Roscoe Crosby thought he was going to South Carolina on an official recruiting visit. Somewhere along the way he made a wrong turn and walked into Fantasy Island.

The Life of a Recruit

In a typical season, they can expect thousands of pieces of mail, hundreds of media guides, countless phone calls and enough advice to make an 18-year old's head spin. Being a top high school player ensures the nation's best recruiters will be in touch. ESPN.com takes you inside the recruiting process with a behind the scenes look at what happens when recruiters come calling and what goes into being a great recruiter Also, ESPN.com recruiting analyst Tom Lemming breaks down the best recruiters in the country and lists the head coaches who are the best at closing the deal.

On his second night with the Gamecocks, Crosby -- a Union (S.C.) High senior rated one of the country's top receivers -- was taken to Williams-Brice Stadium. On autumn Saturdays, more than 80,000 people fill the place. On Crosby's visit, the stadium was empty. But not still.

The lights came on, and soon Crosby's attention was drawn to the scoreboard. There, a football card from heaven showed one version of what his career with the Gamecocks might look like.

"They had my future stats on the big screen," says Crosby, who hasn't given South Carolina or any other school a commitment yet. "My freshman year, I had like 66 catches for 1,000 yards. My sophomore season was like 77 catches for 1,400 yards. My junior year I won the Heisman with 90 catches for 1,600 yards."

And as a senior?

"I wasn't there as a senior," Crosby says. "They had me in the NFL by then."

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? An official recruiting visit? Well, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

Like, you could be Kevin Jones, a star tailback from the Philadelphia area who is the all-time Catholic League rushing leader with 5,728 yards. On his official visit to Penn State, the parties lasted so long, he didn't get any sleep on Friday. Just partied all night long with some players and some coeds, and, well, that's just not easy on the body.

"I was a zombie the whole next day," says Jones, who has committed to Virginia Tech.

What parent would unleash their teenager into the world of official recruiting visits? Not Paul Troth's parents. Troth, the highest-rated quarterback in North Carolina, committed to East Carolina after being courted by Florida, Miami and Clemson. He committed shortly after his official visit, which he spent in Greenville, N.C., with his parents.

"Some people choose to send their kids up to these schools alone," says Troth's father, Mike. "We just weren't cut that way. He went out on his own with some of the guys, but he was back by 11 p.m. He was there to have fun, sure, but also to check out the school."

Check out the, gulp, school? Yeah, that's part of a visit, too. A typical visit looks something like this: The recruit flies into town on Friday afternoon and is met at the airport by his "host," a current player. They check into one of the better hotels in the area, eat dinner with some coaches at one of finer restaurants around then enjoy the night life.

	“	I don't know how they knew who I was, but when I went out that night to some parties, a lot of the girls knew who I was. There were a lot of girls. ”
		— Top RB recruit Kevin Jones

Saturdays are spent meeting with more coaches, maybe watching some film as Crosby did on one of his visits, or sitting in on a position meeting as Jones did on one of his.

Next comes some time with an academic counselor. High school athletes might not jump through the phone line to tell you about the academic part of their official visit, but most colleges have their recruits spend more time checking out academics as they do meeting with the head coach (who often leaves most of the "visiting" to assistants).

Generally, the academic tour includes a meeting with an adviser, a member of the program's tutorial staff and often a teacher in the athlete's favorite field of study, if there is one.

On recruiting visits to the University of Miami, athletes who hope to go pre-med often get to meet the Miami Dolphins' team physician. Such was the case with current North Carolina basketball player Adam Boone. As hedonistic as a visit can sound, and be, academics definitely are part of the package.

"We try to show (recruits) as much of the school as we can, because they're going to spend as much or more time in class and with teachers as they are at practice," says Duke coach Carl Franks, a former assistant at Florida. "It was the same way at Florida. You want them to know exactly what they're getting into on and off the field, and you want them as comfortable as possible with both."

After that, another expensive dinner follows and usually one more night of fun on campus. Sunday often is little more than breakfast with some coaches, then a ride out to the airport.

Another staple of a visit is the college team's official jersey in a locker with the recruit's name and high school number on the back. Florida State did that for Crosby (No. 25). Virginia Tech did it for Jones (No. 2).

Official visits in basketball can be just as decadent. At N.C. State, basketball prospects get, among other things, a gigantic red-and-white cookie with their jersey number in icing. They also have been known to check into one of the nicer hotels in Raleigh and find a bathrobe with their name on the back hanging on the bathroom door.

At North Carolina, a kid on a visit might meet Vince Carter or Michael Jordan, or find himself walking around the jogging track that encircles Kenan Stadium on a fall Saturday with basketball coach Matt Doherty. In the stands, 60,000 UNC football fans cheer the basketball recruit. At Duke, a home-cooked meal with coach Mike Krzyzewski's family is the highlight of the weekend.

But it's football where schools can do some awesome things. Like Jones' visit to Virginia Tech, where they put his name and face on the giant big screen at the football stadium, and left it there long enough, apparently, for some of the coeds around campus to see.

"I don't know how they knew who I was, but when I went out that night to some parties, a lot of the girls knew who I was," Jones says. "There were a lot of girls."

Too many? Maybe. It's just not easy being a big-time recruit.

Gregg Doyel covers the ACC for The Charlotte Observer.