A fair question

Why not just ask a chatbot?

Any chatbot will give you a confident college list in ten seconds. The problem is that it sounds exactly the same when it is wrong. Here is what happens when you check its answer against what is true today.

Get My Recruiting Plan → Compare the answers

A general chatbot

I'm a 2028 soccer midfielder with a 3.7 GPA. Which D1 schools should I email, and when can coaches contact me?

1Three of the most competitive programs in the country, chosen because they are famous, not because they need a midfielder in your class.

2That was the old rule. D1 women's soccer coaches can now reach out from June 15 after sophomore year.

3It cannot tell whether that coach still works there, or who on the staff actually recruits your position.

Why it happens

A chatbot is confident either way.

A general chatbot has read a lot about college sports, and it has no way to check any of it against today. These are the four places that gap shows up in recruiting, and each one costs families time.

Recruiting rules keep moving

Division I contact dates have changed more than once in the last few years, and the new roster limits changed scholarships at a lot of programs. A model trained a year ago will give you last year's date without hesitating.

It cannot see a roster

Whether a program is carrying four seniors at your position or none is the most useful thing to know before you write. A chatbot does not have that roster in front of it.

Coaching staffs turn over

Assistant coaches move every year, and the person who recruits your position is often not the head coach. An email to a coach who left in the spring is worse than no email at all.

It reaches for famous schools

Ask for twenty fits and you get names you already know, which is the opposite of the job. The programs worth finding are usually the ones you have not heard of.

Same question, two answers

Ask both the same thing and see what you can act on

Pick a question. Both answers take seconds to read. Only one of them tells you what to do next.

Should I email this program?

A general chatbot

"That's a great target school for you! Reach out to the coaching staff, highlight your strengths and express your interest in the program."

Your Pathley plan

Depth: four seniors at your position and nobody in your class, so a spot is likely to open.
Timing: the contact window for your sport is already open.
Who to write to: the staff member who recruits your region, with a draft built around your stats.

One answer is encouragement. The other is a yes, a reason and a name.

Being straight with you

Yes, we use AI. It is one step out of five.

AI writes the words in your plan. What makes the plan worth having is everything we put in front of it before it writes, and the person who reads it afterwards.

Step 1

Your real profile

A short intake: sport, position, grades, times or marks, budget and what you want from college.

Step 2

Every program and roster

Every NCAA and NAIA program with current rosters, so fits come from real depth at your position.

Step 3

Rules checked at the source

Recruiting calendars checked against official NCAA and NAIA sources, division by division and sport by sport.

Step 4

AI writes the plan

Using only what steps one to three put in front of it.

The only step a chatbot does

Step 5

A person reads it first

Nothing goes out unreviewed, which is why it takes 24 hours instead of 24 seconds.

When you ask a chatbot, you get step four on its own. It writes from memory, with no roster, no current rules and no one checking. You are not paying Pathley for the writing. You are paying for the four steps around it.

An honest take

Chatbots are useful. Just not for this part.

We use AI every day, and we would not tell you to stop. The line is simple: anything that depends on what is true this season needs to be checked.

A chatbot is a fine tool for

Explaining recruiting terms like official visits, the transfer portal or NLI.

Tidying up the grammar in an email you have already written.

Practicing answers before a phone call with a coach.

Brainstorming questions to ask on a campus visit.

Use checked data when the answer decides something

Which programs to spend your time on, based on who they need in your class.

When coaches in your sport and division are allowed to contact you.

Which staff member to write to, and whether they are still there.

Which camps and showcases your target coaches will actually attend.

Do not take our word for it

Run the test on a team you already know.

The college directory is free and has no paywall. It takes about two minutes to see the difference for yourself.

Try it on one school →

1Pick a program you know well, ideally one where you know the roster or a player on it.
2Look it up in the free directory and check whether the roster read matches what you know about that team.
3Ask a chatbot the same question about that program and compare the two answers.

Ten seconds is fast. Right is better.

Twenty to twenty five programs that fit, the roster read behind each one, the coach to write to and a draft to start from. Checked by a person and in your inbox within 24 hours.

See the Recruiting Plan →

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