As a former college athlete, our North Carolina Regional Baseball Advisor, Joey Curcio, shares the personal journey that inspired the next step in his career with College Sports Advisors.
Why did you become a recruiting advisor?
That is a great question, and for me it has one, simple answer.
My family and I were once in the same position. When I was entering my Junior year of high school, we were lost in the recruiting process. I was going to showcases in the Northeast with no guidance or strategy. I began to doubt my ability and question whether my goal of playing college baseball was fading away as fast as my parents' money from sending me to all these events.
That is when I met a couple people that changed the course of my life and playing career, one of whom was Sam Sharf. With a plan in place for my recruiting process, I went from no interest to having multiple college offers. However, it was not always smooth sailing. When I started with my new advisors and coaches, it was like a dream come true. But as that summer was heating up, my situation changed abruptly due to a medical emergency.
Just after my first tournament, I had a seizure, which led to many doctor visits, and soon I learned that I had a tumor that was causing epileptic activity. The next step was to have surgery to remove it. I once again began to doubt my college baseball career.
I played the whole summer, but I was battling fears about my health. I told Sam and the rest of the coaches, and they didn’t skip a beat and quickly adapted to the situation. Later on that summer, I had more offers than I would have dreamed, including D1 and D3 powerhouses! But now came the hard part… telling all of these schools that I was about to have major brain surgery. But God is good, and I was able to commit with a scholarship to a D1 program.
After a five-year playing career, I decided to not pursue playing at the next level, and traded my glove for a fungo. I joined CSA because I have a passion for helping others and I love to build lasting relationships, like the ones that supported me through my own difficult journey. I can't wait to help families and players achieve their dreams of playing college ball.