NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

In this article, you will learn the 4 Things one father has learned as he goes through the recruiting process with his son, and gain insights on how to find the right fit for your daughter on son to play the sport they love at the next level.

NCSA Recruiting Expert Charlie Adams

Mike O’Neill and his wife Laura came to hear me deliver NCSA’s “College Recruiting Simplified” in January of 2010. Elkhart Central Athletic Director Brian “Buck” Buckley set up the recruiting education so that Blue Blazer families would know more about the recruiting process.

“Sean’s freshman and sophomore seasons,” said Mike, “were good. We knew he was a decent swimmer but it wasn’t like he could swim in College, or so we thought. We went to your Talk thinking we had nothing to lose. We left going, ‘Okay, that was helpful’ and then were set up with College Scout Jim Sak. He walked us through what Colleges were looking for and where Sean would fit in. That opened up to us that he CAN swim in College. He is our oldest child. We had no idea. We took a couple of days and then got into the NCSA Network. That was almost two years ago. The other day my wife and I were on a walk and I told her that other than a highly recruited volleyball star at Elkhart Central, Sean (photo below) is one of the most recruited athletes in the school. He has over 20 Official Visit invitations.”

“Back in the winter of 2010,” said Mike, “we started Distributions with NCSA and that was powerful. We saw that College Coaches absolutely do use NCSA to find recruits. Michigan State looked at his profile and they were nice but his times were not a fit. We liked that kind of honest feedback.”

Sean, now a senior, has times of 55.27 in the 100 backstroke and 2:01 in the 200 back. He is 54:20 in the 100 Fly and 2:03 in the 200 Fly.

“We were down in Bloomington with friends,” said Mike, “and they asked why Sean wouldn’t swim for Indiana University. I told them, ‘Mark Spitz swam for IU! The top four swimmers in the state might be good enough for IU. If we tried to contact them they would say drop about five seconds off times and then we’ll talk.”

D1’s, 2’s and 3’s have looked at Sean through NCSA. Through the process he determined he wanted to go to a College with a highly rated chemistry program so he could be a research chemist one day, and that had a competitive swim program.

“At last count he had over 20 official visit invitations,” said Mike. “It is a good problem to have, and my wife and I will tell you besides his very good grades the main reason for all this attention is NCSA. We have done very good communication with all of these schools after they saw him through NCSA, but it all started with at least 90% of them finding Sean on NCSA.”
”Right now along with Oberlin he has accepted invitations from Washington and Lee University, Allegheny College, Ohio Northern University and Carthage College. Other colleges who have officially invited him for a recruit weekend include Case Western, Reserve, NYU, Brandeis University, Marist College, Iona College, Centre College and Lake Forest College”

It is so important for families to start taking Visits as underclassmen. The O’Neill’s took several Unofficial Visits during his junior year.

“We went to Ohio Northern during the day,” said Mike, the Dad. “We met with the coach. We did a trip down to Berry College in Georgia, up to Centre College in Kentucky and then Case Western in Cleveland.”

Being senior year, the Official Visits have started. This past week, on Thursday, they went to Oberlin College in Ohio, which is 3 ½ hours from their home in Elkhart, IN. “They matched him up with a swimmer as host. He spent two nights at Oberlin. He met with a Chemistry Professor who gave him a campus tour. He went to Chemistry classes. There were six other recruits there. At the end we met with the Coach. It was all very positive. Sean will take Official Visits to Alleghany the first week of October, to Ohio Northern the second week. He will visit Washington and Lee in November and Carthage as well.”

“As his times have become better,” added Mike, “it has expanded his choices. As a senior a few D1’s like Marist have looked at him and we are going to try to visit but the key is do they have a highly rated Chemistry program like some of these other schools?”

“One thing that has been very helpful,” said Mike, “is the recruiting education through NCSA. They have College Coaches come on Conference Calls and we dial in and ask questions and listen. The Coach tells it like it is and what they look for and what they don’t in recruits. They tell you what not to waste your time with.”

Sean is a bright young swimmer with outstanding work ethic. Top Colleges want students like him, and when they are a hard working athlete, that makes them more attractive.

“Sean is ranked 14^th out of 357 students at Elkhart Central,” said Mike. “He has a weighted GPA of 4.11 and unweighted GPA of 3.66. On the SAT he got a 680 on Math and 600 on Verbal. He is not the strongest test taker which is why I liked that article you put on your Facebook page, Charlie, about Universities like DePaul deciding to make ACT and SAT scores optional. Like their counselor said, grades and the quality of the High School courses are more of an indicator of how one will do in College than Test results.”

Heck, he seems like a pretty good SAT Test taker to me!

“What we have found,” added Mike, “is that if we had just applied to some of these top ranked Colleges as a student, Sean probably would not get in. As an athlete, it helps a lot especially since he has worked so hard on academics. We have found grades are everything. You are so much more attractive because of your grades and being a combo package of a true student and an athlete. We are telling our 9^th grade son to nail his academics because we are seeing how it is helping his older brother. We have also learned that if have an attractive package of grades and other things, the top rated private Universities will work with you on scholarships. At first you see they are $40,000 or $50,000 a year and you go there’s no way we are going there, but then the Merit based Scholarships kick in and the other ones. Sean just got something from Alleghany that he had already qualified for $23,000 a year. With many of these Colleges you would end up paying less than at a State University and the degree has a lot more clout.”

The O’Neill’s are putting in a lot of work and say at times it gets overwhelming, but they realize a lot is as stake with Sean’s future.

“What’s sad,” said Mike, “is that there are people out there still waiting for the College Coaches to recruit them. It’s tough to watch. They still go with the Old School line of thinking of the word will get out about them. For some, like Azariah Stahl (5’11” Elkhart Central sophomore volleyball outside hitter with 30” vertical leap) they will get chased. She is amazing and could be volleyball’s version of Skylar Diggins. The College Coaches will be all over her, but there are so many good athletes here not getting much of anything, and most of that is very local.”

“I am in marketing for a profession (Senior Marketing Manager for CIBER, Inc.) said Mike,” so I know how important it is to do it right. Doing NCSA and really working it is so worth the investment. NCSA markets you to the right levels. The education alone from NCSA has been priceless.”

In summary, Mike said there were four things they had learned over the past two years:

“One,” he said, “It is obvious that College Coaches turn to NCSA as a trusted source to find qualified student’athletes. Two, don’t wait for a Coach to reach out to you. Reach out to them and you will know from their reply or lack of reply if they have interest in you. Three, everything – no matter how good – needs to be marketed and NCSA markets Sean better that we can. Fourth, the package of ‘good times combined with good grades’ are what EVERY College Coach is looking for.”

Charlie Adams, Recruiting Expert and NCSA Educational Speaker

cadams@ncsasports.org

To Get in the Data Base that College Coaches Look at to Develop their Recruiting Lists, click here

NCSA’s recruiting experts have selected some of their top recruits in different sports and we need your help to vote for the best Student-Athlete of the Month for September.

It’s Easy to Vote:

1. Read through a quick description of the student-athlete

2. Click on the link above the description to view more information

3. Click the “Like” button featured at the bottom of their Recruiting Profile if you feel like they are the best candidate for NCSA Student-Athlete of the Month

Here are the five candidates for this month’s NCSA Student-Athlete of the Month:

Timothy Hatfield, Jr.: 2012 Graduate, Football Student-Athlete from New Mexico

As a 6’6 240 defensive end, Timothy scored a ridiculous 102 SPARQ rating. Academically, Timothy has a 4.4 weighted GPA and 1370 Two-Part SAT (2100 Three-Part).

Brett Volger: 2014 Graduate, Baseball Student-Athlete from California

Brett has already updated his Recruiting Profile and had his information distributed to colleges. He is a good student with a 3.5 GPA. His travel team is one of the most recognizable in the U.S. –San Diego Show.

Peter Barba: 2014 Graduate, Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete from Ohio

Peter is a 6’3″ combo guard, who maintains a 4.28 GPA and was named co-captain of IMG’s 16U Team as a 2014 graduate.

Theresa Asta: 2012 Graduate, Softball Student-Athlete from Arizona

2012 Grad with a 4.0 GPA. Mainly a first baseman. Top power hitter with nine home runs in one year. She is hearing from colleges out east and she is willing to leave Arizona. Theresa wants to study nursing. She also has colleges asking her to call them.  Theresa has over 70 views after her first distribution to college coaches.

Lauren Miller: 2013 Graduate, Women’s Volleyball Student-Athlete from California

Lauren Miller (2013, CA, Setter) plays for #1 club team in the nation for her age group and is receiving strong interest from many of the top 25 programs in the county. She also maintains a 4.0 GPA.

Feel free to send this to as many people as possible to make sure your favorite wins this upcoming month!

Men’s Basketball:
September 1-8 Quiet Period
September 9-31 Contact Period

Women’s Basketball:
September 1-15 Quiet Period
September 16-31 Contact Period

Men’s Lacrosse:
Contact Period (No Evaluations)

Baseball:
September 1-8 Quiet Period
September 9-31 Contact Period

Cross Country/Track and Field, Softball, Volleyball, Women’s Lacrosse:
Contact Period

Football:
Quiet Period, except for below:
42 evaluation days (54 for U.S. service academies) (see Bylaw 13.02.6.2) during the months of September, October and November, (not to exceed a period of 42 days) selected at the discretion of the institution and designated in writing in the office of the director of athletics; authorized off-campus recruiters shall not visit a prospective student-athlete’s educational institution on more than one calendar day during this period.

PHONE CALLS

2012 Grads (Seniors)

Division I:
Men’s & Women’s Ice Hockey – once a week.
Football – once a week starting on September 1st.
All Other Sports – twice a week.

Division II: All Sports – once a week.

Division III/NAIA/2-year: All Sports – Unlimited.

2013 Grads (Juniors)

Division I: Men’s Basketball/Men’s Ice Hockey – once a month.

Division II: Not Allowed.

Division III/NAIA/2-year: All Sports – Unlimited.

2014 & 2015 Grads (Underclassman)

Division I/II: Not Allowed.

Division III/NAIA/2-year: All Sports – Unlimited.

EMAILS & LETTERS

2012 Grads (Seniors)

All Divisions: All Sports – Unlimited.

2013 Grads (Juniors)

Division I: Men’s Basketball & Men’s Ice Hockey – Unlimited.

Division I/II: All Sports – Allowed Starting on and after September 1st.

Division III/NAIA/2-year: All Sports – Unlimited.

2014 & 2015 Grads (Underclassman)

Division I/II: Not Allowed.

Division III/NAIA/2-year: All Sports – Unlimited.

NCSA can help you stay on track no matter where you’re at in the recruiting process. Speak with a college scout about where you stand in the recruiting process or call 312.205.7534!

Getting Prepared for the School Year:

Guidance Counselor:

It is important to meet with your guidance counselor at the beginning of the year to track the courses you are taking match the NCAA Eligibility Center core courses list and that you are on pace to graduate with your class.

Season Schedules:

Post schedule on recruiting profile. Send to coaches to invite them to games/matches, e.t.c.

Fall Sports:

Pre-season conditioning and practice has started. Competition and games will now begin. Expect coach correspondence to be slower at this point.

Non Fall Sports:

Meet with High School Coach – learn about expectations, tryouts, getting on varsity if unsure at this point.

Winter Sports:

If you are not attending pre-season workouts and your coach does not have any pre-season conditioning, you need to prepare for practice and tryouts by working out at least 3 times a week. This is a good time to reach out to college coaches, before their season starts.

Spring Sports:

If you do not play a second sport in the fall, you should be depending on your sport, playing fall ball (i.e. softball, baseball), attending tournaments (i.e. golf) or going to camps (i.e. lacrosse). This is a good time to reach out to college coaches, before their season starts.

NCSA can help you stay on track no matter where you’re at in the recruiting process. Speak with a college scout about where you stand in the recruiting process or call 312.205.7534!

The Basics:

You can start to take official visits opening day of class senior year.
You are only allowed 5 official visits between all DI and DII programs, if you enroll into a DI program.
If you don’t enroll into a DI program, you can take UNLIMITED OFFICIAL VISITS to DII programs.
You have unlimited visits for DIII, NAIA and 2-year programs.
You are only allowed one official visit per school.
Official visits can’t last longer than 48 hours.

On an official visit the school can pay for all or any part of the visit:

They are permitted to pay the actual cost of the prospect’s meals, transportation, and lodging on the trip to/from campus for an official visit. The University may not pay for any meals, transportation, or lodging for anyone other than the prospect before the start of the 48-hour official visit or after the visit has concluded. During the visit (i.e., during the 48 hours only and not the evening before the visit even if the prospect has arrived), the college/university is permitted to pay for the meals, lodging, and entertainment of the prospect, the prospect’s parents, and the prospect’s spouse.

Tryouts:

As an NCAA rule, DI and DIII schools do not allow tryouts during visits. You may, however, participate in a workout that is not organized or observed by the coaching staff. DII and NAIA schools are allowed to conduct one tryout in the off-season of your sport.

Offers:

Offers are usually made during your official visit. Tell student-athletes to set a plan before taking visits with their mom and dad, so everyone is on the same page. They should feel comfortable to tell a coach that they need to let their parents review any financial information before they commit. If a college/university really wants them, they will wait a few days or a week. If they pressure a recruit to commit and they do not feel ready, simply tell them to say,”Right now you are my number one choice, but I promised my parents I would take my five official visits before making a commit¬ment. How long will this offer be extended?”

Junior and Underclassmen Offers:

At this time, juniors and top tier sophomores have or will be securing DI offers throughout the fall months. High major DII programs will be extending offers as well.

NCSA can help you stay on track no matter where you’re at in the recruiting process. Speak with a college scout about where you stand or call 312.205.7534!

Track – distance runners should be running cross country in the fall. Otherwise, you should be a part of AAU to work on strength and skill development.

Softball/Baseball – should be playing fall ball and attending tournaments.

Swimmers – should be swimming year round.

Golfers – should be playing in tournaments year round. Need to qualify to play in national tournaments, like AJGA.

Tennis – should be playing in tournaments year round. Need to qualify for winter nationals.

Wrestling/Hockey – should be training for season.

Basketball – should be conditioning for practice in October.

Juniors and Underclassmen Visits – fall is a great time to get on campus to see the school in full swing. It is recommended to set unofficial visits at this time, as well as, throughout the year.

NCSA can help you stay on track no matter where you’re at in the recruiting process. Speak with a college scout about where you stand or call 312.205.7534!

Here is a general College Admissions Test Timeline provided by Revolution Prep for taking the SAT and ACT. This is a good guide for most students, but you should always take into account your academic, extracurricular, and personal schedule and which standardized tests are required by the colleges on your application list when determining what test dates are best for you.

We strongly recommend that students take the SAT or ACT more than once. It doesn’t matter how much you know, if you’re not mentally prepared on that morning, it can make a big difference in your score!

Tips to follow:

• Students who take courses during their sophomore year that correspond to an SAT Subject Test, such as Biology or World History, should consider taking the SAT Subject Test directly following the course while the material is still fresh in their minds (click here to see SAT Subject Tests Booster Classes).
• Students should take the PSAT/NMSQT in the fall of their junior year. By the end of junior year, students should have taken the SAT or ACT and SAT Subject Tests at least once (click here to see PSAT Booster Classes).
• When planning your test-taking schedule, keep in mind that the fall of your senior year will be your last chance to retake the SAT or ACT and to take any of the SAT Subject Tests

Most importantly:   Take a practice SAT or ACT exam
All NCSA students are entitled to take a full-length practice SAT or ACT exam through Revolution Prep. These tests offer valuable insight into your individual improvement areas and will help focus how you prep. Once you take your practice test, call Revolution prep at 877.738.7737 and one of our test prep experts will be happy to walk you through how to interpret your results.  You can take the exam by visiting your NCSA toolbox.

1. Have a plan with every coach you have been in contact with

Get back in touch with any school you have been in touch with already. The primary question to ask them is “What else do they need to make their final evaluation?” each coach will have a specific answer and you want to tailor the information you send them to each coach. This will help you start to get some “final answers” from them earlier in the year.

2. Have the ability to get your new information to coaches quickly

As your season progresses, you will want to show your improvement over the past year during the season. Coaches will be looking to identify new recruits throughout the year and take advantage of contact and evaluations opportunities throughout the year. Make sure you can get your information to them to be evaluated!

3. Go on visits to fall events when you get an opportunity

Visits are a great opportunity to see campus, meet coaches face to face, and make a great impression! If time/money allow, make sure you are getting out to campus to see if this is a place you could see yourself for the next 4 or 5 years of your life.

4. Know the contact rules for your sport/grad class

The NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete does a great job of outlining the contact rules for each sport. Make sure you are using this to get an edge over other recruits.

5. Coaches need to evaluate your character

Once you get a coaches ear, know how to communicate with them! Send them updates on your season, ask questions, find out about the coach you are going to be playing for. Coaches want student-athletes that fit on their team. The more you communicate with them, the quicker they will be able to see why you should be part of their program.

NCSA can help you stay on track no matter where you’re at in the recruiting process. Speak with a college scout about where you stand in the recruiting process or call 312.205.7534!

Just because school was out for the summer doesn’t mean that your recruiting efforts should be put on hold. A lot of student athletes unintentionally fall into the mindset that just because it’s the off-season and coaches aren’t around it’s okay to stop training, communicating with college coaches and improving academics.

We recently held a contest asking what our student athletes have done this past summer to prepare for the upcoming school year. Josh Grover was the contest winner. Check out his entry as well some other great responses below.

Josh Grover
This summer was full of athletic recruiting progress.
1. Awarded an NCSA profile through the Leadership Grant.
2. But even before then, I filled out 55 questionnaires, and was emailing about 10 coaches actively
3. Watched about 12 of the recorded classes, and attended about 3 of the non-recorded ones, as well as the SAT/ACT classes
4. Been in contact with about 10 additional coaches after getting my profile
5. Talked with 2 Head Coaches over the phone
6. Visited 3 colleges and talked with their coaches
7. Sent intro email to 68 colleges
8. Looking at rosters to make sure I would fit in, as well as see what positions were graduating to see if they would need me.
9. Looking at college majors to make sure they offer my intended major, and see if I stack up academically with the school
10. Reading tips and attending Coach Taylor’s webcasts.
11. Completed highlight video
12. Updating stats as soon as I can
13. Looking over the Coach Requests sections to see if a college needs my position

Philip Green
This post is for my daughter Rachel Green who is studying for multiple AP test this week as well as the ACT. Rachel attended two College Elite basketball camps, one in Texas (Mary-Hardin Baylor) and one in New Hampshire (Dartmouth). She also played with her 17U elite team in six college showcase basketball tournaments including: the Adidas National Championships; Adidas CyFair Classic; Battle in New York City; Cy Fair Nationals; Texas Elite Classic; and San Antonio Rohawks. Her AAU team, the Houstonians, won two and finished as semi-finalist in another. Rachel worked out all summer lifting weights, running on the track, and performed many of hours of skills training, plus two weeks of basketball bootcamp. She received about 12 new colleges expressing interest with two firm offers. Community service events for PALS and the National Honor Society were also performed. Fifteen colleges have committed to watching open gym at her high school. Four girls are being recruited.

Taylor Brooke Fellows
This summer I trained for softball and worked on my speed and agility. I ran with my sister to get my speed. Beat my own person time with the 200 meter dash. I lifted weights with team mates and coaches. Ran up to 5miles every other day and 2-3 miles in between those days. I helped with my younger brother’s baseball team. For track I worked in my 100 meter times and I worked up to running faster on the mile. I also worked on my academic skills so I can prepare to take the ACT in the fall. I set goals for my sophomore year of high school to get my scores past 25 points and my junior year to get them higher than that.

Michelle Nickell Ramos
Ashlynn Ramos traveled to Spain & Italy to play soccer in the women’s open divisions in order to get exposure to high caliber play & older opponents. When she returned to the US she transferred to the Camarillo Eagles Soccer club in order to compete in both the Coast Soccer League Premiere bracket and the Elite Club National League. In addition to team training, she began private goalkeeper instruction to improve her technical game. She attended the WherePlayersPlay College Coaches camp for 3 days in San Juan Capistrano. Lastly, she emailed more than 20 coaches at schools of interest and made pre-planned visits to 4 campus; where she met with coaches and watched teams in pre-season games.

Karlee Jo Sampson
what did i do this summer to get recruited? well, first off i play volleyball. i am going to be a 2013 graduate.
1: picked a major i want to pursue – sports management
2: got a list of schools who have that major and volleyball
3: emailed all schools and sent them my volleyball resume
4: emailed coaches telling them my high school summer schedule and my GPA
5: Gave them an update on my summer league and how my team was doing
6: told them we won summer league
7: emailed them my camp information and what i will be attending
8: follow up on camps and how they went (emailed coaches after camps)
9: attended 1 camp with my high school team
10: attended 1 prospect camp
11: attended 1 tournament with my high school team (also won)
12: bought a video camera to film games
13: working on a highlight video
14: getting my high school and club coaches to write a recommendation letter
15: worked out all summer

NCSA can help you stay on track no matter where you’re at in the recruiting process. Talk with a college scout about where you stand in the recruiting process or call 312.205.7534!