NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

 Amazing blog post from NCAA president Myles Brand debunking the common myth of the dumb jock: Despite these tragic but isolated instances, the idea that all college athletes - or even many - are disinterested, dysfunctional or disengaged in the classrooms of higher education has been around for a long time and hasn’t gone away.
But when you look at the facts, sustaining the dumb jock myth is just as wrong as believing that all politicians are corrupt.
And here’s the proof.

Student-athletes in Division I - where the dumb jock myth is most firmly attached - graduate on average at a higher rate than the general student body, according to data gathered by the federal government. Student-athletes graduate at a rate of 63 percent, one point better than all other students. Given that more than 100,000 student-athletes participate in Division I, the differences in federal rates are statistically significant.

African-American student-athletes graduate from 10 percentage points (males) to 13 (female) percentage points better than African-Americans in the general student population.

 Full Post Here

The 2008-2009 season marks the inaugural campaign for Syracuse University women’s hockey. Coach Paul Flanagan will be behind the bench for the orange, and if his success at powerhouse St. Lawrence is any indication, Syracuse will quickly make its mark on the Division I women’s hockey scene.

Women’s hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. Back in 1996 when I was a senior in high school, my options were pretty limited and most of the quality Division I opportunities were on the east coast. Every year at least one new DI and/or DIII school is added to the NCAA, which is great news for the 7,350 females playing high school hockey throughout the country.

Best of luck to coach Flanagan and the orange! Who will be the next school to add women’s varsity hockey?

When I read Ross’ post “Success is felt at every level” I recalled one of my favorite poems (it is really an article, but to me it reads like a poem).

“Why We Play D-III Athletics” was written by Sean Sornsin, a baseball player at Cornell College.

“It’s not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making SportsCenter.  It’s a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, to play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat.  We do it all for our teammates and for the student in our calculus class that we don’t even know.

We don’t practice with a future major league first baseman; we practice with a future sports agent. We don’t lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don’t run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO.  It’s a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand.  Sometimes we play for 2,000 fans; sometimes 25.  But we still play hard. You cheer for us because you know us.  You know more than just our names.  Like all of you, we are students first.  We don’t sign autographs.  But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions.  When we miss a kick or strike out, we don’t let down an entire state.  We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans.

But the hurt is still the same.  We train hard, lift, throw, run, kick, tackle, shoot, dribble, and lift some more, and in the morning we go to class.  And in that class we are nothing more than students.  It’s about pride in ourselves, in our school.  It’s about our love and passion for the game.  And when it’s over, when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble.  Those tears are real.  But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves.  We will forever be what few can claim…college athletes.”

 I never like getting a phone call from a student-athlete telling me they want to transfer to another school. Transferring is another way of a student-athlete telling me they made a bad decision. They didn’t do their home work on a school, coaching staff, or the roster. In today’s recruiting, coaches are taught to sell their program to the best of their ability. A huge selling point is “Your son/daughter has a great chance to play early!” The reality is everyone on the team has a great chance to play early and it’s the coach’s job to determine who is going to play by the end of the first practice.If I could give any of our student-athlete’s advice on playing at the next level, it would be to understand there is competition everywhere. It is on you to find out where the best fit is both academically and athletically. Here are some tips for our current college athletes looking into transferring.

• Don’t be discouraged if you’re not playing

Sometimes, you have to wait your time to get on the field. Just remember, you’re only a play away from getting out there. Work hard on the practice field and prove to the staff you’re the one who is supposed to be playing.

• Transferring is not an easy task

There will be many hoops in the administration process that you have to jump through. Release forms, paperwork, and un-easy conversations. You must learn the transfer and eligibility rules-for the NCAA, the conference and the new school you plan to join.

• Sitting out due to transfer rules

If you are set on transferring and feel it’s the absolute right thing to do, then understand you have to play by the rules. Due to NCAA rules, you cannot talk to another school until you have received written permission from your current school. There are several key factors which determine when you will be eligible.

1. If you are a qualifier, partial qualifier or nonqualifier.
2. If you are now in a two-year or a four year college
3. Whether you want to go to a Division 1,2,or, 3 school
4. Which sport you play (football, basketball, additional rules apply)
5. Whether you meet academic rules for eligibility

Before you make this decision we want you to understand the situation and to do your research. Focus not only on sports but education as well. Transferring can not only shorten your playing clock, but also affect the amount of time it will take for you to earn your degree. To learn more about transferring see the NCAA guidebook on transferring at http://www.ncaa.org/. We at NCSA want our student-athletes to have a great college experience. The goal is to receive a great education and make a considerable contribution at the next level. Please let NCSA help you with any questions on transferring.

The University of Miami (FL) signed 13 players for the 2008 class.  The class includes five pitchers and eight position players.  Ten players haul from the state of Florida and three from Texas.  Five of the newcomers were selected in the 2008 MLB Draft including junior college transfer Chris Herrmann who was taken in the 10th round.  Coach Morris expects all of these players to make an impact during the 2009 season.

Most people think of the Ivy League as a breeding ground for future CEOs, presidents and professors, but this eight team conference also breeds NFL players.

This season, ten former Ivy League football players attended NFL camps and every year a few Ivy League grads take their game to the next level.

The Ivy League provides student-athletes with the winning combination of a world class education with an athletic atmosphere that is second to none. Once a student-athlete makes the decision to attend an Ivy League institution they are blessed with limitless possibility and many choices. In the Ivy League, future NFL draft picks dedicate themselves to becoming the best football players, and students, they can possibly be. Meanwhile, their roommate may pass on summer training to accept an internship in the white house.

Dan Kopolovich, a McKeesport native and junior quarterback at Princeton, came back to Pittsburgh this summer and took two physics courses at Duquesne University. When he wasn’t going to class or studying, Kopolovich, a pre-med major, was shadowing Dr. David Neuschwander, McKeesport High School’s team orthopedist. Kopolovich aspires to be an orthopedist.

Weight lifting and conditioning were a priority for Rihn and Kopolovich, but they did it on their own schedule and without coaches watching their every move.

“We don’t get many that stay around during the summer,” Cornell coach Jim Knowles said. “It’s totally different from a place like Pitt where everyone stays. One of the reasons they come to an Ivy League school is because they want that opportunity to expand other aspects of their life also. Graham is in a fraternity, but it’s not a regular fraternity. It’s a business fraternity.”
The Ivy League was founded under some simple premises:

• The admissions process should assure that Ivy athletes are “representative” of their non-athlete classmates;

• Ivy athletes should have full access to need-based financial aid up to their full cost of actual attendance, but Ivy schools will not use athletic grants-in-aid;

• Ivy athletes should have and meet the same high academic expectations as their non-athlete classmates, and should have the opportunity to participate in the full range of campus activities;

• The Ivy athletic experience should be structured so that Ivy student-athletes can meet these expectations and take advantage of these opportunities.

It doesn’t matter how good you are. If you don’t get past the NCAA Eligibility Center (formerly known as the NCAA Clearinghouse), you’re not playing anywhere. Case in point, incoming Minnesota freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray. From a Myron Medcalf article in Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

“MarQueis Gray is not with us at this time, due to an NCAA Eligibility Center [formerly the NCAA Clearinghouse] issue,” Gophers coach Tim Brewster said in a statement. “We’re hopeful, for MarQueis’ sake, that this issue will be resolved.”

You can register online at any time, though the Eligibility Center recommends you do so your junior year. For Division I and II, the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete provides useful information regarding the high school courses you must complete, the minimum grade-point average for participation, as well as what your test scores must be at.

This further emphasizes the reason to start the recruiting process early – so you can plan your coursework according to what the NCAA requires to participate in intercollegiate athletics. I talked to a father yesterday whose son needs to take an extra semester of math (you need to take 3 years worth if you want to play Div. I) because he didn’t realize he needed that much for the NCAA. As a result, rather than enjoying the summer before college, he has to take summer school.

Need I say more?

NCSA’s Exclusive Rankings System Assesses Academics, Athletics and Student-Athlete Graduation Rates at Four-Year Colleges

August 25, 2008 (Chicago, IL) – The National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) is pleased to announce the release of our 6th Annual NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings.
 
NCSA’s 2008 Collegiate Power Rankings rate colleges and universities comprehensively based on student-athlete graduation rates, academic strength and athletic prowess of the university. The institutions posted in the 2008 Power Rankings are in an elite group of less than 6% of colleges and universities across the nation.
 
“With so many outstanding colleges and universities to choose from, NCSA’s power rankings objectively help student-athletes compare collegiate opportunities so they know how institutions stack up pound for pound,” said NCSA Founder Chris Krause. “With this ranking, it shows us which colleges not only places importance on winning games, but on academics and graduating their student-athletes.”
 
The Collegiate Power Rankings from NCSA are calculated for each college and university at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels by averaging the U.S. News & World Report ranking, the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup ranking and the NCAA student-athlete graduation rate of each college/university. The collegiate power rankings based off of the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup rating evaluates the strength of NCAA athletic departments, while the U.S. News & World Report rating recognizes institutions of academic excellence. The student-athlete graduation rates are based on those provided by the NCAA.   New for 2008, NCSA distinguished the top national and liberal arts colleges from the list of comprehensive colleges.
 
In addition to the Collegiate Power Rankings, NCSA publishes recruiting guidelines and provides education to the nation’s top clubs, camps, and combines to high school athletic directors, coaches and families of student-athletes who are interested in competing at the next level.
 
“The backbone of NCSA is education,” said Krause.  “The NCSA staff consists of more than 70 former collegiate athletes and college coaches whose focus is to match college coaches with qualified and committed student athletes, maximizing their collegiate recruiting potential.” 

Top 10 Overall

1. Williams College
2. Amherst College
3. Middlebury College
4. Washington University in St. Louis
5. Stanford University
6. Duke University
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. Tufts University
9. (tie) Emory University
9. (tie) Princeton University 
 

Division I

1. Stanford University
2. Duke University
3. Princeton University
4. Harvard University
5. University of Notre Dame
6. University of Pennsylvania
7. Northwestern University
8. (tie) Cornell University
8. (tie) Yale University
10. Georgetown University
 

Division II

Division III

1. Williams College
2. Amherst College
3. Middlebury College
4. Washington University in St. Louis
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. Tufts University
7. Emory University
8. Haverford College
9. John Hopkins University
10. Washington and Lee University

More than 35,000 college coaches and more than 1,700 colleges and universities use NCSA to meet their recruiting needs. NCSA annually tracks more than 100,000 of the top student athletes in 25 sports who will be making their way on to college rosters with the ultimate goal of earning a college degree.
 
Please visit www.ncsasports.org/about-ncsa/power-rankings for a complete overall ranking list, as well as rankings by division level.  And, if you’re still one of those athletes who has not registered with NCSA to be evaluated by the recognized leaders in collegiate sports recruiting, click here. 
 

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!