NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

The NCAA is proposing new rules that would govern when a college coach can offer a scholarship.  The NCAA announced:

An NCAA committee announced Thursday that it will back a proposal to prohibit making scholarships offers to recruits before July 1 in the summer between their junior and senior years in high school. If passed, it would apply to all sports.

Coaches also would have to receive high school transcripts documenting at least five semesters or seven quarters worth of academic work for a young recruit before they can offer a scholarship.

It is the first recommendation to come out of the Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet, which is reviewing recruiting conduct. Committee chair Petrina Long acknowledged it would be a difficult rule for school compliance officers to monitor.

But Long, senior associate athletic director at UCLA, said the committee was compelled to propose a change after recruits and their families said they had felt pressured to make decisions before knowing enough about the school’s academic programs. Coaches also told the cabinet they were under increased pressure to “keep up” by making offers to younger and younger players or lose out on top recruits.

The issue has drawn headlines when some men’s basketball coaches started making offers to middle school players.

The recruiting cabinet also wants to give coaches more flexibility in calling recruits, their parents or legal guardians. If approved, coaches could contact recruits and their families once a month from June 15 of their sophomore year through July 31 of their junior year in high school.

Starting on Aug. 1 of the senior year, coaches could call a recruit twice a week. Coaches would also be allowed to make one call per week to junior college transfers or transfers from other four-year schools.

While these proposed rule changes wont take place until 2011 at the earliest they are certainly worth paying attention.    Would the inability to offer a scholarship actually “slow” recruiting?  The NCAA seems to be admitting that it wont be actually moving up the time range when recruits can first start receiving phone calls.  Wouldn’t this rule encourage more rule breaking in the form of a “wink-wink” that a scholarship offer is on the way?

The rule might also have the adverse affect of giving false hope and delaying relationship building between non Division I athletes and coaches at every other level.  A recruit could easily wait for “his chance” senior year ignoring the fact that they haven’t received phone calls in months.

What the rules DOES prove is the fact that the college recruiting  process starts earlier than ever before.  Recruits and families need to start as early as possible!

1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

As legendary US soccer coach, Bob Gansler, would say, “I’m a teacher in short pants.” I strive to teach my players the technique and tactics but also to respect the game and play with passion. I am extremely competitive and through my coaching bring that competitive mentality out of each player.

2. What is unique about the experience at your school?

Since the early 1970s, the Alverno College faculty have been developing and implementing ability-based undergraduate education, redefining education in terms of abilities needed for effectiveness in the worlds of work, family, and civic community. The distinctive feature of an ability-based approach is that we make explicit the expectation that students should be able to do something with what they know. This academic philosophy fits perfectly with athletics and taking what you practice into games and then evaluating those performances.

3. What do you look for in recruits?

Work ethic on and off the field. Any special traits like winning head balls, 1v1 attacking, vision in midfield, etc.

4. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?

Be proactive in researching schools and contacting coaches.

5. What do you think your program is the most successful at?

We never quit. No matter if it’s a tough game or an easy one, the players compete until the final whistle.

6. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?

Shoot me an email or give me a call anytime. You can also attend one of my soccer camps which gives us both a chance to work together and get know each other. My contact information is on our website at http://athletics.alverno.edu/.

1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

I feel that the most important job I have is to help our players – help them improve, help them succeed, help them grow and learn in life. I hope that reflects in my coaching. Our players know that we are here for them. We have high expectations; but we are also ready to help them meet and exceed those. I think most of our players would describe us as Players’ Coaches.

2. What is unique about the experience at your school?

OC is a place that truly includes it’s students in a family. I’ve seen very few schools that have as many people on campus with a willingness to help each of our students to the degree of OC. Students looking for an academically challenging but caring university will be very happy at Oklahoma Christian.

3. What do recruits need to know about you?

Recruits need to know that we try to run our program at the highest level possible. We expect the same from them. They also need to know that academics, family, and their faith are important to our success.

4. What do you look for in recruits?

We look for well-rounded, versatile soccer players. We play a possession oriented system that requires players to think on their own. We don’t shout instructions to our players constantly; nor do we turn them into robots. We allow and encourage them the make good choices on the field. So, we are looking for soccer-intelligence as well.

5. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?

If I can only tell recruits one thing about the process, I would say what recruits hear from us now: Make sure you choose a school that you can attend for four years, even if you couldn’t play soccer. If you find that school – you’ve made a great choice.

6. What sort of questions do you really like to hear from recruits?

I like to hear questions from recruits that show me they have done some homework about us – what are our recruiting priorities for that year? How many players do we look to bring in? etc. When the first questions is ‘How much money do you have available?’ the main factor of her decision is pretty clear.

7. What turns you off when you are recruiting a student athlete?

Parent-Agents. Every year, we will have at least one player that will never initiate a phone call or email, but mom/dad will do so on a regular basis. We need to see that the player is invested enough to participate in the process. I’m very proud of my children – nothing wrong with that. However, the players need to do this work.

8. What do you think your program is the most successful at?

I feel we are most successful at doing what college soccer should be doing: helping soccer players get a college education. Everyone of our seniors this year graduated in 4 years. OC provides a first-rate education in many areas. If our players get that education and are able to play on a nationally competitive soccer team along the way – we’ve done what we should do.

9. Why should a recruit consider your program?

Recruits should consider OC if they are looking for a school that is strong academically and very competitive on the field. They should consider OC if they want to be a part of something special that will truly stay with them for a lifetime. The effect of the OC Family is truly second to none.

10. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?

Recruits interested should call or email to express their interest in OC. Make sure to include player profile or resume, a way to see them play, and a way to get in touch with them.

June 15^th marked a critical day in the recruiting process for basketball players all over the country.  Why?

Listen below to the educational huddle NCSA conducted with hundreds of serious basketball players to explain the significance.

If you are concerned you might be falling behind, call the NCSA Recruiting Center at 866-579-6272 to discuss your personal recruiting situation.

Coach Randy Taylor will be live on June 24th at 9:00 am to answer all of your recruiting questions. Be sure to join us!

Ask Coach Taylor (Live)

There are thousands of high school and club coaches around the country who have a significant impact on the lives of young athletes and their families.  Do you have one in your life?   Show them your gratitude by giving them a free copy of Athletes Wanted.  Here is how:

Send an email to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

Include your name and the email address of the individual who you would like to receive the book

NCSA will send them a free digital copy on your behalf!

The college recruiting process is starting earlier than ever.  Last week we mentioned that an NCSA Verified Recruit was offered a scholarship to UCLA as a freshman.  That article prompted several questions from families about how that is possible.  Let’s examine how a recruit can receive an offer BEFORE the college coaches can write or call them.

To get the answer from a coach’s perspective, let’s ask a man who has actually offered a freshmen football player a scholarship during his days at UCLA.

Coach Taylor – How can this happen?

“It can be done in several ways:
1) Contacting the high school coaching staff, club coach, AAU or a youth coach. Many times the coach will be asked to forward the offer and/or an invitation to the athlete to have the parents and prospect call the college coach or make an unofficial visit to the college’s campus. The unofficial offer can be made directly from the college’s head coach to the athlete and family.
2) Inviting a 7th or 8th grader back to campus following a camp on campus for the purpose of making the offer. The student-athlete can visit with the coach right after the camp as well, as an unofficial visit.
3) Using a scouting service to contact a prospect to encourage them to contact the college coach.
4) Send a questionnaire and/or camp brochure using this correspondence to direct the athlete to contact the office.”

To get the answer from an athlete’s perspective, let’s ask a woman who has helped thousands of athletes achieve their athletic scholarship dreams, NCSA Head Recruiting Coach, Amanda Rawson.

“The reason coaches are able to offer and commit a recruit early, is due to the simple fact, that the recruit and his or her family understood the recruiting rules and were proactive early. A student-athlete can call a coach at any time and as often as they wish. The student-athlete can also visit the college campus unofficially as often as they wish, as long as it is outside of a NCAA Dead Period. When a recruit commits early it means they called the coach, they visited the campus, and they were involved in the right exposure opportunities to get in front of the coach, so the staff could evaluate them live.”

Thanks Coach Taylor and Amanda!

There you have it – that is how prepared athletes and proactive coaches can connect BEFORE they are even officially able to talk on the phone.

Are you prepared?

Coach Taylor – When is it appropriate to ask about scholarships with a coach?

There is no “right answer” for this question as that can be a turnoff for some coaches.  Also, there are many variables between sports, grad years among other factors. 

However, from my experience, the different division levels generally offer scholarships in the following order (keep in mind, this process accelerates each year and coaches are offering athletes as early as freshmen year)

-D1A offers are out and finished by summer going into your SR. year
-D1AA offers are out and finished by Fall of your SR. year
-D2 offers are out by early winter of your SR. year
-D3/NAIA offers usually depend on FAFSA, which cannot be submitted until January, so they will come after that.

If you are talking with a school, have established a good back-and fort correspondence with a coach and are getting close to the time a school should offer (based on the timeline above) then it might be a good time to ask the coach about your scholarship opportunities with their program. 

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 –  How long should a highlight video be that is sent out to college coaches?

Coaches receive so many college recruiting videos from high school athletes around the country and the reality is they are not going to spend more than a few minutes evaluating your film.   Many times coaches will toss a video in the garbage after a few seconds on a snap judgment.  That is why its so important that athletes make sure there film is sequenced and highlighted perfectly.  Your film doesn’t have to be more than 5 minutes for a coach to know if you can be added to their recruiting board.

The other key metric is to make sure that your video or DVD even makes it into their player in the first place.  Coaches get so many DVD’s in the mail that only a small percentage actually get viewed. How can you make sure you get evaluated?  By making sure it is either requested ahead of time or delivered from a verified source.

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 just took an official visit and the staff made a verbal offer for a scholarship which I accepted.  How long does it take for the official offer to be sent? 

As a rule of thumb, Official visits are usually the last evaluation tool for a coach.  They have seen you play (video, camp, or in-person).  They have seen what you can do in the classroom (Transcripts and Test scores).  Now, they need to see what kind of person you are, how well you would get along with the rest of the team and whether or not you would fit in on campus.  All those items will be assessed on your official visit.  Thus, if you have not received an offer, but are invited on an official visit—it is a strong likelihood you will get one during the visit.  Since it is offered “on- the-spot” typically it will NOT be in writing.  Usually, it will take the coaching staff 2-3 weeks to mail/fax the written offer.  If you have not received it after 2-3 weeks, call the coach and alert him you do not have the offer in writing.  I’m sure they will send it to you asap, especially if you committed when they offered you verbally. 

However, if you do not have a relationship and have not been offered an official visit by a coaching staff, you might need to re-evaluate your scholarship expectations and target other schools. 

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.