NCSA Blog

 Any relationship/friendship if it is to be beneficial to both parties must be based upon trust and loyalty. This quality definitely applies to your relationship with the coach that is recruiting you. Even as a young person you need to “get a feel” for the coach who is attempting to attract you to his or her school. Basically this is an initial instinct as to how comfortable you are with this individual.

Recruiters are as diverse and different as all people are different from each other. Initially parents or guardians need to interact with the recruiting coach.  When they are comfortable with the recruiter and the young person is ready, they can turn the brunt of the relationship over to the recruit and watch from basically role as a moderator.

Being comfortable with the relationship, it can mean that the conversations with the recruiter are not just based upon a hard sell for their school, but are actual conversations concerning academics, friends, life goals and other topics. The constant hard sell can become annoying, and indicative of a recruiter who is inexperienced, or who is “not doing their homework.” The best recruiters that I had the pleasure of working with knew their respective recruits almost as life long friends. Again, “the best” recruiters I worked with. It really sent up a red flag for me when on our recruiting call evening I would go down the hall and hear one of our coaches begins the conversation with, “So how is it going big guy, who do you guys have this weekend,? Great, I will call you next week!” I could only think about what the young person on the other end of that call thought of such an impersonal call.

Permit me to digress a bit. When I say recruiting coach, I am referring to the coach who is the primary contact with the recruit. Initially it is usually a coach who is assigned to a geographical region of the prospective student athlete. The recruit may also hear from the coach of a particular position on the team assigned to that recruit, the recruiting coordinator or even the head coach as the process continues.

The coach assigned geographically to the area is usually the initial contact and usually the main conduit to the athletic program for the recruit and the family. This is usually the relationship that becomes the strongest and most lasting. And this is usually the coach that will “have the recruits back” as the young person moves from prospect to recruit to signee, to team member to college graduate. And in all candor, this is the coach who if he or she leave the school for another position at another school will have the biggest affect on the athlete.

And, if this individual should move on during the recruiting process it is critical for the family to immediately call the head coach to determine the status of the recruit in the process with the main contact in the program no longer in the picture. It is an honor to be recruited, it is indicative of hard work and dedication, but remember this is a two way street. It is also an honor to be called ‘coach.” And as you are moving through the process remember that you have a lot to bring to the table, and that as you are being evaluated, you are also evaluating the coaches and schools that are recruiting you. It is critical that once again you “get a feel” for these individuals.

Can you live with these people during the next four years of your life that will determine the next forty years of your life? And when I say “live with” it is just what I mean. A commitment to a school is huge undertaking. Hours, days, weeks, months, years of practice, being coached, competing, and every athletic moment along the way you will be in the charge of the coaches who have recruited you. It sounds like a long road and it is, but it can be just so rewarding, and the ride of a lifetime. Make sure that the coaches who will accompany you on that ride are people,” that you can live with.” Go for it! And always remember that you will be going through this process only once. At NCSA you will be dealing with people who have gone through it so many, many, times. And remember that we are here to assist you. No question is too unimportant; it is about you and about your future. Use us to make that future as bright and as profitable as possible.

Coach C.

 Creating mismatches is what good X and O coaching is all about.  At NCSA we try to help potential recruits to create their own mismatches.  What is a mismatch in recruiting?  It’s an athlete with options.  The more offers from different schools the more likely that scholarship dollars will increase and the athlete will find the right school fit.  Why?  Because schools don’t want to lose out to their rivals.

I am always stunned when I talk to athletes that draw a 2 state buffer around their hometown and refuse to consider any further schools.  Talk about decreasing your options!

Only a few years ago coaches usually took the majority of their recruits from inside their state borders.  That has drastically changed.  Right now the Wisconsin Badger 2009 recruiting class has only 4 in state commits as opposed to 12 out-of-staters.

If coaches are willing to look further out, then recruits should take advantage and do the same.  By using technology like NCSA’s Scouting Report athletes can easily promote themselves across the country.  If you want to maximize your options, I suggest getting started today.

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!

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.

It’s as simple as that. Take a gander at the NCSA men’s tennis and women’s tennis recruiting guidelines — notice anything about requirements for each level? All of them list USTA or ITA qualifications, from Division I all the way down to Division III.

And if you don’t believe me, read the following passage from an article in the Danbury News Times about a father-daughter tennis pair, Ward Jannuzzi and Lauren McCarthy:

She’s also a solid singles player. McCarthy was just 15 when she posted a 20-0 record as a sophomore and claimed the state championship. It was her only season of scholastic tennis.

“I wanted to do it to be in a team environment where it is fun. I knew college tennis was going to be really intense and difficult and competitive and it was just nice to see girls who were out there just to have fun. I really liked that they were supportive of me. It was a great year. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”

Thereafter, McCarthy eschewed scholastic tennis to concentrate on the Nationals. College coaches do much of their recruiting at two USTA junior tournaments, and because McCarthy was young for her grade she had only a one-year window in the 18s division.

It’s common sense — coaches know that the most-talented and most-determined players are going to play not just in high school, but in outside tournaments. McCarthy even went so far as to fore-go a year of high school tennis because she knew she would be looked at more seriously playing USTA tennis.

Now, you don’t have to go as far as quitting your high school team to just focus on USTA, but you absolutely need that extra playing experience if you want to ace your college recruiting opportunities.

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.

The Pac-10 Conference is called the “Conference of Champions” for a good reason.  In 2007-2008 the conference captured 13 NCAA Team Championships far more then its runner up, Big Ten (5).  These 13 championships is one shy of the record 14 set in 1996-1997.  The Pac-10 has lead the nation in NCAA Championships 41 of the last 47 years.  They also finished second five times in that span.

  -by Lauren Wilmarth 09 Tennis Grad

 This June has been very busy for me. The month started out with my tennis team winning the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council end of season tournament. This was particularly exciting since Phillips Academy Andover has never won a New England Championship for tennis before - for boys or girls. I made it to the finals of my draw, and this was a once in a lifetime experience for me because the entire tournament depended on my match. If I won my match, Phillips Academy would take the championship, and if I did not, then Milton Academy had a very good chance to take the title. Every single one of my teammates was up against the fence behind me, cheering me on in every single way possible. I have never experienced such team unity before. I am very glad to have helped to make history for such a great high school!

After my Junior year of high school came to an end I spent my time preparing for the end of June, when I would head to New Haven, Connecticut to attend a College Showcase and then play in the New England Sectional tennis tournament. On June 18^th my mom and I headed to Connecticut. The College Showcase was scheduled to start on June 19^th, while the tennis tournament was scheduled to start on June 21^st.

The College Showcase was held at the Yale tennis courts. Upon arriving I was very nervous to see more than one hundred coaches standing by the courts, waiting to watch and see how each of the sixty high school tennis players played. However, I quickly convinced myself to focus only on my tennis and not the fact that there were college coaches watching me, and in the end I was exceptionally happy with the way that I played. It was great fun and good tennis.

After the Showcase came to an end, I received a multitude of emails from various coaches that watched me play. These coaches let me know that they are very interested in having me attend their school and play for their tennis team, and that they would like for me to add their school to my list of schools that I am interested in. I am still in contact with each and every one of these coaches, and I have been updating them as to my tennis life. Some of the coaches that I have really gotten to know have even called me, and I have gotten a chance to speak for hours to these coaches about their school and how I would fit into their program. I think that speaking to a coach over the phone is a really good idea because it gives you a realistic example of how your personality would fit with the coach’s if you were to attend their school.

Directly after the College Showcase finished, I played in a tennis tournament that is called Sectionals. Sectionals is the biggest tournament held in New England throughout the year, and the best tennis players from New England attend this event. I won a couple of rounds, and was mostly pleased with the way that I played. This event took place on the Yale tennis courts, just as the Showcase did, and many of the college coaches stayed to watch the first few days of Sectionals. This was the perfect opportunity for the college coaches to get a chance to see some of the recruits play in a realistic situation. Some of the schools that had coaches watching me included Quinnipiac, Villanova, Skidmore, Tufts, Middlebury and Wesleyan.

Upon arriving home after my trip to Connecticut, I immediately set up a very busy schedule for myself, which included playing tennis, teaching tennis, taking courses online, and babysitting. I spent a week and half doing this, and on July 4^th I headed to North Carolina for a National level tournament. I am currently in North Carolina with my mom and my brother, and we are getting ready to leave tomorrow - July 9^th. This tournament went well for a number of reasons. The first reason that it went well is because I won three important singles matches. The second reason that it went well was because there were college coaches at this event as well. These coaches were not able to speak much with the players, however, a few of the coaches came up to me and gave me their cards, asking me to keep in contact with them throughout the next few months, for example, Washington and Lee, and the University of Mary Washington. While these two schools are rival schools, the coaches urged me to take a look at both schools, showing the good camaraderie. In the end, while I did not win all of the matches that I would have liked to in North Carolina, I will leave tomorrow feeling confident for the rest of the summer.

I was also able to visit both the Duke and UNC campuses during the tournament in NC. They are both great schools and the Blue Devil/Tar Heel rivalry seems really fun. However, my mom went to graduate school at Duke so she is a bit biased towards Duke.

I am at the point where I am trying to really narrow down my college choices. At first I had thought that I wanted a smaller school, but now I feel like almost any size would be fine. My goal is to play good college tennis and improve while I get a good education so that I can apply to veterinary school. I feel that I will really be able to take my tennis game to the next level in college because I will have more of a focus on tennis. I have always done other sports as well and I am looking forward to training, college tennis, and especially the team environment. I love team tennis!

As for right now, I will work on keeping all of the college coaches that are interested in me up to date on how my tennis is going. I am actually attending the National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine starting on Sunday, so it will be a challenge to keep up with my tennis during those 9 days. I am planning to do some college visits after that and I will look forward to getting a chance to speak with each coach on their on turf.