Many talented athletes end up at lower-profile schools not because they lack ability, but because top programs never see them. Visibility matters more than raw talent: proximity to schools, good highlight reels, ID camps, and constant email outreach are what get you recruited. One Duke recruit got offers by marketing himself to multiple programs instead of waiting to be discovered.
How many players are capable of playing for the top 10 to 15 schools— UCLA, Clemson, Notre Dame, Stanford— but don't actually end up there? Well, if a player is recruited to UCLA but maybe not recruited to Notre Dame, you could assume that that player is probably good enough for Notre Dame. But it does depend on position, style of play, coaches' preferences. But if you try and make this objective and you just zoom out and go, are they the level, like, how good are they? You know, there's a bunch of players that did not get recruited to UCLA then they play against UCLA and they beat them. You don't think there's some players on Fullerton that could have played and done really well at UCLA? Obviously. There are so many good players who are good enough to play at UCLA, Stanford, et cetera, but don't ever end up actually playing there. And there's a lot of reasons for this. Proximity, club level, highlight video, emails, every-touch video, how many ID camps you go to. We have a student at Duke who is a phenomenal player, but they were really proactive towards Duke and other schools. So the question is, what level are you? If you think you are the level to play at the highest level schools, and you think they're just going to come after you, that's going to make your life really difficult because there's a lot of kids who are good enough. The difference tends to be who do they see the most, and to be seen the most, emails, ID camps, highlight video, etc. If you want more help, give me a call. Links in the bio.
