10 College Recruiting Mistakes to Avoid, Part 2

Kelly Kulina: Your Link to the Colleges

Last week, I started a discussion on common mistakes that players and parents make in the college recruiting process. All of these “pitfalls” can lead to a major limitation of your opportunities come decision time, and should be avoided at all costs. I’d like to continue that discussion in this week’s entry.

#4) Never Getting a Professional Edited Video and Evaluation

As I mentioned in last week’s entry, college coaches are not able to get out to many games, tournaments or showcase in order to see you play. Instead, many coaches rely on receiving a professionally edited video and a detailed professional scout evaluation from Baseball Factory in order to learn about players and begin recruiting them. From the comfort of their office, they can view video footage of a player and read an evaluation from a source they trust. This is a great way for them to narrow down their recruiting list before spending money to travel and see their top recruits in person.

In addition, the difference between a homemade family video and a professionally edited video is huge. Coaches have very hectic schedules, so they don’t have time to watch an hour-long unedited video of you performing in a game. They want short, quick clips of you defensively, on the mound, or at the plate. Most homemade family videos that are sent to coaches end up in the trash.

Not getting an unbiased professional evaluation can also hurt your college recruiting efforts. Keep in mind that in a college coach’s mind, your parents are biased and your high school coach is biased. Providing a college coach with an evaluation from a professional scout gives him an unbiased opinion that he can trust.

#5) Waiting Until Your Senior Year to Begin Marketing Yourself to Colleges

We suggest that players begin marketing themselves to college coaches the summer before their Sophomore year in high school. Start writing letters to college coaches to let them know of your interest in their program. While they probably won’t be out to see you play or even begin recruiting you heavily, they will start a file on you for their records and will keep up with your high school career on and off the field.

Players who wait until their Senior year to begin the recruiting process are at a major disadvantage, as coaches don’t have nearly as much time to recruit the player. There are fewer times to see the player in person, gather information from other coaches and scouts, and make a true assessment of the players ability and work ethic. It is hard to tell if the player has improved through high school, which is important for a college coach in determining if the player will work hard and improve during his college career.

If you are a Senior and are just now getting started: don’t panic! It is certainly not too late, but you will have to work harder over a shorter span of time. The lesson is, start early and be proactive.

#6) Not Sending Back College Questionnaires in a Timely Manner

If you contact a coach and he sends you a general questionnaire to fill out, make sure to get it back to him as soon as possible. Many players get offended by receiving a general questionnaire from a coach. “Why didn’t he write something personal? Does he not want to recruit me?” The truth is that the coach wants to get more information on you before he starts recruiting you.

College coaches use general questionnaires to gauge a player’s interest and begin a file on a player. If you take your time sending it back, or don’t send it back at all, the coach is going to assume that you aren’t interested in his program. In addition, make sure to send back questionnaires to colleges, even if they aren’t from a school you are pursuing. The more schools that are interested in you, the more leverage you have in the recruiting process. Keep all options open until you are ready to make a final decision.

By now, you should start to see an underlying pattern behind all of these common mistakes. Waiting to be discovered and leaving everything up to chance is the surest way to put a quiet end to your playing career- It is up to you to get the recruiting process started!

Be sure to check back next week when I wrap up my list of recruiting pitfalls.

Kelly Kulina is the Senior Vice President of College Recruiting at Baseball Factory. Kulina is a former Associate Head Coach and recruiting coordinator with the University of Maryland. As a former recruiting coordinator for ten years in the ACC, Kulina has vast contacts and is widely respected throughout the nation. From 1989 to 2000, Kulina coached 46 players who were selected in the MLB draft.