NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Tim Ridder has seen it all in the recruiting process. Aside from being named a USA Today All American in High School and playing his college football for Notre Dame, Tim was a college coach under both Urban Meyer at Utah and Gary Barnett at Colorado, and even spent time as a high school coach. Although Tim was picked up as an undrafted free agent with the Colts, his NFL stint was brief due to injury, which only strengthened his belief that a college degree is a must have for all student athletes. Tim has turned his education at Notre Dame, which came as a result of football, into a professional career as a Financial Adviser for Financial Partners Group in Indianapolis, IN. Tim is enthusiastic about educating families about the process with the wealth of knowledge he has gathered from his various roles associated with college recruiting.

Marcus Price joins NCSA as an Educational Speaker after completing a successful 10 year NFL Career. Marcus, a four year letterman and All-Conference offensive tackle out of LSU was selected in the 1995 Draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars. His NFL career also included stints with the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills and the Dallas Cowboys. 

After retiring in 2006, Marcus searched for ways that he could get involved with helping young people. Price coached at Westview High School in San Diego while continuing to be a keynote speaker at summer youth clinics and at high school football camps around the country. Through these experiences, Marcus saw student athletes who missed opportunities to obtain athletic scholarships mostly due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of how the recruiting process works. Remembering his own experience being recruited out of Lincoln High School in Port Arthur, Texas he understands the frustration and misunderstandings that happen to many student-athletes and their parents. Price fortunately obtained and accepted a scholarship to attend LSU but remembers teammates who were just as talented if not better who never had the opportunity to play at the college level. 

Marcus has now joined with the NCSA family to help to broaden the scope of understanding of the recruiting process to student-athletes who would otherwise be overlooked and to discover opportunities through education that would allow them to continue to fulfill their dreams on and off the field.

Mike has reached the pinnacle of football achievement at every level he has competed beginning with his high school years at Thornton Fractional North High School outside of Chicago where he was named the Chicago Sun Times Player of the Year. Mike then chose to continue his career at one of the most storied college football programs in the country, Ohio State University. During his time at Ohio State, Mike left his mark by starting three years, being named Team captain, and breaking numerous passing records.

Despite his collegiate accomplishments, Mike went undrafted by the NFL and eventually signed as a free agent. Undeterred by the draft disappointment, Mike spent the next 16 years in the NFL proving he not only belonged, but could excel at that level. Mike’s longevity lead to a career that very few other NFL players experience and allowed him to reach impressive milestones. During his NFL career which included stops in Chicago, Green Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, Mike passed for more than 16,000 yards and 87 TD’s. In addition to his personal success, Mike had the opportunity to appear in two Super Bowls with the Bears and Steelers.

Mike’s playing career launched his endeavor into the broadcasting booth where he has spent time with ESPN Radio and TV, Fox Sports Net, and the Big Ten Network. With an athletic resume that very few can compete with, Mike is eager to share the lessons he has learned through football and how sports can be used to maximize life potential.

Winston grew up in Bakersfield California. As a sophomore at South High School Bakersfield he helped lead his team to the San Joaquin Valley Championship. As a senior he was voted by the Bakersfield Californian as the “All Area Player of the Year”. He was later voted to the All Northern California all-star team along with Kevin Johnson and several other future college and NBA stars.  

After signing with Texas A&M on a full ride scholarship, Winston started every game of his four year career. Making “All Southwest West Conference” four years in a row and “All Tournament” three straight years. Winston capped his college career by leading the Aggies to the N.C.A.A. tournament his senior year, as well as earning the S.W.C. tournament’s “Most Valuable Player award.  

Today, Texas A&M lists Winston as the third leading Scorer, second leading rebounder, and all-time leading shot blocker in the history of the school. After leaving school, Winston was drafted by the Phoenix Suns. He remained a Sun for two years before taking off for a career in Europe. During his career in Europe, Winston continued to gather honors and win championships earning All league in Spain, All league and MVP in France, a French championship, The Buckler All Europe Team, etc.

Stacie has been involved with softball almost her entire life. After an incredibly successful high school career which included 3-time all state honors as a member of a 3-time state championship team, Stacie chose to continue her career at the University of Hawaii. 

Based on her experience going through the recruiting process as a highly recruited student-athlete, Stacie chose to dedicate the rest of her life towards helping young softball players achieve their dreams. As a part of her efforts to assist aspiring softball players, Stacie owns and runs Allaboutfastpitch.com, which teaches families about the recruiting process, in addition to coaching high school softball and organizing clinics. Stacie relishes her latest opportunity to spread her message of recruiting education by presenting “College Recruiting Simplified” to student-athletes and parents.

NCSA Educational Speaker, Rich Hofman has over 40 years experience as a high school coach. After graduating from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hofman came to Miami, Florida to teach and coach baseball at Westminster Christian High School in 1967.  

Upon his arrival, there was not an athletic program at the school and in addition to being the Athletic Director, Hofman developed a football, basketball and baseball program by his second year at Westminster Christian. He went on to lead Westminster Christian’s baseball team to ten State Championships and two National Championships (1992 & 1996). Rich Hofman has amassed 965 victories, which is a state record and ranks 12th all time in the USA. He was named “Coach of the Decade” for the 1990′s by Baseball America and his program was recognized as one of the top 10 high school programs in the nation by Baseball America.  

Throughout decades of teaching and coaching baseball, Hofman’s two most famous players are Alex Rodriguez and Doug Mientkiewicz of the New York Yankees. Hofman has been named “National Coach of the Year”, seven times and is a member of four Hall of Fames. He is married to Jo Hofman and they have five children and eight grandchildren.

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations in South Bend, IN, New Orleans, LA, Bakersfield, CA, and Meridian, MS. 

Adams personally covered and interviewed over two thousand athletes who went on to play at the college level in football, basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, baseball, golf, swimming, cross country and other sports. He also observed countless quality student-athletes that failed to play college sports because they and their families did not know how to navigate the recruiting trail. 

As a NCSA Educational Speaker, Adams has a passion for inspiring and educating athletes to succeed in finding the perfect match in college sports. As a sports anchor across America, he covered D1, D1-A, D2, D3, NAIA and Junior College sports and saw first hand what a remarkable experience college sports can be at all levels. 

Adams is the author of “Stoke the Fire Within.” The book reveals the inner fire that is vital for athletes to make it to the next level. As a sportscaster, Adams personally interviewed high achievers such as Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Coach Pat Summitt, Olympic gold medal swimmer Lindsay Benko, Jerome Bettis, and Larry Bird.

After a standout college career at Southern Illinois University, in which he played both soccer and baseball, Tim went on to play professional soccer for 10 years in the NASL for the Minnesota Kicks, Tulsa Roughnecks and the Chicago Sting. Currently, he is director of the Twellman Soccer Academy. Tim’s eldest son Taylor (University of Maryland) stars for the NE Revolution and the US National Team; younger son James (Stanford University)was drafted by San Jose in the MLS; daughter Alex also played D-I soccer at Saint Louis Univ. Tim brings over 35 years of on the field and off-the-field soccer sales and marketing experience.

Kelvin Garmon enjoyed a successful NFL career that spanned eight seasons, including stints as a starting offensive lineman with the Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. Garmon retired in 2006, and currently gives recruiting advice and direction to high school student-athletes as an NCSA educational speaker. 

While Garmon was being recruited as a highly touted Blue Chip All-American offensive lineman from Haltom High School in Texas, he learned how challenging the recruiting process can be for a high school athlete. Garmon chose to play football for Baylor University, primarily because the coach that recruited him took the time to answer his questions, offer advice, and be a guide through the process. His experience going through the recruiting process stayed with him, and after enjoying a career that was highlighted by blocking for such NFL greats like Emmitt Smith and LaDanian Tomlinson Garmon now is able to be a guide for today’s high school athlete who has the same dream that he did: To play college athletics and pursue a dream with the NFL.

After playing 4 seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and being a part of the first Saints team to win a playoff game in franchise history, Phil brings a unique perspective to the recruiting process. A severe knee injury sadly shortened his professional career which has only strengthened his message to high school student-athletes that education and a college degree are the most important results of the recruiting process. 

Phil experienced a highly successful high school career at South Miami Senior High School as a linebacker and fullback. Aside from being named All State as a senior, Phil was listed in the 1995 edition of Who’s Who in American High School Sports and ranked as one of the top 15 linebackers in the country. Phil’s athletic and academic prowess in high school led him to be heavily recruited by schools such as Notre Dame, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Michigan before he ultimately chose University of Pittsburgh. 

Phil enjoyed an excellent career at Pitt, twice being named to the All-Big East Conference Team while being selected as Team Captain and Defensive MVP. Ten years after finishing his playing career at Pitt, Phil returned to complete his course work for his Bachelors Degree which has inspired him to spread his message to aspiring student-athletes around the country.