September 24, 2006
Chicago Sun-Times
BY TAYLOR BELL
Full Article @ http://www.suntimes.com/sports/preps/68583,CST-SPT-prep24.article
College recruiting is a numbers game -- and the numbers aren't pretty.
- Only 5 percent of all boys and girls who participate in interscholastic sports will go on to compete in college at some level -- Division I, II, III, NAIA or junior college.
- Of that figure, only eight-tenths of 1 percent will receive fully funded scholarships.
- Eighty-three percent of the opportunities to compete in college are realized outside of Division I.
- According to a survey conducted by the Big Ten, more than 50 percent of high school graduates who signed men's basketball scholarships in the 1990s dropped out, flunked or transferred to another school by the end of their sophomore year.
- Of the colleges that record the highest graduation rates among athletes, more than half in the top 50 aren't in Division I. When was the last time you heard of a blue-chip football player who was considering Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Colby or Bowdoin?
'It says kids aren't making educated choices and colleges are stockpiling and overrecruiting,' said Chris Krause, founder and president of Chicago-based National Collegiate Scouting Association.
'It also says kids don't look at schools for an education. And they aren't exposed to opportunities outside of the big-name schools.'
Since 2000, Krause has sought to change those numbers and attitudes through his company, which has a database of 40,000 college coaches in 30 sports and more than 10,000 clients. Ninety-six percent of 2005 graduates who subscribed to his service played a sport in college.
Krause knows how the system works. A 1984 graduate of North Chicago, he was a 6-2, 220-pound linebacker who earned all-conference recognition. He chose Vanderbilt over Northwestern, Iowa State, Eastern Illinois, Air Force and a few Ivy League schools.
'It was a full ride, a chance to play in the Southeastern Conference, a top-25 academic school that graduated its athletes,' he said. 'But I realized quickly that I wouldn't play professionally when my buddies who were All-SEC were drafted and got cut.'
So Krause studied to train and teach student-athletes how to market themselves and how to empower themselves professionally. Today, NCSA's mission is 'to systemically match college coaches with qualified high school student-athletes through education and technology.'
But the recruiting process has changed dramatically in the 20 years since Krause left North Chicago. Title IX legislation has placed recruiting limitations on colleges. The number of scholarships allocated to revenue sports (football, basketball) and the amount of time recruiters are allowed to spend on the road have been reduced.
'There is a bigger need for what we do in all sports, not just revenue sports,' Krause said.
'Student-athletes need to do more to market themselves. They need to take a more active role because there are fewer scholarships available. Big decisions are made in the spring of an athlete's junior year, not in the winter of their senior year.'
To streamline the process, Krause has enlisted Bob Chmiel, who once wrote a letter to Krause when he was an assistant coach under Bo Schembechler at Michigan. Chmiel, a 1965 Fenwick graduate, built a reputation as one of the best recruiters in the country while working at Michigan, Northern Illinois (under Lee Corso), Northwestern (under Francis Peay) and Notre Dame (under Lou Holtz and Bob Davie).
When his job as director of football operations was eliminated, Chmiel began co-hosting a sports talk show in South Bend, Ind., and became color analyst for ESPN's Mid-America Game of the Week. Then he joined NCSA to evaluate game tapes, speak to athletes at clinics and combines and educate parents about the recruiting process.
'The evaluation process is months ahead of where it was in my day,' Chmiel said. 'But kids still think they are being recruited when they get mail -- but they aren't. It doesn't matter until you are invited for an official visit. Then it's serious.'
Krause said kids and parents must realize there are opportunities at great colleges as long as they are realistic and understand what a good education is. But they must get started early. Colleges have gone global. They just don't recruit in the Chicago Catholic League anymore.
'Recruiting is a big business, and there are many outside influences that mislead and take advantage of athletes to suit their needs,' Chmiel said.
Krause and Chmiel remind that there are do's and don'ts in the recruiting process -- don't rely on Mom and Dad or your high school coach, understand that recruiting begins the day you walk into high school, understand what your abilities are and understand what it takes to be recruited.
The NCSA tries to do the grunt work for them. Krause has 25 full-time employees and 45 scouts around the country. Sophomores and juniors pay $100 monthly to be evaluated, gain national exposure and receive instruction on picking the right school.
'Kids no longer are relying on chance, hoping that someone will find them,' Krause said. 'Athletes must be involved in the process, and their parents must let their children showcase their talent.
'There used to be no accountability with recruiting services. People were taking money and not delivering. Nobody can guarantee a scholarship. What we can guarantee is the best exposure, matching an athlete with the highest probability of schools that fit his or her credentials.
'There are schools out there looking for athletes, hundreds of them, looking for qualified athletes at different levels. You don't have to go to a Division I school to get a great education.'
