NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

This is Charlie Adams, parent of a current NCAA student-athlete, longtime speaker on the recruiting process, and strong believer in the Athleadership foundation of the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network. I appreciate all the input on the weekly Charlie’s Corner column I write here, and am glad it has helped you.

NCSA Recruiting Expert Charlie Adams

As 2012 begins, I wanted to bring back some of the top insights of ‘Charlie’s Corner” from 2011. These can help you in many was when it comes to helping your young people connect with the right fit at the next level. In early 2012, look for all of my articles to be put together in one location, so that you can use them as resources. Here are valuable and candid insights on recruiting from 2011:

JANUARY – After speaking at a High School, a longtime Athletic Director told me this:

“Charlie, parents often feel like the Colleges will come to them because their kid is a starter in High School. Well, we are a Class 2A school. Just because a young person can start here doesn’t mean they would be a starter at a 4A or 5A school. Another thing we deal with is many parents feel the High School coaches don’t do enough to get their child a scholarship. Well, that’s untrue. We have coaches that work hard on that but the bottom line is that parents don’t like being told the level of college sports is best for their child. I coached NAIA basketball before getting into High School Athletic Administration. I know a lot of these kids would have a hard time playing NAIA Division 2 sports, yet their parents think they can play D1. ” Dave Seils, former Athletic Director, Hanover Central High School

JANUARY – Read with great interest an issue of “ESPN: The Magazine” almost completely dedicated to recruiting. Here are some of their findings…

(more…)

Dear Coach Taylor,

My son is in the midst of the recruiting process right now. Occasionally we hear that coaches cannot contact us because we are in a “dead period.” What exactly does this mean, and is this something that happens at every division level in recruiting?

Coach Taylor answers this question below in a special video edition of ask Coach Taylor!

One of the things I do here is give you the perspective of being a College student-athlete and the recruiting process through interviews and stories. That helps you to become better educated and find the right fit for your daughter on son at the next level, as well as significant funding.

I had an insightful conversation with Kelsey McCauley of El Dorado Hills, California. Kelsey recently graduated from D1 University of Western Kentucky where she was a softball player. Just a few years ago she was going through the recruiting process. Whether Softball is your sport or not, you can take nuggets of wisdom from her insights: (more…)

By: Callie Hemming (Former D1 Soccer Player, DePaul University)

Those four words every athlete dreads hearing. They are the four words you have nightmares about, and at times, they are the reason you are just not in the mood to practice.

“Get on the line!” (more…)

Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you can’t be improving your recruiting prospects! Part of being an athlete, especially if you want to play in college, is always working towards your goals. Take time to be with your family and friends, but don’t neglect your passion for sports. The athlete working towards their goals during the holidays is going to get recruited over the one who doesn’t.

(more…)

Dear Coach Taylor – I graduated from high school but my academics were not stellar. I sent my highlight tape to several local schools and my best offer was from a community college. I practiced there but did not make the team. I want to try to move out to another institution – what can I do?

Dear Coach Taylor – What grades do I need to play in college? Are they different in different divisions?

My articles are built on countless interviews on recruiting with the purpose being to educate and motivate you to have success in connecting your young people with scholarships and opportunities to be athleaders in life. I just came from talking to many Athletic Directors at the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association annual conference in Indianapolis. NCSA’s Amanda Rawson, who works with High Schools to make sure they have recruiting education, and NCSA Speaker Paul Putnam were also at this significant annual event.

Speaker Charlie Adams interviews AD's about Recruiting

I talked to dozens of Athletic Directors from many states and asked them what myths their families had about recruiting. These insights will help you realize where you need to be more proactive and realistic.

“That all the kids will be D1″ – Athletic Director, Nebraska

“‘Why aren’t the College Coaches calling my kid because he or she is so good?!’” That’s what many of our parents say. We are a small Minnesota High School and if you talk to many of the parents, 4 or 5 of our seniors are D1, when in truth none are capable of playing at that level, but can at other levels. We are a 2A High School with 4A being the highest and many kids and parents say, ‘Why should we look at Saint John’s (a D3 in Minnesota) when we know we will play at the University of Minnesota?’ They don’t understand if the Gophers want you, they would have already been on you.  The other misconception many parents have is ‘Oh, College athletics isn’t that much harder than High School.’” – Athletic Director, Minnesota

(more…)

Last night Tom Lemming and NCSA held the Annual Tom Lemming All Area Banquet to honor Chicago Lands top football players of 2011. So who is Tom Lemming and why is he honoring these student athletes?

Tom Lemming remains one of the leading experts on college football recruiting and high school talent. Tom Lemming, a Chicago native, got his start as a stringer for suburban Chicago weeklies covering high school football games. In 1978, he began scouting football prospects, logging his findings in a newsletter he circulated to college coaches and fans alike. Tom Lemming was called “the mailman” as he delivered information about the best recruits to hundreds of college coaches and football fanatics by personally interviewing and scouting players from coast to coast.

(more…)

Dear Coach Taylor – I am just starting the recruiting process and I was wondering if you could give me a few pointers about the recruiting process, in regards to how I present myself and how I communicate with coaches?

The recruiting process can be very overwhelming and difficult for student athletes. On average a college coach only has $500 to recruit for the entire year. With over 7.3 million high school athletes in the United States and countless others across the world it is important to make yourself stand out. However you do not want to make a coach remember you in a negative way, you want to present yourself as the best possible candidate to receive an athletic scholarship. Many of the things below seem like common sense but often athletes below forget these rules. Below are three places where I see student athletes falter the most often

(more…)