NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Ask Coach Taylor – What Division Level Can I Play At?

January 13th, 2010 - by Brian Davidson

Coach Taylor – What does it take to play my sport at each division level?

We get this question a lot at NCSA.  There is a lot that goes into an evaluation by a college coach.  NCSA has spent the last 10 years evaluating players for college coaches and has a tremendous amount of data stored up.  We used this data to develop our Exclusive Recruiting Guidelines to help give recruits an idea of what schools they should realistically be targeting.  They are guidelines, not hard fast rules, but they can give recruits an idea of where they fit.

Baseball Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Basketball Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Basketball Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Cross Country Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Cross Country Recruiting Guidelines

Field Hockey Recruiting Guidelines

Football Recruiting Guidelines

Water Polo Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Golf Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Golf Recruiting Guidelines

Ice Hockey Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Lacrosse Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Lacrosse Recruiting Guidelines

Soccer Recruiting Guidelines

Softball Recruiting Guidelines

Swimming Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Tennis Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Tennis Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Track and Field Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Track and Field Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Volleyball Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Volleyball Recruiting Guidelines

Wrestling Recruiting Guidelines

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

If you would like to speak with a NCSA Recruiting Coordinator about your personal recruiting situation, call 866-579-6272.

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17 Responses to “Ask Coach Taylor – What Division Level Can I Play At?”

  1. Coach Chris Berg Says:

    Great post, and I want to stress to parents that these are simply “guidelines.” They are not the end-all-be-all…I speak from experience. I am 6′ tall, and I played QB at Stanford University on a full ride scholarship. Now, your son/daughter has to have the skills to play at that level, and if you do a great job marketing yourself, going to college camps, and work hard…good things happen!

  2. nancy Says:

    Hi i waswonder

    is there any thing for Surfing????

  3. Keith Says:

    Nancy – Surfing is not a NCAA listed – sport. See here: http://www.ncaa.com/ot/all-sports.html

  4. Julianne Says:

    For wrestling would any college recruit women ????

  5. Cody Says:

    I’m A linemen from saskatchewan Canada where i play its nine man football, we are the top ranked team this were and defending provincial champions. this is my second season as a captain and i have been starting with the seniors as fa back as in grade 9 for special teams and grade ten as a DT and grade eleve an RG and DT playing both ways same as this year only now im also a long snapper only thing is i hit my peak of growth in grade seven. i am 6′0 265 pounds my bench is 315lbs and my squat is 500lbs my shuttle time is a 4.6 but my forty is only a 5.3-5.4, do coaches worry about forty time as much for DT as they do for power strength and pursuit to the ball. i’ve always had that one score pulling me down at ID camps here and i have been striving too improve it. so my main question is. whats more important for me too worry about? focusing strictly on speed untill my forty is more acceptable or countinuing on being quick, agile and strong and pursue those three things too greater levels? i am currently still in season our team is 7 – 0 we are now going into the qauter finals of provincials, for americans thats state. thank you for your time and wish me luck.

  6. Keith Says:

    Cody – If you wish to play college football, the most important thing for you to do is to target the right colleges who are looking for players that have your attributes. If you want to be matched up with those, go here: http://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/fasttrack/lead/preSAEFEntryV1.jsp?lnkSrc=SAEF-Blog

    GOOD LUCK!

  7. kathe swenton Says:

    Hi, my one daughter is a gymnast. She is in eight grade and on varsity and she also is the new york state 2009 balance beam champion. I am looking to get started with her recruiting. Why is there no gymnastics under the sports guidlines.

  8. Keith Says:

    Kathe – Your daughter sounds like quite the talented gymnast. She should achieve minimum level 9 and preferably level 10 to be considered by college coaches. Of course, the most important thing is great grades. If you wish to find out more how you can help your daughter, you should read ‘Athletes Wanted’. Go here for more information: http://www.athleteswanted.org/purchase-book

  9. kathe swenton Says:

    Hi Keith, Thanks for the info. I ordered the book. Now I have a question about my other daughter. By the way my gymnest daughter is top of her class and yes the most important thing is great grades! This daughter is in ninth grade and is a figure skater. She made it to regionals and did very well. She has been skateing since first grade and also top of her class. My question to you is there any collages that offer recruiting for skater’s. I know synchronized skating has become very popular with collage scholarships. But I am not aware of figure skating. Just thought you would have some knowledge on this. Thanks fo your expertise!

  10. Keith Says:

    Kathe – You’re welcome. I know a student needs to be very athletic to become an accomplished skater. So you obviously have two very talented daughters. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of skating in college for scholarship dollars. I hope someone else who does will contribute their thoughts.

  11. Dana Strahl Says:

    In response to Nancy’s question about surfing, collegiate surfing is run through NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association) at http://nssa.org/ It is club.

  12. Keith Says:

    Dana – Thanks for your help. Club sports like surfing typically don’t offer scholarship dollars. However, good grades can get scholarship dollars. Earn the best grades you can.

  13. Jim Blades Says:

    You are neglecting another sport that could use your assistance, insights and coverage. Women’s Gymnastics. There are roughly 60 schools that have NCAA D1 programs and you do not mention a thing about what coaches are looking for in those programs. The rules and recruiting practices are confusing and unless you are in the top 200 girls in the country you are not actively recruited but still could be in the running for a scholarship; the work is just shifted from the assistant coaching staff to the parents and athlete. However, by the time a parent of an athlete that is peaking during their junior year in high school realizes it, it feels like it is too late and the first round of signing has come and gone long before the summer before their junior year started. For the next generations, do some field work in this area and provide some feedback and insight along with the rest of the sports you mention. These girls start as early as age 3 and many of them get weeded out along the way, but many go on to reach Level 10 (junior olympic level) and to have stuck with the sport this long deserves some coverage. The silence is deafening…

  14. Keith Says:

    Hi Jim – Please see my post above responding to Kathe (#8) which addresses gymnastics. The book, Athletes Wanted, addresses all recruiting concerns. You can order that here: http://www.athleteswanted.org/purchase-book/

  15. Mark Zubov Says:

    Hello! My name is Mark Zubov and I am from St.Petersburg, Russia. I really hope to play for a men’s tennis college team.
    I have achieved as much as national ranking of No.23 in Russia in my age group.
    What are my chances to get into a decent university?
    Unfortunately I always get error when I try to create recruiting profile on this web site! Is it possible to deal with it?
    Looking forward to an answer.

  16. larry wilcox Says:

    under soccer you do not mention one of the top clubs in the nation….LAFC CHELSEA?

  17. Towanda Says:

    Thanks, this was a very helpful post!

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