NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

To get the inside scoop on official visits, I will give you a sneak peak at the critical information from Athletes Wanted – The Complete Guidebook for Maximizing Athletic Scholarship and Life Potential. 

Official Visits

If an institution pays for any part of a visit, the visit is considered an official visit.  The NCAA restricts official visits: a student cannot take more than five official visits to Division I and II universities, and a student can only take one visit per university.  With a few exceptions, official visits generally cannot begin until opening day of the athlete’s senior year in high school.

*Coach’s Tip:  Recruits should make the most of official visits.  They should walk around campus and get a feel for the atmosphere.  They need to determine if that university is a place they can imagine living for the next 4-5 years.  More importantly, they need to decide if this is a place they would want to attend if athletics were not part of the picture.  Remember, injuries are a reality of most sports and recruits need to be on campus for the right reason; an

education.

Scheduling Official Visits
 
By the time a recruit is a senior, a student should be comfortable calling coaches, and should have established relationships with several coaches.  If you are currently a senior and have yet to reach that point, click here to catch up.  Their best bet is to be upfront with a coach and ask if the coach plans to offer an official visit.

For recruits entering freshman, sophomore, and junior year, all the work you do in the recruiting process leading up to your senior year will dictate how many official visits you are offered.  Get started now.

If the coach extends an official visit offer, the athlete should ask what he should bring on the visit.  By this point in time, the coach should have the student-athlete’s highlight or skills video and profile.  The recruit will also need to send a copy of their transcripts before taking the official visit and be registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Recruits should be prepared to answer questions from the college coach.  For example, if the coach asks what other colleges the student-athlete is considering, the athlete should always list universities that are comparable to, rivals with, or are better than the one they are visiting.  If a coach believes their competitors are recruiting the prospect, it will raise the athlete’s stock!

A recruit should be aware that being offered an official visit does not necessarily mean they will receive a scholarship or a spot on the team.  The coaching staff has identified the recruit as a top prospect, but the official visit gives them the opportunity to judge personality, lifestyle, and character.  They often use “hosts” to help get a real flavor of the student’s personality and character.   Usually, coaches will match recruits with team members who host them around campus.  These hosts are also evaluating student-athletes.  The student should act as natural as possible, but remember that coaches want athletes who will be positive assets to their university and team.  At some point during or after the visit, the coaches will ask the host about the athlete, so the student-athlete needs to be positive, courteous, and respectful.

  

Though it isn’t a guarantee, many offers are made during an official visit, and parents might not be with their children when the offer is made.  This tends to make both athletes and their parents uncomfortable.  To navigate through this situation, athletes can simply tell coaches that they need to let their parents review any financial information before committing.  If a university really wants the athlete, the coach will wait a few days or a week.

A recruit who feels pressure can say, “You are my number-one choice, but I promised my parents I would talk it over with them before making a commitment.  For how long will this offer be extended?”

*Coach’s Tip:  Since the NCAA restricts student-athletes to taking only five official visits, he or she should be sure to use them only at schools that are likely fits. 

Athletes Wanted Fast Facts – Official Visits:
<< If a Division I or II coach does not extend an offer for an official visit, the athlete is probably not high on that coach’s list and not being considered for a scholarship<<

<<With a few exceptions, football programs are limited to offering fifty-six official visits, basketball programs can offer only twelve official visits, and baseball only twenty-five.<<

For more information about Athletes Wanted or to check out the entire guidebook, click here.

Next week we will cover why September 1st might be one of the most important recruiting dates in the entire process!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under Athletic Scholarships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.