For the past several seasons, we've made an attempt to rank the incoming classes for teams across the nation.  The task is never easy, and this year is no exception.  For the schools, investing in athletes today is a bit like investing in the stock (or precious metals) market.  With recruiting taking place earlier and earlier, coaches have to become experts at detecting the traits, abilities and characteristics that will produce a championship athlete two, three, and four years down the road (or six, seven and eight by the time they are college seniors!).  So who's class is rated to…

The college search for athletes is a marathon, not a sprint, and the recruiting process can be, at times, both exhilarating and uplifting, especially when your personal plan is working on all cylinders. That said, even the best executed plans can run into road blocks or even stall completely.

As the fall workouts continue, teams are hard an work to prepare for the coming season. Key veterans are looking to advance from where they left off last spring, while newcomers look to break into the rotations for the coming season. This past summer, we said good-bye to some top athletes at teams across the national. Athletes like UGA's Kat Ding, Bama's Geralen Stack-Eaton, OU's Megan Ferguson and UCLA's Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs have been stars in their respective programs for the past four years. Although it is still early in the preseason, here's a quick summary of the status of Top…

So what is the exact definition of a walk-on athlete and how does this differ from an athlete who receives a scholarship? An athlete who is a “walk-on” is one who has been offered a spot on the roster, but will not be given scholarship money. Unfortunately walk-on spots are sometimes perceived as a step down, but in reality they can be very prestigious and a stepping stone to earning a scholarship in the future. As a coach I always viewed it as an opportunity for an athlete. Once the team members report to practice, it is an equal playing…

Effective communication between prospects and college coaches can be a critical component in the final choice in the college search for high school athletes. That being the case, prospects should try to cultivate this skill early on in an effort to demonstrate their willingness to be an equal partner in the coach-prospect relationship.