Quick facts: 26% of Division I athletes who entered the portal, matriculated at another school. 10-13% of Division I athletes who entered the portal, matriculated at another school. Spend more time in your recruiting process to find the right school, and don’t rush it. Don’t risk being 1/75% of portal entries. Take your time!

You should have the biggest hand in where your child decides to go to college, especially if you’re paying for it. But at what point are you doing a detriment to your child’s process? Here I’m going to leave small stories of parents who I’ve either heard of or personally experienced in hopes of driving conversation about how to handle your own recruiting process as a parent/guardian!

When it comes to choosing a school, it’s important to find value in the institution. Value can be determined in a number of ways, and it’s individualized. When we talk about finding value, it has to be what’s important to the recruit and the family. With no perfect list: - We look at environment and what makes that ideal for you. - We look at academics because you may not be looking for the Ivy League level of schooling, but still want to make sure it means something. - We look at the people you will be surrounded by. Those are the type of people you will be fitting in with when you graduate and if they don’t fit, you shouldn’t go there. - We look at cost. And it’s not about the fake costs, or initial $$$. It’s about the impact that it has on you and your family for the next four (more/less) years financially. Think about what rent prices are in that city/town because you likely won’t live on campus as a junior or senior. It’s a deeper process than just picking a school with cool colors, as we all know.

There’s no perfect recruiting model that every single player should follow, but the mid-academic year point is a good time to give yourself the end of your Senior Year to relax and enjoy. It’s important to find balance in this process, and that includes giving yourself time to unwind and focus in on college athletics.

One of the things that bothers me so much is that there are college coaches will straight up lie to recruits to try and build a program. Genuine recruiting is definitely present at all levels and the connection with coach has to be that, genuine. If it’s forced or you feel like it’s not a natural connection that could be a huge side that school isn’t right for you. And it’s ok to admit that if it’s a school you’ve dreamt about as a kid, don’t let people fool you.