Athletes Overlooked On National Signing Day Still Have Options With Recruit U

Feb. 7, 2008 - PRLog -- Fort Worth, Texas – Football players who believe they were overlooked or forgotten still have plenty of options when it comes to finding the right college football program. Not signing a letter of intent on National Signing Day can be deflating, but for many football players, Recruit U helps athletes fill the void by giving them the best platform to find the best playing opportunities.

The high school senior from Fernley, Nevada, went to extreme options to generate his own fabricated recruiting story, even setting up a press conference to announce he signed with California. “This is a classic story of one person's desperation trying to break into a system that is traditionally old school and out-dated. How many recruiters from any college can say they've even driven through Fernley,” says Mike Popovec, president & CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based Recruit U LLC. “I felt similarly left out when I was a senior in high school and that’s why I have dedicated myself to helping these athletes find better opportunities.”

“Recruit U is the answer to that desperate appeal. Forget paying thousands of dollars to specialized recruiting services. Let our system do the work for you,” adds Popovec.

"Despite their talent, most athletes don’t get the attention of college recruiters – they never get the chance to prove their value. Recruit U helps athletes increase their exposure to college coaches, giving athletes their best chance at making a college team."

At the same time Recruit U helps athletes, it also makes it easier for colleges and universities to identify the best prospects for their sports programs. By using Recruit U, small and mid-size schools can compete with large universities that have hefty recruiting budgets.

Pete Carroll may not come knocking on the Fernley high school Senior’s door anytime soon, but there are plenty of options for him and other players that feel like they been overlooked. One option is definitely to sign up at www.recruitu.com.


REAL OPTIONS AFTER GRADUATION

Depending on your level of academic achievement, a football player can choose to walk on at a school that they have the best opportunity to play their Freshman and Sophomore year. Perhaps even a Division I school with a lower profile, or a Division II program that has difficulty recruiting.  And don’t forget about junior colleges. “Two years playing and training at a JC can transform any athlete to an immediate impact player upon transferring to a four-year university” says Popovec. “Work on your strength and conditioning, position skills, and learn from coaches who can help you dominate other players. Heck, you may grow another two to three inches during these next couple of years.”

”If you look at the rosters at the Super Bowl, about 10% of all players in the Super Bowl came from non-Division I schools. Players who stick to the program and grow into their bodies after 4 or 5 years of college can get their shot after graduation,” emphasizes Popovec.


RECRUITING IS A SNAP

Recruit U offers a unique service to both athletes and recruiters and should not be confused with social networking sites like MySpace.com®, Facebook or Takkle. Unlike these sites, Recruit U provides a safe and secure environment for athletes to post profiles, photos and game footage. This information is accessible only to college coaches and recruiters, who can easily find athletes by name or by searching Recruit U’s athlete database using criteria such as weight, position played or location.

"Social networking sites can be a lot of fun for athletes, but they’re not the best way to get the attention of college recruiters," Popovec stresses, adding that the content on these sites might help athletes make new friends but doesn't help them connect with recruiters.

Recruit U also sets itself apart from other college recruiting sites. "While other sites focus almost exclusively on football and men’s basketball, Recruit U believes other team and individual sports such as swimming, wrestling and volleyball are just as important," says Recruit U COO Jennifer Duell. "And, we are equally and passionately committed to recruiting for women’s sports."

Subscribing to Recruit U allows athletes to create personal player profiles for 26 different sports. Each profile contains athlete information including high school, SAT and ACT scores, GPA, height and weight, sports statistics, a personal bio, photo and several video highlights. Most importantly, each profile will be tailored to the sport(s) the athlete plays, making the site user friendly for both athletes and recruiters.

Coaches and recruiters must register with Recruit U to gain access to the company’s national database of high school and junior college athletes. The registration process is very simple, and every coach who registers on Recruit U will be verified by a Recruit U team member to ensure privacy for athletes and recruiters. Recruit U has already pre-registered more than 20,000 college coaches across the U.S.

Once recruiters have registered and gone through the verification process, they can view player profiles free of charge and can perform specialized searches to aid them in finding the perfect player for their program. For example, a volleyball coach from California can log on to Recruit U and search for athletes who are taller than 5'10'' with a GPA of 3.4 or higher.

Coaches even have the luxury of creating and downloading a virtual roster of athletes, and they can contact athletes directly through the Recruit U site as long as they follow NCAA and NAIA recruiting guidelines.

"Many universities spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to create the same technology that Recruit U provides to coaches for free," Popovec points out. "Recruit U evens the playing field for recruiters who lack a sophisticated, efficient recruiting process."

Aside from the advanced search functionality, Recruit U’s site offers editorial content on topics ranging from baseball pitching techniques to tips for parents to help their child through the recruiting process.

"College sports recruiting doesn't have to be a frustrating process – for athletes or coaches," Popovec says. "By bringing coaches and athletes together, Recruit U is building winning teams."

ABOUT RECRUIT U

Launched in October 2006 by a former athlete, and with subscribers in 25 states, Canada and the United Kingdom, Recruit U LLC is devoted to helping athletes find the best opportunities and to providing college coaches and recruiters with access to a pool of athletic talent that would have otherwise been impossible to find. Recruit U offers a unique service to both athletes and recruiters through its website www.recruitu.com. The company is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Website: www.recruitu.com