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.

Character matters in recruiting.  Virtually every college coach you talk to will tell you that he tries his best to do a thorough background check on every incoming recruit.  Athletes need to understand that the search doesn’t just end with talking to your parents, coaches, and teachers.  These days that search extends to the Internet on site likes Facebook and MySpace.  Want proof?  Both the University of Nebraska and Creighton University recently released Interent Ethics Codes.

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne told the press that the athletic department will be monitoring more than 500 Nebraska athletes this fall. 

Osborne bluntly stated, “We wont turn our heads if we see something inappropriate.”

Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen echoed the statement. 

“If, in my opinion, I see anything that affects them, the team, the athletic department or the university in negative ways, I’ll handle it any way I see fit.”

College coaches have limited scholarships available and their jobs are on the line if they can’t produce results.  Losing players to suspension is a major blow to any program.  Coaches will continue to monitor their athletes with any tool possible.  Recruits need to realize that the same type of scrutiny will fall on them.  Don’t throw away a potential scholarship by posting a “funny” picture on the Internet that can come back to haunt you.

September 1^st is an important date for several sports in the recruiting process. On this date college coaches will be allowed to start contacting prospective student athletes on a more frequent basis. Many student athletes have a certain level of anxiety regarding speaking to college coaches.

Some student athletes have trouble understanding which questions are important to ask, while others avoid these calls all together. And all too commonly, some student athletes will waste the opportunity they have with college coaches and not ask a single question concerning their status with the school. Whatever your scenario, it’s important that we review the basics of handling phone calls from college coaches.

The first thing I want you to do is breath, stay calm and don’t get anxious. When you start to field phone calls from college coaches you will notice one common theme, they like to talk. Most of the phone calls you receive from college coaches they will simply be talking at you. Meaning they’re driving the conversation. For the most part you will simply sit there and listen. Occasionally you might be asked a pretty basic question regarding last Friday’s game, or how your classes are going but for the most part you should have no trouble answering the questions they ask you. So don’t worry, these phone calls are nothing to get anxious about. I can guarantee after your first call you will not have any anxiety regarding future calls.

Now that you’re relaxed, I want to make sure you understand what your objective should be as a recruit who fields phone calls from college coaches. It’s all about information, plain and simple. The ego stroke most recruits receive about how great of a player they are is really just a side bonus, trust me.  Don’t let the ego boast side track you, stay focused and remember to get as much information as you can from these coaches. 

Now you may be asking yourself, “What sort of information should I find out?” If you asked yourself that, congratulations, you’re starting to understand this process. For the most part it’s simple. You know what you want to find out about, maybe it’s the major that you’ve always wanted to study, maybe it’s whether or not you will have an opportunity to play early, maybe you want know about what kind of academic support the school offers their athletes. The fact is most of the questions need to come from you, ask yourself what is important and then find out whether or not the school can offer what you’re looking for.

I encourage you to write out a list of questions, that way you can ask the same set of questions to every coach you deal with. This will allow you to compare the different answers each school gives you. This will help you when you enter into the decision making part of this process. Trust me; it will be extremely helpful to simply look down at a pad of paper to find your questions, versus having to remember all of them on the spot.

Remember the trick is to get as much information from these coaches as possible. I recommend always working towards finding out where the coach is with his recruiting class, (in terms of offers made at your position) where you stand on his recruiting board, and when you can expect a decision on whether or not they are interested in having you join there program. Finding out this info will really allow you to organize your recruiting effort in a much more effective manor hopefully allowing you to find as much success as possible.

 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.

Last week Elena DelleDonne made national waves on the recruiting radar when she made the uncharacteristic decision to turn down a basketball scholarship at UConn.  The consensus national player of the year released the statement;

“Both UConn and I require 100 percent dedication to the sport, and as of now I feel I cannot give that level of commitment. It therefore would be unfair to the excellent program, Coach Geno Auriemma, the team, and UConn fans, for me to play.”

She has already left UConn and enrolled at Delaware and it appears that she will actually be playing volleyball instead of hoops. It appears that her story will conclude with a happy ending but underscores why even the nations top recruits need help while going through the recruiting process.

Rutgers University sophomore basketball player Khadijah Rushdan backed up that point of view with her statements to Deleware’s News Journal.

“When you are accomplished you have a lot of schools look at you, a lot of people propositioning you, and it’s hard. It’s stressful. You’re about to make one of the most important decisions of your life. You can never satisfy everybody, and some [high school seniors] lose track as to what makes them happy.”

“People said all the time, ‘I’d love to be in your shoes. But no one knows what it feels like, to tell a coach no. … You’re making a decision off of not too much information, a decision where you are going to spend four years of your life.”

At NCSA our team of Recruiting Coaches work to empower student athletes to find the right college fit from the start.  By starting early and carefully weighing all of your options athletes can make sure they have the college experience they have always dreamt.

I just watched the video from Brian Davidson’s post below. If you haven’t seen it yet, read the post and watch the video here.

As funny and outlandish some of the things these coaches say are, there’s definitely some truth to take away. If you play the sports college recruiting “game” wisely, college coaches should be fighting over you and will go to great lengths to get you to come to their college.

But here’s the thing. Once you lace up those sneakers, put on the practice jersey and step out onto the field/court/etc., in most cases, you’ll quickly find out that you’re not the program’s savior afterall. An article about Blaine Gabbert, who was a five star recruit in high school, is a perfect example of this. From the University of Missouri’s student newspaper, The Maneater:

As a tall and sturdy 6-foot-5-inch, 225-pound freshman, Gabbert’s high school performance was nothing less than extraordinary.

His All-American status and five-star recruit ranking earned him a spot on the Missouri roster, but playing time is hard to come by on this team.

“He’s the most physically gifted quarterback to come out of high school that I’ve seen in six years as far as size, speed, arm strength and release,” said David Yost, quarterback coach and recruitment coordinator. “If you were to build a quarterback, you would build a guy like Blaine Gabbert.”

For this season, Gabbert waits behind senior quarterbacks Chase Daniel and Chase Patton. With the publicity of his high school football days gone, Gabbert must wait his turn on the bench. …

The same story holds true to Jimmy Clausen last year on Notre Dame. Clausen, who was considered by many as the No. 1 prospect for the class of 2007, wasn’t announced as the starter once the season began. And even when he took over that role, he struggled, only passing for 1,254 yards, with 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

It’s a whole different game in college. You might have been a dominant high school player, but if you’re playing in college, chances are that your entire team is made up of former dominant high school players.

So when you step on to the playing surface for the first time, check your ego at the door, realize you have a lot of learning to do and eventually, you can become a dominant college player!

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.

 While watching the Olympics this week you see athletes in all sports having the experience of a life time. But what you’re not thinking about is how hard these athletes have to work. Not only do these athletes follow a very difficult and strenuous training regimen but some of them have full time jobs.

A lot of beach volleyball professionals struggle financially in order to continue playing competitively. Some of the more high profile athletes are lucky to acquire sponsorships from different companies like Speedo or XBOX in order to support themselves.

Beach volleyball is a very popular sport all over the world, whether you enjoy playing recreationally, competitively or just watching it in person or on TV. And who can argue that beach volleyball isn’t a fun sport to play or watch? You are on the beach and in the sun! What more could you ask for?!? Although this sport is very popular, it is not considered a high revenue sport.

Today’s Wall Street Journal chronicled how the sport hopes to use the Olympic Games as a launching pad for a brighter future.

Watching the Olympic competition with keen interest are a number of promoters who hope the attention will help them turn beach volleyball into a perennial moneymaker, rather than a novelty hit that comes along every four years. The top U.S. teams of Phil Dalhausser with Todd Rogers and Misty May-Treanor with Kerri Walsh are gold-medal favorites in the men’s and women’s tournaments, which conclude next Wednesday and Thursday.

Despite the millions tuning into the myriad attractions of beach volleyball during the Games, the Association of Volleyball Professionals Inc., which operates games around the U.S. under the banner of the AVP Crocs Tour, is struggling to become profitable. A rarity in the U.S. as a sports league whose shares are publicly traded, AVP Inc. recorded a $4 million loss in 2007, its sixth consecutive unprofitable year.

But optimism remains. “Coming off the Olympics, this is going to be very big year for us,” Leonard Armato, a former sports agent who helped found AVP in 1983 and became chief executive in 2001. “We’re going to get a big boost.”

AVP’s best players now earn several hundred thousand dollars each year in prize money and endorsements, such as a swimsuit endorsement deal with Adidas AG’s Reebok unit for Ms. Johnson Jordan and Ms. Davis. “I never planned to earn any money at this,” Ms. Johnson Jordan said. “I thought I was going to have to get a real job.”

But many AVP players don’t make enough to cover their expenses, which include having to pay for travel and lodging. Mr. Nygaard said some players occasionally sleep on the beach at tour events or under the triangular sponsorship signs that line courtside.

Steve Lindecke, an AVP board member and former top executive with sports conglomerate IMG, said beach volleyball needs to embrace its roots and turn tournaments into festivals with concerts and other attractions. After the competitive glory of the Olympics goes away, pure competition simply isn’t enough.

“It’s a sport that’s built in the sand and on the beach,” Mr. Lindecke said. “You take that and you work with it.”