I laugh when I listen to recruits who are interviewed about their lives. About their choices for school. A linebacker from my high school is being recruitied by 30schools and has narrowed down his list to schools like Georgia, USC, Penn State, Tenneseee, Michigan and North Carolina...Not a bad list. I have also been informed that many schools operate in the grey area...not that that should be a surprise.
Recruits are so happy and proud to rattle off that list of schools. What I don't understand is how athletes can go from hearing "You're the greatest ever, you fit so well in to our system, our campus is perfect for you...you could be the best ever at our school" to pre-season. No one is kissing their behinds in pre-season. I'm sure they must go "but what happened to all of those nice things you said." I'm sure at one point they had to have thought to themselves "what the heck did I get myself into."
What they are told when they are recruited is probably the total opposite of what they will hear from coaches when they get to school. Once they choose their program they become an unimportant freshman. They go from being the big thing at home, with newspaper coverage, blogs, interviews etc. to college where they are just some little freshman.
I like the athletes who don't make a big deal about their recruitment because they understand that being recruited is just part of a process. These players understand that being a top recruit means nothing once they get to college.
What also gets me is how so many of the players who are listed as four and five star recruits will inevitably not do anything at the college level. Many will, but at many of the best colleges the players will just be one of 10 or 15 four or five star recruits. It's not possible for all of those players to be high impact players.
Recruiting fascinates me. I would reccomend reading "Meat Market" by Bruce Feldman. It's a great look into college football recruiting.
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