that people ask us, how do you know if you are a D1 prospect? 

Well it is kind of one of those if you have to ask, then you aren't.  You would know.  I don't know what the kindest definition of pornography is, I don't know how to explain it, but I know it when I see it.  It is kind of the same thing with a Division 1 athlete.  

I don't know how to explain the benchmarks and what the parameters are, but coaches know them when they see them and they recruit them early.  

There is always times when a kidgrows six inches during his senior year and he becomes a Division 1 prospect.  Sure that happens, but for the most part, if you are not seriously recruited in your junior year by Division 1 schools, it is pretty rare that you would eventually go on to be a Division 1 athlete.  

Is it ever too late though?  No.  There are seniors out there that they want to play or their 
parents want them to play.  

Are there Division 1 full rides out there for them?  Probably not, but are there opportunities to play at college still?  

If you really want to go after that dream, it's not too late.  You might not have as many choices and as many options and may not be able to be as picky, but until school starts until you are enrolled into a college, it's not too late.  

There is always something that you can do to help yourself.

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