The old adage says it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And if you spend any time on social media, there are a bunch of recruiting gurus trying to sell you on the idea that they can open doors for you. Relationships definitely matter in college athletics. But that does not mean you need to pay a recruiting agency to get recruited.
Some services can provide value. They can help families get organized, identify schools, understand the process and save time. The myth is believing they are required, that you won’t get recruited without using one.
They aren’t required, in fact, most of what they can do for you, you can do on your own. You can email coaches, post film, fill out questionnaires, research rosters, identify camps and build a target-school list on your own. Yes, it takes work. Yes, it is time consuming. Yes, there will be nights where you have to burn some midnight oil.
But before paying somebody, ask:
What exactly are they doing for my athlete that we cannot do ourselves?
Are they creating real relationships or simply giving us access to public information?
How do we quantify the success of this purchase?
There are families who have used recruiting services and successfully navigated the process to an offer or roster spot There are families who have found themselves with the same options they had before using the service. There are also families who have spent thousands of dollars and walked away empty-handed. A recruiting service can help you navigate the process, but it cannot turn every athlete into a recruitable prospect.
If a service is helping your family in a way that actually makes sense, there is nothing wrong with using it. Just understand what you are paying for. A recruiting agency can be a tool in your process. It should never be your process.
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A myth that can get expensive fast: believing every camp or junior day invite means a college is genuinely recruiting you.