SchollyME: The Athletic Recruiting App From The Future

Technological evolution has been generous to mankind. If we examine the progress of all these years, the difference is significant. With time, we learned to use technology to our ease. The innovations soon metamorphosed into enthralling inventions, which seem pretty basic similar to the popular streaming service Netflix and the yellow cab services. But where the tech revolution could not reach was the sports recruiting industry. Sports recruiting has been conducted in the same manner for the past 100 years and it was evident that it would soon lose the race to the rapid cultural and technological shifts. SchollyME understood that the 21st-century coach, players, and parents are tech-savvy and will not welcome the traditional model. SchollyME democratized the global athletic recruitment process. The platform was built to make recruiting 10 times faster, streamlined, and equitable.

If we closely inspect the recruiting industry all the weight is on the coaches’ shoulders. The coach not only has to recruit the best athletes but also identify leaders for the scholarship opportunities. Juggling between the two is a difficult task which only a few can manage. Apart from human limitations, there are also finance and travel aspects—you cannot expect a coach to see all of the three million athletes competing for a scholarship each year. Moreover, after selecting the applicants, the coaches have to verify athletes’ academic records and test scores. In this tedious process, countless exceptional athletes go unnoticed costing them an impeccable future in sports. “At SchollyME, we understand that it’s not sustainable for coaches and athletic leaders, and it’s not equitable for student-athletes who may not have the same opportunities to perform for these coaches. Bottom line: the process is flawed,” explained Melvin Nunnery, Founder of SchollyME.

He is responsible for the culture and growth of the company. Melvin oversees almost all the operations from hiring the right people, to the partners they collaborate with, to keep up with recruiting globally and work on strategies to get even more athletes involved.

Game-Changing Features

Founded in 2011, SchollyME provides the athletes with a platform to take the recruiting process into their own hands. It is committed to leveling the playing field for high school and collegiate-level athletes, giving them a no-mess platform to develop a personal brand on and off the field. This commitment is based on the three main pillars of equity, efficiency, and ease. These pillars allow SchollyME to streamline the recruitment process with a singular, no-mess platform and break free from the historically associated athletic recruitment. The whole reason behind establishing SchollyME was to ensure the athletes did not have to suffer for the scholarships they need to build their athletic careers.

With the SchollyME app, the athletes who were not on anybody’s radar now can take their athletic futures into their own hands, contacting their desired coaches directly. Moreover, the app enables collegiate-level coaches to discover athletes through the “Kilt’d” feature. Kilt’d (~killed it viz. performed well) is a feature that allows the athletes to upload a 15-second video of any play, move, dance, or song in which they have performed well. Another game-changer by SchollyME is the transcript—what used to take a coach up to a month to receive can now be received within 2-seconds of the requesting.

The athletes looking to get recruited can make use of the SMART (SchollyME Active Recruiting Technology) feature that allows collegiate-level coaches to build the exact player they are missing or looking for in the program. Melvin’s goal was to make recruiting easy and this feature serves the purpose. With ease, the coach can select the attributes and this will determine which athletes will populate to that coach. Athletes that fulfill the criteria will are part of the SMART feature will then populate to that coach. Another key feature is the way the change in player evaluation. Melvin explains, “We are moving to current D1 athletes evaluating a high school and junior college talent to see if they have what it takes to play at the next level.” The young athletes are supervised by seniors as there is no better expert to tell a young athlete if they can play at the next level than an athlete currently playing at that level.

Journey to Become the Best

SchollyME is popular in the sports industry and swiftly rising to be the best recruitment process offered in the world. It is helping the athletes get scholarships that cover not only their athletic career but also provide better college opportunities. Though going global is the goal, SchollyME currently is serving athletes from China, Africa, the USA, and South America. “I think we are on track to becoming the best… if we’re not already there!” confidently asserts Melvin.

The company is also building a sports brand culture through an affordable and durable apparel store. These gears are catered to the athletes who proudly use SchollyME. Acknowledging the internet era, SchollyME’s 72% of all athletic recruiting is done through various forms of social media like Facebook and Twitter. Learning from these multiple platforms, SchollyME became the one-stop platform for recruitment and also to connect and build meaningful relationships. As the athletes want to take control of the recruitment process they also want to speak and feel connected to the coach, and this futuristic platform enables them to message the coach directly.

A Complete Transformation of the Industry

Currently, the economic disruption and adverse effects on the business have been the talk of the town. Melvin was actively involved in philanthropy to lend a helping hand to the ones suffering from the pandemic. SchollyME team recently launched its app for the schools in Kenya and went on a two-day camp to celebrate. However, after seeing the lack of resources the Melvin decided to help as many as he can through the country’s shutdowns. Melvin has been actively involved in philanthropy and deeply cares for the students and their future.

Fortunately, SchollyME’s operations were not affected by the drastic impact of COVID-19. On the contrary, it helped people understand why sports recruitment needed to be digitalized. Technology allows you to be at 15 different places at once from the comfort of your house then why not utilize it. Melvin envisions that every college will be recruiting on SchollyME by 2025. The team is continually striving to make improvements in the app and continue to make it better. He adds, “I expect that SchollyME is the new Uber or Airbnb in that it will completely change an entire industry and the way recruiting is conducted here on out.”

Key Takeaway for the Fellow Athletes

Melvin shared some valuable advice for the fellow athletes gradually making their way up the ladder. He says, “Leverage sports to pay for your college education. Leverage sports to make connections that you are going to rely on in the future. Some of the athletes you compete against or with may turn out to be the very person to hire you or partner with you.”