I made many mistakes during my recruiting process many years ago.

As I’ve wrote about before:

The biggest mistake I made: I only considered three schools.

Like most high school players, I wanted to play D1 baseball.

The problem: I wasn't good enough!

I looked at three D3 schools and end up choosing the school that recruited me least.

Why? Because one of my high school coaches (whom I loved) played there.

Luckily, I had a good baseball experience at the school I chose. I improved, played a lot, and helped turn around a struggling program.

But I didn't have a good social experience.

Had I considered more colleges (casted a wider net), maybe I would have found a better OVERALL fit.

Through my role with College Athlete Advantage, I’ve helped many players avoid the mistakes I made.

The player I’m currently working with who is getting the most interest is NOT the most talented player I’m working with…but he IS the player who’s worked the hardest at the process and made the fewest mistakes.

7 Common Mistakes Players Make During the Recruiting Process

No Strategy

The most common recruiting strategy:

Throw a bunch of #$*@ against the wall and see what sticks!

This strategy is perfect for:

• Wasting Time

• Wasting Money

The recruiting process is only efficient and effective by following specific steps:

1. Gathering information

2. Objective evaluation

3. Determining value rankings

4. Building an appropriate list of target schools

5. Promoting yourself to those schools

6. Narrowing the list of target schools

7. Committing to the school that’s your best fit;

Click here for more details on this process.

No Evaluation

EVERY high school player wants to play at a Power Five school and have the chance to play in Omaha every June.

Reality Check: VERY few players have the ability to play Power Five baseball.

It’s CRITICAL to get an OBJECTIVE evaluation to determine what level(s) of college baseball match your skillset.

Objective = Someone who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth.

It’s best to get an evaluation from a former college coach who doesn’t know you very well.

NOT Casting a Wide Net

There are 1700 (give or take) college baseball programs in the country.

How many could you name off the top of your head?

100? 200? 300?

Even if you could name 400 college baseball programs off the top of your head (doubtful), that leaves 1300 you know nothing about!

Do you think that 1 or 2 (or 50) of those schools COULD be a good fit for you?

Absolutely!

If you don’t cast a wide net, schools that could be a great fit will fall through the cracks.

Remember this: The college coach picks the player, not the other way around.

Focusing on Level Over Fit

There’s nothing wrong with setting a goal to play D1 baseball, but statistically playing D1 baseball will likely not be your best fit.

If you don’t consider options at other levels, you’ll miss A LOT of schools at which you would have a GREAT experience.

Even if you have the ability to play D1 baseball, I recommend checking out schools at the other levels as well.

Your best case scenario is having 2-3 top options, at EACH level.

Remember that level is only ONE of MANY factors that play into your college decision. Here are some others:

• Academics

• Location

• Cost

• Campus Life

• Facilities

• Etc.

Fit > Level

No Strategy for Camps/Showcases

Attending camps and showcases can absolutely help with your recruiting process. I recommend camps and showcases to the players I work with all the time.

Attending these events BLINDLY, however, isn’t a good idea.

Here are the stipulations I give my players:

• You must have HIGH interest in the school

• They must be recruiting your position for your grad year

• They must prove that they’ve seen you play (at least on video) and provide positive feedback

I also prefer my players have at least one phone conversation with the coaching staff before committing to the camp.

I wrote a comprehensive guide to help with camps and showcases here.

Here’s a flow chart from the guide:

Ineffective Communication with Coaches

There is a general cycle of communication for the recruiting process:

You need to communicate effectively to move through these steps.

Most players leave conversations open-ended. For example, imagine a coach replies to an introductory email like this:

Johnny,

Thank you for the email. I watched your videos and liked what I saw. We will add you to our recruiting list and keep in touch.

Sincerely,

Coach Smith

This is a positive response because the coach watched your videos, but “keeping in touch” isn’t very specific.

Most players would respond like this:

Thank you, Coach! Looking forward to keeping in touch!

This leaves the process open-ended and does nothing to move the communication cycle from step one to step two.

Here’s a more skillful response:

Coach,

Thank you for getting back to me! I’m glad to hear you liked my videos!

Could we schedule a phone call so I can learn more about your program?

I’m available this Wednesday or Thursday in the evening. Will one of those nights work for you?

Sincerely,

John Smith

The key is this:

ALWAYS ask a question to put the ball back in the coach’s court to respond back to you.

In this case, asking to set up a phone call essentially asks to move the process along from step one to step two.

If the coach doesn’t respond, he’s likely not very interested.

If he does respond and schedules a call with you, now you’ve moved to step two!

Take the Foot Off the Gas after Committing

I LOVE seeing college commitment posts on social media!

Your commitment is the culmination of years of hard work paying off. It’s a moment worth celebrating!

Too often, however, I see players treat their commitment as the absolute finish line.

Don’t fall into this trap!

You commitment is worth celebrating, but if you stop working hard, you won’t enjoy your college experience.

You need to work even harder to get ready to compete at the college level.

As an 18-year-old college freshman, you will be competing against 22-year-old men.

Every player in college was a VERY good high school player.

If you don’t double down on the hard work that led to your commitment, you’re in for a rude awakening.

Don’t make this mistake!

I hope this helps!

Feel free to reply/comment with any questions and/or insights.

All the best!

- Matt

P.S. If you'd like to schedule a free consultation with me to discuss your specific recruiting process, reply to this email or sent me a text at 319-883-0242.