Jason Smith, Director of Recruiting Services
Northern Illinois University
(312) 999-5391
I joined NCSA in the summer of 2012 after an eight-year coaching career in the NCAA. My goal at NCSA is to help student-athletes find their best fit to continue their educational and athletic careers. Spending time as a college coach at each level of the NCAA, I understand there are quality student-athletes and colleges at all levels of competion. Deciding on a college is so much more than finding a place to keep competing. It is a decision that will impact the rest of your life, and I love working with student-athletes to make the best decision for their future.
My recruiting process was not easy. After my second year of high school at a private school, I was told I wouldn’t be considered for the varsity team for the upcoming season. This came as a complete shock, as I was a starter and key contributor to the freshman and sophomore teams in my first two years. I had an incredibly tough decision to make: leave this private school, where I had many friends, to transfer to the public school, or stay and watch my high school baseball career end. I chose to transfer. Looking back, this is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. It made me fully commit to something and see it through to the end. My senior year, we knocked my former high school out of the state tournament, and I dove in the go-ahead run late in the game. Two All-Conference and All-Area awards and one conference championship later, I was committing to one of the top NCAA Division III baseball programs in the country (Aurora University). At AU, I started for four years, earned multiple All-Conference and All-Region awards and named Team Captain during my junior and senior seasons. My senior season we finished third in the country at the NCAA DIII World Series. Not too shabby for a kid who was just about cut from a high school team.
Recruiting isn’t easy, and every recruiting process is different. I love the opportunity I have at NCSA to help student-athletes from across the country fulfill their dream of competing in college and earning a college degree.