Athletic Recruiting

We’ve had so many questions about college recruiting lately we thought we’d bring you an interview we recently had with John Wolff.  John was recruited to play baseball at Harvard and went on to play professional baseball with the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets!

First, I would like to thank Mimi and Michele for asking me to share my thoughts on college athletics and the recruiting game. Having gone through this process myself and knowing what a major influence it had on my life, I certainly wish I had more access to detailed first-hand information when I was still in high school. To that end, I hope the readers of this blog find value in my experiences and learn from my successes and failures.


1) What was the recruiting process like for you as a high school student?

I played varsity soccer, ice hockey, and baseball at Byram Hills High School in Armonk, NY. I always knew I wanted to play sports in college and, one day, maybe professionally. Although I was well-decorated with a variety of honors in high school (All-State, All-Section, All-League, etc.), I knew that because I attended a relatively small public high school I needed to go above and beyond my high school program to garner serious interest from top college programs.

I played junior-level ice hockey and was selected to the prestigious Empire State Team twice. I also played semi-pro baseball while in high school in order to face a stronger level of competition. I also made sure to attend as many elite baseball tournaments/showcases as possible. Fortunately, my efforts paid off. By competing at these higher levels against top athletes, I discovered that I had the requisite ability to play at the college level. During my senior year, dozens of letters started to pour in from colleges that were interested in me for both hockey and baseball. Many were “form-letters” from colleges that I had never heard of, but many others were handwritten, personalized notes from colleges that wanted me to visit and see the program.  I made sure to fill out all the response cards from the colleges that I was interested in.

My parents always stressed the importance of academics and I began to narrow down the schools. A pattern began to form. A lot of Division I schools in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic part of the U.S. started to view me as a baseball player, and a handful of Division III schools contacted me for ice hockey. I started to analyze my different options and tried to focus on playing either hockey, baseball, or both in college.But that’s when things started to get a little exciting. One night during the winter, I got a phone call from the head baseball coach at one of the nation’s top Division III programs. It was also a college that was superior academically. Plus I could play hockey there as well. He told me that if I committed to going to his school within 48 hours, then he could guarantee my acceptance.

I was flattered, to be sure, but I hadn’t heard yet from Dartmouth or Harvard, both top Div I programs. And in truth, there were several other top colleges still in the mix. So I came up with an unusual counteroffer. I went back to the Div III coach, and said, “How about this…if I don’t get into Harvard or Dartmouth, then I will come to your school to play baseball.” He countered by saying, “Okay, but you have to promise me that you won’t go to any other Div III program – you have to come here if you don’t get into Harvard or Dartmouth.”

I told him he had a deal. True, it was a different kind of deal, but then again, my sense is that the entire college recruiting process is a lot more like this  — of offers and counter-offers — than most high school athletes would imagine.

In any event, I was lucky enough to be accepted into both Dartmouth and Harvard. But even then, there was a catch. I spoke with the Dartmouth coach and he told me that he had two young players who played the same position as I did. The Harvard coach told me candidly that his top recruit also played my position. In short, both programs definitely wanted me, but there were no guarantees on playing time.

After some thought and consultation with my parents, I decided to call back the Harvard coach and told him I would commit to his program. I loved the school and the baseball program is one of the top places to play ball in the northeast. I also called the coaches at Dartmouth and also at that top Div III school and thanked them for their offers. They appreciated my honesty.

In short, I was off to play baseball at Harvard. As you might imagine I was excited. Only one minor problem: When I arrived at school I met my competition. The top recruit from Boston — a kid named Zak Farkes — played shortstop just like me. I knew I was in trouble from day one because Zak was simply a better player than I was. As one might expect, Zak played ahead of me and led our team to a couple of Ivy League Championships. Zak even broke the all-time Harvard career home run record, and he did it in only two seasons on the team. In short, Zak was a phenomenal college player and I spent a lot of time watching him from the bench.

However, even though I didn’t get many at-bats during the Harvard spring season, I made sure to take advantage of my summers and played ball in the very competitive ACBL (Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League). The ACBL is a major showcase league for top college players who want to go pro. I played well there, and even made the All-Star team in the ACBL. Sure enough, when draft time came around during our junior season,  two players from Harvard were drafted: myself (Chicago White Sox) and Zak Farkes (Boston Red Sox).

I have since retired as an active player from professional baseball after spending three years in the minors with the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets. However, Zak Farkes is still doing very well in the Boston Red Sox organization. I still hope to see him in the major leagues in the near future!

2) How did you balance sports and academics at Harvard?

I played three years of varsity baseball before I was drafted by the Chicago White Sox after my junior year. I also played four years of JV ice hockey because I enjoy skating so much. I don’t think the baseball coaching staff at Harvard liked the idea of me playing hockey in my free time but I really enjoyed my time with the hockey program. It was a great way to stay in shape in the off-season and expand my network.

The baseball program at Harvard did a great job of helping the freshmen organize their calendars to accommodate varsity baseball and academic class schedules. I vividly remember having a few sit-down sessions with upperclassmen baseball players and their “inside advice” on what classes to take, at what times, which professors to look for, and which professors to avoid.

During the off-season, we still had early morning weight-lifting sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and we had conditioning sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The weight-lifting and conditioning was in the morning before classes and then we had workouts or practices in the afternoons depending on the weather. That said, the focus was predominantly on academics in the off-season. The coaches stressed the importance of keeping up with one’s studies. During the spring season, it was definitely more of a challenge to maintain quality study habits. There was a lot of travel and playing a Division I varsity sport is a major time commitment. That said, everyone helped each other out and the older players would tutor the younger guys on the road. I found that many professors were extremely accommodating when players had to email in homework assignments while on trips.

3) What was the process like to move from Harvard into the job world?

I’ve had a very unusual transition from Harvard into the “job” world. Because I was drafted by the Chicago White Sox after my junior year in school, I decided to take a semester off and play professional baseball. I then returned to college for one more fall semester and then graduated in the winter one semester behind my original class. As such, I guess my first “real” job was playing professional baseball.

During my years in the minor leagues, I was amazed by the amount of free time I had after practice. At Harvard, there was always a show to see, a party to enjoy, a conference to attend and so on. In my free hours off the ball field, I started keeping a diary that turned into a book called Harvard Boys that was published by SkyHorse in the fall of 2007. The book recounts my first year in the minor leagues and is available on Amazon.com. I heartily recommend it if you are interested in learning more about what life is really like in pro ball.

In my three years in the minors, I moved around a lot and I found it was difficult to keep in touch with my teammates. As such, in my second year in the minors I started an online and exclusive network for professional athletes called eFieldHouse.com. The network is still going strong and growing daily.

This past year I decided to retire from professional baseball and run eFieldHouse.com while also working for a small private equity firm in Greenwich, CT. I enjoyed my experience and I recently decided to attend Columbia Business School with the plan to re-enter the world of private equity/venture capital when I graduate.

Looking back, I think the transition from Harvard to professional baseball was fairly seamless because I felt at home on the ball field. However, it has been much harder for me to retire from baseball. I miss playing the game, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life.

If you have questions about the college athletic recruiting process feel free to email me at wolff@efieldhouse.com. I’m happy to offer my thoughts and advice.

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