How different is baseball recruiting?

Consider this holiday offer advertising. My view of The Athletic is the first year price is so inexpensive ($30) it’s worth the price. I figure in a year they will have more columnists. What The Athletic is doing is forcing local papers to sell access to the sports pages for less than a subscription to the entire paper. I hope the Globe jumps on board to this idea. I don’t like paying $27 a month for news and comments to the left of Slate, Salon, Mother Jones and the Daily Kos.

BRADENTON, Fla. — For recruits and recruiters, there’s no destination quite like IMG Academy.

The elite college prep boarding school is the current home of at least 20 prospects who will sign with FBS schools during this 2019 recruiting cycle. It’s a star-studded group led by future Georgia defensive end Nolan Smith, the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit according to 247Sports Composite. And it’s a group that could form a top-10 recruiting class all by itself.

These aspiring teenagers moved from all over the country to get schooled and trained here. And that makes for one intensely competitive environment.

“We have kids come here for three days and leave, guys who are top recruits,” IMG running back Noah Cain said. “We’ve got kids who come for a few weeks and leave. I mean, it’s not for everybody. That just means you’re not ready for this stage this early.”

The stage these 17-year-olds stand on today is no less intense. They’re operating under a brighter spotlight than ever as a generation that has grown up on social media. Coaches can contact them more than ever, and so can their passionate fan bases. And for the best of the best who train at IMG Academy, the recruiting process is not just a 12-month deal. They’ve been navigating through a hectic world of ratings, offers, camps, visits, trainers, coaches and hype for years.

So before they put pen to paper on Dec. 19 and put an official end to their recruitments, we wanted to give them an opportunity to share what they’ve learned. During a visit to IMG in early December, we gathered a small group of recruits for a wide-ranging discussion about what their recruiting process was really like.

Meet the six members of our recruiting roundtable:

Jaleel McRae (Florida State): Four-star linebacker from New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Briton Allen (Georgia Tech): Three-star safety from Orlando, Fla. Considering Georgia Tech, USC.
Noah Cain (undecided): Four-star running back from Baton Rouge, La. Considering Georgia, Penn State, Texas, Tennessee.
Chris Shearin (Missouri): Three-star cornerback from Suffolk, Va.
DJ Turner (Michigan): Three-star cornerback from Suwanee, Ga.
Jayden Curry (undecided): Three-star safety from Virginia Beach, Va. Considering Maryland, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, USF.

They’re a tight-knit group, and they’re eager to begin their college journeys. They shared their honest opinions and experiences on the recruiters, fans, stress and expectations they’ve encountered along the way.

Editor’s note: Portions of this interview were edited for length and clarity.

How does it feel to be at the end of the recruiting process, with college just a month away?

Jaleel McRae: I feel like I accomplished something. Growing up, I never thought I would be going to college. I feel like when I sign the papers, it’ll feel like a big accomplishment in my life. I’m just grateful I get the opportunity to go to college and play at the Division I level and compete to get to the NFL. Florida State is down right now. Got the outsiders and everybody telling me they don’t know why I’m going to Florida State. But I wanna go to Florida State to try and change it so when I have kids one day, I can tell my kids, “Your dad was the one that changed the Florida State culture.”

Briton Allen: It’s crazy. It was a lot of hard work and dedication. Takes a lot to be here. Sacrifices. Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s a good thing we finished.

Noah Cain: It is a relief. I think as recruits, we tend to see a lot of dudes get caught up in the hype and everybody telling you how good you are, everybody telling you you’re gonna be this and that and gonna get All-America right away. They don’t really see the hours you put in before everybody gets up to get to that point. Everybody sees the fame part of it. I think when you come to IMG, it humbles every prospect, regardless of if you’re a top recruit. It humbles everybody. Because here, the coaches are gonna be on you. You’re not gonna have coaches that ride your coattail and tell you how good you are. Everybody treats you the same here; there’s no favoritism. I think that’s why the brotherhood here gets so tight amongst the top dudes here. Everybody gets humbled here, regardless of who you are.

I imagine when you were younger, getting recruited sounded like a lot of fun. Is it still fun at this point?

Chris Shearin: It’s horrible.

DJ Turner: I’m way over it.

Shearin: You know, I thought when you committed, everything would get easier and the release of stress would be great. But it actually added more stress. You’ve got to apply to the school, and it’s a lot of things that come with college recruiting. I realized, with people that got a bunch of offers, I’m like, “Man. It’s gotta be tough.”

Turner: I don’t know how Noah is doing it, all the way ’til signing day. I don’t know how he’s doing that.

Cain: I specifically waited. I made a decision in my mind my sophomore year to wait because of coaches. A lot of these coaches, they’re two-faced. They tell you something to your face then do something else, something different. Coaches leave. Players come back. There’s so many things you have to look into to make this decision. The last thing you wanna do is commit and decommit. That’s something I always told myself. That’s really the biggest reason why I wanted to wait until National Signing Day. When I make my decision, I’m final with it. No turning back. No coaches coming in trying to visit you. No. I’m signed. I’m going to college in January.

A lot of coaches, they try to pressure me into committing. But at the same time, if you really want me, you’re gonna wait ’til the end. That’s why my three finalists are who they are. They respected my timeline and my decision. Nobody tried to rush me. They were like, “All right. Until you tell us no, we’re here with you.” That’s when you really know who’s with you and who’s not. When schools are trying to pressure you into committing, that means they’ve got another guy on their mind. That’s how I look at it. That’s a big reason why I waited so long. I look at all that. Some of my top schools took other guys and were like, “Well, if you don’t hop on, they’re gonna hop on.” It is what it is. It’s not the place for me. I know God will lead me to the right school for me.

Turner: I did all my recruiting stuff early. I got my offers my sophomore year. Every single weekend, I was doing visits. I wanted to do mine in the earlier part. But everybody’s got a different path.

What is it like for you guys dealing with your recruiting process on social media?

Shearin: There’s been many fans DMing me saying stuff. You’ve just got to bite your tongue. Can’t show ’em the light of day and say something back. But it gets real hard. When you make it, someone always wants to be there like, “Yeah, I was with him when he was younger.” Or a coach saying, “Yeah, I trained him. Yeah, I got him these offers.” You know, that just comes with the territory of being a recruit. This is what you ask for. You can’t be mad when you ask for all this food on your plate and then you’re full.

McRae: Well, I know for me, when I decommitted from the University of Florida, I had fans DMing me, talking about how they’re gonna find me and kill me. Like, dude, I’m a teenager. Gotta do what’s best for me and my family. I feel like I made the right choice to go to Florida State. You know, it was hard. But once they fired Coach (Jim) McElwain, I just felt like Florida wasn’t the best choice for me. Because I had a special connection with Coach McElwain and I looked to him like a father figure, man. When he left, it was best for me to leave, too.

Turner: Ohio State fans are always coming at me. But it is what it is. I don’t care. I laugh at it, actually. I just laugh at it. They’ll tweet something at me telling me how bad I am, and I’ll just retweet it. I don’t care. It makes them look crazy. I really don’t care about that stuff. It don’t get to me.

Cain: I would say the thing I don’t like about this is everybody feels entitled to know what you got going on, who your top schools are, where you wanna go. Everybody is like, “You’ve been knowing me this long; where you going?” And you don’t know yourself. Everybody feels entitled to your business. And you’ve got to hold your tongue because you’re put on a different pedestal than them. That’s the biggest thing with us recruits; we can’t do regular stuff. You can’t go out every time. You can’t be in the spotlight with the regular kids. You’ve gotta be mature and think of the bigger picture.

Do you guys ever wonder who those people are that show up in your mentions?

Shearin: Oh, yeah. My DMs have some crazy things. It’s just crazy things. Like, “I’m looking at you right now. Turn around.” It’s crazy.

Jayden Curry: It’s like people that are like 40 years old. And we’re 17. What are you doing?

Shearin: They’ve always got the same name. It’s like “CollegeFan187” with a college player as the profile pic. It’s real crazy. I don’t answer ’em anymore. They stay in my requests.

Allen: I ignore it. Just leave it undelivered. I don’t pay attention to it.

Cain: I mean, it’s true what they’re saying. But there’s still a small percent of good people that say, “I wish you the best of luck wherever you go. God bless.” There’s still good people in this world that really want to see you succeed and like you and aren’t like, “If you go to my school, I’ll love you. And if you don’t, I hate you.” When you get on this stage of football, a lot of kids start looking up to you and you start to get known around the country. When kids say, “I watch your highlight every day. I look up to you,” that makes you mature. You start to feel like, “OK, I can’t do the old things I was doing before I got offers. I gotta start moving a different way.” So there are still some DMs that make you feel good about yourself and really make you look back on all the blessings God’s giving you.

What is it like dealing with all these college coaches?

Shearin: Oh, they’re ruthless. They’ll put words in your mouth. They’ll misinterpret a tweet and say, “Oh, you’re committing here?” It’s crazy. Call you. Text you. Show up at your school. Want to talk to you for two hours. It’s crazy.

Curry: I think DJ’s probably got more to say on that.

Turner: Nah, nah. (laughs) They were trying to flip me. I’m not going to get into specifics. I got called into the office for a meeting for like two hours. The coach was talking about why I should flip and stuff like that when I’ve been committed since June. Now, they just offered me. I’m two weeks from signing day. But it’s all good. I appreciated that they wanted me, but I’m committed. I said I appreciated it and thanked him for wanting to have me at their school. But I’m committed, and I’m locked in. I don’t want to burn any bridges, but I’m committed. So my recruitment is done.

How much negative recruiting do you hear from coaches?

McRae: You know, I was gonna bring that up. That’s one thing I didn’t like in this recruiting process. And not to name any schools, but coaches talk bad about another school and then once they get in front of each other, they act like nothing happened and like they’re all cool.

Allen: They say, “I’m not trying to change your mind or anything; I’m just saying.”

Curry: I think it’s crazy that coaches might talk trash about another school and then a month or two later they end up being there.

Cain: You post something thinking nobody’s looking at it, and next thing you know, a coach is like, “What you doing? Where you at? Why you at this school?” You post a picture on your official visit, and they’re like, “Why are you there? What you doing? Why you messing with them coaches? Them dudes are not good dudes.”

This is gonna blow your mind: One of the coaches that was recruiting me, he went to the school! He’s talking mess on his own alma mater! Like, you went here! You telling me about the school you went to! And he’s at the opposing school, like a rival school. Like, dude, you was an alumni of this school, regardless of your profession now, and yet now you’re talking crazy about your school. That doesn’t sit well with me! You really see people’s character in this recruiting process, too. There’s no loyalty with these people, man. Their true colors come out. In this last recruiting stretch, people’s true colors come out. You see how they really is as a person because they’re getting desperate.

Shearin: See, I’ve talked to coaches that say, “Yeah, don’t go there. The coach might get fired.”

Turner: Oh, I get that all the time. I get that all the time: “He’s gonna leave, so you should come here.” When they say that, I don’t even respond.

Shearin: But, you know, it’s a business. And once I realized the recruiting process was a business in my junior year, when offers started coming in, that’s when it got easier. At first, I was like, “They don’t want me. What am I doing wrong?” But it’s just a business. At the end of the day, the coaches have to go home and feed their families. If I can’t contribute to a team, they’re gonna lose their job and they can’t provide for their family. It’s all just a business. Everything they say to you, they’re saying to the next guy. And once you realize that, you realize don’t go to a school for the coaches; go to the school for the school. Once you see the perks of the school, if that’s a good fit for you, that’s where you go. But my mom and my coaches always said, “Don’t go for a coach. They could be gone in hours.”

Turner: My parents always said: “Could you go there as a normal student? If you didn’t play football, could you go there?”

Cain: In my younger recruiting days, I was like, “This is gonna be so hard to make a decision.” It’s not. I’ve kinda already got it narrowed down in my mind. When they say this is a business, it really is a business. That’s why I don’t feel bad to the coach if I’m not interested or I’m not coming. If you’re recruiting me and you’re leaving in a minute, you’re not telling me why you’re leaving. One of my top schools — I’m not gonna say the name — the offensive coordinator just left. Didn’t tell nobody. He was just in my face last week talking about how much he wants me to come there. And he left.

So that’s why I look at things like that and don’t feel bad when a coach gets his feelings hurt that I don’t wanna come. You’re telling another recruit the same thing you’re telling me. And it’s really a business decision. I really don’t feel like it’s gonna be hard come signing day because I’m going with a school that was with me from Day One and I’m going to a school that has a stable coaching staff. Those are two big things to me.

The unlimited texting and DMs and contact now, does that make your lives harder?

Cain: It’s not the texts; it’s the calls. I really thought it would be cool, coaches calling my phone and all these different schools. And now, you get the phone call, you don’t wanna answer the phone. I’m chilling right now.

Shearin: You know, if you answer the phone, that’s an hour commitment.

Cain: From older guys like (former TCU quarterback) Shawn Robinson, when I was a freshman, he said, “Bro, I’m telling you. You’re gonna get tired of it.” I didn’t see it. I loved the hype and all the fame and everybody telling me I’m gonna be the next Heisman Trophy winner. Loved all that. Nowadays, you just want to grind and be about your business and be low-key. That’s the biggest thing right now.

Have there at least been aspects of going through your recruitment and meeting new people that you appreciate?

Cain: There’s definitely a lot of perks.

Curry: I think it’s different because not every person in the country gets a chance to experience this. It’s really a blessing for real.

Turner: Not all coaches are bad. I have a couple coaches I’m actually cool with. My dad texted them “Happy Thanksgiving” and stuff like that. Not all coaches are like what we’re saying. They’re not all like that.

Shearin: I’ve got a couple coaches that call my mom once or twice a week, things like that. That’s a cool little perk about it. You know, it has its pros and cons. But definitely more pros. If it didn’t have more pros, we wouldn’t be doing it.

What part of this process has brought the most pressure or stress?

Shearin: Committing.

McRae: Committing to the right school. Making the right decision. That’s really the hardest part.

Allen: That’s where you want to be for the next four years.

Turner: And, to me, decommitting is not an option. I don’t like that.

Shearin: I told myself, if I’m committing, I’m committing. There’s no decommitting. I don’t believe in that.

Cain: There’s no perfect school for nobody. Everybody says there’s a perfect school. Every school is going to have its things you don’t like.

Turner: If there was a perfect school, everybody would be going to it.

Cain: Right, there’s no perfect school. Every recruit says it’s the perfect school for me. Then they get there and start talking about how much they hate it. There’s no perfect school. So it’s kinda like you pick your poison.

Shearin: My momma always taught me that if you commit to something, you’re committed. That’s what you’re gonna do. And if you have any doubts, you shouldn’t have committed. Now if a coach gets fired or things like that, you can understand that. But I see people commit to a school, get a better offer, decommit and commit the next week again. That’s just not how I was raised.

Cain: That’s why the biggest thing is the depth chart. You can go to a school for the hype. They’ll hype you and all them fans talking about you on Instagram and Twitter. That ends in January. You get to school, and they don’t care about all that. They’re expecting you to win for them. It’s a business. It’s up to you. Forget all the facilities, and forget all your boys are going there. You’ve gotta go somewhere you can be happy and where you can get to the league. Some recruits, I know they’re just in it for the hype. They wanna go to college. Hopefully, they get to the league and, if they don’t, they’re cool with it. It depends on your mindset and how bad you wanna get that bag in three years.

Jayden, you have a few weeks left to decide. How is your recruitment going?

Curry: Uh, stressful. Just talking to coaches, seeing what feels right. I’ve gotta feel what’s best for me and what my parents think, especially my mom. Because if she’s not able to get to me or if she don’t like the place, then it could affect me. I grew up loving North Carolina, and we had legends from Virginia that went there. So that’s always been my dream school. When the coaches left, I was committed there and they weren’t doing anything when I was trying to get in touch. Stuff wasn’t going right. It wasn’t for me anymore. But it’s been OK so far.

As you look back, what are some of the craziest things you had to deal with during the recruiting process?

Allen: I haven’t had anything really too crazy. I have had a whole bunch of good role models to lead me in the right direction and help me make the decision. Just trying to make sure I’m making the right decision for me.

Cain: I’m from Baton Rouge so, of course, I was supposed to go to LSU. So I’m in the Hi Nabor grocery store in Baton Rouge with my grandmother this summer, and we’re getting some food for dinner. I’ll never forget this day. We were going through the aisle, and an LSU fan was shopping and comes up. I didn’t think he knew me, and he bumped into me like, “Hey, man. You going to The Boot, right? You going to be a Boot Boy, right?” I was like, “I don’t know yet.” He was like, “What you mean you don’t know?” He was looking at me crazy and cross-eyed.

I’m like, “Look, bruh. I’m just here with my grandmother.” He said, “I respect that. Yeah, man. You know I played ball back in my day. You need to go to the Boot, though, man. You from Baton Rouge; You need to go to The Boot.” And he’s getting all mad in the grocery store, on camera and all that. I was like, “Bruh, look. Chill out.” So he’s like, “You’re going to LSU, right? YOU’RE GOING TO LSU, RIGHT?” I’m like, “Bruh, I don’t know yet, I’m taking all my visits. You have a good day.”

And he was like, “Oh, aight. But, look, you’re going to LSU. Go Tigers.” That’s the craziest moment I ever had. That was funny, though. My grandma, she don’t know about no football. She was like, “Who was that guy you were talking to? Looked like y’all was getting in an argument.” I was like, “We ain’t getting in no argument, Grandma.” Some people are outta their minds sometimes about this stuff.

From your perspective, what do people — whether it’s fans or media — not understand about this recruiting process?

Turner: All of it. You don’t understand unless you’re in it.

McRae: What they really don’t understand is the work we put in to get to this position we’re in today. Especially here at IMG. In the spring, getting after it and getting after each other in the weight room, on the field. It’s tough at times. But they don’t really see that. They only see what we put on film or on Friday nights.

Curry: They think everything is given to us. There’d be nights here where you might be up ’til 12 or past that working on an essay or something. It’s exactly like college.

Shearin: I think they don’t understand how we really are kids. We’re 17, 18. There’s some kids getting recruited that are 15, 16 years old. They’re just kids. And kids are gonna be kids.

Cain: And at the same time, there’s a lot of recruits that ruin it for us. They just do ignorant stuff. Like why are you posting a top 20? Why are you posting a top 13? Pick one school, man. Even a top 10 is a lot.

Curry: Some of these guys commit like three times.

Shearin: They’re really doing it for the clout. Clout chasing.

Cain: There’s a lot of recruits that do stuff that’s so immature. I mean, everybody grows up differently. Everybody doesn’t have the same guidance. But at the same time, a lot of recruits do stuff that makes fans hate recruits sometimes. You’ve got to control your own destiny and how you want them to view you as a recruit. Are you gonna be a recruit that’s just childish and not taking this stuff seriously and being playful? Or are you gonna be a mature recruit and take it step by step and take it seriously?

Coming from IMG, you have to know the expectations you’re facing will be heightened, right?

Curry: The expectations are huge. Just leaving here, it’s gonna put some weight on our shoulders regardless. We’re going to be looked at differently.

Allen: We’re just like everybody else. We’ve gotta go into a school, and we’re just another number. We just have to put in the work and show everybody our talents just like everybody else.

McRae: And, you know, we get a head start, anyways, with going in early and getting to learn the campus, getting to learn the scheme of the defense or the offense. Some of the stuff that colleges do on defense and offense, we do it here. So we’ll be able to catch on quick. Once you get to learn the playbook, the game will start to slow down because you know what you’re looking at. Once you get all that stuff down, the game will slow down.

Shearin: I don’t really pay too much mind about what’s expected of me. I have to just go out there and do what I do best. If I wasn’t doing what I’m supposed to do, I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in. I’ve been grinding my whole career. Another four years ain’t gonna hurt.

Skip to main content