NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

“If you are good enough, they (college coaches) will find you.”

Those that are saying this need to stop. I hear this statement quite a bit as I speak around the country. It often comes from school Administrators, Coaches, or ADs that are more ‘old school.’ These are well-meaning people, and there are many things about ‘old school’ I like: hard work, dedication, TEAM, and respect. While many young people share these values and work very hard, overall, it’s not the same. As Lou Holtz said,  “Today so many want to talk about their rights and privileges. Twenty years ago people talked about their obligations and responsibilities.”

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Happy Veteran’s Day!

This year NCSA would also like to honor one special student-athlete and a family member who has served or is currently serving in our Armed Forces by sending them to the US Army (San Antonio, TX) or Semper Fi (Phoenix, AZ) All-American game as well as pay tribute to them during  the half-time show.

To be considered for this contest, you must write a 500 word (max) essay on “Commitment to a Team” and provide what branch of the military your family member has or currently serves on. Please send your submissions to tmenzione@ncsasports.org by Wednesday November 23^rd, and the winner will be announced on December 1^st.  Hotel accommodations and airfare will be provided by NCSA to the winner.

As Elmer Davis said “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” We here at NCSA would like to say a special thank you to all the men and women out there who have served in our Armed Forces. Thank you so much for your bravery and all you have done for this country.

Athletics are what it’s all about. You have to be able to succeed in your sport. Coaches want players who will make their teams better. Even if you’ve got great character, a good attitude, you’re reaching out, you have the grades – at the end of the day, you have to contribute as an athlete. Work hard in practice, in the off season, and make sure your game is where it needs to be!

Target schools that are a good fit. Prospects see the only options as “big names.” But for every Texas or Ohio State, there are many, many lesser-known programs offering scholarships and academics that are as good as or better than the big name schools. Overall, 80% of athletic opportunities are outside of Division I, including the nation’s top-ranked academic colleges.

Have a proactive mindset – Prospects “imagine” themselves as college athletes, or “hope” to get there. Recruits are committed 100% to college athletics and think about how they can get there.  Put your tape together, get scouted, and set up unofficial visits. Recruits understand that they are the only person who can make their recruitment a success – not their coach, not their parents. Others can help, but you have to take responsibility for your recruiting journey.

Love the game, love the process. Getting recruited is a lot of work – but it can be fun, too. Remember the reason that you got into your sport, the moments that have made it special for you, and think about the promise – both in the next four years and for the rest of your life – that college athletics holds. Enjoy the process – traveling around the country, meeting coaches and your potential future teammates can be fun! (more…)

Dear Coach Taylor – what is the difference between an official college visit and an unofficial visit?

There are several simple but very important differences; money is one. Schools can’t pay for anything on an unofficial visit – any costs are shouldered by the student-athlete or their family. The only thing schools can provide on unofficial visits is three complimentary tickets to an athletic event. On official visits, schools can pay for lodging, transportation, meals (up to three a day), and entertainment for the student athlete. Even on an official visit, schools cannot pay for anything for parents.

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Dear Coach Taylor – how long am I eligible to play in college? I played for a community college basketball team for the 2008-2009 season, took a break from school to work the next year (2009-2010) , and played again in the 2010-2011 season (but was only a part-time student in the spring once the season ended).

Regardless of where you play, you’re allowed four seasons of competition – but different divisions have different rules about how long you have to use those four seasons.

In Division I, your “clock starts ticking” the first time you practice with an athletic team at any college. Unless you are redshirted or meet certain medical criteria, you have five years until that clock runs down. Once it does, your Division I eligibility expires. In your case, you played one year at a community college, took a year off to work, and then played another year. Your clock has been running for three years – it continued to run even while you were not in school and when you were a part-time student – so you have two left to play. Once the clock starts, it doesn’t stop. (more…)

Jake: Let me start this out by expressing my sincere love for the sport of basketball and the pure enjoyment I have by watching the Chicago Bulls and the NBA in general. Now I would like to follow up that up by expressing my strong distaste for the NBA lockout and all of the individuals who are involved for the turbulence that both sides have created.Naturally I side by the players in most cases when the season is going on and a collective bargaining agreement is settled. Well, this time there is no season and there is no collective bargaining agreement settled upon. It’s not my job to boldly proclaim that the NBA players are completely wrong and that they are the reason for the lockout. Their logic is fairly reasonable to their points. We all know that when a standard has been set in the past, it is hard to retract.  But they need to compromise because the fact that they are blindly ignorant to one very important point.

THE NBA IS LOSING OVER 300 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR PER SEASON!!!!

When you look at the facts, it’s hard to not side with the owners on the matter of business of professional basketball. I hate to break it to the general population, but professional sports are a business. It is a form of entertainment that incorporates top athletes to generate a profit. I have held the belief for a long time that professional athletes are the best athletes in the world, but they should not be classified as athletes. They should be classified as entertainers. The fans money and TV rights to entertain those fans are the main drivers behind the scale of cash in the league. Therefore they are paid to entertain.

Drew: “Jerry, Shooooooow me the moneeeeeey! “This whole NBA lockout deal is going to be a major black out for the sport. Let me start by saying that both the players and the owners should be embarrassed by their actions and how they have handled the situation. Because they cannot come to an agreement, the NBA is losing money, cities are losing money and we’re all missing some great basketball. At this point, both sides have made their bed, and now they have to sleep in it. Jake is right, the NBA is losing over 300 million dollars, and I agree with him that professional athletes should be looked at as “entertainers,” but that is just another reason why the athletes are not completely wrong here. The players are the value in the NBA; they provide the entertainment, they bring in money to the NBA and NBA cities, and in turn they deserve the rights to their high salaries. (more…)

Lamond Murray lit up Duke for 28 points and 10 rebounds in the 1993 NCAA Tournament, as his Cal team, led by Jason Kidd, knocked Coach K’s team out of the Big Dance. Duke had won the 2 two National Championships, had been to 5 of the last 6 Final Four’s, and featured Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill. Lamond is one of the team of Recruiting Experts for NCSA that speak on Developing Athletes into Leaders and the recruiting process at High Schools, Clubs, Camps and other events.

Former Cal and NBA player Lamond Murray with Charlie Adams

The 6′ 7″ 12 year NBA veteran was in the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network offices in Chicago recently where I had a chance to talk with him about the recruiting process.

Because of Lamond’s physical size, skills and abilities, he was one of those players that ranked in the top 100 of the nation. Those athletes will be chased. Everyone else cannot afford to wait to be recruited. As Tom Lemming says, if you are not in the top 100 or 200 players in the nation in your sport, you cannot sit back and wait to be recruited. “I remember at one event they literally put the top 100 in one gym and all the college coaches went there to watch,’ recalled Lamond. “I was in there with other High School players like Jason Kidd, Glenn Robinson and Chris Webber.”

As a speaker on recruiting, I am all for athletes shooting for D1 if they have the God given physical size, ability, and commitment level. I spoke at Heritage Christian High in Indy, and folks there talked about alum Kelly Faris, now a big success for Geno Auriemma at UConn. At 5′ 11″ she has the physical size, strengthand ability to play at the highest level. With Lamond, look at his arms in the picture below He has, a a 7 foot wingspan. That kind of thing attracts high level D1.

Lamond Murray 7 foot wingspan

His arms (and overall basketball ability) made him an effective high-level player because of reach, ability to disrupt passing lines, and on and on.  Now, look at his hands. The picture down below is of Lamond’s next to a NCSA employee. When he palms a basketball, the basketball doesn’t look like a volleyball. It looks like a softball. Again, those are the kind of things that make an athlete a legit high level D1 prospect. That is why it is important to get a realistic 3rd party evaluation. If you have not had a verified, 3rd party evaluation, or if you have not had one in over a year.

To Learn What Level of College Sports You Evaluate to at this Stage (more…)

Ross Tucker, a Pennsylvania native, excelled in basketball and football in high school. He was a four-year varsity starter for the Princeton Tigers football team and a two-time Academic All-American. He went on to have a seven year career in the NFL with the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns. After officially retiring in March 2008, Ross became a writer for Sports Illustrated and a host for Sirius XM NFL Radio. In 2010, he left SI and became a writer for ESPN while continuing his work in radio. Ross is also the founder of Go Big Recruiting, a website that helps students with recruiting. NCSA asked Ross a few questions about his college recruiting process and how things have changed since his time in college.

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Dear Coach Taylor - I’ve heard the words “quiet period,” “dead period,” and “contact period” thrown around a lot when it comes to talking to college coaches. What does each one mean?

This is a common question but is a must-have piece of information for the recruiting process. For purposes of these rules, any limitations on communications for the “athlete” also applies to their parents, and any allowance for communication by writing or phone may be subject to sport-specific regulations.

A quick overview:

Quiet Period
Athletes can visit with coaches at any time, but only on college campuses.. Coaches may not watch athletes practice or compete, but they may communicate in writing or by phone.

Dead Period
No in-person contact of any kind is allowed between athletes and coaches. They may communicate in writing or by phone.

Contact Period
Athletes may visit with coaches at any time, on or off campus. Coaches may watch athletes practice or compete, and may communicate in writing or by phone.

Check out our November Recruiting Calendar to see what periods are which days this month!

November is all over the place with quiet and contact periods, and each sport is different. Take a look at our guide below and learn the landscape of the November recruiting calendar:

Football:
November 1-26 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. Contact the schools you’re interested in and learn these days!
November 27-30 Contact Period

Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball:
Evaluation Period except for below:
November 7-10 Dead Period

Cross Country/Track and Field:
Contact Period, except for below:
November 21 (12:01 am) – November 22 (12:01 am) Dead Period

Baseball:
November 1-6 Contact Period
November 7-10 Dead Period
November 11-30 Quiet Period

Softball:
Contact Period, except for below:
November 7-10 Dead Period
November 24-30 Quiet Period

Volleyball:
Contact Period, except for below:
November 7-10 Dead Period

Men’s Ice Hockey, Women’s Ice Hockey:
November 7-10 Dead Period

Men’s Lacrosse:
Contact Period, except for below:
November 7-10 Dead Period
November 23-27 Dead Period
November 28-30 Quiet Period

Women’s Lacrosse:
Contact Period, except for below:
November 7-10 Dead Period
November 5-6, 12-13, and 19-20:
Note: Evaluations of prospective student-athletes participating in lacrosse activities are limited to the three weekends (Saturday and Sunday) prior to Thanksgiving.

Field Hockey:
November 16-21 (noon) Dead Period
(Wednesday prior to the Division I Field Hockey Championship to noon on the day after the game).

Swimming, Golf, Wrestling, Women’s’ Water Polo, Tennis, Men’s Volleyball:
November 7-10 Dead Period