Mark Hall Offers Advice To All Recruits

World-class wrestler Mark Hall shares his thoughts on college recruiting and student-athlete commitments with the community.

Sep 18, 2016 by Christian Pyles

By Mark Hall

Being recruited at any level is tough. Put it on a 15-year-old kid who can't remember what he had for breakfast the day before and premature decisions will happen. Thankfully, during my recruiting process, I was able to have a lot of control, and was hardly put in that position. If I ever was put in that position, I had my parents and coaches to remind me of the right thing to do, and some athletes don't get that chance. I'm just going to give my input on what I think is the right thing to do in the recruiting game and want to help out wrestlers, and athletes in general who might not know what to do. These thoughts are my own, and even if this helps one person, I will feel some type of accomplishment! I am going to relate everything back to wrestling, but if there are athletes of a different breed reading this, just insert your sport, and it's all the same.

Don't choose base your college decision exclusively on wrestling

83 times out of 100, college coaches are absolutely ruthless. They want you to represent their program. They want you in their singlet. They all will tell you their place is the best place to achieve your dreams as a wrestler. Anyone who knows who I am, knows my views, and at the end of the day, there is more to life than wrestling. That being said, you CANNOT choose a place for JUST wrestling. Choosing a college just for wrestling is like getting a fruit salad just to eat the grapes in it. There is so much more to this life than wrestling, and I can't stress that enough. When your career is all said and done, you're going to need to get a job, and for most people, it just doesn't involve being in the sport anymore. Recognize this, and don't let anyone cloud your mind with the idea that wrestling is what college is about.

Don't allow negative pressure to make your decision for you

Pressure can eat away at people, but being pressured by someone on the spot is even worse. Most of the time, it comes as surprise. Don't let someone pressure you -- this is a life tip, too. There will be people who disguise themselves as friends, and will try to ruin it all if you let them. Don't risk the rest of your life for one night. Coaches will pressure you, too. On one of my recruiting trips, a coach sat me down in his office. He had me in front of him while he sat behind his desk. He said something along the lines of "I am 100 percent with getting the young men who sit in that chair to come here -- what do you say we keep it going?" In complete awe, it actually made it easier for me to turn him down. This was a decision that I had to make, and I didn't let anyone make it for me. After saying no, he kept pushing the subject, and I didn't let myself cave, even though it would have been very easy to. It was an awesome college that I thought I could be successful at, but in the end, it just wasn't the place for me. All college coaches will give their sales pitch, and trust me: every single one of them sounds convincing. They are professionals, and they all know exactly what to say. Do not cave, and do not allow for negative pressure to make your decision for you. Take your time, enjoy the ride, and be open-minded.

Mark Hall opened up about his recruiting process last November after committing to Penn State:

Don't be a people-pleaser

Don't feel bad. If you are a people-pleaser, I'm sorry to inform you that you will not be able to please everyone. I am a people-pleaser, and this process will actually cause some of the coaches recruiting you to be unpleased, to say the very least. It's a wild game, and like I said, some coaches are just ruthless. When I committed to Penn State, a coach who was recruiting me unfollowed me on Twitter, and two longtime friends unfollowed me, as well. Telling them I didn't want to go to their college made me feel bad, but now, I feel no remorse. If you have five colleges on your radar, four are going to end up upset or unpleased. If two colleges are recruiting you, one is going to end up upset or unpleased. It's just the way things work out. Remember, you didn't make your decision to make the coaches happy -- you made it to make yourself happy.

Wait until senior year to make your commitment

Before you make your decision, wait until your senior year -- preferably, after you visit your desired universities. There are special cases; sometimes, when you know, you know. If that's the case with you, then by all means, listen to your gut. But, too often, we see kids commit to a college, and when they get to be young men, they realize they made the wrong choice. It happens, but it can be avoided if you just wait. Let things play out, wait to see if there are coaching changes, and see who your partners will be. Visit all the places you can, and be open to discussion. When you commit early, you turn away new opportunities that could benefit you in more ways than one. As your senior year kicks off, you are allowed five FREE visits to colleges. FREE. THEY PAY FOR EVERYTHING. IT'S GREAT. They fly you in, dine you, cater to you, and you get to meet some POWERFUL people. I met former NFL players, presidents of colleges, and athletic directors who are REALLY good at what they do. I got to hold an actual Heisman trophy. The experiences were endless -- I could write a blog on those alone. Moral of the story: see the amazing things that happen on official visits. I was lucky enough to travel around the USA my whole life, and if you are in the same boat as me, then you can see universities as well. Go to the nearest one for a day visit -- it all matters. Again, I want to make it clear: if you know, you know.

Mark Hall wins junior world title:

Pick a place where, if everything in their wrestling program gets obliterated and you are left with half the team you had when you got there, you would still want to finish your career there. Trust me when I say this: things like that DO happen. Unfortunately, none of us are special, and we should never feel so royal that it won't happen to us.

Thanks for reading -- if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I am open to help. I will pass down the wisdom I've been fortunate to collect over the years to you. That same wisdom helped me find the right place for me.

Editor's Note: Special thanks to Mark for sharing his thoughts from his blog with FloWrestling.