His/Our DECISION was not easy and the process was stressful, enlightening, and a blessing all at the same time. In other cases it may be a very easy decision because one school blew you away. In our case, the decision was not so CUT and DRY because of the range of opportunities but also the equity of the most important categories based on what was most important to our family. A key factor is to monitor how your child is managing it all. Between the calls, the facetimes, the visits and the text messages it can be overwhelming. The reality is that it's one of their first major life changing decisions and a major milestone in who they will become.
As a family the categories that were important to us were:
1. Opportunity: playing time, style of play, team dynamics and where you fit, winning/NCAA Tournament potential, exposure, conference (final rankings in the conference over the last few years), development (work ethic of the program) recruitment style (do they develop who they have or recruit over players trying to secure the next BIG NAMES).
2. Relationship with Coaches: natural communication, integrity, relatable, interested in you as a person, ability to help you become a man, likelihood they will last with the program (opportunities to get better jobs based on performance or to get released due to lack of performance).
3. Academics, Resources, Campus life, and Social Life: academic major available, academic support, class size, wide range of course selection, living quarters, amenities, post-graduate opportunities .
The other level of potential stress for your student athlete is having to call the coaches that have actively taken a vested interest in your child but he/she is not choosing their program. It may be hard but at the end of the day it's a part of the process and your child needs to step up to the plate and deliver the news. Another majority milestone. It's business and as much as things change in this business, the coaches and staff get recycled all the time, you never know when and where you may see these same people again. So, handle the process professionally.
Brendan was in hard contemplation because he wanted to make the RIGHT decision. My advice and exact words were, "List out all the facts, categorize them based on your priorities, and then consider what your GUT is telling you with all the facts laid out in front of you. Then choose (non-emotionally instinctually and facts driven), step into your choice, maximize your potential based on that choice, and then make adjustments as you go along."
There is no ONE way to do this. This is ours. Your Pros and Cons will likely be very different but none the less, very important to prioritize.
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Yalonda Adams - Sports Mom