McKenzie “Mickey” Coslor is a standout 2023 Extra Elite 100 infielder from Port Charlotte, Florida who plays for the Rock Gold organization and has been an impressive blogger for Extra Inning Softball (including her most recent article titled 5 Tips in Getting Recruited).
She comes from a strong athletic family; one older sister, Morgan, played professional softball in Taiwan in 2019, and now is her high school coach at Port Charlotte HS. Morgan also coaches in the Florida Gulf Coast League with the South Bradenton Skeeters
Mickey knows how to do what it takes to get seen as well—be sure to check out her impressive softball-focused website, too which, among other things, showcases Mickey’s skills and abilities via impressive videos!
We asked the junior to tell us how the exiting, but nerve-racking days leading up to September 1st—the first day college coaches could officially contact potential recruits in the current junior class—transpired as well as who has reached out to her on and since that significant day.
Mickey told us that the recruiting period kickoff was “overwhelming.”
“It was even more exciting, fun, informational and nerve-racking than I thought it would be!” she said September 1. “It started right at midnight and turned into a long day that ended after 10 pm that night!”
Not only did she get texts and phone calls, the student-athlete with a 4.0 GPA also got invites to college camps.
“It’s probably been 30 or so camp invites from D1 schools since September 1,” Mickey adds, mentioning programs as diverse as Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami (Ohio), Penn, Houston, Lehigh, Furman, Towson, Longwood, San Jose State and Cal State-Fullerton among others.
And it’s been a fruitful time too as she’s received offers and has been told by some schools to expect some soon.
“I did receive an amazing offer from one school and I am going on official and unofficial visits to schools like Houston, Miami (Ohio), Jacksonville, Florida Gulf Coast University, Tennessee Tech, Mercer and possibly a few more in the coming weeks.”
The athlete explains that one school in the South “told me today they are putting together an offer. And I have also received a bunch of camp invites to schools like Notre Dame, Penn, Virginia, and several others. Florida State has also asked me to attend a camp later this fall.”
The junior infielder admits it’s a challenge to get everything scheduled and balanced around her travel ball schedule but adds:
“It’s definitely exciting!”
A detailed note keeper, Mickey has kept track of all her “personal conversations, either in person, on the phone or via email and it’s been 195 coaches representing 174 schools at all divisions.”
Those contacts include”
- 50 DI schools (63 coaches)
- 32 DII schools (34 coaches)
- 52 (DIII schools (55 coaches)
- 18 JC’s (19 coaches)
- 22 NAIA schools (24 coaches)
How does a teen athlete handle so much attention from suitors and potential future coaches?
We asked Mickey to share her thoughts about this Fall window of recruiting for her age class… here’s what she had to say:
*****
For most aspiring college athletes, September 1 is a date that we’ve heard about, and anticipated, for years.
Heralded as basically a holiday in the college recruiting world, I’ve been a little anxious, excited and nervous in the days and months leading up to that particular date that NCAA Div. 1 coaches could finally personally reach out to athletes in their junior year.
In those times leading up to September 1, when I’d feel most overwhelmed and anxious, my family and I would talk, and we’d remind each other DI softball doesn’t always have to be the “end game,” and that I am so lucky to already have offers from amazing NAIA, D2, D3, and Juco programs – colleges that have GREAT softball and I know would be a fit for my education.
And the other thing that really helped me alleviate anxiety and nervousness was my parents reminding me that Sep 1 is only ONE DAY of a long recruiting process. My parents would remind me that schools don’t complete their recruiting on a single day—and that many schools, even if they have interest—won’t reach out on that particular day anyway.
But no matter what you tell yourself, it’s still nerve-racking wondering if any schools will actually reach out, and wondering if you’re even good enough to play at that level!
The days leading up to September 1st were pretty interesting, as I received a lot of new camp invites from D1 programs around the country, and the visits to my website and YouTube channel doubled.
I wondered if some of these might reach out on the 1st and some of them did!
The night of August 31st, I actually went to bed pretty early and decided I probably wouldn’t be one of those to receive any calls or texts at midnight, but went to bed hopefully I might get a couple of e-mails the next day.
Surprisingly, my first text message came at 12:01 am from one of my favorite schools in the Mid-American Conference and that was quickly followed by a text from a great Ohio Valley Conference school.
After waking up, and responding to those messages, I decided to check my e-mail. In the minutes right after midnight, I received e-mails from schools in the Ivy League, Conference USA, and the Big South… followed by a few more text messages over the next hour from schools in the Mid-American, Ivy League, and Southwestern conferences.
To say I was surprised was an understatement! I was able to get phone and FaceTime meetings set up for the following day and got back to sleep!
The following day proved to be an exercise in scheduling and time management. I was lucky to have so many great conversations with coaches, and continued to receive text and e-mails setting up additional calls.
Schools from the Atlantic Sun, another Southwestern Conference school, and American Athletic Conference were the next schools to contact me. After a couple more hours of some great phone conversations, I was contacted by a Sun Belt Conference school and another Ohio Valley Conference school.
It took me most of the day to have conversations with coaches, take notes on those conversations as I learned more about their schools, reply to e-mails, e-mail fall playing schedules, and to keep my notes updated on some schools that wanted to chat later in the week.
One of the most fun parts of the day was texting back and forth with some of my teammates on Rock Gold, and hearing about the awesome day and conversations they had!
Later that night I got back to catching up on homework, and at around 10 pm was surprised with a message from one of my favorite ACC schools and then another Atlantic Sun school.
In the days following September 1, I’ve been lucky to have some more schools reach out – including so many of my favorite non-D1 schools that I was previously in contact with, and a few more DII and NAIA that reached out to make introductions.
Was I contacted by all of my dream schools? Absolutely not.
Was I even contacted by everyone I thought I would? Nope.
But I was contacted by several that really surprised me – and I was really surprised at how much time each coach that did contact spent with me on the calls and showed genuine interest.
The combination of everything made for a really fun day that I’ll always remember. But, at the end of the day (literally), I think we all have to remember that September 1 is just one day in a really long recruiting process.
There’s a lot more excitement – and probably some disappointment – to come! If we keep working hard, I know there’s a great college – from all divisions – for all of us!
— Mickey Cosler
