The Showcase is first and foremost a COLLEGE READINESS EVENT

Every year I get dozens of phone calls and emails from parents/coaches/participants that go something like this:

Parent: My son was 1st team all district Rb for XYZ high school and he needs to get into your showcase.  He will be the best athlete there.

Me:  What is his SAT score?

Parent:  He ran for 1200 yds, and runs a 4.5 40yd dash.

Me:  What is his SAT score?

Parent: His coaches dont like him and thats why he has not signed already.  They are not promoting him.

Me:  What is his SAT score?

Parent:  I don't know his SAT score.  He is 5'10" and weighs 220lbs.  He runs a 4.5 40 yd dash

Me:  Well when you have his SAT score have him call back.  Have a good evening.

(3 days later)

Parent:  I called you a couple of days ago about my son getting into your showcase.  He is an all district RB from XYZ high school.  I have his SAT scores now.

Me:  What is his SAT score?

Parent:  910

Me:  Is that his 3 part score or a 2 part score?

Parent:  He got a 300 in CR, a 320 in Math, and a 290 in writing?

Me:  He does not meet our minimum qualifications he can not participate.

Parent:  Why not?

Me:  There is not a single school that will be here that he can get into.  It is a waste of time for him to come.

Parent:  We no one ever told me that the SAT was important.  He had a game the night before so he was tired.

Me:  Has he registered again for another SAT?

Parent:  No

Me:  Well if he gets a new score before the event that qualifies he can register.  Until then we do not have a spot for him.  Have a good evening.


There are a couple of points to this story.  Your SAT or ACT score is much more important than your 40 time or how many yards you rushed for.  I have seen on numerous occasions a 3rd string player with good SAT and ACT scores get their college paid for and have a chance to play football in college as a result of this event.

Know your scores.  The first question a coach will ask you is what is your SAT score and GPA.  If you can not get into their school you are wasting their time.

Point 2:  At this stage in the game it does not matter if they were 1st team all world.  If they do not have a SAT or ACT score it does not matter.

This is an academic event.  The majority of "scholarship money" that goes out is academic in nature.

A good website to check out if you can get into a school is Cappex.com.  They will give you a scatter graph of SAT and GPA scores of current students.  USE IT.

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