NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

                                                                                                                                                                                          The landscape of college recruiting has changed in recent years. There is no denying this fact. Most parents and former players remember a time when the senior year would determine the opportunities they had at the collegiate level after the fall seasons were complete. As seniors all over the country are finding out, scholarship offers have been made, some rosters are full and in many cases, doors have been closed. This can be a devastating realization for families that have not realized just how much the recruiting process has evolved over the years and thus accelerating its timeline. In most cases parents are left wondering, “Have we started to late?”I’m here to tell you there is still time. In the famous words of Douglas Adams, “Don’t Panic!” If you have a sincere desire to find a home to continue your athletic and academic career, there is a place for you to play. But I am going to be honest with you; the recruiting process is a game, plain and simple, and you have to know how to play it.

The first thing you have to realize the game has already started and you have to make up ground. Second, if you don’t know the rules of the game, or how it works, you can guess that you aren’t going to have much success in attempting to win the game. Now apply that analogy to the recruiting process and you can easily guess that your first step should be to get educated on exactly how the recruiting process works. Don’t go into this process blind, get educated and start making up ground.

First, you should read the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete. This will give you a ton of great info concerning the rules and regulations surrounding the recruiting process. You should use the information in this booklet to guide you on what sort of events should be happening to you throughout the year. You should quickly notice that there is a calendar of events or time periods that allow coaches to contact recruits through letters, calls and in person visits. This should allow you to construct a rough timeline for the recruiting process. Understanding this timeline is a great first step to becoming educated on how the process works and should really allow you to get off on the right foot with playing the game.

Now that you’re ready to play the game I want to pass along some very helpful advice on how you can make up ground. Recruiting is about relationship building. If you think of it in those terms it is easy to guess your next step. Whenever attempting to start any sort of relationship with someone, the first thing you would want to do is introduce yourself. Send out video, make phone calls, send emails, and get proactive! The more personal touches you can have with a coach and his staff, the more likely it will be that they will become comfortable enough with you as a player and a person to extend an offer. Use any means available to you to get in front of the coaching staffs that you want a chance to play for.

Be persistent and don’t take and don’t be afraid to hear the word no. Odds are there are going to be more schools that aren’t interested in having you play for you then there will be schools that are interested in playing for you. This is simply a numbers game. It’s ok to hear “no”, and “I’m not interested in players at your position,” you can hear one thousand “no’s,” but you only have to hear one “yes.” Odds are in your favor.

Again, keep in mind that you want to build a relationship with these coaches, so after you’re introduced don’t stop there, make sure to ask them questions, make visits and get to know the coaches that you want a chance to play for. A great way to build upon your relationship is to set up an unofficial visit to a local school. This way you can have an opportunity to ask questions about recruiting needs and opportunities at the various schools surrounding your home. Once you start to get introduced to these programs you should really start to see some momentum build for yourself, and hopefully those local contacts will turn into national contacts.

Building a strong relationship with each and every coaching staff that you are working with will ease some of the pressure of the recruiting process. It will make it easier to truly find out where you stand with them, and whether or not they plan to offer you a roster spot. If you’ve built a strong relationship, whatever the outcome concerning a scholarship, that coach will be an advocate for you in the future.

Remember there is still time left if you want to get involved with college athletics, but you have to start making up ground.  If you feel like you need assistance there are avenues you can explore to become more educated on how this process works. You only get one shot at the recruiting process, do not leave any stone unturned, and make sure to put in as much effort as possible and you will find success.

Among the many reasons to enter the college sports recruiting process earning an athletic scholarship to pay for college is always at the top of the list. Playing in college offsets the burden of paying for college. After all, who wants to be paying for college 10 years after they graduate because of student loans? In May 2007, testimony before US congress revealed that a quarter of all students graduate with too much debt to pay back on a starting teachers salary. That is way too high.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be knowledgeable in the ways of Financial Aid?

I earned my MBA from one of the top business schools in the country and traded sophisticated financial instruments for over 20 years. I thought I could figure this financial aid thing out. I couldn’t. I needed help. I’m very glad I invested in professional advice that helped maximize the grants and scholarships my daughter received. One of the great things about NCSA is that their advice on how to maximize scholarship dollars actually works. And it continues to work. Except for the less than 1% of college athletes who have “full rides” (tuition, books, room & board, fees, transportation), most families must negotiate their financial aid package on an annual basis. Paying for that expert advice helped - a lot! As she enters her junior year, my daughter has received over $135,000 in financial aid. Not one penny of that is a student loan. It’s all grants that don’t have to be paid back. Do you think I’m happy with the professional advice I received? My return on that investment was over 6700.00 per cent!

 In 23 years as a sportscaster at TV stations across the country, I covered hundreds and hundreds of recruiting stories. I was able to have the access to college coaches to learn all the things they look for in a prospective student-athlete.

I once sat down with a highly successful college basketball coach at the NAIA level and asked him what he looks for when he is in the stands at a prospect’s games. I was interested in learning what he looks for besides athleticism.

He said he closely watches how the athlete reacts when he is substituted for in the game. Does he appear miffed about being taken out? Does he actively cheer for the team on the floor or does he just sit there. While in the game, the coach looks for how the athlete reacts when he makes a bad play. Does he hang his head or immediately put the play behind him and give his best to make a positive play. The college coach said he makes notes on all those things and anything else that would possibly impact the chemistry on the college program. The successful college coach had built his program on chemistry and character. Though he needed good athletes, he was very careful about who he let into his program.

Another time I was talking to a college coach about what he does while watching from the stands. The coach said he stays in the bleachers long after the game. He waits until the athlete is showered. He wants to see how the athlete interacts with the parents. He said one time he had checked out a recruit who was fine academically, athletically and seemed to be fine character-wise. The coach watched from the top of the bleachers as the athlete left the locker room. The proud parents were beaming and couldn’t wait to hug and congratulate their child. The athlete brushed right by his parents. Whether he thought it wasn’t cool to hug his parents or whatever, he glided right past them. The college coach told me he terminated recruitment of that kid right away. That may seem a little harsh, but some college coaches mean business when it comes to character. Part of character is honoring your parents. It is one of the Ten Commandments. That college coach was very serious about signing kids that showed respect at all times to elders and especially their own parents.

I hope these examples help remind you that college coaches are looking at a lot more things than how well you kick a soccer ball, dive into a pool, or chase down an elusive tailback. They’re watching your character because they are watching out for their own team chemistry.

Do you think the college athletic recruiting process should provide you with the highest number of opportunities? Do you think understanding college athletics recruiting can reveal the perfect college fit for you? How do you go about increasing your opportunities? What system should you employ to make sure you are selecting the right opportunity for you?

College coaches begin by initially contacting 1,000 or 2,000 or even 10,000 (depending on the sport) student athletes by sending them camp brochures, emails, questionnaires, etc. Those same college coaches are clearly not recruiting all of those student-athletes. Why do they start with such a large pool? They are following the advice of Marketing 101: the more kids who they find out about, the better chance they’ll find the really quality student-athlete who will help their program. If that’s a good strategy for college coaches, shouldn’t a student-athlete use the same strategy? Doing so will increase your number of opportunities.

A savvy student-athlete will learn as early as freshman year that they need to develop trust-based relationships with college coaches. This can only happen through communication. Since the NCAA restricts the amount and timing of contacts initiated by college coaches, the student-athlete must be proactive. Unfortunately, the 14 or 15 year old student-athlete doesn’t have the life experiences or the maturity to begin building relationships with adults. The good news is they can be trained in that skill set. It’s like interviewing for a job. 

College recruiting boils down to trust-based relationships between college coaches and student-athletes. What college coach is going to make a significant investment in a student-athlete unless they know a lot more about that student-athlete than her/his performance on the playing field?

If you agree with playing the numbers game and building trust-based relationships with college coaches, have you thought about how you would do that? If you’re a student-athlete reading this, do you think your parents can do this for you? If so, you better forget about playing sports in college. Do you think your coach can do this for you? Again, if so, you better forget about finding the perfect college fit for you. You are the one that needs to take charge. You can only do that if you develop the skill set to do so. Who will teach you that?

Finally, if you do all of the above correctly, how do you determine the right fit? There are many different factors including: academic quality of the school, size of school, location of school, financial aid package, level of competition, opportunity to play early, getting along with the coaching staff and players, receiving tutoring help (if necessary), etc. There is a way to logically sort out all of those factors. If you need help, go here.

 I often hear from Student Athletes that lead off our conversation with the tired line, “I don’t play a lot because my coach doesn’t like me.”  What every student athlete needs to understand is that coaches want to win just as bad as anyone.  If they don’t “like you,” you have given them a reason to believe that you won’t perform for the team.

Many times it seems as though these problems develop from a lack of attention in the classroom and community.  These problems cause a coach to doubt if the team can really count on you.  I would advise all student athletes to work as hard as possible so you never give a coach a reason to believe that you might let the team down.

If you take care of business and are the best player at your position you will have a place on the team.  Why?  Because a coach wants to win and needs his team to believe in that same mission.

Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen recently had to decide on his starting quarterback for the upcoming season.  He ended up going with 5^th year senior Jordan Steffy over Chris Turner a junior who started the last 8 games of last season and led the team to victories over two top 10 teams.

Friedgen’s rationale was simple:

“I evaluate what I see, and I have to have some credibility with my players. If you don’t reward people who practice well, you are in danger of losing the whole team.”

If you have a problem with your coach I urge to sit down and work things out. Don’t allow your sporting career to pass you by.

Think that because you don’t play football, basketball, baseball, softball or women’s volleyball, that means you don’t have to worry as much about recruiting?

Think again!

On the University of Kentucky Athletics Web site, the Wildcats rifle team head coach Harry Mullins details his team’s upcoming season. In addition, he talks about the schools on the schedule — and some of their recruiting classes. Some excerpts from the coach:

“UT Martin had a great recruiting class and like many others have a solid core coming back.”

“WVU finished strong last year right behind us at the NCAAs. Their recruiting class this season was ranked as one of the top in the nation. …”

“Our match with Ole Miss will be another conference match. Ole Miss did a good job recruiting this past season and they are traditionally stronger at the end of the year.”

So, for you smaller sports out there – tennis players, field hockey players, swimmers, male volleyball players and golfers — let this be a lesson to you. If a sport like rifle concerns itself with recruiting, don’t you think your sport might as well?

 Character matters in recruiting.  When I ask a coach in any sport what they look for in a recruit the words high character always come up in their top three.  Taking a chance on a “risky” recruit can often come back to bite a coach in the butt.

In 2007 Texas threw former high profile recruit Robert Joseph off the team for getting caught breaking into cars at a hotel parking lot.  The incident drew a ton of heat for the school, administration and football staff.  To make matters even worse it came to light that Joseph had a felony record when he came to Texas, but it went undetected by the coaching staff since his juvenile record was sealed.  This was simply a case of the details slipping through the cracks. 

Today’s Austin American Statesman discusses with Texas Head Coach Mack Brown the steps he uses to make sure that no other details fall through the cracks.

“First, we look at the kid,” Brown said. “If they’ve got good values in their family and they tell you the truth, they call you when they’re supposed to, they show up when they’re supposed to, they e-mail back when you e-mail them and they’ve done things for the school and leadership with the community - they’re responsible. Those are no-brainers, but that makes sense.”

Then it’s on to the next phase: talking to a recruit’s parents.

“We prefer kids from two-parent families because they tend to be more stable,” Brown said. “More recently, we’ve accepted kids from one-parent families because half the kids come from those homes. Now our rule is that there has to be one strong parent as a role model.

“If we have trouble with the parents, we don’t recruit the kid.”

The Longhorns also look at grade-point averages, preferring players with a 3.0 or better, depending on the school. And they look at test scores to make sure the scores are in line with the recruit’s grades.

“If he’s got a high test score and low grades, it means he hasn’t really been working as hard and isn’t putting as much effort into school,” Brown said. “That’s a red flag.”

They look at confidence. “A confident kid is going to have success and isn’t as prone to falling into something because of peer pressure,” Brown said.

They look to see if a player has transferred schools.

Next, it’s on to coaches.

“It’s not just about the head coach,” Texas A&M recruiting coordinator Tim Cassidy said. “You’ve got to talk to the assistant coaches, coaches of their opponents. The coaches of the opponent might not know as much about character, but they’re good to talk to. The more people you talk to, the more you know the kid you’re recruiting.”

If you want to make it to the highest level of your recruiting potential it is of the upmost importance that you make the right choices to ensure that your character is judged to be of the highest quality.

Are you a student-athlete who is on a mission to play college sports? Are you a student-athlete who has played your sport for years? Imagine your first sport season after high school and you’re not playing. What would that feel like?

Most student athletes and their families are unaware of how early college recruiting begins. Or the reasons it begins so early. The problem is that 93% of high school students who go on to college are applying through the academic door. They begin researching colleges late in their junior year or early in their senior year. They listen to the high school guidance counselor who advises them to apply to several schools. They place these schools into 3 categories: 1) Reach schools (if I’m lucky, I’ll get in.) 2) Stretch schools (I’m pretty sure I’d get accepted to half of these I apply to.) and 3) safe schools (I’ll get in no matter what.) Make sure you have all of your applications in before Christmas break.

Unfortunately, student-athletes and their families think that college athletic recruiting operates along the same time-line. It doesn’t!  If you wish to apply through the athletic door, you need to understand the different calendars and timelines.

Different sports have different recruiting calendars and time-lines. However, all sports have the following in common:

1. College coaches would love to find out about you early. In some sports that’s as early as 7^th and 8^th grade, other sports it’s by 10^th grade. Waiting until the beginning of junior year begins to reduce your opportunities.
2. A college student athlete has a certain athletic profile. For example, in baseball, a student athlete needs to have a certain 60-yard dash time, a certain overhand throwing velocity, a certain bat-speed, etc. For very competitive schools, those metrics need to be achieved by the end of junior year. If not, many college coaches will refuse to evaluate a student-athlete. It takes time to develop physically and student-athletes need to train to that level early to ensure they reach that level on time.
3. College coaches only give scholarship money to student-athletes they know, like, and trust. Those trust-based relationships take time to build. Because of the recruiting restrictions placed on college coaches, it’s important that a student-athlete begin to build those relationships as a freshman. Most don’t know how to go about that.

If you’re serious about being a college student-athlete, you need to implement that game plan that will get you there. Knowing what to do is as important as doing it. If you don’t know what to do, you should contact an expert for an evaluation. You can do that at NCSA.

- by Genevieve Collins 09 Field Hockey Grad 

It all started in the second week of June. My video was ready and it was time to send out the scouting report! I started to receive feedback from interested coaches immediately. I didn’t realize there were so many colleges and universities, so many opportunities. That weekend I attended College Connection at the University of Massachusetts. The camp went great and I was receiving e-mails everyday upon my return.

Keeping in touch with coaches is very exciting. At first I was nervous to phone coaches but after a few coaching sessions you realize it is the best way to show your intent! July first gave me a good idea of who was really interested.

Next week is my main event this summer (U19 Canadian National Field Hockey Championships) and some coaches will be coming up to watch. I am looking forward to my first meetings!

The college recruiting experience has many twists and turns.  There are many factors that play into recruiting for a student-athlete but one they have control over is doing the research.  Every student-athlete’s process is completely unique and different.  Doing research on the colleges and the process should be one of the top priorities!

Not only is the Stanford University one of the top academics schools in the country but it is also one of the best athletic programs (Stanford has won 14 consecutive Directors’ Cup).  The Stanford baseball program is a regulaly in the College World Series and is a two time National Champion. 

The Baseball Assistant Coach Dean Stotz at Stanford talks about the importance of research and choosing a college; “I have been doing this a long time, and if I may be so bold, I would like to help you simplify the process of selecting what college you will attend. First of all, please have respect for the magnitude of this college decision. You will live with this decision THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! This is not a “four year” decision, but a “FORTY YEAR DECISION”. There are no “mulligans”, no “do-overs”. Consider the task as if you are doing the most important research paper of your young life. The title of your research paper is: Where will I attend college? Now, how do you do well on a research paper?–RESEARCH!!!

There are three broad areas of risk in your college decision. You must decide what type of “academic challenge”, what type of “baseball challenge”, and what type of what I call “social challenge” you wish to take on.  In Coach Marquess’s and my 31 years we have not graduated 9 people who attended Stanford for four years.” What do you think?  Please post a comment on this topic!!