Junior College Football Recruiting - How To Get Recruited
"The junior college football recruiting process isn't much different from that of the bigger schools. You shouldn't feel bad looking into junior college football recruiting. I started out looking into junior colleges and later on, towards the end of my senior season I was fortunate enough to be recruited by the University of Hawaii as well as Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
There are a lot of high school athletes that aspire to play at the Division 1 level and currently aren't getting looks from the Division I schools. Some of them are only getting looks from junior colleges, and some aren't getting any looks at all. My biggest piece of advise would be: don't be discouraged. I know a lot of athletes who took the long route, or developed later, or were just overlooked by coaches that didn't see their talent - and they went to play at junior colleges and persevered through it all - and now they're playing professionally.
If it's something that you really want to do it can be done. Whether you're interested in a bigger school or the junior college football recruiting process, you have to work hard. Hard work beats out talent when talent doesn't work hard. There is no substitution for hard work." -Inoke Funaki (Quarterback for the University of Hawaii)
"Some advice that I would give to kids that want to get recruited for football coming out of high school going into college: I'd tell them to work hard and make sure your grades are up - that's the most important thing, and it's the first thing that colleges look at. Other than your athletic ability they're going to check up with your GPA, your grades, what's up with that. Going into your senior year of high school I'd focus on that a lot, especially if you want to get recruited for football.
And then, also, heading into your freshmen year of college - the important thing is to work hard. When I was in college, the two things that I would tell myself are:
1. 'Do you want to be a hero or a zero' - and that means: do you want to take the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is to be a hero, and the easy way is to be a zero - to be a nobody. And so I'd always tell myself to be a hero: do things that are out of the ordinary, do things that are extraordinary. Let's say the team starts working out at 7:00am, I'd get there at 6:00am and get an hour extra. Because I know that if I'm doing it you've got to believe that someone else out there is doing the same thing as me. So you can never work too hard.
2. My dad used to always tell me 'winning is everything because the losers go home and cry' and you know, that's the mentality I had throughout my entire athletic career. You've got to win, and in order to win you've got to have that state of mind that if you lose it's the end. Because winners go on to be bigger, better, more successful and get recruited for football, and losers - they go home." -Jayson Rego (Running back for the University of Hawaii)
"Football's pretty big in the community where I grew up, and so I always focused on how to get recruited for college football. I didn't think that I would be able to play at a division I. I guess I always saw myself - because I saw my brothers playing at a smaller college - that I would also play at a smaller college. But, fortunately for me, the University of Hawaii and some other schools came around toward the end of my senior season.
School is definitely very important to focus on. If you don't have the academics, if you're not taking care of school right now (at the high-school level) - as much as any coach would want to recruit you, or bring you to their college, they won't be able to if you don't have the grades to be eligible. So that's always been a big priority of mine.
Something that my parents have always emphasized to me is 'School first'. Also continue to work on your skill - whatever sport it may be - as an athlete. You can be the greatest athlete in the world, but if you don't have the grades to get you into college then it's going to be an unfortunate circumstance. School is a very important part of how to get recruited for college football. Definitely take care of school as you continue to develop yourself in your sport." -Inoke Funaki (Quarterback for the University of Hawaii)
There are a lot of high school athletes that aspire to play at the Division 1 level and currently aren't getting looks from the Division I schools. Some of them are only getting looks from junior colleges, and some aren't getting any looks at all. My biggest piece of advise would be: don't be discouraged. I know a lot of athletes who took the long route, or developed later, or were just overlooked by coaches that didn't see their talent - and they went to play at junior colleges and persevered through it all - and now they're playing professionally.
If it's something that you really want to do it can be done. Whether you're interested in a bigger school or the junior college football recruiting process, you have to work hard. Hard work beats out talent when talent doesn't work hard. There is no substitution for hard work." -Inoke Funaki (Quarterback for the University of Hawaii)
"Some advice that I would give to kids that want to get recruited for football coming out of high school going into college: I'd tell them to work hard and make sure your grades are up - that's the most important thing, and it's the first thing that colleges look at. Other than your athletic ability they're going to check up with your GPA, your grades, what's up with that. Going into your senior year of high school I'd focus on that a lot, especially if you want to get recruited for football.
And then, also, heading into your freshmen year of college - the important thing is to work hard. When I was in college, the two things that I would tell myself are:
1. 'Do you want to be a hero or a zero' - and that means: do you want to take the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is to be a hero, and the easy way is to be a zero - to be a nobody. And so I'd always tell myself to be a hero: do things that are out of the ordinary, do things that are extraordinary. Let's say the team starts working out at 7:00am, I'd get there at 6:00am and get an hour extra. Because I know that if I'm doing it you've got to believe that someone else out there is doing the same thing as me. So you can never work too hard.
2. My dad used to always tell me 'winning is everything because the losers go home and cry' and you know, that's the mentality I had throughout my entire athletic career. You've got to win, and in order to win you've got to have that state of mind that if you lose it's the end. Because winners go on to be bigger, better, more successful and get recruited for football, and losers - they go home." -Jayson Rego (Running back for the University of Hawaii)
"Football's pretty big in the community where I grew up, and so I always focused on how to get recruited for college football. I didn't think that I would be able to play at a division I. I guess I always saw myself - because I saw my brothers playing at a smaller college - that I would also play at a smaller college. But, fortunately for me, the University of Hawaii and some other schools came around toward the end of my senior season.
School is definitely very important to focus on. If you don't have the academics, if you're not taking care of school right now (at the high-school level) - as much as any coach would want to recruit you, or bring you to their college, they won't be able to if you don't have the grades to be eligible. So that's always been a big priority of mine.
Something that my parents have always emphasized to me is 'School first'. Also continue to work on your skill - whatever sport it may be - as an athlete. You can be the greatest athlete in the world, but if you don't have the grades to get you into college then it's going to be an unfortunate circumstance. School is a very important part of how to get recruited for college football. Definitely take care of school as you continue to develop yourself in your sport." -Inoke Funaki (Quarterback for the University of Hawaii)
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