NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Coach Taylor – In the Recruiting Rules Guide you sent last week, it made no mention about emails.  Are there restrictions on emails from college coaches?

In the back of the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete you will find a table explaining the rules by sport, division and high school class. The sections that discuss recruiting materials, is referring to emails, letters, camp brochures and admissions information.

For most sports, DI coaches can reply or initiate emails/letters on or after Sept. 1st of the prospects junior year. Before this date they can only receive admission information, camp information and questionnaires.

For most sports, DI coaches can return a call or initiate a call on or after July 1st after the prospects junior year.

For all sports, DII coaches can reply or initiate emails/letters on or after Sept. 1st of the prospects junior year. Before this date they can only receive admission information, camp information and questionnaires.

For all sports, DII coaches can return a call or initiate a call on or after June 15th after the prospects junior year.

For all sports, DIII and NAIA coaches can respond to a prospects email opening day of classes of 9th grade. This also means that starting the first day of high school, DIII and NAIA coaches can send you an email, letter, they can call you and return your call.

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

Coach Taylor – What happens if I do not perform well at a combine, camp or showcase?

Unfortunately, underperforming at the wrong time is a realistic possibility for recruits.  If a college coach happens to be watching when you have a bad day, that could potentially leave an impression on them.

However, college coaches are smart enough to understand that every recruit has a bad 40 run or tournament outing.  If you were on their list to begin with (remember, they might only be paying attention to you if you were already on their list), chances are there was something about you as a recruit that was attractive. 

It will be up to you as a recruit to improve your next performance at a camp, combine or event and then relay that information to the college coach and remind them why you made their list in the first place!

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

Coach Taylor – What does it mean to get verified information?

One of the most frustrating aspects of the recruiting process for a college coach is dealing with inaccurate information.  Whether the information includes an exaggerated height or an inflated GPA, every year prospects try and make themselves look more attractive by “providing generous information.”

Verified information has been reviewed by a trusted source to ensure that it is as accurate as possible.  Receiving verified information saves a college coach a lot of time and prevents countless headaches.

I strongly recommend you consider getting your information verified!

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

Coach Taylor – Do DIII schools offer athletic scholarships?

The simple answer is “No.”  However, they do offer financial aid that is often very competitive when compared to other athletic based packages at higher levels.

DIII schools choose not to offer any athletic scholarships, but they are able to offer academic, merit, and need-based aid that can match or beat the offers of other schools.  That is not at all uncommon for Division III schools.

Student-athletes with good grades are encouraged to stay open to the idea of Division III schools because you might be able to receive more money academically than a higher level school athletically.

Each school might have a different policy, but if they want you bad enough, they will do everything they can to make school affordable for your situation.

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

Most athletes grow up with visions of a “full scholarship.”  Unfortunately, that type of scholarship opportunity is only available to a small percentage of the athletes who will play collegiate athletics.

Do you know how many scholarships are available at each division level for your sport?

Click here to download a quick guide of scholarship opportunities at each sport broken down by division.

As always, we encourage you to pass this along to anyone you think might find it helpful!

P.S.  When reading the chart, keep in mind how many athletes are on each team.  Are there enough “full rides” to go around?

If you want to maximize your athletic scholarship potential, click here.

When the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament resumes this weekend many eyes and ears will be focused on the unlikely match up between one of college basketball’s most decorated teams, the Kentucky Wildcats, and the Cornell Big Red, a team that before Friday had never won a tournament game.  It isn’t just the historical traditions that set these two programs apart.

The Kentucky squad is filled with freshman potential NBA players that switched their commitments to UK at the last second when they hired new basketball coach John Calipari.  Most analysts expect the teams top four players to leave the program before graduating.  Conversely, the Cornell team is made up of 9 seniors (Kentucky has 3 who rarely see the floor) who have grown up together as student-athletes on and off the court.  They all will also all graduate.

One huge difference that will be the number talking point throughout the weekend is the Ivy League champs lack of athletic scholarships.  However, this just isn’t the huge difference that many fans assume.  Despite the Ivy League’s policy of not offering scholarships, many of the athletes receive significant funding.  If an Ivy League school is recruiting a player they have access to all sorts of different grants and funds and because a coach is actively recruiting them they often get an inside track in the admissions process.

I know it’s a cynical world we live in so I pulled some information from one of NCSA’s top secret projects to share with you today.  We took the average ACT and SAT scores of newly admitted students to major institutions (From College Board.com) and compared them to our own NCSA Student Athlete scores who were admitted to those very same schools.  The results we saw were staggering.

Our Student-Athletes had an average ACT score of 28 compared to a school average of 31 while the SAT was 1288 to 1417 (writing was excluded).  The numbers speak for themselves, if a school wants you as an athlete they are going to try their best to get you through admissions.

Those stats aren’t meant to belittle Cornell’s incredible run, but I wanted to make it clear to potential student-athletes that great opportunities are available at the Ivy League level.

Our families and fans are always asking us how they can easily tell their friends about the importance of education and college recruiting.   Facebook is one extremely easy way for fans to tell their friends about NCSA and our mission to help student-athletes.

Its simple. Just visit www.facebook.com/ncsasports and click Suggest to Your Friends! Its that simple.

Coach Taylor – Why would a high school coach hold letters sent from college coaches  without letting the recruit they were intended for know?

Holding college mail is really an old school idea which unfortunately some coaches still practice. The reasons I’ve heard are:

-  The player will get a big head and think they have it made and may not work as hard.

-  The letters will distract the player

-  The high school coach may want to be in charge of the process and doesn’t want to be bothered until the end of the season.

-  The high school coach doesn’t want the college coach to have direct contact with the player and impacting the young man in a way that could hurt his performance or undermine the high school coach.

-  The high school coach may believe that until the player has completed their sophomore year, there isn’t any guarantee that the young man is truly a prospect.

Regardless of the reason the high school coach is most likely hurting the young athlete by interfering with the process.  It is important to develop a good relationship with your high school coach and communicate to prevent this from happening.  Also, as we always tell families – it is not your high school coach’s job to get you recruited!  Recruits and their family are ultimately responsible for the process.

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

Coach Taylor – I have a softball team full of middle school players.  As an incentive to work harder at home on their batting skills, I proposed this:

Anyone who has a Batting Average above 0.400 for a complete tournament will get a $20.00 iTunes gift card, or a $20 visa gift card.

One of my parents on the team has cautioned me about this violating NCAA rules.  Something about you can’t pay players to perform.  Is this true?  If not, would the answer change if they were in High School?

You are fortunate enough to have an informed parent helping you out!

From the moment you are born, you are not allowed to be ‘paid to play’ whether it is for practice or performance. The only time you are able to accept money, is if it is prize money and it is below the cost of actual and necessary expenses. Therefore if you paid an entry fee of $50 and it cost you $100 in travel fees, you can receive a prize in the amount up to $150.

So, no matter how old you are, you cannot be enticed to play harder with gift cards or cash.   For example, you cannot be told you will win cash or a gift card your team wins the championship or you score 20 points.

It affects your amateurism if you are paid to play.

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

Many athletes and families wonder the following:

When can a college coach call me?

When can I start receiving letters?

When can I take official visits?  Unofficial visits?

We put together a guide for 9-12th graders to answer precisely those questions…and more.  Feel free to forward the link or print it out and pass it around to friends, family and teammates!

Click Here to get the guide for free!