Over the last few weeks we have been discussing the Biggest Recruiting Mistakes. This week we are focusing on the third biggest recruiting mistake which is, Making Poor Decisions. Getting into trouble with the law and abusing drugs and alcohol will severely affect your chances of earning an athletic scholarship. People do make mistakes when they are young; however, these decisions reflect your true character to a prospective school. You must exercise discipline and good judgment off the field; schools will equate your off court decision making abilities to your on court personality. There can be physical consequences as well; drugs and alcohol dramatically affect the body’s recovery time and double the chances of injury.
A fairly new area students need to worry about is social networking. Be very careful of posts or pictures on these sites! It could leave a very bad impression if a coach were to look at your profile and see something which is contrary to the type of person they are looking for as an addition to their team. Coaches want dedicated student athletes to be a part of their program who are going to be a good representative of the college. Your Facebook account may greatly affect your scholarship opportunities! Your friends may think it’s funny to post photo’s of you that say inappropriate things but the coaches will not find it funny. That would be a good enough reason to cross you off their list!