Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Focus on what will separate you from everyone else

14 Dec 2025 · 2 min

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In this motivational monologue, Coach Kellis warns athletes that simply working hard in the gym is insufficient to catch a college recruiter’s attention because many athletes exhibit the same level of effort. He outlines four concrete areas—nutrition and hydration, adequate sleep, strong academic performance, and positive character/coachable attitude—that can differentiate an athlete from the pack, but only if the athlete is already meeting the baseline training requirements. Each separator is presented with a stark comparison: athletes who neglect these aspects are likened to being “just like any other athlete,” while those who excel in them become the obvious choice for recruiters. The speaker emphasizes the magnitude of missed gains (80% from poor nutrition/hydration) and the necessity of at least eight hours of sleep for recovery and muscle growth. He also stresses that recruiters will favor athletes with better grades when skill levels are equal, and that a good teammate attitude outweighs talent when character is lacking. The overall message is a call to focus on these four high‑impact factors to truly separate oneself in the recruiting process.

Chapters

If you have a fear of being just like any other athlete out there, the hard truth is you probably are just like any other athlete to a college recruiter. And you might want to justify that by saying, well, Coach Kellis, like, I, I work so hard and I put so much time in the gym and I do all these good things. And I believe you, but the hard truth is, is that so many other athletes are doing the same thing. They're going to the same tournaments, they're putting the same amount of time in, they're doing the same workouts. So you gotta figure out how to separate yourself. Here are 4 separators that you can focus on. The first one, dial in on your nutrition and your hydration. You are leaving 80% of your gains on the table by not eating enough and by not staying hydrated. 80%. You've got to lock in on that. The second thing is sleep. If you are sleeping less than 8 hours a night, you're doing it wrong. You've got to get the sleep in. Your body needs that sleep to recoup, to recover, and to be able to build the muscle that you are working to build. The third thing is getting good grades. If a college recruiter or a college coach took 2 athletes, one has awesome grades, one doesn't, and they have the same skill level and athleticism, they are going to take the one with good grades any day. And then the fourth thing is don't be an a-hole. Be a good person. The same thing, the same comparison. If you take same skill level, same athleticism, but you have a kid who has high energy, super good teammate, super coachable, and then you have another kid who is kind of mean, kind of crappy, terrible attitude, which one do you think they're gonna take? Don't be an a-hole. These 4 things, I promise you that they're going to separate you from the rest of the pack, especially and only if you are already doing the training and the work necessary to be separated.