NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

This a funny (and a little depressing) article is written by Willits JV girls’ basketball coach George Atwood and is titled “10-step plan to devastate a high school basketball program.” It essentially chronicles some of the things that high school coaches have to endure on a reoccurring (and often continuous) basis. Basically, it non-chalantly shows that just as parents can get frustrated with coaches, coaches can get frustrated with parents. It’s a two-way street.

Coaches are people, just like you and me. In the same way parents want the best for their kids, most coaches feel the same way for their players and their team.

Here’s the thing. Your coaches can’t make everyone happy, but from personal experience, you can rest assured that if they could, they would. Kudos to Coach Atwood for writing this piece. It’s unfair to demand so much more from someone who, chances are, already is doing more than he or she can already handle.

ESPN’s Pat Forde took a minute in his Forde Yard Dash to point out the remarkable football success of some of the nations premier academic institutions.  Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame and Rice all hold Top NCSA Power Ranking positions and have gotten off to winning starts this year.

 Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald took the honor in stride, “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing? When did the ’student-athlete’ term become lost? … The term ’student-athlete’ hasn’t changed at our schools. ”

Coach Fitzgerald is absolutely correct, it should be a program’s primary job to prepare its student athletes for the rest of their lives.  I encourage recruits to consider how committed a team is to their academic future when trying to make their college decision.

Recruits always walk a hard line between what is the best for their team and the best for their recruiting potential.  High School coaches often ask players to switch positions or give up individual success for the good of the team.  I’ve spoken to many athletes who worry that a position switch will ruin any chance they have to receive a scholarship.

The reality is college coaches recruit players and athletes.  They usually aren’t too concerned where a player lines up as long as they have convincingly displayed the skills necessary to compete in college.

Recruits should consider the story of University of Washington quarterback Jake Locker. Jake was at one-time considered one of the top defensive back prospects in the country.  Eventually he established himself as a top flight quarterback and signed with Washington.  However, after breaking his thumb last weekend he has again decided to make a switch to benefit his team.  He will line up on defense for at least the next six weeks to try to help turn around his team’s season.

Switching positions can be very difficult, but by putting the team first you help yourself in a few ways. 

1) Your coach will remember your sacrifice and will be more likely to discuss your “team attitude” with college coaches.

2) It could lead to more playing time and more opportunities to shine on the field.  Who knows you might end up in the spot you were meant to be!

Philip Surprise, who recently committed to Quinnipiac University, was chosen by ESPN as the Midwest Region Athlete of the Week. Click here to see the Article 

NCSA also sat down with Philip for a Q and A.  See Q & A

      During college visits, one particular resource that can provide some of the most helpful information during the recruiting process is often overlooked. This resource is made up of the current team members at a college. By communicating with these team members on a personal level, you can not only develop friendships, but get a true sense for the school you are thinking of attending, as well. Those athletes are currently going through what you will, if you choose to attend that school, and they can give you their insights on what really goes on. Below is a list of questions that might be helpful to ask an athlete at the college you are visiting.

1. What do you like/dislike about this school?
2. What do you like/dislike about the coaches and team you play for?
3. What types of classes are you in, and what do they involve?
4. If you were in the recruiting process all over again, would you pick this school and why?
5. Do they feed you well? (These types of things are important, too!)

A lot of these questions may seem simple, but they really can be quite useful if you work to get something out of them. Ask questions that you are really curious about and don’t be afraid to dig deep!

I’ve got this great new car that I think you’d like – V-8 engine, leather interior, personal navigational system, Dolby Digital Surround sound, anti-lock breaks, gets 40 mpg, and handles like a dream. Here’s a picture of it:

Like it? That will be $110,000, please.

Wait, you’re not going to buy it? Why not? I’ve given you all of the specs and you’ve seen a picture of it! What else do you need?

Oh, you want a test drive!

Hopefully by now, you’ve caught on the where I’m going with this. High school student-athletes (and their familes, for that matter) often wonder why they’re not being looked at by more colleges and why they’re not getting scholarships to play at the ones that are looking at them, even though they have a profile and a picture of themselves.

Here’s the kicker though. They don’t have a highlight video. What that means is that coaches can’t take a “test drive.”

Before coaches shovel out scholarship dollars in your direction, they need to make sure you’re worth the investment by seeing you play. And because schools don’t have unlimited recruiting budgets, they unfortunately can’t travel to all 20,000 high schools across the nation for that to happen. So, the highlight video is the coach’s best friend. 

It’s one thing if you can run a 4.5 forty. It’s another thing entirely if the coach can see you use that speed to break away from tacklers. You can bench 250, but can you use that strength to bring down the charging tight end? The fastball hit 85 mph on the gun. The question is, did it hit where the catcher’s mitt was?

It’s one thing to see the car and its specs. It’s something totally different to get in and take it for a spin.

(And I don’t have a Maserati … sorry.)

 Participating in collegiate athletics isn’t just about the opportunity to continue playing the sport you love. For 35 years Coach Cliff Gauthier has led one of the top gymnastic programs in the country at the College of William and Mary. 

He recently passed the 700 win mark for his career, yet Coach Gauthier still like to focus on what he calls his mission:

“To use the medium of gymnastics to help people improve the quality of their lives by teaching them how to grow and to learn more about who they are.”

“The mission is the driving force of our team,” Gauthier said. “If all the guys buy into this and are comfortable with it, we’ll be quite successful.”

And that mission begins right away during the recruiting process.

“Right off the bat, a lot of guys get eliminated simply because they just want to be an athlete or they can’t afford the effort it takes to excel in the gym. A lot [of athletes] will just try to cash in on their athletic ability to go to school as a short-term investment. What I’m trying to get is guys that look at going to college as truly the real investment.”

I applaud the effort of coaches like Cliff Gauthier.  The work they do to stress real meaning of student-ATHLETE goes a lot than just turning out a winning a team.  It should come as no surprise that the College of William and May consistently ranks near the top of the NCSA Power Rankings.

by Chris Krause, NCSA Founder and President

There is always a lot of buzz this time of year as recruited prospects who are targeted by colleges begin to line up their “official” campus visits.

It’s exciting because the college pays the travel costs for those visits, and they indicate a strong interest by the coach who is recruiting that athlete.  Official visits don’t get offered to every recruit, so it’s a real honor when you get asked to take an official visit to a campus.

But there is another side to the recruiting visit coin that a lot of recruits overlook.  Besides taking an “official” visit to a campus you might be considering as your college choice, you can also choose to go on an “unofficial” visit to the school.  An unofficial visit has the same purpose as the official visit, except that the student-athlete pays for all of their own travel costs to the school. 

For larger schools, this is an option that some coaches urge their recruits to take because they are limited in how many official visits they can pay for in a season (contrary to popular thought, college athletic programs don’t have an unlimited supply of money for recruiting).  For smaller schools, like those at the Division III level that don’t offer athletic scholarships, most recruiting trips to a school are paid for by the individual student-athlete and his or her family.  The exception would be those individual schools that have funds to bring in the athlete for an official visit, which is allowed by NCAA rules.

In each of those examples, the student-athlete prospect is still getting recruited.  They are still getting the campus tour, meeting the team, and talking to the coaches about opportunities at the school.  Aside from not having your travel paid for by the school that is recruiting you, everything else is the same.

Which brings me to the warning that I have for you, or your son or daughter, as the recruiting process unfolds: Be proactive and don’t limit yourself to only “official” visits to schools.  Everyone loves the “all expenses paid” trip, but this process is less about a free mini-vacation and all about searching for the perfect fit for your college education and athletic career.  If you are interested in a school, and they haven’t offered you an official visit, take the initiative and schedule a unofficial visit with the coach so that he or she knows you are serious about their school. 

Obviously, the ability to take a trip like that (and the number of trips) is going to depend greatly on your available family finances.  I understand that, as does my staff here at NCSA, which is one of the reasons we work hard in trying to bring as many interested college coaches as possible to you versus you having to search for them one-by-one on your own.  However, once a school expresses interest in you - or you have an interest in that school - it’s important to try and get on campus and get face to face with the coach.

Here’s a quick list of when you might want to consider taking an ”unofficial” visit to a campus:

• When you’ve been recruited by a coach, but haven’t been offered an “official” visit to the school by late Fall of your Senior year.
• When you are looking to attend a Division III school that doesn’t offer athletic scholarships, and can’t pay for “official” visits to their prospects.
•  When you and your family are going to be in the area that where a college is located, and would be convenient to visit (like during a family vacation).  That way, there is little or no additional expense in visiting that campus.
• When you are interested in a program, but that program does not know about you or is not seriously recruiting you.  Making a personal appearance shows a coach that you are a highly interested prospect.

Obviously, the more schools that know about you give you higher odds of being offered an official visit by a school.  However, if you feel like you need to be more proactive in getting coaches to seriously consider you as an option for their college roster, few things can be as valuable as arranging an unofficial campus visit.

Next week:  I’ll give you more details on the subject, including what you will need to give a college coach before you arrive on campus, as well as the right questions to ask a coach once you get to campus.

Scholarships aren’t handed out to the most talented players.  Plenty of players with an immense amount of talent are stitting at home on signing day wondering why the call never came for them.  In order to maximize your recruiting potential you have to not only show that your talent, but realize that talent on the field.  One of the easiest ways a coach can judge how close you will come to realizing your potential is watching you practice.

Yesterday’s San Fransicso Chronicle spotlighted tiny College of Marin.  The Program is on the verge of setting the all-time losing streak at the Junior College Level.  Still their Head Coach, Gary Garaboto holds a hard line when scouting players.

“I tell them that when I’m scouting a player, watching film, the minute I see a guy jogging a route, that film goes in the garbage.”

I encourage every potential recruit to remember that quote and compete on every single play of their athletic lives.  You never know who is watching!

 We’re just about wrapped up with the first month of the high school season. Many seniors have built relationships with college coaches throughout the country, but have not received a full-ride scholarship offer. What many high school athletes are asking themselves is: just how interested is a college coach in offering me a scholarship? With where we are in the calendar, it is late for a Division 1 school to offer. But don’t close the door on a school just yet.

Here are some different examples of how college coaches express interest:

1. “We want to see senior footage of you”

This is a way of telling a student-athlete we haven’t seen enough of you to make     an offer. It can also be a nice way of saying “we’re not interested.” College coaches can be apprehensive about hurting a kid’s feelings. But they have to do what’s best for the program. My best advice would be to play hard on every play and show your athleticism on the field. Help the coach who is recruiting you by getting the film in early and asking if he needs any additional information. Then ask where you stand on a coaches recruiting board. Right now, yes and no’s, are your best friend. This way you know where you stand.

2. What happens when you call?

Making a simple call to a coach can be a way of gauging interest. If the coach is interested he will stop a meeting to talk to you. However, if you are constantly getting voicemails and getting the secretary you should understand that you are lower on a school’s need list.

3. What happens on a visit?

If you are getting offered to take a later visit date, this means you are probably number 2 or 3 on their need list. Don’t take this personally. College football is a big time business and this is just another way of expressing where you stand on their board. Also, are you getting a tour to see the locker room after a game? If not, then this may be another way to see how interested a school is in you.

These all may seem like minimal situations, but they could help define where you plan on playing. There is nothing wrong with moving down a division to compete. A question I ask my student-athletes is “Would you rather play at a smaller school?” or, “Do you want to sit and wait at a bigger one?” The question is for you to decide. I recommend you go somewhere where you’re wanted. This will make for a great college experience.