Hoops

Best College Recruiters

girls*

We would recommend Sam Tomlinson. Has been fantastic working with our daughter, and in recent times has been instrumental in getting gils places at schools like Duke. Highly ethical and not out to rip you off or sell you into rubbish programs like some others.

Janke link above features the story and pathway of successful prospects to div 1 colleges including White, oher men and women. Best source of genuine information for the good of an athlete not an agent with an ulterior motive to make money.

https://www.highperformancehoopsnetwork.com/

Isaac White is at Stanford. Very smart young man with exceptional grades to get in to this school and div 1 basketball. Not easy to do and helped by Mesecke and Janke.

https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/affordability-college-cost/these-10-expensive-colleges-have-free-tuition-or-full-ride-scholarships-for-middle-class-families/

Understood.

They don't offer scholarships in the traditional manner, however can offer financial aid according to needs.

How is he at Harvard when Ivy League schools don't offer athletic scholarships?

^anon's post above triggered my memory on an important issue regarding eligibility and how the US NCAA system and those working within it use terms we consider different in context and description.

It is true, DO NOT SAY YOU USE AN AGENT OR A SCOUT, do not use those terms or reference anything linking to payments or fees in regards to your NCAA application process or anything linked to it.

This will highly likely save you many headaches...

I agree, there are usually plenty of people out there willing to help you with contacting a college coach/assistant, without costs.

You realise paying scouts breaks NCAA rules and makes your kid ineligible?

Don't pay the crooks that feed off the kids.

The good people charge the colleges - if they try to charge you run away.

My brother and I talked about this once. He turned down a college offer early on admittedly but did go on to have a long NBL career, as some would know. He said that prospects should talk with coaches within their club, find a way to get in touch with NBL assistants and even head coaches, and get advice from them. He said that almost every NBL coach would be happy to provide advice and help to dedicated kids.

He was a bit traumatised to think that back when he was younger, our parents might've thought they needed to spend thousands on extra private support for his dream, on top of junior basketball costs - uniforms, interstate trips, etc.

Like I said, he turned down the college offer to go straight to the NBL, but he's spent almost 20 years around NBL players, many of which went to college or got there by other means.

There are dozens of people around clubs, on Twitter, FB, etc that would probably be happy to share their thoughts if you asked them. On here, there's every risk you cop spam I haven't caught. From a skim of this thread, Bear is the only other one with much of a history on Hoops. They've been posting for years.

Don't spend money on companies please. Contact colleges yourself.

It appears you are on the right track, so don't be afraid to contact any assistant coaches at colleges that your daughter is keen on and introduce yourself either.

They are human too, although it may seem daunting and unfamiliar, trust me they get people emailing them introducing kids all the time and they are now used to it.

Obviously, if it is something you want a recruiter to do I would appreciate and understand, but it isn't against any rules for you as a parent to make contact with them, just do it in a polite and respectful manner.

If they are looking for a player like your daughter, they will want more, once you establish communications you can feed them bit by bit, just wanted to throw it out there, good luck!

OP, yes also full games and the more recent the better.

Anon^, it's not within the scope of BA to assist everyone who wants to pursue college ball, they are already vested into those on their elite pathway and the focus is very much in that zone.

Of course they should expand their program and system to help out more people, especially those not in that top bracket, but I guess the funds only go so far, which is why there is opportunity for private companies.

Don't blame BA though, it is what it is...

This shouldn't be done via private companies IMO. Only BA etc. but it sounds like they also are trying to cash in? Shame.

I see since my post you have started on some of these, it isn't an exact science on here is it lol...

Anonymous (OP), just so we are on the same page here, there are some things (like ColCon has already mentioned) that you will need to do or address regardless of whose help you are seeking.

Just a quick list, have you considered or started on any of the following: (this very much depends on the age and level of play your daughter is at)...

1. Confirmed that her schooling is correct to qualify her for the NCAA or Canadian college system?

2. Spoken with her in an open and honest manner to gauge her strength of interest and ambitions, confirming it is her dream and not yours?

3. Received honest and unbiased feedback from independent State or higher level coaches about her prospects and ability?

4. Prepared or have the ability to put together highlight video of her basketball abilities, posted them online in a high resolution and format easy for coaches to reasonably quickly be able to asses her and contact you?

These are just some quick simple things that are almost certainly requirements (not negotiable), if you are not at this stage, you may be jumping the gun...

^^You are correct in almost all of that and there are several posts in these forums indicating similar advice and commentary @ColCon, I will second your comments.

It is why I suggest the OP has some key information missing for us to really help him/her in this topic?

There are so many avenues to the college system these days, technology is your biggest friend, only a few years ago it wasn't as easy to contact coaches overseas, send them links to videos and information about a prospect. Now that is all at your fingertips, and yes there are many different versions of peoples experiences (both in the process and after actually making it and getting to the other side).

The OP, seems to asking only a specific question, 'who can we contact that may help us with recruiting?'

That being the case, everything else at this stage is throwing details at the OP which may or may not already be known to him/her. Not saying the information is wrong, right, bad or good, just that when it comes to this topic it is a subjective one and really, the level of the girl in question dictates what level of success a recruiter will have, not so much how good they may suggest they are at connecting you..

Sorry small mistake in my post above:

"As a general rule the more academic universities are in NCAA D1 (some exceptions in D3), so getting to the better universities generally requires higher academic ability."

should read:
"...higher basketball ability"

Thx

Afterthought. The OP should, as a first step, ensure her daughter will have the 16 core-courses required for NCAA eligibility if that uis where she is intending to go.

A couple of facts relevant to the discussion above:

- the average cost of tuition in 2017/18 in the 350 NCAA D1 schools was $US29k (~$AUD40k). Board & accom is about $AUD18k so the average D1 'full ride' is worth about $AUD60k pa. Harvard tuition was $US47k + Board & Accom so it is about $AUD85k pa). There are no Athletic scholarships offered at the Ivy League schools.

- "Get a rubbish degree that's not worth the paper it’s written on". Depends on where you go. There are 3000+ colleges in the US so yes there are plenty of ones where a degree isnt well recognised. However there are 100's of magnificent universities at the good end. The Times (UK) published their global university rankings today which shows that Aust had 9 universities ranked in the top 200 whereas the US has 60. The piece of paper from them is very valuable. Those students who see the opportunity to get to an excellent university via their basketball can do very well. I have seen many athletes get to a better university in the US, via their sport, than they would have done by staying in Aust. Plus they get the sport and the experience of living in the US. As a general rule the more academic universities are in NCAA D1 (some exceptions in D3), so getting to the better universities generally requires higher academic ability.


To the OP, I'd say do your homework on the college, the coach, the team, the conference, the culture, the location. Know what is important to your daughter (why does she really want to go - basketball/academics/college experience?). Seek help - it can be complicated but making the right choice is critical to a successful 4 years at college. Its not for everyone but can be life-changing for some.

...and before someone points out that my post contradicts itself, I do have direct experience in the process, cheers!

Anon - OP, you sound genuine and I wish you well with your daughter's prospects and future.

Before you start taking advice from a forum like this you would need to provide a little more information, especially some specifics which to be honest may not even be appropriate for a forum in the first place.

That's my way of saying your asking for something which is so subjective it may not be worthwhile, however there are ways for you to start the process within your local area which if I may, I will suggest.

Not knowing where it is your daughter plays, I will presume it is with an Association which has at least some history and connections where people in the past have done what you appear to be embarking on.

The journey itself is filled with humps and pitfalls, however my advice is to find as much information about every aspect of the college recruitment process you can from those within your Association who have already been or are still in that process.

Do this first, exhaust all of your local avenues, speak with people, kids who have come back from college, people who have made contact with US coaches and recruiters and anyone at all with experiences they are willing to share.

You will gain leads, valuable resources and most importantly information, then you can start to make the next move and give up some cash if you need to, however just be careful of the spin and those who promise the world, once you give them the cash (if that's what they want first)!

Now remember this one very important, sometimes hard to swallow fact - 'if your daughter is good enough, you will not need to go very far to gain college interest, it will come to you'

I guess I shouldn't be surprized on here but, a lot of uneducated remarks by people that obviously have no idea.

BA have a free service now. Great initiative, so many companies out there trying to leech off of kids and their parents!

Re Anonymous
Again for those like anonymous 705504 who may be a bit slow, I am not linked to ANZBS in any way other than the service it gave to my daughter. In our case, it was well worth the fee. Shameless would be taking potshots at a company without identifying where you get your insights from or what your interests were.

Oh let’s be honest, amazing experience. Does it make you a better basketballer over staying here? Debatable, but if you can go overseas and play some basketball why wouldn’t you

The ones on here knocking it, that is.

Going to the US as a late teen into early 20s is a dream. Plus the experience there is amazing in terms of campus life. The key is to not be lazy and do one their easy trash degrees. Apart from that aspect I think many Aussies are Ameriphobic.

Your kid should have got a scholarship then. Or gone to a community college, still sounds impressive even though it’s just TAFE

Haven't seen many Aussie college players regret there time in the states.

If you're sole goal in life is to play pro ball, then go to the wnbl and get paid next to nothing.

College means so much more than just basketball.

25,000 lol, I wish it cost that much.

That shameless promotion of ANZBS was just, well, shameless.

Even tuition and boarding at Harvard isn’t $100,000 a year.

Average cost is US$25,000 but alright

Yeah, difficult....
I'd take the 400,000 4 year education.

College is paid for if you get scholarship, what are you on about...

From Australia...

Over 35 girls to D1 this year alone.

Is Div 1 even hard to get into these days. Some of the kids getting offers is crazy

Talk to Darren Smith at BA. He is employed for this exact reason to give the best unbiased advice you can get. A new appointment and with these exact situations in mind.
http://www.bapathways.com.au/about.php

I can only speak from experience with my own daughter. We used https://anzbs.com/ and got multiple offers at different NCAA levels. They also took us through the whole process and into the college of my daughter's choice. Finally, their service exceeded by far their very cheap fee. I guess it is also important to state that I am not associated in any way with the Australia and New Zealand Basketball Scouts company, other than accepting their good service for my daughter.

will she consider division 2 as an option?