From Athlete to Recruit: Maurice Pleasant on What Parents Need to Know About Sports Recruiting

Parents, is your teen college ready? Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or excited about your teen applying to college? Do you know what colleges are looking for? And if your kid gets in, do you know what you'll pay for it? College admission has never been so competitive or expensive. Shellee Howard will take you on a journey to help you and your teen get college ready. Now here's your host, Shellee.

Hello, parents. This is Shellee Howard, the founder and CEO of CollegeReady. And the host for Parents Is Your Teen College Ready? And this evening I have a wonderful guest I cannot wait to share with you, Mr. Maurice Pleasant. If you could please tell our guests a little bit— or sorry, our listeners— a little bit about yourself.

Uh, certainly. Uh, I'm Maurice Pleasant, known as Coach Pleasant. Been in the sports around arena for 47 years. I'm, I've been a coach for 47 years now. Now don't tell anybody because I still work the past 47, but I've been in this space for a long time. And I was a multi-sport athlete coming up and was recruited to play baseball professionally, but I ended up playing music professionally. But I have older children. I have 3 college graduates, uh, D1 athletes. That I've been privileged to be a father to and also a coach. So I've been in this arena coaching my children but also thousands of other children over the years, and the one thing that I bring to the sports arenas is an understanding of how to get athletes recruited. And there's a lot of information out here where parents are Uh, they don't know and don't have the right information. And of course, things change so rapidly now to where staying on the cutting edge of information is very important when it goes to having an athlete recruited. So what I bring to the table is a platform that gives parents an understanding of how to get athletes recruited.

Wow. So parents If you have a, a child, a teenager who wants to play their sports after high school, this is definitely your podcast. I was a scholar athlete and my two oldest were scholar athletes. So this is going to be a fun conversation. So let's start out with a question I love for listeners to hear. You were recruited. Is baseball your primary sport or were you a multi-sport student? Student?

Well, I was multi-sport. I played football, basketball, baseball, ran track. I was very athletic, but I'm going back to the '70s, so things were a little bit different back then than what they are today. But I was recruited for baseball. I was fairly even in all the sports, but baseball was a sport that I did receive offers to play.

So interesting, right? This is where we have conversations about my kids would say, back in the day, yes, you could play multiple sports and you could actually be good at multiple sports and your body could cross-train and you could actually play for more years because you didn't beat up the same muscle groups. So baseball, was that your true love or was there another sport that you actually enjoyed a little more?

Well, back in my day, I was just active and played sports all year round. So I went from one sport to the other. Baseball was a true love. I happened to be good at it. I was a pitcher and I was able to play against good competition and managed to play against several athletes that went on to play professional baseball. But I loved all the sports. I was just active. Today, you're, you're young, young athletes and things, they have distractions, and we didn't have as many distractions as they have today. So I was able to play all year round and we stayed into it.

So let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the recruiting process. Before the show, we were talking about how parents can feel overwhelmed or misinformed. Can you share some wisdom and maybe help families understand what is the truth about the recruiting process, or what is the wisdom you can share?

Well, recruitment is all about exposure. Uh, this is my opinion and, and from my expertise and what I see that works for me in the space that I'm in. It's all about exposure. The old saying is, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Right.

New saying is, it's not what you know, it's not who you know. But it's who knows you and what you do as an athlete. It does no good for me to know who Coach K is if Coach K doesn't know who I am. So it's all about marketing today. Uh, back in my day, the coaches actually came to the schools to watch you play and, and recruit you. Uh, today it's a little bit different, and we'll— we may get into it a little bit. I'm sure most people have heard of transfer portal. That has changed the whole complexity of high school recruitment because you have older athletes now in that— in the transfer pool, and the college coaches are looking there before they look at the high school athlete. Not to say that the high school athlete can't get recruited, but it, it takes a know-how to get your athlete looked at. Now there's a lot of information out here to where they say you build a Twitter account, X account, and social media, and that's good, but I'm a streamliner. And what I mean by that is, okay, if I build a social media platform, I have to wait on the coaches to see me and come to me, but I have a platform where I have access to all the sports programs where I can take the athlete and put them in front of coaches. So it streamlines the process.

It just, it speeds up the process for sure, I would imagine. So I'm a parent listening and I'm like, well, my child's, I think, pretty good. But honestly, I've met most parents who think their child's pretty good. Do you have a rule of thumb or something that you could give to parents to let them know, are they really recruitable?, is their child really good enough to go through that recruiting process, or would they be better off to stick with their academia and play intramural? Is there any kind of wisdom there you can offer?

Well, certainly. First and foremost, there's no replacement for personal development. And athletes, I know as a parent, a lot of times we feel like, like our athlete is an elite athlete and has the ability to play college sports. And there's a good chance that the athlete is good enough to play because there's different levels. You have the D1 all the way down to junior college, and, uh, you have NAI. So you have different levels to play at, but you have to be honest with your athlete and take a good honest evaluation of the athlete. If they're an elite athlete, then coaches should recruit them if they know about them. Now, unfortunately, high school coaches— now, this is not across the board, but in general, high school coaches do not help enough to have your athlete recruited. So we have to take it in our own hands for our athletes to get the exposure that they need for recruitment. So one of the things advice I can give is that training and personal development is key. A lot of parents are going to camps, a lot of parents are playing club ball, travel ball, and that's all good, but that doesn't guarantee recruitment. So it's important that you take recruitment in your own hands and get your athlete the exposure that they need.

So good, right? You could do it your own taxes or you pay a CPA. There's some truth to just getting it done. I think my question goes a little deeper to when I talk to parents in college ready, I, I hear often that my son would like to play, my daughter would like to play, and they're a junior on JV, right? And so there's some mindset stuff that maybe is not in alignment. Is there a guide that would help parents understand, should I hire a recruiter, a person to help me with this process, or is my child truly not talented to go that route, or is there some evaluation that they can do?

Certainly, evaluation is important. Now, not all evaluators are created equal. Not all recruiters are created equal.

Sure.

So it's good to be able to seek out someone that is good and trustworthy for your athlete. It all starts with the home. You've raised your athlete from the time that they were young, so you've, you've seen them over the years. You know what level they play on. You just have to be honest. Now, having— using trainers and things to get them to be to an elite level, it's worth its weight in gold if the goal is to play professionally or to play at the college level. I would much rather spend money developing my athlete through training and to spend the sum of the money that I see people spend going to camps and travel and those things. I'm going to make sure my athlete is elite, and my athletes Ari Lee. My daughter graduated North Carolina State University gymnastics. She was a D1 athlete, and today she's professional.

Wow.

So, but I spent, from the time she was 4 years old, I spent a lot of time in her development, making sure that the personal development was there. You know, nice to go to camps, it's nice to do the travel and the clubs and things and travel. Yeah, exposure is good. But again, there's no guarantee that the recruitment is there. Now, once you get your athlete to an elite level, it's worth its weight in gold. All you gotta have to do is just show the world who your athlete is and get recruited.

So good. So let's talk about an elite athlete, right? They're a very unique breed. Not everybody is born to be an elite athlete for sure. Do you believe that anybody can be an elite athlete with the proper training?

Well, when you say anybody, we aren't created equal.

Correct.

You have athletes that have natural ability and the natural talent, and then you have athletes who have to really work at it. I do believe that with proper work and proper time and training I believe that most athletes can be elite athletes.

Outstanding.

With time, training, money— training does cost, okay? I chose a different route for myself where I didn't have to pay money, a lot of money for my kids' training, but I have a lot of time into it. I took training up on myself, um, trained my athletes. And, uh, of course I do have money in my daughter's gymnastics, but a lot of money. But my sons who played basketball and the other sports, I would coach.

Okay. I'm learning in that as well. Not everybody's a good coach or a coachable of their own children. So there's all the dynamics right there. So a family who's considering going, or they're looking for a full ride Um, do you know what statistically the chances of that child is of being able to do that?

Well, I'm kind of careful when I guess that, but, um, scholarship, and it's a full athletic scholarship, you only have a small percentage of athletes that get there. Now, if you look across the country at all the different athletes that are out there, I'm a small portion, 1%, 2%. Have to give percentages that will become that elite full ride.

I have parents ask me these questions all the time. And so you're the professional. And the other question I get asked all the time is, um, they get to college, is there a chance for them to walk on? You know the movie Rudy, Rudy Ruediger, or something like this? Parents say, well, if I can just get them in, right, through the academic side, can they walk on? And what are their chances?

Yes, certainly you can walk on, um, approach the right school at the right time. Timing is everything, okay? If you're good enough to play the sport and you walk on at the right time with the right school, you can walk on and play. Generally at D3, JUCO level, you're more prone to walk on and play there versus the D1, D2. Now that doesn't mean that you can't walk on D1 or D2, but usually you walk on D1 and, and play, then they must miss recruiting you some kind of way, or you wasn't speaking loud enough to be recruited. So generally, when you think of someone walking on, it would be the lesser divisions.

Sure. Now, what about, um, the number of scholarships that are given. Um, also been told by many admissions departments that the big money comes from the money-generating sports, which would be football, basketball, so on and so forth. Is that a reality in your world? Are you seeing that to be true?

Oh, certainly it's true. Bigger sports like football and basketball, they generate the most revenue, so therefore you can afford the most scholarships, right?

So if you have a child who wants to be a gymnast and it's not football or basketball, is there any different strategy that you would recommend, or do you do the same exact strategy and just hope that they're elite enough?

Well, the strategy is the same. You just get in front of the right people. Sure. Yeah, to come in relationship, um, about relationships than it is athletic ability sometimes. Okay, there's no replacement for athletic ability, so I don't want to mislead anyone. But you take a person who is an athlete, that's a soccer player, the process is the same. Exposure is the key, and being able to expose your athlete to the right people these schools are recruiting and looking for athletes. Now, how you get in front of the right coach is the question. Um, you know, a lot of athletes are writing letters. They write a handful of letters, 10, 15, 20 letters to coaches. Sometimes they get read, sometimes they don't. So I provide a platform to where I have access to every school out there. So I can put an athlete in front of any school any coach. I think I have something like 5 coaches that I have direct phone numbers and email addresses to. So it's like, uh, it sells like anything else. It's a numbers game. So the more, uh, coaches I get in front of, let them know who my athlete is, the better odds that they will give.

Do you work with all athletes, or are there just certain athletes that you work with?

Well, uh, I work with all athletes. I'm about building athletes is what I do. I teach, train, and motivate. That's part of what I do. I've taken athletes from zero to, so to speak, yeah, zero to hero.

I like it.

You're taking lesser athletes and made good ballplayers out of them. I was fortunate enough to be a pretty good athlete myself. You know, I have several athletes that have made it all the way to NBA, WNBA. I cover most sports, but I primarily coach basketball, even though, you know, I played a lot of football and baseball. But I'm in a basketball space. I have a prep program here in Ohio, and I have multiple basketball teams. I'm a part of AAU and one of the larger AAU programs here in Ohio. So, um, I work with all, I don't leave anyone behind. Not all athletes are created equal, so some take a little longer than others to get, you know, trying to get to, but, um, I do spend time working with all levels of athletes.

And do you work with, um, outside of your geography or is it just strictly where you're located?

No, I have a national presence. So, um, I work with athletes, uh, on a national level and, um, have athletes from all over the country.

Fantastic. And if, if an athlete was looking, think that this is what they want, how can they reach out to you and what would that look like?

Well, I'm very visible. Uh, catch me on Facebook at Coach's Playbook. I have two Facebook, uh, well, I have three Facebook pages. One's a personal page, but, uh, the Coach's Playbook is primarily athletes. That I work with, uh, the coaches. Uh, College Prep Sports is another page that I have. Those two pages are Facebook pages.

Okay, do you have a website?

A website would be collegeprepsports.info.

Got that, listeners? So if you have an athlete that, uh, is really looking to go to college or maybe even beyond, and you're just not sure if they are of the elite status, um, is that the right kind of person that you would love to have a conversation with?

Certainly. I'm having a conversation with an athlete, you do a free evaluation, um, all about motivating athletes regardless of where they're at. Just because, you know, lesser than another athlete doesn't mean that they have to stay where they're at. And, um, I, I talk with them in a way to make sure that they understand the process of, of playing at the next level.

Sure. So important. I mean, you're offering these students— it's just wisdom. There's so much wisdom that you have. Um, being a scholar athlete has not gotten any easier. I remember trying out for the USA softball team, and it was competitive back then, And now it's a whole nother level. So parents, if you're feeling overwhelmed but you know that your child has the talent, please reach out to Maurice and let him do an evaluation. Let him help you to see or even speak to your child to motivate them and encourage them, and then you can see what the result is. So Maurice, any last words or thoughts you would like to share with parents?

Well, um, yes, um, has athletes that are looking to play. One of the first things you want to make sure is that you want to look into the eligibility, uh, you know, have them understand the academic side of it as well. So it's not all about the athletic side, uh, the academic side is equally as important. You know, make sure that this is something that they want to do, pursue, and they're academically in tune. And the eligibility number for recruitment as well, you can get that on the NCAA eligibility website. So making sure that you have that number, and there's a whole host of things that you can follow, um, help you with the process of getting your athlete recruited.

So good. These are wonderful resources. The NCAA is a great place to start. You don't want to, um, have those rules. That's what I know. That'd be a big problem. So thank you so much, Maurice, for being on the show. And parents, is your teen college ready? We're here to support you all the way. You've got this.