The Buisness of Recruting

As January winds down, and we get closer and closer to Febuary anyone who has taken the time to look at just about any american sports website, or pick up the newest edition of Sports Illustrated has probably noticed alot of talk about college signings and recruitment. This is because on Febuary 1st of each year is the fianl date for high school football players to commit to their college of choice. It is a massive industry in the states as College coaches and High school prospects alike fight for the last scholarships schools have available, and the few top prospects that remain uncommitted To give you an idea how large this industry is in america, on febuary first of each year ESPN has 24 hour coverage of the top signings, and high schools assemble all their students in gymnasiums as their top athletes declare, press conferance style, where they plan to attend for their 4 year career as a college athlete. There are massive websites such as scout.com, or rivals.com that are soley dedicated to following these top high school athletes and trying their best to decypher where they are going to attend, sometimes even going as far as harassing extended family members for insight as to where there relative may be attending(Second-and-third cousins are not usually the best sources of information).

Amari Cooper(WR, Miami, FL)
 Photo Courtsey of Amari Cooper

However it is not just Febuary first where these festivities begin and end. For years leading up to this date high school players do as much as they possibly can to gain exposure in the eyes of college recruiters, which means in alot of cases attending summer camps that universitys will sometimes put on, or traveling to regional combines where players can get their physical stats tested (eg. 40 yard dash, Bench Press, Squat). In recent years The Nike SPARQ combines have become popular with recruits. Also for the elite few that are selected there are all-state, and better yet All-American Games that some can play in. The most popular of these are the Under Armour All American Bowl, and the US Army All-American Bowl, both of which are televised internationally. At these games the top recruits will sometimes declare there intent to attend their school of choice in sideline commitments, in which they usually have hats lined up on a table of the schools that they are considering, and then put on the hat of the school their choice.

At the end of all this chaos, many future college stars are born, and many people are fourtunate enough to have their hard work pay off, through a full-ride all expenses paid scholarship to their school of choice. Some of the top recruits to look out for on national signing day and college game day next year are Dorial Green-Beckham(WR, Springfield, MO), Arik Armstead(OT, Elk Grove, CA), and Stefon Diggs(WR, Olney,MD).