Handlers and Recruiting/Mychal Parker

[texaswarrior74]

A "must read" about the rise of handlers and their involvement in recruitment.

From the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702512.html?hpid%3Dartslot%E2%8A%82AR

[77ncaachamps]

Thanks for the link. It was a good read.

I wonder how many "handlers" (non-parents) are out there...

[Skatastrophy]

I wonder if Buzz puts up with crap like that?

It's too bad that young players put their future into the hands of guys like Davis.  Someone with money on their mind may not have your best interest in their mind as well.  I'm surprised that the parents of athletes put up with this sort of stuff... someone making money off of their kid in exchange for mediocre advice.

[GGGG]

I wonder if Buzz puts up with crap like that?

It's too bad that young players put their future into the hands of guys like Davis.  Someone with money on their mind may not have your best interest in their mind as well.  I'm surprised that the parents of athletes put up with this sort of stuff... someone making money off of their kid in exchange for mediocre advice.

Regarding the parents, I think you'd be surprised.  I've found that if parents haven't attended college, they are somewhat bewildered by the entire process regardless if their child is an athlete or not.  Throw the whole athletic issue in the mix, and they just don't know what to do.

My son has a friend who is a very good soccer player.  She was getting letters from a couple of smaller scholarship schools and a somewhat larger in-state university with a mediocre soccer program.   But they fell for a guy selling his "recruiting service" who said she was better than that, and they shelled out a few hundred bucks.  The recruiting service put together a crappy brochure and a couple of highlight tapes and sent them all over the place. 

When it was all over, she ended up going to the in-state university that recruited her on their own in the first place.

Many parents just don't know what to do.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

could that "handler" have been anymore of a doucebottle?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Regarding the parents, I think you'd be surprised.  I've found that if parents haven't attended college, they are somewhat bewildered by the entire process regardless if their child is an athlete or not.  Throw the whole athletic issue in the mix, and they just don't know what to do.

My son has a friend who is a very good soccer player.  She was getting letters from a couple of smaller scholarship schools and a somewhat larger in-state university with a mediocre soccer program.   But they fell for a guy selling his "recruiting service" who said she was better than that, and they shelled out a few hundred bucks.  The recruiting service put together a crappy brochure and a couple of highlight tapes and sent them all over the place. 

When it was all over, she ended up going to the in-state university that recruited her on their own in the first place.

Many parents just don't know what to do.

We have a guy in my town that has that kind of service....what a class A jerk.  He tries to find scholarships for kids that are B type players and it's brutal watching what he does, what type of hyping he sells to the kids and parents.  Bad news.

[77ncaachamps]

What puzzles me is how can they trust a 22 yo with their son's recruitment when he doesn't even have established contacts?

[GOMU1104]

I wonder if Buzz puts up with crap like that?

It's too bad that young players put their future into the hands of guys like Davis.  Someone with money on their mind may not have your best interest in their mind as well.  I'm surprised that the parents of athletes put up with this sort of stuff... someone making money off of their kid in exchange for mediocre advice.

The article makes it sound like there are handlers darn near everywhere. I would bet Buzz and his staff have to deal with them.

[Ready2Fly]

The article makes it sound like there are handlers darn near everywhere. I would bet Buzz and his staff have to deal with them.

Snaer, Michael; Perry, Kool-Aid.

[avid1010]

I saw it play out with a couple of players I played AAU with.  I wasn't good enough to get offers (you know the guy that would play D, not turn the ball over, get it to the guys that were good, and hit a wide open shot every now and then), but what could be considered a "handler" was not always a bad person/thing.  I had one friend who was from a small school, that never had talent before, and his coach did nothing to help him get a scholarship, and they hired out a service that found him a full-ride.  Not a perfect world, but...