From the outside looking in, it is easy to assume the recruiting process is a great time. Athletes are reached out to and taken on visits all across the country where they take recruitment photos, get fed on university dime, and are taken out and around by current team members. For the one percent of athletes, this holds entirely true, but often we forget that there are tens of thousands of high school athletes who fall under the latter ninety-nine percent.
Entering high school, Miles was never known for his flashy arm talent or superb control, and after playing his first two seasons as a junior varsity pitcher, Miles knew he needed to make some changes if he wanted to fulfill his goal of playing collegiate baseball. He began “implementing lifting, mental conditioning, and general baseball practice into [his] daily life,” and soon enough, he began inching closer to his goal. Working through slumps and sub-par seasons was how Miles knew he was staying on track.
Despite being honored as a second-team all-division pitcher and posting a 2.6 ERA with 30 strikeouts across 35 innings in his junior season, Kessler didn’t have coaches knocking on his front door, as he had once expected. After religiously emailing college coaches, being ghosted by his dream universities, and reaching out all across the nation, Miles finally found himself a home. On August, 8th of this past summer, Miles announced his commitment to New York University. To all aspiring collegiate athletes, Kessler believes the most important factor in his recruitment was to “know the type of school you want to target and figure out what level you can compete at.”
With his senior year ahead, B-CC is looking forward to watching Miles play for one last season before he starts the next chapter in his life, “I cannot wait to get to the city and enjoy the unique offerings of NYU!”