Signing Day...

One of the most exciting things for a student-athlete is receiving a verbal scholarship offer. Years of hard-work and dedication led to that moment of you receiving your first scholarship. As signing day approaches, student-athletes must make smart, rational decisions to stay out of trouble and set themselves up in the best case to be successful in the following years. For each sport there is a "National Signing Day", for example D1 basketball is from April 17 to May 15 and D1 football is from February 6 to April 1. There are signing days for every other sports and division, for example the regular deadline for every other D1, D2 and D3 sport besides football and basketball goes from November 14 to August 1. You cannot sign a NLI at any D3 schools because they don't have them. The NLI program is a guarantee of an athletic scholarship and D3 colleges do not have athletic scholarships. Although it is not mandatory, nothing is official until the student-athlete signs the NLI or National Letter of Intent. Signing the NLI means that the student-athlete's journey is over and he is committed to that specific university. As the NLI is signed your college career becomes official, you have made the final step in your journey as a high school student-athlete. In some rare cases, the student-athlete will leave high school early to go to their committed college, the usually train at the college and live there for a few months before their season starts.

The Most Important Part of "The Process"


The biggest part of the process is finding the right college that fits you, no matter what, academics comes first and athletics come second. If you know you are not a five-star recruit or division 1 prospect then you should not contact those schools. Also student-athletes must visit the colleges they are interested in to see if it fits their perfect picture of a college. Starting this process early on can give a student athlete a head start on the whole college process. Knowing what college fits your smarts and skill level as an athlete can also help you after college in the real world. For must people sports do not last forever but getting a job after college is a must, being in the right environment at a college can set a person up to be successful in life after college. 

The Beginning...

The college football recruiting process begins right when the player plays the first snap of high school football. College coaches are watching your every play, your mess ups, your best highlights, everything. Freshman football does not matter as much but if a player is good enough he will get contacted by some coaches his freshman year. All players should make a highlight tape every year including freshman year and on. The most important years for college coaches to look at your film are junior and senior year, this is when you will start attending college days and camps. To Be Continued...