NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Two current college athletes shared a lot of valuable insights with me recently when I was speaking on Recruiting at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida.

Matt Lanchantin is coming off his freshman basketball season at Tufts University in Boston, a prestigious Division Three school. I asked him to share some observations about the college experience and recruiting.

“A lot of people don’t understand how competitive it can be at all levels of college sports,” he said. “I averaged about 3 minutes a game my freshman year (Matt is 6’6” and 230 lbs). The skill level at high D3 can be comparable to D1. The size and speed is usually the big difference. There are incredible shooters at D3, but they may be 5’10” guards compared to being 6’3” at the D1 level.”

Getting into a University like Tufts is hard. Matt’s 2130 score on his SAT (out of 2400) helped him a great deal.

“I did SAT Prep,” he said. “That is really helpful. I know a lot of kids are smart, but if you want to do well, take Prep courses for SAT or ACT. It helps you know the test better. It doesn’t have anything to do with your intelligence. It’s about knowing how to take the Test.”

At NCSA, we have done extensive research into employers seeking out college student-athletes to hire upon graduation. Matt knows where he goes to College will be a 40 year decision. He is studying Engineering at Tufts.

“Networking is so important,” he said. “I have heard so many examples of athletes at Tufts being connected to great companies after graduation. Being able to manage School and a varsity sport separates you from the regular College student. “

While at IMG, I also spoke with Brooke Stephens, who is going into her freshman year as a member of the University of Santa Clara golf team, a D1 program. I asked her to share recruiting insights.

“A lot of College Golf coaches didn’t respond to my emails because they were in their seasons,” she said. “They told me later they were too busy at that point, so many of them responded after their season. When visiting Santa Clara I took the approach of ‘Would I like it if I had a career-ending injury?’ and that is what separated it. I liked how everyone was so friendly and the campus was so beautiful.”

Like many golfers in College, she is on partial scholarship. “It can’t go down over the 4 years,” she said, “but it can go up depending on improvement as my golf scores go down. I am shooting in the high 70’s now and believe I will go in as the #4 golfer. I will get about 30% athletic scholarship starting out. I also have a scholarship through the Jr. Tour. What I learned through the recruiting process is how important academics are. There are certain top level schools that won’t even look at you unless you have a certain level of academics.”

One of the biggest challenges regular College students face is the amount of free time on campus. Being a College student-athlete means you are busier, and that is a good thing.

“I know going in that being a student-athlete teaches you the discipline of time management,” she said. “During the golf season I will be more motivated to do my academic work rather than goofing off because I won’t have time to mess around.”

Brooke has worked hard the past few years to capitalize on her ability to play the great game of golf.

“There are a lot of girl’s golf scholarships out there, but it is getting more competitive. What I heard was that as long as you can shoot in the 70’s, you can go just about anywhere. I am sure there are opportunities for girls not shooting that well, but if you can improve to that level you have many more options.”

I asked her about understanding the power of how being a College athlete can impact her next 40 years. She was on top of that.

“Golf is a sport for life,” she said. “I know that I will be able to go out with clients and do business on the golf course.”

I was so impressed with the character of Brooke and Matt. They handled themselves so well and seemed mature beyond their years. They totally “get” what being a College student-athlete is all about, and one day employers will be fortunate to have them on their team.

When I speak on the Recruiting Process, I often use examples like these two young people.

All you high school students out there how many times have you heard this question from your parent’s “how was your day sweetie, did you learn anything”? Okay fine, some of you might not get the sweetie description; some of you might get a more stern tone as if you didn’t make your bed in the morning or clean up after yourself sometime in the last month. Well anyway I bet you just responded something not far from this “It was fine, I didn’t learn anything”. Music to your mother’s ears, they slave away all day putting food on the table, making sure that you are the most equipped kid on the block to grow up, learn and become successful human beings and you went away all day to learn…nothing. Well to be fair you didn’t really learn nothing, you actually probably learned a fair amount. But what are you communicating with those that are showing interest in you?

You are communicating nothing special. Now let’s flip the switch on this situation. You are aspiring to play college football and here comes a scout or a coach, coming your way to chat you up, what are you going to tell him when he asks you how your football season is going? Are you going to chat him up like you do your mom and just tell him, its “fine” or “good”.

Just recently I spoke consecutively with about half of the starting offense for a high school out in PA. One of the best athletes I spoke with to date was so excited about getting himself on to college football that he wanted to spread the wealth of knowledge to see what he could do for his teammates (off topic: if that RB isn’t the team captain this year then I don’t know what leadership is). One by one he explained to me a little bit about each player before I called them. Once I got into conversations with a few of his teammates and their families I uncovered some not so favorable information about two of the players. They had both been suspended for an entire year on separate accounts during different years. Long story short I explained to their families that overcoming this issue would be a hurdle that they would have to overcome. If college football was something that meant something to these young men they would have to be able to impress the programs that they strived to be apart of next-level football so much to the point where the schools could felt that they could take a risk on these players. Getting in trouble is the fastest and surest way to get schools to turn away from you. It’s kind of like approaching a cute girl with mustard stains on your shirt and too much cologne on, it’s unappealing. However, what impressed me about speaking with both of these young men and their families was that they were polished, they were determined, and they knew their information so much better than the families that had not had a reality check as significantly as they had. Who knows what the future will have for these young student athletes, but their desire to play anywhere that will take a chance on them, leads me to believe that with a good senior year they might be able to find a home for their next step in college football.

However, this wasn’t the best chat I had with a member on their team. It came from a young man who had it all, well football wise that was. This 6’3”, 305 pound offensive left tackle and nose tackle, that started both ways since his sophomore year and could bench press 395 pounds had the ideal frame of a college football player, borderline division one figure. Except he had one problem, his 2 point something GPA was less than favorable and was his ACT. I thought to myself “man if this high school could figure it out they would be a favorite to win state, not a doubt in my mind”. Except after speaking with the young man about his grade point average I realized that it wasn’t at all because of a lack of effort, in fact it was far from it. He had communicated to me how hard he was working to get good grades and how they just weren’t coming his way. Taking SAT prep courses, getting after school tutors, and completing all of his homework assignments on time, he was just not a student. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t receiving an education in what it takes to be successful in the classroom, because the tools he was learning are enough to make him successful regardless.

Consider these two different scenarios, how it can apply to you and what athlete you would take if you were a college coach. Athlete one may be the brightest bulb in the bunch, straight A’s, captain of the varsity roster and a wild personality. Athlete two is the athlete that wants nothing more than to play the sport of his or her dreams in college but they aren’t as talented as athlete one and they aren’t as academically smart as athlete one. However they make better decisions and work harder for what they believe in. Now athlete one gets in trouble where he shouldn’t be and costs himself an entire season of playing time. Athlete two stayed at home and studied the playbook just so he can get an edge. What athlete do you think gets the spot?

Think about your actions because they will have an effect on how you sound to people that are evaluating you. The easiest way for a coach to understand you is if you don’t have to start out by explaining yourself for a bad decision. Make sure that at this stage in the game you are polished, make sure you are in control of everything you do and what you represent, and finally make sure you communicate your love of the game and what you are doing to advocate for your future.

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Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had two articles discussing 2 aspects of earning a college degree. As anyone who has read this blog knows, a college decision is a 40 year decision, not a 4 – year decision. So what are 2 things to consider?

The first article, Student-Loan Debt Surpasses Credit Cards, discusses financing a college degree. The money quote from the article is from Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com. “The growth in education debt outstanding is like cooking a lobster,” Mr. Kantrowitz says. “The increase in total student debt occurs slowly but steadily, so by the time you notice that the water is boiling, you’re already cooked.” Debt can follow a college graduate for 20 or more years.

The second article, What, Me Study? discusses a new book titled, “The Five-Year Party”. Ms. Kirkpatrick begins her review of the book by saying:

“The Five-Year Party” provides the most vivid portrait of college life since Tom Wolfe’s 2004 novel, “I Am Charlotte Simmons.” The difference is that it isn’t fiction. The alcohol-soaked, sex-saturated, drug-infested campuses that Mr. Brandon writes about are real. His book is a roadmap for parents on how to steer clear of the worst of them.

Many of the schools Mr. Brandon describes are education-free zones, where students’ eternal obligations—do the assigned reading, participate in class, hand in assignments—no longer apply. The book’s title refers to the fact that only 30% of students enrolled in liberal-arts colleges graduate in four years. Roughly 60% take at least six years to get their degrees. That may be fine with many schools, whose administrators see dollar signs in those extra semesters.”

So another aspect of that 40-year decision is choosing the right fit college for your child. Keep in mind that all children who go to college will find some “pursuits” to fill in the idle time between class and assignments. If that pursuit is competing in college athletics, they won’t have as much time to pursue more destructive activities. Perhaps this is why, according to NCAA statistics, that a student-athlete is more likely to graduate on time when compared to non-athletes.  Can your child play a sport in college?  Can they get their education funded minimizing student loans?  To find out, click here or call 866-579-6272.

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports.

Success leaves footprints so I always encourage athletes to listen to the greats. Any athlete wanting to play their sport in college should never underestimate the importance of motivation, and reading books and articles that have observations from the greats.

Another thing I suggest is to never miss an episode of “Homecoming with Rick Reilly” on ESPN. It is a 60 minute show that focuses on the steps great athletes took to success. It always has tremendous insights on the choices they made, their recruiting experiences, and what they did to become successful. Previous episodes on athletes such as Dwayne Wade, Joe Mauer, Chris Paul, Kurt Warner, Michael Phelps and Alonzo Mourning were packed with tools of success. Sure enough, Thursday night I was right there to watch the episode focusing on Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all time leading rusher.

Emmitt spent his first years living in the trailer projects with his family in Pensacola. When asked when was the first time he thought he would be able to make it in the world, he revealed that it was when a High School teammate, a fullback named Sam, got a college football recruiting letter. Emmitt’s observation was, “They are going to pay you to go to college?!” Okay. That will be the first step.” The fact that Emmitt Smith was in High School and didn’t even know much about recruiting shows that everyone needs to get educated on the incredible possibilities that come from being a student-athlete capable of playing their sport at the next level.

Emmitt was just 5 foot 9 inches, and never was the fastest or quickest, but he was flat-out great at running the football. As he rushed for almost 9000 yards in High School, the colleges were all over him. He said every major college offered him. Most went by the rules, but back in mid 1980′s recruiting was somewhat like the Wild West in that there were some bigtime cheaters in recruiting. Emmitt’s High School football offensive coordinator, Jimmy Nichols, shared the story of one college coach handing him a check for $25,000 to give to Emmitt so he could buy a Nissan Maxima. The intention was for the coach to make sure Emmitt signed with that college. The coach refused it, saying, “I can’t do that!”

Emmitt’s High School coach, Dwight Thomas, also shared that Emmitt was the toughest kid he ever coached. There were some faster and quicker, but none tougher. He also encouraged Emmitt to write down his goals, which he did, and played a major role in his success. He said he always wrote Team goals first.

By Emmitt’s junior year at the University of Florida, he had set 58 school records. He went pro and was coached by Jimmie Johnson with the Cowboys. Emmitt revealed one reason Johnson made the Cowboys so successful was that he had them compete in everything, not just games. The weight room and practices were built around competition.

Emmitt said one of the reasons he never got all wound up in the end zone was that his Dad had raised him with the belief that “the great ones act like they have been there before” when they score.

One of the most touching moments was near the end of the hour long show when the host, Rick Reilly, observed that Emmitt had done a lot of study of his family roots and had discovered there was a white man way back in his family tree, most likely a slave owner. When asked if that upset him, he said it did not. He then looked out at his former High School teammates from Escambia High in Pensacola, who were in the audience. They were all in their mid 40′s, and it looked like every one of them was there.

“This is my family,” he said as tears streamed down his face. “They taught me to understand the differences in people, and that if you have a common goal it doesn’t matter what race you are.”

Struggling to keep his composure, Emmitt deeply thanked them for the role they played in his success. Emmitt then turned to the current High School football players.

“Take full advantage of every opportunity you have,” he told them. “There are doors of opportunity.”

Recruiting Observations

Living in the South Bend-Mishawaka area, I read the local paper each day (South Bend Tribune) and usually find recruiting analogies in it. In a story on Mike Mayock, the new color commentator for NBC broadcasts of Notre Dame football, he was asked his thoughts on new Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly. Mayock talked about the current talent difference between schools like Southern Cal and Texas and Notre Dame, and then said, “What I’d like to stress is that it’s not Brian Kelly’s job to get players into the NFL. His job is to win college football games. And if he does that, I think the rest will follow.”

As the school year begins, always remember it is not the job of the High School, Club or AAU coach to get your kids college athletic scholarships. As I always say, there are coaches that do a heckuva lot, but their main responsibility is to build athletic programs that are successful and filled with values.

I spoke at Sullivan High School Athletics Parent Night and had a conversation with their Athletic Director Otto Clements. He said the major challenge parents have in recruiting is they are not sure if the college coaches are to come to them, or if they are supposed to go to the college coaches.

Young people need to be proactive. It is vital they start as early as possible in the process developing relationships with college coaches, and not waiting. Too often families wait for the colleges to discover their kid, or for their coach to take the lead in the process. Remember what Emmitt Smith said? Take advantage of your opportunities. Well, opportunities don’t always announce themselves. In recruiting, you HAVE to get educated first before you have a clue about the opportunities out there.

Otto’s other main observation was that parents usually don’t understand how elite the Division One athlete truly is. He said he had been at the school for over twenty years and that they had not had a Division One football player.

There were over 250 people at my Talk, and I saw many of the athletes. My eyeball test was that there were many that could play at some level of college. A major difference would be understanding the recruiting process.

For an Evaluation of where you standing the College Athletics Recruiting Process

Charlie Adams

cadams@ncsasports.org

This weekend NFL Great Floyd Little was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His induction speech was truly inspiring.  Below is an excerpt:

There’s no words to describe the joy of experiencing this final sports chapter in my life. This is obviously the highest honor any football player can garner. I stand here today celebrating my athletic life journey, and I understand significant. Everything else pales in comparison. Every player wakes up wishing to have this honor. I encourage you all to continue to dream for this moment. I have been favored by God and by those who have had a say in what happens to me.

But the road was not always so easy and clear. I remember being a strong but angry young man in school. I used my strength in ways that became my weakness. After being kicked out of school, I had reached an impasse in my life. Everything was done. My hopes were shattered and done. And then I had a vision from my late father that came to me and said, Floyd, I’ve chosen you to take my place, to do what I could not do, and to finish what I could not finish.

I came to myself. With the help of those who saw the good in me, I was re-enrolled back in school with determination. Not only did I become the president of my class, but I started my journey as a leader in everything that I did, and I never looked back.

Because of those that encouraged me in those early years, I am here today. So I want to encourage you, every student, every athlete, every person who will hear my voice, don’t listen to the naysayer. I had plenty of those. Don’t listen to those that will judge you for your rough edges. Don’t focus on your weakness so you won’t become a victim. Find the goodness in you that says, Yes, I can be a good student. Yes, I can be a good son and daughter. Yes, I can be a positive role model. Yes, I can, because the good in you is better than the worst in most. The choice is yours. Be the best that you can be.

Football players nationwide I pose this question to you: How do you think you would react if you were talking a bit of friendly smack talk back and forth with the other side, mid-game and the culprit from their team started jabbering at you in fluent French? I’m assuming you would laugh, shrug it off, and then go at the next play like you were going to look at that player with a smile on your face while you stood in the end zone with the ball and the lead for your team.

But what if that worked in reverse effect? What if at the end of the next play you laid there on your back, stopped completely short of where you wanted to be, lost yards, and walked back to the huddle feeling like a bully just stole your lunch money? I’m venturing to guess that you wouldn’t be fluent in French, but you would have a pretty good understanding of the French language as it pertains to football. That is LJ’s goal.

Recently I just spoke with LJ’s mother about his desire to play college football. After about 30 seconds of my conversation with his mom I found out that LJ had just moved to Montreal, just over a year ago from the US and is living in a part of Canada where he is expected to speak fluent French. Not only does he have to deal with the challenges of a language barrier, he has to transition into a level of football that is not only played differently but traditionally done at a lower level of competition. And now think about having to emerge from those two challenges, to prove to domestic college football coaches that you have what it takes to play college football in the US during the most important two years of your high school career recruiting wise while having the transition of moving.

Pretty tough right?

Of course it is, but that’s why we have dreams and shoot for goals. LJ has the perfect body for a Division 1 linebacker. He is 6’2”/225 pounds, runs about a 4.7 40, and can bench press 365 pounds. His grades are good and they even survived during the transition of a move. From my perspective of almost moving in high school, this is when my grades were the worst too, it’s not easy. But LJ has been successful to the point where last year his team gave him the Defensive Player of the Year award in his first season with the team. Meaning he was so good that he not only dominated on the field, but he broke through the politics and traditional high school hierarchy ranks of “who is the best at what” pretty quickly.

Now in Canada, for those who don’t know, high school football is competitive, but nothing like it is in the United States. Some players just play on a club team, some players play on their high school team, but either way I get a sense that unless you are good, respect from colleges in the US is pretty hard to come by. After speaking with LJ’s mother, I found out that LJ is now more motivated than ever to get that respect and is willing to do whatever it takes to get there; I am talking about two-a-day work outs in the weight room with speed training and weightlifting, excellent nutritional habits, and focusing on exposure as an athlete with a full court press on the recruiting process.

Now LJ’s season may start soon, but he already knows that at this point he could have at least received recruiting materials from interested schools and one phone call a piece from those schools. LJ doesn’t have any official visits planned yet for this fall, nor do many coaches really now about him. Most cases with student athletes in this position it’s because they simply don’t generate the interest from serious football programs for their services because they aren’t that talented. But in LJ’s case it’s because he has a harder time with exposure because he’s in Canada learning the two F’s: French and Football. LJ and his family are now moving at the highest speed they can to open up doors for him for a roster spot and financial aid. Trust me, they are doing a lot more than 99.5% of families who know or don’t know what they can be doing at this point. Let me reiterate, they are doing it!

LJ will have his senior season, it will come and it will go. But LJ WILL have another season next year, playing in the states for a good football program that is yet to be determined. So here’s my warning to all you offensive players out there looking to or currently playing college football:

Faire attention, être prudent, LJ s’en vient à vous. Translation, watch out, LJ is coming to get you.

Remember you can download all of our recruiting guides on the top left of our blog. Here is our latest guide to important NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA information. You can’t get recruited unless you know the Rules!

Download Your Copy HERE!

AAU basketball is spreading like a wildfire through the masses of basketball players nationwide. It is an opportunity for young men and young women to showcase their natural and learned talents across states, regions and in the case of the elite teams, nationwide. Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony, they played AAU. Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles of the WNBA, they played AAU. My little brother and his best friend they play AAU basketball, and as any good older brother who competes with his siblings would suggest, he’s probably not going to be the next one of the former names I mentioned. But that doesn’t prevent him competing in the sport he loves and it doesn’t do that for any of the thousands of fellow AAU players that compete nationwide. Regardless of gender, the passion for basketball lies within today’s youth and AAU exemplifies this passion by providing those who want the opportunity to compete year round in the sport they love.

Just recently I attended an AAU tournament in a nearby community of my hometown to spend some time checking out what the local talent. I watched a few games, some OT buzzer beaters, some 30 point blow outs and a championship game that ended on a last minute three pointer to win the game, my day off and time there went well spent.

As I was walking out the door that day I threw on my IMG Academies dry-fit tee shirt. Little did I know that that shirt would attract attention from one family in particular. In fact, the mother of a 6’6”, future Pau Gasol in the making came up to me and asked about my affiliation to IMG. After explaining to her the connection that IMG has with NCSA, we got to talking about her son’s desire to play college basketball.

“Your son’s got a lot of game,” I said to her, “he’s got a great mid-range for a big guy, rebounds the ball well, and controls the paint as any talented big man should do. Does he want to play in college, because surely he has some people looking at him” I commented to her.

“YES he absolutely wants to play in college! My son eats, sleeps, and breathes basketball when he’s not in school” she exasperated “except the problem is that he’s going into his senior year and no school has contacted us about Matt playing for them. We have just assumed that it’s because he’s either not tall enough or not good enough because we know that if a school wants you, they will contact you.”

Or so she assumes…

After talking with her for the remainder of her son’s game I found out that he had a 3.7 GPA, Advanced Placement credit and a 34 on his ACT. Did I already mention that he was 6’6” and weighed 200 pounds with a game as silky smooth as a young Pau Gasol? Was it possible that this young man, who plays basketball year round, fell through the recruiting cracks?

Yes it was. His family was not aware of the importance of taking the initiative of the recruiting process on their own and to find out the proper steps to getting their son to college basketball. Going into his senior year his family had not taken those questionnaires and brochures they had received back in Matt’s sophomore year seriously, they had not gotten any game film of Matt on his AAU or high school team, and they had not thought about reaching out to the college programs in which Matt would like the honor of playing for. Matt’s mother was in shock with how she felt that they had dropped the ball on this one. All this time she thought the college would come to her son and she now realized how her family needed to take initiative and be pro-active for her son. The good news is that Matt still has one year of basketball to play to earn a spot on a college program.

For all you incoming high school seniors out there, the recruiting window has not shut on you yet as the sun never truly sets on anyone that cares about their passions, just go ask 7’4”, former two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Mark Eaton of the Utah Jazz. Mark didn’t start playing basketball until he was 21. But how many people can be that lucky? In today’s world the game is far too evolved to roll the dice like Mark did. Being proactive in the recruiting process and advocating for yourself is the most valuable lesson to be learned for anyone at any age.

Luckily for Matt, he will go ahead and find himself a spot on a college team somewhere, because his love and passion for basketball will take him there, but that is only because they saw the train leaving the station and sprinted down the platform do the rapidly shutting door. Just think if he waited until the end of his senior year to learn this, would he be hanging up his shoes for good? And now think about the last time you will lace them up, wouldn’t you want to have done everything you could to make sure this wasn’t the last time? Take control of your own destiny now.