We're so excited to have you back on the podcast for those of you listening who don't know this is Dave Morris. He's the founder of the college athletic advisor, and we actually teamed up with him on our college recruiting crash course, our self-paced course that we have on our website.

And we're just pumped to talk to you again. I know there are a couple topics you want us to touch on, and so why don't we just dive right in? I know you had said you wanted to talk about the selection committee of one. So for those of you who don't know what that is, I'm unsure of what that is. Can you dive a little deeper into it?

Yeah, people always ask, I'm sure the kids are always like on Instagram, they're saying, hey, how do I know I'm a D1 player? How do I know I'm a D2 player? And the reality is, you're not. It's really down to that specific program and that specific coach.

And so each coach starts with a, you know, some schools recruit a hundred kids to get down to that four or five or six. Some schools, it's a thousand, but they've got to start with a big group and they got to narrow down to the people who are really going to play there.

And, you know, just because you're a really good player doesn't mean that this particular college that you like, you know, the coach is going to see you as a fit. And it's not even about you, right? It can be.

I mean, I haven't, I had a tremendous young woman who's just signed with Colorado Mines, you know, last week. And there was a D3 program and she really liked the coach and the coach said, you know, I don't think you're really going to fit here. I can't support you for admissions from a soccer standpoint, you can come here, grades are great.

And I was blown away, right? Like, I was blown away. I'm a coach. I know that guys, I know the roster. I know this young woman would be a stud for that. And I know the coach and we're friends. I called her up. Let's go on. She goes, you know, we just signed two center backs.

And, you know, this young woman is a terrific center back to, but we're pretty happy with who we got. And we, we really don't, I don't see how we're going to get her on the field and these other students and we're committed to them already.

And so it wasn't a talent thing. It wasn't, it's just, you know, you've coaches are building a roster. They're building a community. And each coach kind of makes their call and soccer talent evaluation, you know, in track, it's pretty straightforward, right? You send out about 10,000 emails.

And then you get them back. And then the kids who can't get into your college and delete those emails. Now you're down to your recruiting group. The kids are fast enough. And you don't have to see them. You don't know what they look like. But like, if you're running a, you know, if you're running a 54 quarter, you know, like most D1 schools want to talk to you a little bit.

In soccer, I mean, how do you assess, how do you assess a center mid like a six? I mean, it's very subjective. And every coach is a little different. And, and if you really want to dive into the weeds and I'll stay away from this mostly, think about the NFL.

They have all this film. They spend millions of dollars evaluating, let's say quarterbacks. And what's their track record on drafting these guys like 30% or a hit and the rest of basically wash out.

And soccer coaches have like 10 minutes and a buck 50. And they got to come, they got to figure out like, you know, 10 different people and then I've taped and then they can't, we can't sit all the potential center mids in a room and make them take an IQ test or a personality test or do higher private investigators to look at what they.

And it's kind of a crapshoot, right? You go watch these kids a couple times, you assess them based on like where they're playing and how they, you know, you kind of know what level they're playing at and think about what they can do. And then you're looking at your own roster, you know, like, if I have three really vertical very fast tall good in the air strikers, maybe that really amazing strikers, just not on my radar.

Like kind of thinking, well, could I make her a center back, at least for a year or two, which you want to do that. And all kinds of things that if you're playing, you know, you're like, well, I just scored a goal. College coaches don't like that.

And it's like couldn't be further from what that particular coach is looking at. So, you know, it's not that you're a division one or two or three. And there's a lot of overlap between the levels, right? Like a good D three teams good. And, you know, there's some division one teams that are not so flat out.

But, you know, even within levels, I mean, just because you're not a fit for one program doesn't mean that you're not a fit front. You wouldn't be a great fit for another.

And as a, like a spy as a prospective student athlete, I don't think there's any way to know you got to ask the experts. That's the coach.

And what we're telling what I tell students is listen, every one of these coaches is a selection committee of one.

Their assessment applies to their program and their program home. They are not assessing you as a D one level player, D two level player.

That's not their job. Their job is like, I've got to have a group of 20 to 30 players, right? Depending on my preferences, the schools preferences.

And they've got to be able to mesh and play at the highest possible.

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