NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

One more opportunity for women to play sports in college popped up this week with the NCAA officially approving sand volleyball as an emerging sport. The announcement builds on the momentum the sport generated at the 2008 Olympics. Unfortunately, some skeptics in the volleyball world are already questioning how the execution of the sport will be possible.

Cal Coach Rich Feller described his worries scheduling second form of Volleyball in the spring right in the middle of his primary recruiting season.

“I’ve been on the road recruiting the last six weekends,” Feller said. “There’s no other time to do. Could I coach (the sand game)? Sure. Would I be able to do both? It gets muddy.”

Many believe the NCAA is simply chasing dollar associated with a sport that received the largest amount of prime-time minutes allotted at the Olympics while drawing an impressive 20 million viewers. The blog-o-sphere is already buzzing around the question of what the female competitors will be allowed to wear. No one doubts for a second that scantily clad competitions added to NBC’s ratings haul.

Does a sport so closely associated with another already sanctioned sport belong in the NCAA? Should the NCAA support a sport that reaks of sex appeal? Are some blowing this out of proportion?

What do you think?

Many College Football prospects think that the key time in the college recruiting process will be the spring of their Junior year.  After all April 15th marks the beginning of the Spring Evaluation Period when recruits can receive their first phone call.  In reality this couldn’t be further from the truth.  A large part of division I recruiting is already complete.  The Detroit Free Press reports on the Michigan Wolverines Recruiting efforts:

The spring evaluation period is the first official time set aside by the NCAA for colleges to evaluate high school juniors. It used to signal the start of the recruiting process for juniors before coaches could watch video of nearly all of the top prospects across the country.

Michigan, for example, has already extended scholarships to well over 100 prospects in the class of 2010. The football staff can still use the spring evaluation period, however, to build stronger relationships with high school coaches and visit prospects at their schools. They will also further evaluate those still being considered for scholarship offers.

The spring evaluation period has lost some of its importance since as the recruiting process for a high schooler has started earlier in recent years. But any time a coach can be seen at a prospect’s school or do more in depth evaluations, they will welcome the opportunity.

Today coaches are using the spring to continue their evaluation process and shorten their recruiting boards.  They are not actively searching for more recruits when they have already give out OVER 100 offers.  If you are a junior who isn’t receiving call yet, you have some major catch up work to go.  If you are an underclassman the time to get started recruiting is now.

Shooting good video footage is crucial to your recruiting. Please take in consideration these pointers when creating your highlight video:

1) Tape from a high perspective when possible (at least several feet from the ground).

2) A tripod is highly recommended.

3) Do not zoom in and out. The wider the angle the better, don’t lose track of the ball.

4) Imagine the field separated into thirds (offensive, middle, defensive). When the ball is in the offensive or defensive third of the field, film the entire 18-yard box. When the ball is in the middle of the field, film the entire middle third.

5) Show enough of the field so that we are able to see the player’s vision, runs with and without the ball, use of space, combinations with teammates, etc.

6) Coaches want to see the progression and finish of each play so you need a wide enough angle to capture multiple players. They also want to see foot skills and technical abilities, so do not lose focus on the primary player you are recording

Keep in mind that some coaches won’t even look at your video if the quality is poor!

A short note on USC Ripsit blog illustrates exactly why recruits need to start the recruiting process as soon as possible.

Signing Day is more than nine months away, but it’s never too early to recruit.

Coaches are currently in their weekly recruiting meeting, during which they watch highlight reels of prospects in the Class of 2010 — and subsequently fill the War Room with plenty of ooo-ing and ahhh-ing.

Coaches are in their War-Rooms right now.  Will they be discussing you?

We have had some lively discussionswith readers on this blog debating the importance of Star Rankings offered by recruiting services like Rivals.com.  Randy Taylor, NCSA’s resident expert on Rivals.com and other recruiting services believes:

Based on 30 years in college football with time as a recruiting coordinator having several top 5 ranked classes I can tell you this about sites like Rivals. They have about as much impact on who we recruited as the local newspaper’s all conference teams.

The value came when we wanted some inside information on a kid so we could get an advantage over our opponents. The local Internet guy would tell us what he knew or even make a call based on questions we asked him.

When we offered a guy his star ranking would go up. In fact, recruiting coordinators around the country are schmoozing the local guys to get their class ranked higher to make them look better at their signing day booster party that night. Many head coaches are doing this too.

Another point I think is important is about the combines. Whenever we got a 40 time we’d add a tenth to a tenth and a half. In fact, the height and weights are even suspect in a college coaches mind. Is the vertical jump or shuttle being done correctly or consistently? If they don’t witness it or have a trusted source there they don’t fully trust it.

I remember several years ago one of the Internet sites combines had the 40s measured wrong and were only 38 yards long. There were some really really fast kids at that event!

The down side of this whole phenomenon is that when you get top ranked classes you better win a lot. Having a bunch of five star guys that don’t meet your teams needs isn’t going to help you win at the highest level.

Let’s just enjoy these sites for what they are, media outlets covering college football’s second season.

Some of our readers politely disagreed, so I thought I would share some more insight from Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples.

As recruits, last year’s first-rounders averaged a star rating of 3.42 (out of five) and included five five-star prospects. This year, the players selected in the mock first round by SI.com NFL writer Don Banks boasted an average star rating of 3.59. The group included seven five-stars, four of whom are projected to go in the top six.

Even though the Rivals rankings should get more accurate as recruiting coverage becomes more refined, the recruiting gurus still will miss players such as Clay Matthews, who walked on at USC and blossomed into a star, but those misses will become more rare as the years pass.

The misses will inevitably become more rare as the Internet continues to shrink the recruiting landscape but its extremely important to realize just how far off these Star Rankings can be.  Three players in Sports Illustrated’s Top 10 only were ranked as 2 Star Players.  The so called experts doubted they would ever be a starter in college, much less be ready to collect $10 million dollar signing bonuses.

My point is this: Don’t get hung up worrying about what the experts think.  If you think you can play, you need to take the extra steps to get noticed by College Coaches not Internet sites.

NCSA talks to a lot of families that are worried that their student-athlete will not receive the exposure they deserve due to living in a small town.  Some families use their town’s size as an excuse as to why their athlete isn’t receiving attention, while others recognize their disadvantage and work extra hard to reach out to schools.  The first group of families often makes the claim that coaches won’t consider their athlete elite simply because the competition they play against is labeled as inferior.  This is simply untrue.  If an athlete has the talent and the desire there is no reason that they can’t get noticed by a coach if they are pro-active.

Take a look at star recruit quarterback Austin Hinder from Steamboat Springs Colorado.  He litterally has thousands of feet of mountains between him and the closest urban area,  yet is highly regarded by top scouts across the country.  The Denver Post chronicled his rise.

“Right now, I’ve seen the majority of top quarterbacks in the nation,” said Tom Lemming, CBS College Sports Network’s recruiting expert. “He’s one of the premier players in the country.”

After his sophomore season, Hinder attended elite camps and the famed Steve Clarkson Quarterback Academy. It was there, he said, that he realized he could play major college football.

Hinder attended the U.S. Army National Combine with half a dozen scholarship offers. When he left the combine, Hinder was a household name.

“Going to San Antonio really set him apart,” Lemming said. “It allowed him to throw against the best DBs and throw to some of the best wide receivers. He competed against the best and showed he’s a premier player.”

Hinder knows that at this level, everyone is a critic. But he knows he belongs.

“I know I’m going to get criticized by everyone,” he said. “Coming out of a small school, they’ll say I haven’t seen the competition. But that’s why I went to the combine, so I could show them I can play with these guys.”

Austin took the extra steps to get to San Antonio to prove he could compete and it paid off.  NCSA helps many athletes in his situation reach out to schools to prove they can compete.  In the end it is about taking the extra steps to make sure coaches know your name.  If you don’t take take those steps you have nobody to blame but yourself.

The athletic scholarship search involves several different elements. At NCSA we stress that recruits pay attention to our 5 Things You Need to Know and the 5 Things You Need to Do to get recruited.  One of the key parts of this equation is getting educated.

Donald Brown, was the nations leading rusher last season for the UConn Huskies and hopes to be a first round draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft.  He is considered by GM’s across the league as one of the most mature players in the draft.  He also is already taking the opportunity to speak to younger athletes about the obstacles they will face.  The New York Times spoke with him about why he was taking the time to give back at such an important time in his life.

Eighty-six athletes from schools in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey, chosen from more than 200 applicants, will gather Thursday to hear about Brown’s football experiences, the pitfalls and the successes, the challenges and the obstacles.

“A lot of people say, you’re not even in the N.F.L. yet, why are you doing this?” Brown said during an interview last week at Red Bank Catholic, where he went to high school. “It’s because I have a platform and the resources, so I might as well use them. I wish I had this opportunity when I was growing up. I would have been the kid sitting in the front row, wide-eyed, listening and taking notes.”

“I have a story for probably every topic you want to talk about, whether drugs, alcohol or academics – anything,” Brown said. “Some kids need mentors, some don’t. But everybody needs to hear stories, and I’ve got them.”

Some recruits need more help than others, but everyone needs to get educated on how the recruiting process work.  I urge everyone to download our College Recruiting Simplified guide available here to learn more.

LeBron may be the superstar, but all of these athletes clearly grew up and benefited from the power of high school sports.

High School athletes are constantly looking for opportunities to play collegiate sports and receive an athletic scholarship.  So what do you do when you exhaust your options?  Look for new ones!  There are thousands of colleges across the country that offer the chance to compete collegiality, the key is to search out for the opportunities that are right for you.

One option to find opportunities to play is to search out for colleges that are adding sports.  These schools are usually hungry for players that are willing to buy into a program and build from the ground up.  Already 28 football teams have begun this weekend.  South Alabama and Old Dominion are both set to launch football team and several other teams have announced plans to launch teams in the near future. 

The common thread among these teams is an attempt to fuse the disparate segments of a university – students, graduates, faculty and staff – through an activity appealing to eggheads, blockheads and all those in between. Spice up campus life. Perhaps lure more applicants, especially men to those campuses with predominantly female enrollments.

One of those new teams that is set to launch is Georgia State University which will be led by Bill Curry.  He has amassed a recruiting class of 27 players many of whom had few options until finding Georgia State. 

Of course the launch of a football team doesn’t just mean opportunities for football recruits.  Due to Title IX Georgia State will be launching a new women’s lacrosse team in 2009 and has plans to add more women’s sports.

So while some schools may be cutting sports due to economic conditions, others are still adding programs.  Some of the best opportunities may just be a little harder to find.  If you are interested in finding out how NCSA can find those options, register for a scouting evaluation.

Christopher DeFeo, Baseball, Stevenson University
Tylor Jones, Baseball, St. Thomas University
Travis Cox, Baseball, Wartburg College
Jason Rivera, Baseball, Concordia (NY) College
Nicholas La Face, Baseball, University of San Diego
Jonathan Friedrich, Baseball, Los Angeles Pierce College
Nick Zapp, Football, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Jonathan Parks, Football, University of Virginia — Wise
Nicholas Johnston, Football, Humboldt State University
Christopher Heflin, Football, Guilford College
Noble Lau, Football, University of La Verne
Garrett Hicks, Football, Bridgewater College
Marc McEvoy, Football, Catholic University of America
Cyril Ontai III, Football, United States Naval Academy
Rasaun Rorie, Football, Elon University
Robert Endicott, Football, Earlham College
Brett Trimble, Football, Southern Oregon University
Michael Elder, Football, Carleton College
Jacob Maynard, Football, Bethel (TN) College
Duell Petsch, Football, University of Wyoming
Brad Apple, Football, Heidelberg College
Josh Simpson, Football, Harding University
Kevin Irby Jr, Football, Mayville State University
Brent Struble, Football, Fairleigh Dickinson University — Florham
Shane Wombles, Football, University of Nevada – Las Vegas
Jim Vavak, Football, Missouri State University
David Kratzer, Football, Wilkes University
Jordan Sandidge, Football, Lake Erie College
Myles Mckee, Football, Appalachian State University
Johnathan Gerber, Football, Laney College
Dak Britt, Football, Tiffin University
Jake Robertson, Football, Birmingham Southern College
Daniel Warfel, Football, Ball State University
Andrew Stanley, Football, Butler University
Andy Cupp, Football, Susquehanna University
Tyler Baisden, Football, Morgan State University
Kevin O’Connell, Football, University of Oregon
Ross Bishop, Football, University of the Incarnate Word
Kevin Bell, Football, University of Dayton
Aaron Atkins, Football, University of Redlands
Keenen Terry II, Football, Hampton University
Trent Welbern, Football, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Taylor Irwin, Football, University of Redlands
Matthew Simons, Football, Georgia Southern University
Patrick Hickey, Football, Northwestern University
Nick Cooper, Football, University of Wisconsin — Whitewater
Cornelius Whitehead, Football, University of Central Florida
Kevin Orford, Men’s Basketball, Belmont Abbey College
Ryan Mahoney, Men’s Basketball, Knox College
Andrew Althaus, Men’s Cross Country, Lake Superior State University
Matthew Bassford, Men’s Golf, Methodist University
Mickey Belt, Men’s Golf, Huntingdon College
Jordan Pastor, Men’s Golf, California University of Pennsylvania
Mathew Rabin, Men’s Ice Hockey, Southern New Hampshire University
Brad Barbagallo, Men’s Ice Hockey, University of Denver
William Harlin, Men’s Ice Hockey, University of Texas-Austin
Andrew Wolfe, Men’s Soccer, Lander University
Michael Hinden, Men’s Soccer, St. Thomas University
Kevin Wilson, Men’s Soccer, University of Chicago
Nicholas Sloan, Men’s Soccer, Aurora University
Ben Eveler, Men’s Soccer, McDaniel College
Matthew “Sully” Shattuck, Men’s Soccer, Cumberland University
Chris Mandli, Men’s Swimming, St. Louis University
Brett Cromwell, Men’s Tennis, Radford University
Dominic Colvin, Men’s Track, Tiffin University
Richard Bills, Men’s Track, Monmouth University
Will Stratford, Men’s Track, Davidson College
Karlton Mitchell, Men’s Track, Morehouse College
Joshua Slone, Men’s Volleyball, Limestone College
Morgan Stephens, Softball, Virginia Wesleyan College
Samantha Stewart, Softball, Central Florida Community College
Elizabeth Spiller, Softball, Fairleigh Dickinson University — Florham
Cary Thereon, Softball, Dominican University
Alicia Wong, Softball, University of La Verne
Kaycee Hathaway, Softball, Finlandia University
Andrea Feeney, Softball, CUNY–Baruch College
Kiana Dotson, Softball, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Alex Mulac, Softball, Towson University
Jordan Rhudy, Softball, Azusa Pacific University
Sydney Nelson, Women’s Basketball, University of Wisconsin — Whitewater
Kaylee Foster, Women’s Basketball, Mercyhurst College
Jessica Pace, Women’s Basketball, University of Tennessee–Martin
Stacy Rapp, Women’s Basketball, Southern Virginia University
Corinne Imobersteg, Women’s Ice Hockey, Chatham University
Stacey Birlson, Women’s Lacrosse, Adrian College
Jaclyn Jacobson, Women’s Soccer, Rochester Institute of Technology
Krista Mashak, Women’s Soccer, New Mexico Highlands University
Shasta Fisher, Women’s Soccer, University of Arizona
Kasey Travitz, Women’s Swimming, California University of Pennsylvania
Ariana Lyons, Women’s Swimming, Allegheny College
Kaitlin Worthington, Women’s Track, University of Indianapolis
Sierah Tyson, Women’s Track, Georgetown University
Danielle Fetsch, Women’s Volleyball, Le Moyne College
Casey Tidwell, Women’s Volleyball, Manhattan College
Chelsea O’Mara, Women’s Volleyball, Ventura College
Taylor Hans, Women’s Volleyball, St. Mary’s College
Madeline Gergen, Women’s Volleyball, SUNY – New Paltz
Kimberley Gilder, Women’s Volleyball, Williston State College
Katherine Gosewisch, Women’s Volleyball, Robert Morris College