NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

For most Student-athletes getting their first scholarship offer is often the hardest.  Usually, after one school is willing to offer an athlete several other schools  are willing to follow suit.But what happens when your number one choice is the first school to offer you?  Should you end the recruiting process and count the days until signing day?

The recent story of former Georgia recruit Devin Burns shows why recruits can never afford to be complecent.

Burns, accompanied by his family, had traveled to Athens last weekend with the intention of formally committing to the Bulldogs after receiving a scholarship offer from coach Mark Richt and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo this spring.

But while he was on the trip, the Bulldogs — who apparently knew of Burns’ travel plans — had decided to withdraw the offer.

Carver coach Dell McGee, upset with the timing, has since informed the Georgia coaching staff that for now, it was not welcome to visit the school, located by the Alabama border.

“I say that to show them that the incident that occurred wasn’t appreciated,” McGee said, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “The biggest thing is, the University of Georgia knew, they had knowledge of Devin and his parents coming there for the weekend. For them not to communicate that they had rescinded that offer before that was not very professional.”

The story was first reported by Georgia High School Football Daily, an e-mail newsletter.

A Georgia assistant coach was the one who ended up breaking the news to Burns, a 6-2, 180-pound senior.

“I talked to my parents and my coaches about it, and I just got over it,” Burns said told the Ledger-Enquirer. “My parents raised me to be able to deal with things like this.”

McGee acknowledged that the ban does not mean there will be no communication between the schools. The coach said he would not prevent his players from visiting or talking with Georgia.

“Rescinding a scholarship is not uncommon; that’s not my problem,” McGee told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s really about how the situation was handled. It’s the manner in which it was done.”

Q: How much work does it take to get a scholarship from the top schools?

A: A lot. You have to remember, top schools attract the top talent from across the country. If you want to get recruited you’re going to have to work hard to get your name out to programs and you’ll have to work even harder to make yourself good enough to compete at a high level.  You can see if you’re qualified here, to see what advice other athletes in your situation have check out our Tips from the Commits page.

Q: How do I get noticed by college coaches?

A: There are Five Things You Must Do to get recruited. An athlete has to:

1. Get Evaluated: Coaches don’t have time to look at every player so they have to rely on credible sources to get their information.

2. Post your academic/athletic resume online: This is a fast and easy way to get connected with coaches.

3. Create a winning highlight/skills video: Again, coaches can’t personally look at every recruit so they need a way to see your talents.

4. Contact coaches: They can’t recruit you if they don’t know who you are!

5. Start building relationships and following up with coaches now: The recruiting process started yesterday! With how competitive recruiting has become, athletes need to start building relationships with coaches as early as junior high.

Q: What college would you recommend for an athlete looking for a good mix of soccer and academics?

A: Finding the “right fit” is important. You need to find a school that fits your needs both athletically AND academically. Connecting qualified athletes with coaches based on their positional needs is the first step, a player can then filter through schools to find the right academic fit to go along with the opportunity to play college sports. To find out how a school compares to others based on both academic and athletic factors check out NCSA’s Power Rankings.

Here’s another great recruiting question, keep them coming!

Q: How do I make a highlight video?

A: Check out these past articles: this one will show you how to make your video and this one will tell you what to do with it. You can even look at examples on NCSA’s YouTube page.

In our July 21st newsletter we wanted to know if you had any questions about recruiting. Here’s one:

Q: What are the minimum standardized test scores you need for a D1 school?

A: Individual college admissions vary depending on schools. For example, a highly selective, ivy league type school generally only admits students with scores of:
SAT: 
   Critical Reading: 690+
   Math: 700+
ACT: 31+

Whereas a less selective school would only require scores of:
SAT:
   Critical Reading: 460+
   Math: 450+
ACT: 18+

Admissions also put into account GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, and writing samples so these numbers are only a generalization.

In regards to NCAA Division I scholarships, in order to be eligible to receive one, the NCAA has a sliding scale of requirements. The higher one’s GPA is, the lower their test score must be and vice versa. For example, a student with a 3.0 GPA needs an SAT Composite score of 620 (Critical Reading + Math) whereas one with a 2.0 GPA has to earn a 1010 to be eligible. The minimum GPA to be eligible for an athletic scholarship is a 2.0 with the minimum SAT score being 400. You can view the full scale here.

Here’s an example from ESPN Rise about how poor communication can sour the recruiting process.

When the Georgia Bulldogs decided to back out of their scholarship offer to Carver (Ga.) High School quarterback Devin Burns, they didn’t cut off their relationship with just him.

They find themselves banned from stepping on the Carver campus, as well.

Burns, accompanied by his family, had traveled to Athens last weekend with the intention of formally committing to the Bulldogs after receiving a scholarship offer from coach Mark Richt and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo this spring.

But while he was on the trip, the Bulldogs — who apparently knew of Burns’ travel plans — had decided to withdraw the offer.

Carver coach Dell McGee, upset with the timing, has since informed the Georgia coaching staff that for now, it was not welcome to visit the school, located by the Alabama border.

“I say that to show them that the incident that occurred wasn’t appreciated,” McGee said, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “The biggest thing is, the University of Georgia knew, they had knowledge of Devin and his parents coming there for the weekend. For them not to communicate that they had rescinded that offer before that was not very professional.”

“I talked to my parents and my coaches about it, and I just got over it,” Burns said told the Ledger-Enquirer. “My parents raised me to be able to deal with things like this.”

McGee acknowledged that the ban does not mean there will be no communication between the schools. The coach said he would not prevent his players from visiting or talking with Georgia.

“Rescinding a scholarship is not uncommon; that’s not my problem,” McGee told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s really about how the situation was handled. It’s the manner in which it was done.”

This is yet another example of how important communication with a coach is throughout the recruiting process. Had Burns understood his situation with Georgia, he may have never had to go through this ordeal. Recruits should always be in contact with coaches that are interested in them in order to stay on the same page.

The SEC recently released it’s latest recruiting budgets and the numbers are extremely interesting.  Comparing the football, basketball and baseball numbers show exactly why its so important for student-athletes to be proactive (especially those in non revenue sports)!  Comparing Mississippi States 3 year budget averages you realize that the Baseball budget is only 7.9% of the football teams!

Can this budget actually cover a coaches expenses to thoroughly search for athletes across the country?  No Way!  That is exactly why athletes join NCSA’s recruiting database, Recruit-Match, to be seen for free across the country.

(Final number following football spending indicates the recruiting ranking according to Rivals.com for that year)

FOOTBALL

2005-06
Tennessee: $1,071,264 (23)
Florida: $643,406 (2)
Auburn: $621,115 (10)
LSU: $577,393 (7)
Georgia: $534,004 (4)
Arkansas: $490,771 (26)
Ole Miss: $436,948 (16)
Miss. State: $300,100 (44)
Kentucky: $291,370 (36)
S. Carolina: $248,585 (24)
Alabama: $237,774 (11)
Vanderbilt: N/A (60)

(more…)

With how competitive college recruiting has become, potential student athletes need to be able to siphon through the pitches offered by smooth talking recruiters and be able to pick out legitimate interest. In order to help recruits better understand their chances at actually joining a program that has shown interest in them, University of Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall has suggested that early offers by college coaches should be eliminated reports Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham News.

[Edsall] doesn’t believe [schools] should be able to offer scholarships in any sport until September 1 of a recruit’s senior year. That’s when an academic transcript should be able to point to them being able to tackle college classes first, and college football second.

“You can’t admit a kid to a school without a junior year transcript and a test score,” Edsall said. “Why should football programs be able to commit to a kid in his junior year without an SAT score?”

He wants to deter kids from early commitments.

“What we are teaching kids is their word and our word doesn’t mean a thing,” Edsall said. “A kid commits and de-commits and then a program can go back on a previous offer once they have the players they need at his position. I’ve heard of coaches that offer kids having never seen them on film. They offer because everyone else is and want to get in the game. I’ve heard about coaches who offer a 150-200 kids a year.”

Would it hurt if Mr. Super Recruit committed in September of his senior year? It might help. Does a kid who is verbally bound to a big-name school bang out that extra rep in the weight room when his future is secure?

“Some kids, you tell them they they’ve got a scholarship, they don’t work as hard, and they don’t develop into the player you thought they’d be,” he said. “A lot of these 16- and 17-year-old players are not mature enough to handle all this attention. It is too much attention.”

He believes an early signing period to be a must should things continue to go unchecked. He believes the high school coach is being left out of the recruiting process. He believes secondary violations wouldn’t be so popular if schools lost the right to woo players they didn’t recruit according to the rule book.

It’s great to see a college coach (especially on who has rebuilt a program back into a contender) understand that there are more important things in a player than 40 times and bench press maxes. He knows that maturity and an ability to handle the stresses of college life are what can make or break an athlete.

From a recruit’s stand point, Edsall brings up a good point about the legitimacy of offers. Athletes have to keep themselves educated about how interested a school really is. A recruiter can offer the world but you might not be first in line. That’s why it helps to have experienced professionals in your corner to help guide you along the way, to help you set realistic goals and to educate you in the recruiting process.

It wasn’t that long ago that colleges and universities could have over one hundred scholarship football players on their campus at the Division I level. Coaches would take months and months to thoroughly evaluate an athlete in terms of his football skills, academic standings, and personality traits. Coaches would make many visits to high schools talking the head football coach and getting transcripts from the counselor. It wasn’t uncommon to watch a specific player practice and/or compete several times before a scholarship offer was officially offered.

One of the biggest changes in past decade has been the influence of the internet in the recruiting process. High school players, their parents, high school coaches and recruiting services have found ways of promoting the athlete via the net. Everything from transcripts, test results, statistical information, recommendation letters and even highlight tapes can be sent or made available by just going to a web site. In many ways these technological advancements are positive in the sense that more athletes receive national exposure to a large number of athletic programs. At the same time, there is pressure on college coaches to make final decisions about players earlier than ever before. The coach that waits too long may lose out on a player who has been offered by another program. The college recruiter is often caught in a real dilemma in the sense he is ultimately judged by the quality of the athletes they bring to the university in terms of talent, academic strength and character. The recruiter often must make decisions before they can thoroughly evaluate the athlete.

Ever changing rules as set by the NCAA has been more restrictive in terms of recruiting throughout the recent years. The number of times a college coach can evaluate and contact a player is strictly limited. There are restrictions on visiting high schools, watching games, alumni contacts and even what type of materials can be mailed to recruits. Most of these rules are designed to even the playing field in terms of recruiting but they also make the entire process more difficult and less comprehensive.