Former Division I coach Alex Swenson breaks down three reasons athletes get cut from recruiting lists: not taking coaching, falling apart after mistakes, and grades that don't meet college standards. All three are in the athlete's control.
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There are 3 ways to get crossed off a college coach's list, and 2 of them have nothing to do with how you play. And if you're new here, I'm Coach Alex, a former D1 coach, scout, and recruiter. I've helped thousands of athletes play in college, and I have seen and personally crossed names off for exactly these 3 reasons over and over again. All right, number 1, not being coachable. A coach watches how you or your athlete takes coaching from their current coach. Do they make good eye contact? Do they nod and apply it to the next rep, or do they argue, roll their eyes, or tune out? Here's the truth: a college coach is signing up to coach your athlete for 4 or 5 years. If they can't coach them, none of the talent matters. And number 2, how they respond to failure. A coach drives 3 hours and The play they remember isn't the highlight, it's the mistakes and the 10 seconds after it. Head down, slamming equipment, blaming a teammate or a coach, checked out for the rest of the game. Every athlete fails. Coaches are recruiting what happens next. Number 3, the transcript. Coaches fall in love with the player on the film, pull the grades, and they can't move forward. One is quiet and nobody tells you it happened. The name just disappears from the board. I've seen this time and time again. And here's the good news. All 3 are within your family's control, not the coach's, not a recruiting service's, yours. Talent gets your athlete looked at. This stuff keeps them on the list. Staying on the list is one half. Getting on it in the first place is the other. And that's what the Recruit Ready Challenge is built for— a 30-day plan that gets your athlete organized, visible, and coach ready. It opens this month. Comment recruit and I'll put you on the waitlist. Talk soon.
