NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

NCSA recently interviewed a  rising volleyball star, Michele Boskovich, a 6’2” middle from Oaks Christian High School in California.  Michele was a 2nd Team All-CIF Division III pick.  She plays for Santa Monica Beach Club for the 16-1′s team.  She will graduate in 2011.

NCSA: Why and when did you get involved in volleyball?

Boskovich: My older brother and sister both played high-school and Club volleyball, I loved watching them play and decided to start playing volleyball in 7th grade.

NCSA: How did your team do this season?

Boskovich: My team is currently ranked 17th.

NCSA: Do you have any big competitions coming up?

Boskovich: My club team is competing at the volleyball festival in Arizona this year.  I was selected to be on the SCVA high performance team this summer, competing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

NCSA: What is the forecast for your fall high school season?

Boskovich: This season my high school team moved up a division and we are excited to be competing against more challenging teams. We have lost multiple starting seniors, including my sister, but have some amazing players.

NCSA: Tell us about your interactions with college coaches so far.

Boskovich: I have received letters as well as e-mails from University of California Irvine, Texas Christian University, University of Washington, University of Denver, University of the Pacific, Southern Oregon University, University of Montana and University of Idaho. 

NCSA: What camps do you plan to attend over the summer?

Boskovich: I really enjoyed the USC camp last year but unfortunately I will not be able to attend any camps due to family commitments. 

NCSA: What are you looking forward to if and when you get the opportunity to play at the collegiate level?

Boskovich: I look forward to traveling around the country to compete against other colleges, being part of a team for 4 years and growing together.

NCSA: What are your goals for next year?

Boskovich: I hope to be on a top level team, keep my grades up and serving my local community. 

NCSA: What is the best part of being involved with NCSA so far?

Boskovich: NCSA is very informative, each e-mail is filled with tips on how to approach the recruiting process.

It’s always great to hear from a student-athlete and gain some insight on their perspective during the recruiting process. The NCSA caught up with a softball player from Massachusetts who has recently committed to a top academic NCAA Division III school.This young lady began her recruiting process in January of 2008 and just signed this past May. We asked her what kind of work she had to put into the process in order to be successful. She answered, “The work I put in mostly to respond to inquiries from coaches and providing details on my summer schedule.”

When asked what the most challenging part of the recruiting process was, she mentioned two of her biggest challenges. First, “Time Management in your senior year was much more challenging than I anticipated. I was a starting player in three varsity sports (Soccer, Basketball and Softball). We made the State Tournament in all three and were rated 7th in Eastern Massachusetts in Basketball (highest ever for our school) and 5th in Softball. We were eliminated by the EMASS finalist in hoop by 3 points and The State Champions in Softball (2-1 in extra innings). Going deep into the State playoffs and dealing with local media both newspapers and television required unexpected preparation on top of schoolwork, the powder-puff bowl, the prom, senior night, awards and recognition nights, community service and finally graduation in addition to the recruiting process.” And secondly, “Prioritizing which school among the choices had the best balance of “level of play”, playing time and the best educational opportunity.”
The best part of the recruiting process, according to this softball player was, “The availability and persistence of the NCSA coach helped me stay focused on the goal. The website was an easy reference tool for coaches.”

When asked how the NCSA impacted her recruiting process, she answered, “I think the best part of the NCSA coaching was the reminders both by phone and through email. It forced me to think about what I wanted not just what the school’s assistant coaches wanted.”

Lastly, we asked her to offer some advice to student-athletes who are still in the midst of the recruiting process. She had a lot of great thoughts to share. “Start early. Do as much “prep” work as possible in your “off-season” or in the summer. Do NOT get hung up on DI, DII or DII – that is secondary to your education. Do not procrastinate like I did and then get swamped with multiple schools and coaches all calling at the same time. If the “log” is too cumbersome make a simpler “excel” spreadsheet and then update the “log” after you edit and prioritize your school choices. Visit schools you are interested in while you are in the area playing in “Exposure” Tournaments. Pick the best fit academically and do not be afraid of a “stretch” school. You’ll be surprised the doors that are opened for athletes – especially female athletes strong in math and science.”

In 2005, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University was forced to drop eight sports from it’s intercollegiate athletic program. Located in the heart of New Orleans, Tulane suffered greatly from Katrina, having to close the school for the Fall Semester. A number of students transferred to other schools and Tulane was left with an overwhelming economic burden. One of the eight teams cut from the Green Wave athletic program was women’s swimming.

Just 2-years old, the women’s swim team had quickly made a name for itself, garnering a Conference USA Championship in March 2005. But the celebration was over. In December of the same year, just 3 months after Katrina hit, the women’s swim team disbanded.

However, after a 4-year hiatus and much fundraising and rebuilding, the Green Wave is gaining strength again and working toward restoring it’s once 16-program athletic department.

For the women’s swim program, there was one important person they wanted and needed to restart the program: Lisa Guarriello. A former assistant coach for the Green Wave, Guarriello never lost her love for Tulane University. Having lost her job after the program was dropped in 2005, Guarriello continued to pursue her passion for coaching at the high school level. But her thoughts were never far from Tulane and the success they had built in a short amount of time.

The newly-named Head Coach of the Tulane University Women’s Swim Team, Guarriello has worked tirelessly to recruit student-athletes. “There were a few who shot me down on the first phone call,” she said. “All I could tell them that was that if I hadn’t been convinced the athletic department was ready to bring the program back, I wouldn’t be there. And that they should feel at ease trusting me with their daughters for the next four years. I felt that we were pretty well received.”

The results of her effort have been staggering. Guarriello signed eight swimmers in the early signing period during the fall of 2008 and has added five more this spring and summer.

Those 13 women will enter the pool this fall with high expectations. Guarriello has her sights set on another conference championship, as well as getting some swimmers qualified for the NCAA championships. Whatever the final results will be, there is already a great victory being celebrated in New Orleans. The restoration of Tulane University and it’s athletic department.

The final part of ESPN’s four part series on Social Media focused on athlete’s needing to fully grasp the power of the Internet to spread information is a potentially negative way.  Just as social media can be harnessed to be an extremely helpful tool, it can also expose parts of an athlete’s personal life that would have once been off-limits or hidden.

Coaches scour potential recruits accounts for any hint of scandal.  Many times incriminating pictures surface that land an athlete in hot water.  After years of trying to ban or limit access to sites, schools have begun to pull a 180 and actually take the time to educate their athletes on what is appropriate.

To combat Penn State is one of several universities, along with Virginia and New Mexico, that have reached out to a third party, Sports Media Challenge, for some guidance with social networking. The company has helped universities and entire conferences embrace sites like Facebook and Twitter as marketing tools and ways of branding their athletic programs, but Sports Media Challenge president Kathleen Hessert also has been asked to help some schools set social networking guidelines for their athletes.

“That’s where a lot of the demand is coming from right now for our services,” Hessert said. “They want social networking consulting, and part of that consulting is help us devise guidelines for what is appropriate and isn’t appropriate here.”

Hessert said one of the biggest deterrents for the student-athletes is the potential that future employers might be looking at their Facebook pages and that by posting inappropriate material, they could be jeopardizing their futures, but Hessert said the schools still need to set guidelines up front.

“For years now, everybody in college has been scared to death of Facebook, and they were trying to ban the athletes from it, and I’m like, ‘Guys, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle here,’” Hessert said. “Everybody needs to understand they can put anything up there they want but they have to be accountable for it. You set the guidelines up front and make it clear to everyone.

“In general, young people have a vastly different sense of what is private and what is public,” she said. “They don’t care about the things that a 50-year-old person cares about not knowing. In fact, they’re proud of what a 50-year-old person would be embarrassed about.”

I applaud this type of effort, but unfortunately this type of education is not being embraced yet by the high school sports community.  Athletes hoping to receive an athletic scholarship should examine policies like LSU’s and really think about why it was written.

Please be aware that the Internet can be accessed by almost anyone. Remember that you represent LSU Athletics at all times. Thus, it is recommended that student-athletes do not post information including photographs, text and/or join “groups” that do not promote positive behavior. Remember that the general public, including news reporters, also have access to these websites (Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, etc.). While the Athletic Department has not banned the use of these websites, please exercise caution if you are a member.

It is highly recommended that you not post any personal information including your address or phone number to any on-line site. As a student-athlete you are highly visible and people are generally interested in you. Also, use discretion when posting pictures of yourself, your teammates and friends to your website. Do not allow yourself to be photographed in a compromising position. A photo could be “tagged” to you leaving you little control over the content or usage of the photograph. Inappropriate language, behavior or on-line postings may result in suspension or dismissal from the LSU Athletics program.

The bottom line is that all media, traditional or on the Internet, can be positive or negative.  Recruits need to find the best way to use the media to highlight their college recruiting potential.

College Athletic Recruiting continues to accelerate in every sport.  Usually the press focuses on high profile football and basketball recruits, but even growing sports like woman’s lacrosse places a premium on identifying and recruiting top talent as early as possible.  Don;t believe me?  Take a look at the recruiting story of the Flousham sisters as reported by NewJersey.com.

Ali Foulsham let a smile creep out of the corner of her mouth as her body sighed with relief. These days, she’s happy to talk about The Process – mainly because it’s over.

She and her twin sister, Evan, finished their junior year at Madison High School less than a month ago but have the next five years planned out. The rising seniors gave verbal commitments to play lacrosse at Penn State on April 8, two games into their junior season at Madison and three months before college coaches are even allowed to make phone calls to prospects.

The Foulshams took the SATs in the beginning of their sophomore year and had visited at least 20 colleges by the end of the year. They emailed more than 35 coaches, abandoning their “laxchick” e-mail addresses for a more mature front.

They felt like they didn’t have a choice.

“We didn’t want to be the last ones,” Ali Foulsham said. “We didn’t want to be stuck without a college.”

The recruiting process for girls lacrosse has accelerated, and the players are committing to schools earlier every year. Lacrosse is following the recruiting trajectory of more mainstream sports like football and basketball as the sport increases in popularity across the country. At the Chester-based Steps Elite lacrosse club’s informational “college recruiting nights,” sophomores are now being invited.

“Some coaches will say, ‘You don’t have a time limit. you can decide when you want to because we want you to make the right decision,’” Evan said. “But some coaches said, ‘We’re cutting our list down now. Tell us if you want to come or not.’”

Their story is becoming more and more common.  Athletes can’t afford to waste any time if they expect to grab a scholarship slot.

Myles Brand put together an excellent blog post on the NCAA Double A Zone blog describing his feeling about the NBA’s current age limit rule.  He goes to great length to point that it is the NBA’s rule not the NCAA’s, but he adds that he wouldn’t mind players staying two years instead of one.

What I would like even more is an NBA rule (Did I mention that only the NBA and its players association, not the NCAA, can amend the rule?) that requires two years out of high school before entering the draft. In my mind, it would improve the situation for the college game and enhance the business benefits for the NBA.

The marketability of the stars would be increased in that they would be better known before beginning their professional careers. They would also be further along in their physical and skill development. Good things for the NBA.

From the college perspective, there are clear advantages. Even if players leave after a year and a half, it is likely they would have attended two summer sessions (one before the start of their freshman year to address any deficiencies and one between their freshman and sophomore years). That’s five semesters and a lot further down the road than the one-and-done allows.

It would also mean that high school basketball athletes would come to college much better prepared, and those who just don’t want the college experience may more seriously consider other opportunities.

To be sure, a two-year rule will not resolve all the problems, even though it is an improvement. The recruiting environment will not change simply by moving to a 20-year-old age rule. To fix that, and related issues, the NCAA will need to strongly enhance its enforcement.

Third parties will still hang around programs, perhaps for longer periods of time. The trouble that such parties can get young athletes – and colleges and universities – into is not to be taken lightly. Enforcement, including at state and federal levels, is still the answer.

What do you think of Mr. Brand’s proposal.  Should the NBA extend its rule to another year out of high school?  Is the current rule fair?  Mr. Brand calls for stricter enforcement, but why hasn’t he done so already (he is the president of the NCAA)?  Weigh in with your vote and Comment away!

In an ESPN article, Andy Katz shows how ever changing practice regulations put in place by the NCAA may be shifting drastically in college basketball.

College coaches have whined for years about the lack of access to their current players in the summer.
The complaint is legitimate. Anyone — notably agents and their hand-picked workout employees — can have complete access to the players. To think there isn’t any influence over the player, especially on his game, is naive. That doesn’t mean all the advice from a third party is wrong. It’s not. But college coaches want to be in control of a player’s college career.

They might finally get their wish — with a hitch.

Next month in Indianapolis, the NCAA’s board of directors will listen to a proposal from the basketball academic enhancement committee, chaired by UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, that would allow coaches access on the court with players as long as they’re in summer school.

The model would be that over an eight-week period the coach would have access to the player, with two hours a week in skill development and the other hours to be determined, with possible uses like watching tape, observing pickup games or weight-room workouts. The only thing the coaches couldn’t do is have a full practice.

Guerrero said the minimum for a player to be eligible to participate is three hours of summer school in the initial year. In the subsequent summers, the player must attend six hours to be eligible to work out with his coach. The NCAA won’t make this mandatory because there are a number of schools that don’t have summer school (like schools in the Ivy League). According to Guerrero, there is also a cost analysis that has to be taken into consideration.

This is obviously a long awaited change for both coaches and players. Many players enroll in summer school without this ruling in place in order to lighten their academic load during the season. Now while they are advancing academically, they can also improve athletically with coaches that know what specific skills they have to improve. Also, this is a great way to keep players out of trouble. There have been many recent examples of NCAA sanctions that have hurt the eligibility of player. If coaches have more contact with players, they can make sure they stay out of trouble and on top of their grades.

But what does this mean for basketball recruits? According to Katz:

If this is passed in the legislative cycle next year, the July evaluation period might get another tweak in 2010. If college coaches are allowed to work with their own players in July, it will lead to even more coaches and assistant coaches heading back to campus either in place of or between recruiting evaluation assignments in July.

This means that there will be even less time to get evaluated by college coaches! The recruiting world is competitive as it is and if coaches have fewer opportunities to look at potential players it’s even more important that you familiarize yourself with the Five Things You Need to Know About Recruiting and the Five Things You Need to Do to Get Recruited in order to give yourself an edge over the competition.

I wrote yesterday about the first two parts of ESPN’s four part series on Social media and college athletic recruiting.  The series continues today with the topic I wrote about at the end of yesterday’s post:  How athletes can harness social media to their advantage.  Below are the best excerpts from today’s article:

Both Lattimore and Gardner say they’ve used Facebook to talk with coaches. They’ve also connected with other recruits around the country, sharing notes about different colleges and talking about their futures. Although Lattimore plans to hold a traditional news conference when he ultimately announces his college choice, he’s leaning toward telling everyone his final list of five schools through his Facebook status update.

With recruits talking about everything from their recent visits to their general likes and dislikes on these sites, college coaches know they had better refresh those pages often.

“It’s our responsibility to make that sure that happens,” Utah recruiting coordinator Morgan Scalley said. “If a kid doesn’t check his e-mail but is really into Facebook, then it’s important that we learn about that. They may lie and say they don’t, but I believe the majority of college football coaches look at that stuff.”

Some prospects hope the increased attention will help them get noticed. Recruits’ families and their high school coaches have long used the Internet to promote kids by subscribing to recruiting services or posting YouTube videos. Now it’s possible for a player to send a direct message to Pete Carroll’s Twitter account and tell the USC coach, “Hey, check out the highlight videos on my Facebook profile.”

“I don’t think coaches are saying, ‘I need a quarterback, let me go MySpace it,’” said Anthony Neyer, a borderline Division I quarterback prospect from Palm Desert, Calif. “But if they’ve got somebody they’re interested in, there’s no doubt they’re checking that. I definitely think that will be a more of a predominant thing in the future.”

I 100% agree with the article’s point.  Using every available tool is necesary for a college recruit to maximize their recruiting potential.

The blogospehre was a buzz yesterday after Xavier basketball player Jordan Crawford threw down a monster dunk over NBA King LeBron James at his Nike camp.  Normally this story would’ve had a shelf life of a day before pundits moved on, but Nike officials took the extra step of confiscating the film from the two media members filming the game.  This allegedly occurred after LeBron spoke to Nike officials and ordered the film taken.

This adds to the reputation that began developing after this year’s playoff loss (when LeBron stormed off the court without shaking the winners’ hands) that LeBron is a sore loser.

Does this really matter at all?  No.  LeBron is the best basketball player on the planet (Sorry L.A.) and a small incident won’t tarnish his reputation.  However, for a potential recruit trying to impress a college coach any misstep could mean the loss of a college scholarship.

Coaches are constantly evaluating players on a myriad of factors including attitude. student-athletes need to be aware that they are always under the microscope and a small flair up could have dire consequences.