Ray Lauenstein, a former football and baseball player at Hamilton College in New York State received his Masters Degree in Sports Psychology from Florida State University. While at FSU, Ray coached high school baseball at Florida High School in Tallahassee. In 1995, he saw a need and founded The Athlete’s Advisor, a web site and newsletter dedicated to assisting student athletes and their parents through the myriad process that is college recruiting. His efforts have assisted many young people find the right mix for their academic and athletic talents. Through seminars he has conducted and books he has written, Ray has
become an expert in the field of college recruiting. Ray sat down recently with Jim Reese to share his thoughts on the recruiting process and how he sees his organization assisting in that endeavor.

Jim
Reese: Ray, you provide a very useful service for athletes and their parents. Was it a personal experience that caused you to see the need for this type of service?

Ray Lauenstein: Thanks, Jim! Without a doubt it was a combination of events as a student-athlete and coach that led me to where I am today. The biggest mistake I remember making in my own recruiting process was not asking enough questions; perhaps I was nervous or
maybe felt I lacked knowledge. I thought the school was choosing me, not the other way around.

Another reason I started the newsletter and web site was a result of my coaching experience at Florida High in Tallahassee.  Like many schools in Florida, Florida High had a lot of talent, had great coaches in Jeff Hogan and John Hollenbeck, and even though these coaches were very helpful with recruiting and had a lot of good contacts, there were players who totally missed the boat on the process. Some had no idea they needed an SAT score, and some got little assistance from their counselors. I thought to myself, “if there are kids like this in a good program with great coaches, what about those who had neither a good program nor good coaches?”  And that was the genesis of
The Athlete’s Advisor.

JR:
Do you generally find that parents have an unrealistic view of their child’s athletic ability?

RL: Absolutely. Colleges use list services to send mailings to thousands of PSA (Prospective Student Athletes), but the reality is that very few athletes are qualified to play at many programs, especially at the Division I level.  But someone will get a form letter from a big school and in their parents’ mind, their son or daughter is now “big time” talent.  I also think there is an emotional element that makes it
hard for a parent to say, “my son is not good enough for “X” University, or who may think “those players are better than my daughter.” This can be especially true when the PSA has been involved in ! all the competitive programs leading to college – club soccer, travel teams, AAU tournaments, etc.

Part of what I will be writing for The CompuSports Media Exchange will be articles that will help parents better evaluate where their son or daughter falls in the landscape of college athletics. If parents understand where their PSA will most likely find success, the student will have greater chances for admissions into selective schools while also obtaining favorable financial aid packages.

JR:
How was the experience you gained tutoring in the Florida State athletic department useful to you in assisting young student athletes looking to find the right college?

RL: Working at FSU was a fantastic experience as I went from one extreme to the other: small, cold, homogeneous, Division III Hamilton College in upstate New York, to huge, warm, diverse, Division-I power Florida State in Tallahassee.  One needs to find a right fit both athletically as well as socially. In college it is a truism that your life revolves around your sport; if you are miserable in your sport environment, everything else tends to sink with it, most notably academics and the social life. If you have an interest in a specific major or, first find schools that offer such programs and then look at their athletic programs. Make sure the athletic situation is one you want.  Ask yourself what are your chances of playing and does your style fit the teams. Distance from home is a strong consideration so carefully weigh how being far away from home will affect you. 

JR:
Ray, if you were advising a student on selecting a college, what would you say the three major criteria should be in the choice he/she will finally make?

RL: 1.  Go to a school that really wants you. If a coach has recruited you heavily, has seen you play, has invited your to their camp, written letters, called, and showed how they will use you in their program, they really like you and believe you can contribute!

2. Make sure the school that wants you is one you want in terms of social and academic fit.  Do they have the academic program you want?  If not, it is not a good fit.  Did you get a good feeling in general on your campus visit, especially from the players?  Take a second visit if you have to.

3. Financial aid packages – I share the belief with many who believe that the college you attend does not make a huge difference in your future life unless it is one of the elite Ivy League schools or one of the service academies. You will be a success because of the traits you bring to a school, whichever school that may be. Going $100,000 into debt for a college education seems to me to be a bad
business decision. If a school wants you, they will make it easier for you to say yes!  I will go into this in more depth in future articles on Compusports.com as it is a rather heated debate with persuasive arguments both pro and con.

 JR:
You provide free seminars to student, parents, and coaches making vital decisions. Do you feel the knowledge of NCAA rules is not at the level it should be to avoid mistakes in the recruiting process?

RL: Jim, let me divide this into two answers.  First, the knowledge of  NCAA rules is certainly not at the level to avoid breaking a rule.  But knowledge of those rules is not necessarily related to making mistakes in the recruiting process.  Lack of knowledge about the process of recruiting is what leads to mistakes in the process.

The NCAA rulebook is so confusing that many coaches don’t fully understand it even ! after they are given open book tests on its contents! The NCAA produces a sport specific “Cliff Notes” version of the rules to assist coaches. One baseball coach told me he is always referring to it to figure out.