There Is One College Dominating Athletic Recruiting Right Now And It's Honestly Not Shocking
That's right baby - West Point.
I know you're probably thinking this is a biased blog but you cannot argue with black and white facts. Listen, in many people's estimation (mine included) West Point recruits itself. You receive a first class education that stacks up with the likes of the Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, and any other top school in the world. Oh by the way, it doesn't cost you anything to attend. Obligatory "Thank you" to Joe and Suzie Taxpayer for funding our education. You graduate with a job waiting for you and an alumni network that boasts Presidents, Generals, Fortune 100 CEOs, Astronauts, Politicians, Entrepreneurs, and so many other successful walks of life. You are truly set up for success.
However, if I am a 17 or 18 year old high school athlete, it is sometimes tough to look 10, 20, 30 years down the road at all of that success. So what do you possibly care more about? Being a D1 athlete in an impressive athletic department.
Enter the world of athletic recruiting and no one is doing that better right now than West Point.
Let's start with former Barstool employee, Josh Pray, whose son is currently being recruited to play football at Army.
How can you watch that and not have the same reaction as Josh? That was the best recruiting pitch I have ever seen from a parent.
Few points to make:
- Nike is hands down the best apparel sponsor in college athletics and it is not particularly close. When you're 17 years old, gear goes a long way. Heck, I am 39 and still a sucker for great gear. Which is also why I love that our good friends at Peter Millar make Army gear now too.
- Mike Viti - Coach Viti is the OL coach that Josh talked about and I can confirm he could still play.
- Facilities - I've been to Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, and the like and can tell you our weight room can go toe to toe with them. Yes, it can.
Next up on the recruiting trail is how we are connected to the NHL.
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How can you argue with Coach Riley's tweet? No other school in history has produced two owners of a professional franchise that won back-to-back league championships. The odds of what just happened are ridiculously low. Not to mention, last year when the Panthers and Golden Knights faced off in the Stanley Cup Finals it was the first time the two owners of franchises playing for a championship in any professional sport came from the same school.
Lastly, what do young kids care about doing in their down time away from their sport? Playing video games. Now, imagine playing as yourself and your school getting featured in multiple trailers for the game while your two (lesser) rival schools aren't mentioned once?
There you have it folks. It was a long time ago that I was 17 and being recruited to play college football but I can be sure of one thing - if I saw the above I would be hard pressed to go anywhere else except West Point.
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Go America! Beat navy!