Author
by al1woods
President, Woods Recruiting, 1989-Present
Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, attended Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Al is a graduate of West Virginia State College in 1986 with a degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Sports Management.
During that same year, Al signed a contract to play professional basketball in Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America from 1986-1989. Averaging 23 points 12 rebounds and 10.5 blocks shots per game during his 4 seasons in Argentina.
What makes me a college recruiter? First I’ve played high school basketball in college and in the pros. I have been thought the college recruiting process and I’ve seen how the process works from the players point of view also seen how other high school players were recruited.
I know first hand what a high school student athlete deals with everyday with keeping there grades up and the pressures of the game.
I understand what parents are thinking about all of this what to do where to turn to for answers. A lot of people as they are recruiters but I would bet that most never played the game or were ever recruited by college programs.
Also what makes me a college recruiter is the time and money I put in the to learn this business going to all the football camps, AAU events, summer league torments, All Star games, baseball showcases, talking to college coaches face to face yes I have put in my time and that makes me a college recruiter.
In 1989, Al started Woods Recruiting with the money he earned playing professional basketball. One day while at the gym the YMCA in Cleveland, OH, rehabilitating his injured knee Al says, "I saw this young man come in the gym who wanted to play a game of one-on-one basketball.
I really didn't know much about the young man who was around 6ft., 9in. We played several games of one-on-one. Afterwards, I asked him what college he plays for.
His answer was, to my surprise, that he was just out of high school and no colleges had recruited him. We talked for a while and exchanged phone numbers. I asked him if he was serious about college basketball, I could make some calls to some colleges to see if I could help him out.
I called around five area colleges and talked to the coaches about this young man. All the coaches said they would be interested and would call him. Within several days, all five schools contacted him and he ended up at an area college.
It was just that easy! After getting in school, his parents called to thank me. It gave me a great feeling of satisfaction that I was able to help this young man achieve his dream! I then realized that there must be other high school athletes in similar situations.
So I started going to area high school basketball games, talked to the coaches, met the players and asked if they were being recruited and what their plans were upon graduation. Many of the athletes wanted to play at the college level but were under-exposed to college coaches. So again, I made calls to colleges about some of the area high school players and I was able to get all of them recruited and into college.
That's when it dawned on me that there was a major need for this type of service. I would attend more high school games, talk to the coaches, players and parents and I was able to get a long list of high school players who were interested in playing college basketball.
At that point, I realized that this could be a business opportunity to help high school student athletes realize their goals.
As Woods Recruiting grew, I was able to add other sports. Currently, we work with all high school sports from many parts of the United States. We also have a growing staff whose job it is to work with high school athletes in helping them to get recruited.
We take great pride in what we do here at Woods Recruiting. I enjoy all the student athletes and the families that we've worked with over the years. What separates us from other scouting services is our personal touch, our attention to detail and our quality of service.
Over the years, we have developed relationships with thousands of college coaches. You can say we have a "golden rolodex" of information.
In years to come, my goal for Woods Recruiting is to dominate the high school athletic market from coast to coast, provide more employment opportunities and to make dreams come true!
"Success is a journey; this is just one of the stops along the way."
URL:
http://woodsrecruiting.com
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