NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Patrick Dayton has been nominated our NCSA Baseball Student-Athlete of the Month for September. He is from Archer City, Texas and graduates in 2010. Patrick is a 6’0” 180 pound infielder who was named to the All-State Honorable Mention Team as a junior after hitting .500 in 54 at bats. He was also named to the All-Area 1st Team his first two years of high school hitting .394 his freshman year and .438 his sophomore year.

If you can believe it, Patrick excels more in the classroom. He has a 4.34 GPA on a 4.0 scale, is ranked #1 in his class, and scored a 1460 on the two-part SAT (including a perfect 800 on the math section). On top of baseball and academics, Patrick’s math and science teams have placed in the top 6 in four different math and science competitions. Patrick is looking to study engineering in college and NCSA is very proud to name Patrick Dayton our NCSA Baseball Student-Athlete of the Month for September.

I speak with 30-40 families weekly about college recruiting and I’m amazed at the lack of knowledge of the APR – Academic Progress Rate. Here is a very long article that is a must read for any parent of a 9th grader, or older, who has aspirations to play in college. It details the 4 stages of penalties for athletic programs that the NCAA imposes should their athletes not make progress toward graduation. If you have questions, go here.

In our July 21st newsletter we wanted to know if you had any questions about recruiting. Here’s one:

Q: What are the minimum standardized test scores you need for a D1 school?

A: Individual college admissions vary depending on schools. For example, a highly selective, ivy league type school generally only admits students with scores of:
SAT: 
   Critical Reading: 690+
   Math: 700+
ACT: 31+

Whereas a less selective school would only require scores of:
SAT:
   Critical Reading: 460+
   Math: 450+
ACT: 18+

Admissions also put into account GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, and writing samples so these numbers are only a generalization.

In regards to NCAA Division I scholarships, in order to be eligible to receive one, the NCAA has a sliding scale of requirements. The higher one’s GPA is, the lower their test score must be and vice versa. For example, a student with a 3.0 GPA needs an SAT Composite score of 620 (Critical Reading + Math) whereas one with a 2.0 GPA has to earn a 1010 to be eligible. The minimum GPA to be eligible for an athletic scholarship is a 2.0 with the minimum SAT score being 400. You can view the full scale here.

With how competitive college recruiting has become, potential student athletes need to be able to siphon through the pitches offered by smooth talking recruiters and be able to pick out legitimate interest. In order to help recruits better understand their chances at actually joining a program that has shown interest in them, University of Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall has suggested that early offers by college coaches should be eliminated reports Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham News.

[Edsall] doesn’t believe [schools] should be able to offer scholarships in any sport until September 1 of a recruit’s senior year. That’s when an academic transcript should be able to point to them being able to tackle college classes first, and college football second.

“You can’t admit a kid to a school without a junior year transcript and a test score,” Edsall said. “Why should football programs be able to commit to a kid in his junior year without an SAT score?”

He wants to deter kids from early commitments.

“What we are teaching kids is their word and our word doesn’t mean a thing,” Edsall said. “A kid commits and de-commits and then a program can go back on a previous offer once they have the players they need at his position. I’ve heard of coaches that offer kids having never seen them on film. They offer because everyone else is and want to get in the game. I’ve heard about coaches who offer a 150-200 kids a year.”

Would it hurt if Mr. Super Recruit committed in September of his senior year? It might help. Does a kid who is verbally bound to a big-name school bang out that extra rep in the weight room when his future is secure?

“Some kids, you tell them they they’ve got a scholarship, they don’t work as hard, and they don’t develop into the player you thought they’d be,” he said. “A lot of these 16- and 17-year-old players are not mature enough to handle all this attention. It is too much attention.”

He believes an early signing period to be a must should things continue to go unchecked. He believes the high school coach is being left out of the recruiting process. He believes secondary violations wouldn’t be so popular if schools lost the right to woo players they didn’t recruit according to the rule book.

It’s great to see a college coach (especially on who has rebuilt a program back into a contender) understand that there are more important things in a player than 40 times and bench press maxes. He knows that maturity and an ability to handle the stresses of college life are what can make or break an athlete.

From a recruit’s stand point, Edsall brings up a good point about the legitimacy of offers. Athletes have to keep themselves educated about how interested a school really is. A recruiter can offer the world but you might not be first in line. That’s why it helps to have experienced professionals in your corner to help guide you along the way, to help you set realistic goals and to educate you in the recruiting process.

Last week, April 15th to be exact , marked a significant recruiting ”first down measurement” for football players in the class of 2010.  It was the first day that they could receive phone calls from DI college football coaches.  While the date that a college coach can call a prospect for the first time varies depending on the sport and level of play…that initial phone conversation is a big step in developing a recruiting relationship.  Unfortunately, many prospects have no idea what to expect from that phone call and we figured this was a good time to shed some light on how prospects in ALL sports can prepare for a phone call from a college coach…Before we get into what a recruit can expect from a phone call from a college coach, here are a few important ideas to keep in mind:

- The first day a college coach can call a prospect is not always the first time they have spoken on the phone.

• As we have pointed out many times in the past, prospects are able to call college coaches at any time. The prospects that are farther along in the process might have already made phone calls to college coaches and spoken with them prior to the initial period which makes it permissible for a college coach to call the prospect. In cases like this, the phone call might go a little differently than for the prospects who are speaking with a coach for the first time.

- By the time the first day a college coach can call a prospect rolls around, many student-athletes already have offers!

• This is very important to realize. DI college coaches in just about every sport have already begun to offer scholarships to 2010 (junior) graduates…and some might even be finished recruiting the class of 2010 completely. This has all taken place and coaches haven’t even been able to call them yet in some sports! This should be a strong indicator of how early college recruiting takes place and why freshmen and sophomore year are so important in the process.

- Know the dates for your sport!

• The first thing every recruit should do is to learn when a college coach is able to call them for the first time. Although April 15^th happens to be the first time a DI college football coach can call prospects, we realize many of you do not play football…so find out that date for your sport. If you are unsure when this date occurs, be sure to download the “Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete” Here.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about some of the most common questions prospects can prepare for when speaking with a college coach.  Obviously every staff will ask different questions, but many will have an actual script of questions and topics to assist the coaches in their phone call…It might be a good idea to have a script of your own, or at least some answers prepared in advance.  Here a few of those questions as well as some advice for answering them:

Q:  How are you doing in school?  What is your GPA, test scores, etc?

Advice: Make sure you are always aware of your current academic standing.  Always know your GPA (both core and cumulative), class rank, and test scores.  Even if your GPA or test scores are lower than you would like, be honest with the coach and let them exactly what you are doing to improve.  Tell them you are receiving extra tutoring or taking a SAT / ACT prep class to raise your scores.  The worst thing a student-athlete can do is simply not know their academic information.  If you don’t know your GPA, what do you think a college coach will assume? (Hint…they are not going to assume you are earning straight A’s)

Q:  What are your strengths as a player?

Advice: Do not be modest here!  This is your chance to shine and tell the coach what you do best.  Be informative and honest.  You have been working your whole life to develop these strengths…be proud of them and communicate their value with answers that consist of more than one word.

Q:  What areas of your game are you working to improve?

Advice: While this can be a tricky one, it is important to be honest.  Do not spend too much time discussing your weaknesses, but rather let the coach know how your off season workout is going to address those areas and how you are going to turn them into strengths.

Q:  What are your goals for the upcoming season?

Advice: This is something every student-athlete should think about.  We encourage student-athletes to set measurable goals and write them down to hold themselves more accountable.  Make sure to mention both team and individual goals.

Q:  Do you think you are capable of playing at our level?

Advice: Always Yes!  Explain why you think you can compete at their level or what you are doing to ensure you would be an asset to a team at any level of play.

Q:  What improvements have you made over the past couple of years?

Advice: Focus on things you have done to improve your game over the years.  Do not be afraid to tell the coach how much better you are now than a year or two ago!

Q:  What type of scholarships are you looking for?

Advice: This is your chance to bring up financial issues if they will be a determining factor in your decision making.  Be open to options and always ask about other types of aid besides athletic scholarships.  Never directly ask for a scholarship, but rather let the coach know what sort of impact that need will have on your decision.

Q:  What are your interests or hobbies?  Do you have a  girlfriend, boyfriend, etc?

Advice: This is the coach’s attempt to get to you know you on a personal level.  Remember, in many cases, these coaches are many years older and they are doing their best to relate to the prospect.  Let the coach know more about you!  This will help you connect on a more casual level and also give the coach something to ask you about next time you speak.  Have some fun with this question!

Q:  Who is going to help you make your college decision?

Advice: Let the coach know who will be a part of the decision.  Will your high school coach play an integral role?  Will the decision be made by you and your parents?  Are your parents involved?  This information will greatly help the coach understand who needs to be included and involved.

***This is the million dollar question***

Q:  What other schools are recruiting you?

Advice: Let them know who else is interested…and be honest!  If the coach finds out that many other schools are recruiting you then you will immediately look like a better recruit.  Try to let them know about schools that are similar to the one you are talking to.  For example, if you are speaking with the coach at Yale and you have heard from four other Ivy League schools, make sure you go into detail about their interest.  No coach wants to lose a recruit to a rival school.

This is your chance to show off how wanted you are by other coaches with the hope that it motivates the coach you are speaking with at that time to take action.  If you have offers, let the coach know.  In order to create this type of leverage, you must have a number of options.  If you are concerned about the number of options you currently have, be sure to expand your search and let more coaches know about you.

Q:  What questions do you have for me?

Advice: Be sure to check back next week when we explain what sort of questions prospects should be asking when they have the opportunity to speak with college coaches.  This is your chance to find out valuable information…don’t pass it up!

Last week Coach Randy Taylor took us behind the scenes of how a college coaching staff begins the process of putting together their recruiting boards.  If you were unable to read that article, I encourage you to check it out here.  This week Coach Taylor will take you inside a room that very few people ever get to be a part of, “the war room” and explain how college coaches make the decisions about prospects that will affect the future of their program…

We left off last week at the point in the process when the Recruiting Coordinator officially places a recruit’s name on “the list” in the war room.  As I mentioned, the war room is a highly secure office that contains the official list of recruits that all the coaches have spent months and years gathering and evaluating.  It is in this room that some of the most important decisions coaches ever have to make will be determined.

The centerpiece of every war room is “the list” which is essentially the official recruiting board that will be analyzed and vetted exhaustively by the entire coaching staff until the recruiting class is finalized.

“The list” is typically organized by position first.  Below each position is usually a list of 25-50 names or more depending on need and the number of quality players available.  The position needs are determined by the staff and next to each position will be a number dictating the quantity of prospects desired at each position.  For example:  Quarterback (1), Running Back (2), Full Back (1), Defensive End (4), etc.  This outlines how many commitments they would ultimately like to receive based on position out of the 25-50 total prospects listed.  When the dust settles, most “lists” have between 250-500 total names on them.

Within each position listing is another level of sorting by rank.  For example, the offensive line list will have groupings distinguished by color based on the coaching staff’s evaluation.  If I were coaching at Indiana, the top ranked linemen might be separated with a crimson color nameplate, the second tiered linemen in cream color nameplates, and white nameplates for the lowest ranked linemen of the 25-50 prospects at each position.

Once a list is done growing (which usually happens during a student-athletes junior year), the real battles begin as names are moved up or down the board and in the worst case, completely removed from the list.  Recruiting meetings can be all day marathons and often times can become contentious.

Why would a recruiting meeting with a staff become a source of disagreement? 

There are a number of reasons for this:

• 1) Need. In order to determine how many players will be recruited for each position, some coaches are forced to make concessions. For example, a defensive coach might challenge an offensive coach on the number of wide receivers on the board which will take away from the number of linebackers he can have. The head coach might let these discussions become heated before making the final decision after hearing arguments; the head coach has 51% of the vote.
• 2) Pride. Often times, an area coach will place the name of a prospect on “the list” only to have a position coach criticize the selection. This can elicit a defensive response from the area coach feeling the need to fight for his prospects. It is important to realize that an area coach is responsible for a certain geographic region and the more players that are signed from that location; the more successful that coach is considered.
• 3) Decisions.  In an effort to narrow down list, the head coach will ask the area and position coaches to defend their recruits or risk having the prospects they have spent months recruiting taken off the list…this is when a coach must jump on the table for a recruit.  With that in mind, the area coach better be prepared with transcripts, tape, etc in order to provide evidence of why their prospect should remain on the list.  Some coaches are more prepared than others and the head coach might schedule these meetings last minute which can make for some heated discussions.

Recruiting is a large portion of the livelihood of a college coach and when you are behind the closed doors in a war room; you are sometimes fighting for your career, so you can imagine how passionate those meetings can be.

“The list” is narrowed down as a prospect’s magnetic nameplate is removed from the board.  For a recruit, this is the worst possible thing that can happen.  There are a number of different reasons why a recruit would be removed from “the list,” but it usually happens quickly and unceremoniously.  After the decision is made, the nameplate is tossed into a box that the Recruiting Coordinator possesses and for the most part, the recruit is removed from all mailing lists and the game invite list, etc. by the recruiting secretary.  Essentially, the recruit is no longer discussed as a prospect. 

Randy’s advice:  Pay attention to communication patterns from the college coaches who have been recruiting you.  Recruits are rarely notified when they have been removed from “the list” and if mail and phone call patterns change, it means something!

Many of you are probably wondering, “What are some of the factors that coaches consider when moving names up, down, and off “the list?”

Great question!  Some of the topics are more obvious than others, but let’s run through a few:

• Academics. A thorough academic history is very helpful in determining the staying power a recruit’s name has on the list. The more prepared academically in regards to fulfilling core course requirements and core GPA, the better chance the prospect has to remain on the list. Even if a recruit has struggled in some of the core classes, it does not mean they will be immediately removed. However, if the coach is unable to gain access to proper documentation or notification that a recruit has intentions of improving their academic standing by taking summer school, etc. the student-athlete will not be given the benefit of the doubt. Do not ever hide or hold back the transcript. It is a red flag and can earn your nameplate a spot in the dreaded box of discarded recruits. Even if you are struggling, show the coach you are aware of the problem and have a plan to fix it. Make your academic information easily accessible. This will also give a college coach time to work with a recruit to put a plan together to stay on “the list.”

• Evaluation. Of course a significant portion of the decision to keep or remove a prospects name from the list hinges on the recruits athletic ability. With that in mind, make sure to have a quality highlight tape and at least one full game tape available for all coaches. Note – college coaches watch highlight tapes to decide if they want to watch a game tape! This film provides the area coach ammunition to defend an athlete’s place on the list. Without the film, a recruit is far more likely to be removed.

• 3^rd Party Evaluations. An evaluation by a trusted third party can go a long way towards keeping a prospect’s name on the board because it serves as a reference. Again, as an area coach puts his initial list together to bring before the rest of the staff, he is basically gathering evidence to state his case. This third party evaluation can add to the support and help the area coach defend the prospect.

• Parents! Believe it or not, a parent can be a main reason for a prospect getting dropped from the list. I recall one year that we were recruiting a top QB when we received a comment from the high school coach that the father might be a problem. Apparently the father was questioning play calling, challenging the conditioning, complaining to other parents, etc. We watched the father (almost as closely as the athlete) and ended up removing the recruit from the list because of the father’s actions.

These are just a few of the issues that can cause movement on “the list.”  While families do not often times agree with the decisions made by a coaching staff (especially when their son or daughter is taken off the list), I can assure you the process is not taken lightly and countless hours are spent debating and discussing prospects. 

While having the magnet with your name removed from the recruiting board is never an optimistic sign that you will receive a scholarship from that school, there will be a deliberation at some point about which dropped players could be valuable in a walk on capacity for the team.

One of the most difficult situations a head coach can put an area coach in is when he asks that they “keep the player alive.”  This happens when a recruit is placed at the bottom of the board and might be needed if other commits go elsewhere.  The area coach is forced to maintain contact with the prospect despite losing the help of the head coach or assistant coaches in the recruitment of that athlete.  The prospect will likely start receiving fewer letters and almost zero handwritten letters or phone calls from a college coach, but the area coach cannot lose the prospect in the off chance they are needed.  Much like the reason that recruits should cast a wide net of college programs, college coaching staffs need to keep a number of viable options available throughout the process. 

The reality is that every staff has a unique approach to the process of narrowing down their board, although most are relatively similar.  The key for every recruit is to put themselves in the best position by having everything a coach will need (transcript, video, measureables, etc) readily accessible and connecting with as many of the right schools as possible in an effort to ensure a place on an ample number of final recruiting boards. 

Everyone knows that recruiting is the life blood of every college team.  But, the key to a coach’s success is how he molds his high school recruits into successful four year scholarship players.  Obviously practice time is key part to that equation.  Potential recruits that can get extra practice time will continue to coveted by college coaches. 

How do you practice more?  By enrolling early and taking part in an extra semester of practice.  Even programs outside of the BCS like TCU are joining the trend by enrolling recruits early.  The Star-Telergram described the thought process behind incoming freshman quarterback Casey Pachal decision to enroll early.

Pachall said the decision to leave early was easy.

“My thinking was that coming out of high school, I wanted to prepare the best I could and get most acquainted with my teammates and also with the system I’d have here at TCU,” Pachall said. “One benefit is getting in shape because the workouts here are very tough. They’ll get you where you want to be.”

In addition to the extra time in the weight room and at workouts, enrolling in January is beneficial for academic reasons.

Pachall is taking 15 hours in his first semester. And the transition from high school to college should be easier because there are only about eight hours of football work a week instead of the 20 or so in the fall during football season.

His early enrollment clearly will be a boost to TCU, but potential recruits need to bear in mind that Pachal wouldn’t have even had the opportunity if he wasn’t an excellent high school student.  Recruiting smart students continues to pay off for college coaches across the country.

Reading comprehension is, for most students, the hardest section on the SAT and ACT.  Mastering the essential vocabulary for this section of the exams will raise your score.

So here’s a tip: starting as early as the 9th or 10th grade, learn 10 vocabulary words every week. By the time you’re in 11th or 12th grade, you’ll have memorized hundreds of new words necessary for success not only on the SAT and ACT but also in the classroom and, for that matter, in life. 

For an online course with lessons and exercises on 1,000 of the most frequently tested SAT and ACT vocabulary words, consider Academic Approach’s SAT/ACT Vocabulary Course at http://www.academicapproach.com/.

All NCSA members receive a discount on Academic Approach online programs, contact NCSA to retrieve the code. 

The College Admissions Process: What Is the Right Thing For A Parent To Do?

When they were high school seniors back in the seventies or eighties, most baby boomers walked into the SAT exam without any test preparation and sent off but a handful of applications. Now parents of high school students, those same boomers are discovering that, when it comes to their own children’s pursuit of the perfect-match college, things are not as simple as they were back in the day. Indeed, many parents of current high school students are realizing that the intense competition for coveted slots at the most sought after colleges rules out the casual approach that they took way back when.

As selective college admissions have become increasingly competitive due to the swelling number of students who hope to enroll at top-tier American colleges and universities, applicants have sought ways of boosting their odds of acceptance by seeking help in both standardized test preparation and the college application process. To be sure, many parents are discovering that out-of-school test prep tutoring and college counseling have become the norm in their children’s school communities.  Of course, these same parents are also discovering that an often-befuddling spectrum of test prep and college counseling services has emerged in recent decades.

A pair of recent articles in the Wall Street Journal draws attention to the dramatically altered landscape of college admissions and the challenges of wandering across it for the first time. One article, entitled “SAT Prep: Issac says no to outside help,” presents one family’s attempt to make sense out the new rules of the game. The article presents a father’s proud consternation that his son has said “no” to outside help of any kind despite his father’s assumption that precisely such help would be best for his college-bound child. The other, entitled “Families seek help with college,” discusses the brisk business that test prep companies and independent college consultants are currently enjoying, despite-or perhaps because of the troubled economy. What is the right thing for a parent to do?

Although the article about the student named Issac who refused any help implies that he chose the high road of  “personal responsibility and a touch of DIY ethics,” the other article makes the case that some families invest in such outside help in order to increase their children’s chances of gaining admission to one of  “the top-tier schools, many of which offer the most generous aid packages.” Reductive arguments about the ethics and socio-economics of seeking help in the college admissions process do not necessarily illuminate-and certainly do not exhaust-the issue. 

Of course, when Issac said no to test prep help, Issac was making a decision that may well have been the best decision for him. Clearly, some students may be motivated enough to prepare on their own. Certainly, some might need the structure of a test prep class and others might be best served by a one-on-one tutoring program. A colleague who is a college counselor at a nearby prep school offers the analogy of how gym memberships are used by different people: some people are motivated enough to just go to the gym and workout on their own, some might need to enroll in a cardio-training class, and others would be best served by one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer. The question lingers: What is the right thing for a parent to do?

Pragmatically speaking, we recommend that parents approach the college admissions process by further informing themselves.  As concerns the specific issues raised in the two articles from the Wall Street Journal that we cited above, we advise:

1) that parents begin a conversation with their child’s college counselor at school no later than February of the junior year in order to develop as realistic a sense as possible of how their child’s broader profile (transcripts, test scores, co-curriculars, etc.) compares to the profiles of students admitted in recent years to the schools that their child wants to attend.

2) that parents use their child’s December PSAT results to assess if test prep might be wise and, if so, what type of prep would be best suited to their child’s individual needs: Is their child motivated like Issac? might an online course be effective? Would a classroom experience be more productive? Are there certain areas of weakness that need more work than others? Etc.

3) that parents be certain to carefully vet any test prep program that they are considering for their child in order to assure that it offers an approach to the tests that meets their child’s specific needs while also meeting best practices guidelines established by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors:

* Familiarity with test question format

* Familiarity with test administration procedures

* Alignment with skills necessary to master college preparatory coursework

* Instruction in basic study habits and skills

Courtney Federle, PhD from The University of California, Berkeley, has taught at The University of Chicago and is currently working as a teacher and curriculum developer at Academic Approach.

Last week the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a study on the academic credentials of incoming athletes versus regular student.  Not surprisingly stereotypes held.

Nationwide, football players average 220 points lower on the SAT than their classmates – and men’s basketball players average seven points less than football players.

Those figures come from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution study of 54 public universities, including the members of the six major Bowl Championship Series conferences and other schools whose teams finished the 2007-08 season ranked among the football or men’s basketball top 25.

While it’s commonly known that admission standards are different for athletes, the AJC study quantifies how wide the gap is between athletes and the general student body at major universities.

NCAA President Myles Brand said the big question isn’t whether athletes are as qualified as other students when they enroll but whether, given help, they can obtain degrees. “What you are really looking for is whether the student-athletes who are being accepted have the capability of graduating from that institution with the academic support they have available,” Brand said.

The real take away for families going through the recruiting process is to remember that athletics can open the door to even the most elite colleges.  Athletes and families should contact as many schools as possible regardless of perceived or published reports on the typical grades of incoming freshman.  Universities make special exceptions for athletes because they are special people.  Their commitment to sport indicates their tremendous potential as people.  Athletes should use this fact as an advantage.