Testimonial of Andre Toliver, ex-pro baseball player

and Regional Director of College Prospects of America-Alaska

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?  THIS DOESN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN TO YOU.

I was one of the top baseball players at Dominquez High School in Compton, California – one of the greatest states to be seen by college coaches in baseball in the U.S.  But, at the end of my high school career, I received one letter from a college, University of California-Davis.  I found out I hadn’t taken the right courses in high school and didn’t have the required GPA to be eligible to attend that college.  I did not have any other college coach contact me on the telephone or meet with me to talk about college.  Luckily, my high school coach told me about a college in Tucson, Arizona, he thought I could compete at.  I went to Tucson, paying for the trip myself, and tried out with 50 other potential players who the coaches had already seen play.  Because of my talent, I got to play collegiate baseball for one of the top Junior Colleges in the country for two years at Pima Junior College.

Due to my accomplishments on the field, I received a full-ride scholarship from the coach at Grand Canyon College, a NAIA school, in Phoenix, Arizona after Pima.  A year later, 1985, I was drafted by the Chicago White Sox.

That was all the athletic way.

My down fall was I did not know the recruiting process.  I didn’t know enough to ask my parents or high school counselors what I needed to do so I could continue to play my sport at the college level while continuing my education.  I had no idea how to market my abilities to the thousands of baseball coaches across the country.  I didn’t know how financial aid works, the importance of a high GPA and SAT scores, and the importance of starting early in my sophomore year to plan for my college career.

CPOA-Alaska can market your abilities and provide expert advice every step of the way.  I can help you get connected to college coaches – the academic way.  You will have a number of college opportunities to choose from, instead of, like me, having the one “walk-on” offer from a school that by chance came my way.