NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering the recruiting of high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations and is one of NCSA’s Recruiting Experts.

I was driving near Indianapolis this week and heard former Indiana University Basketball Coach Dan Dakich hosting his daily talk show on 1070 the Fan. A caller called in a little ‘bent out of shape’ that IU Basketball Coach Tom Crean had recently received two commitments from players that had yet to play a second of High School basketball. Two highly rated 9th graders had made their decision to attend IU. The caller just could not understand how they could be doing that at such a young age. Dakich, who was an assistant coach at IU for years and knows recruiting inside and out, wasn’t surprised. He said back when he was evaluating talent he could often tell if a 7th grader could play at a major D1 level like Indiana and the Big Ten. In recruiting, basketball is especially accelerated and seasoned evaluators like Tom Crean can project early if a kid can play. Back in the 1980′s, Bob Knight went down to Bedford, IN to watch a legendary 8th grader named Damon Bailey play a game. In the book, “A Season on the Brink” Knight made a comment to the author John Feinstein that “Bailey is better than any guard we have right now. I don’t mean potentially better, I mean better today.” Bailey ended up going to Indiana and was a very good player at that level.

It’s not that way for every basketball player that eventually plays D1, but it is for the special ones. Trey Lyles is one of the two players to commit to IU. He stands 6’9″ as a 9th grader. The other one is James Blackmon, Jr. His Dad was a very good player back in the day at Kentucky. Tom Crean and his staff have no doubt those two project to be winning Big Ten players. As Dakich said on his radio show, the IU coaches know what they are doing because they are seasoned evaluators. They have been watching those kids in the July evaluation events.

Less than 1% of the High School athletes will get this kind of “fawning over.” The rest have to be proactive in recruiting, and understand the process starts early whether you are a 6’9″ ninth grader or not. A 5’9″ 9th grade basketball player that is not even on the varsity team needs to understand how important it is to make his baskets in the classroom so that he can have more options in recruiting when he is a junior or senior. That kid may never get a D1 offer, but if he and his family get educated in recruiting and he works his tail off, by the time he is a junior and senior he will have more options in recruiting.

Charlie Adams

cadams@ncsasports.org

Charlie Adams brings 23 years of experience covering the recruiting of high school athletes who reached their dream of playing college sports. Adams was an award winning sportscaster at television stations and is one of NCSA’s Recruiting Experts.

I had a long conversation with a mother and father whose daughter, a soccer player, had just found the right fit for college.

She was found by the college coach when he was looking at another recruit’s video. The other recruit was not clearly identified on the video, and the college coach noticed their daughter making plays on it. This is why you cannot make college coaches play detective in trying to figure out where you are on video, or some other kid will get a scholarship off your tape. I have found the NCSA guidance in this area critical. An arrow pointing at the recruit at the start of a play is very important. One of the points of College Recruiting Simplified is to make a “winning Highlight/Skills video.” The key word there is ‘winning.’ Families often have no idea how much more successful they will be in recruiting if they had a better understanding of how to work the video process. I continue to be amazed at how many families don’t even have a plan for it, and don’t have video of their kid – even as 12th graders sometimes!

The mother, father and daughter made several unofficial visits during her High School days. The young lady evaluated out to be a NAIA or D3 player, so they met with several coaches. One young head coach got all wound up during their meeting and talked about how they would have a “D1 mentality” at the D3 school. He was a little too gung-ho. They appreciated his fever and enthusiasm, but wanted to find someone a little calmer. They continued the process, made more visits, and found a school with a veteran coach who still had the fire for coaching. It wasn’t the reason they picked the school. Their major reason was the school would allow her to grown in her faith, athletics and academics, but they felt this particular coach had the calm, steady approach and decades of experience to better fit her. Now, the next kid might eat up that other coach’s wound-up approach. It’s all part of getting out there and finding the right fit. I spoke at the Mizuno Mid East Regional Volleyball Qualifiers in Indianapolis earlier this year. I talked with one mother whose daughter had already been on three unofficial visits in the Fall of her junior year, and was close to firming up the right fit. It was because she was “out there.”

For an Evaluation of your College Recruiting potential

Charlie Adams

NCSA Senior Speaker

cadams@ncsasports.org

We’ve always said that choosing where you go to school isn’t a 4 year decision, it’s a 40 year decision. Being such a big decision, high school kids should be able to take their time in making such a hard choice, right? Minooka DE Zach Colvin unfortunately learned the hard way that you don’t have all the time in the world to make your decision.

College athletics is a very serious business, and universities cannot afford to sit around and wait for an offer to be taken. Sometimes, the college coach may offer a scholarship to more than one student athlete, and the one who responds the fastest gets the spot. This is an aspect of college athletics that the high school student athlete might not think about or have trouble understanding the concept.

Zach Colvin, 6’4” 225lbs, had a rude awakening when he found out in July that a Big Ten BCS school was withdrawing their offer that he received the offer 4 months earlier. Currently, Colvin has offers from Northern Illinois, Air Force, Bowling Green, Ball State, Memphis, Central Michigan and Wyoming but continues to hold out for that Big Ten perfect offer that he feels comfortable with. Minooka Coach Bert Kooi was quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, “We’ve all learned a lot about the recruiting process. He wants to play at the highest level. We believe he can. [Mid-American Conference] schools have recruited him as hard as anyone. But he is looking for a Big Ten offer.”

For players like Zach, who has many full scholarship offers, doesn’t have to worry too much about not getting any money, but he was humbled by realizing that the coaches list of prospects is a lot longer than he might think, and that coaches just can’t afford to wait around on one player for 4+ months. As important as the decision on whether to take the offer or not, it is the coach’s job to put together a winning team, and who knows if they wait for you and you end up saying no, they could be missing out on someone else on the same level. Time is something that needs to be thought about a lot in athletic recruiting and if taken lightly, may cost you a scholarship offer.

A former Indiana Wesleyan University baseball player, Brandon Beachy, made his first start on the mound this past week for the Atlanta Braves. This marks the first baseball player from IWU to play at the Big League level. To learn more about him and Indiana Wesleyan please click here.

Beachy threw four and a third innings and allowed only one earned run. Prior to starting for the Braves, he was named the Atlanta Braves Double – A Pitcher of the Year. Brandon graduated from Indiana Wesleyan in 2008 and he marks just one of many who have gone on to play professionally after playing at the NAIA level.

In this article by Curtis Eichelberger found on Bloomberg News today, you can read about the advantage students who play sports in college receive in employment after college.  You should read the entire article, but here’s the money quote:

“Athletes can bring something extra that’s necessary for success in finance, Werner said.

“In a business where it tends to knock you down a lot, they tend to get back up,” he said. “That drive, that level of discipline, the rigor they have in their own personal lives and their willingness to take on hard challenges; a lot of that gets taught to you on an athletic field.”

NCSA is THE Athletic Recruiting Network.  We empower our student-athletes in their chosen careers through our network of employers who hire student athletes.  You can find out more about that here.

In this article about Ben Garland, it’s easy to see why he’s where he is.  He set goals from a very early age and that was his compass that directed him to where he is.  Here are two quotes from the article: 

As a little boy, Ben Garland clutched a poster of the Air Force Thunderbirds, the planes roaring into the sky, and he knew exactly what he wanted to be. He pinned that poster to his bedroom wall, beside the pictures of John Elway, and he told his mother, Syndee, he was going to the Air Force Academy someday.

”Can you imagine you had two dreams as a little kid?” he asks one day at Broncos training camp, where he is trying to make the team as a defensive end. ”One to be a pilot in the Air Force and one to play for the Broncos? Not just any team. The Broncos. And now you have both opportunities before you?”

If you’re a student-athlete reading this, you must set specific, measureable, attainable goals that are time-bound.  This will eliminate procrastination and put you in a position to be recruited to play the sport you love.  If you’re a parent reading this, teaching your children goal setting skills will empower them to achieve great things.  If either of you need help in setting S.M.A.R.T goals, NCSA teaches goal setting skills.  If you wish to play in college and don’t know how to begin, call 866-579-6272 or go here.

NCSA recently received feedback for the College Coach’s Corner from Carleton College’s Baseball Coach, Aaron Rushing:

1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

I am relaxed, more a teacher than a yeller, and I have very high expectations of our players.  I push them hard and try to get them to see where they can push themselves even more.  We focus on the fundamentals, throwing strikes and playing good defense.  I expect our players to be exceptional baseball players and highly committed, but I expect our players to take advantage of all the opportunities available at Carleton.

2. What is unique about the experience at your school?

I would argue that we provide the best combination of baseball, academics, and student life in the country.  We are competitive in one of the top conferences in Division III.  We are a top 10 liberal arts college.  Our players are able to experience “college” and all that Carleton has to offer.

3. What do recruits need to know about you?

Most importantly, I care about the players.  I want them to succeed on and off the field.  We have a team GPA over 3.3, and our guys do amazing stuff off the field.  I am going to support your non-baseball interests more than just about any other coach.  One of our guys did a health care service project in Africa last summer, another won a Fulbright, and most study abroad during the fall or summer at least once in their career.  Close to 10% of our players are pre-med.  We have several two-sport athletes as well.  I’m not going to try to run your life off the field.  I expect great commitment and effort when we’re together, but I want you to pursue your other interests as well.  We have just one rule: do the right thing.

4. What do you look for in recruits?

I want the player who wants to win a championship without sacrificing academics.  I place a priority on competitiveness, athleticism and a great arm.  Our guys need to be able to throw, run and hit, and be committed to getting the absolute best education they can get.  Our ideal guy is a Division I player who is not willing to sacrifice academics to play at that level.

5. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?

Have a transcript and video ready for coaches.  Also, be proactive in the search so that you get a good idea of what you are looking for.

6. What sort of questions do you really like to hear from recruits?

Questions about what the college athlete experience will be like.  I want guys who want to spend more time with the players than with me.  The players are the ones who can tell you about being a student-athlete.  As a coach, I have a feel for where they will fit on the baseball field, but they’ve got to be a fit with their teammates and the school.

7. What turns you off when you are recruiting a student athlete?

Guys who have not done any research on their own and have no idea what they are looking for.  I need guys who are self-starters.  Carleton is one of the most challenging colleges in the country and our guys have to be able to balance academics and athletics.  If the academic part of the college search is not a priority, they will not be a good fit.

8. What do you think your program is the most successful at?

Giving our players a great college experience. Our guys compete and have fun.

9. Why should a recruit consider your program?

Unique opportunity to play for a competitive program while getting the best college education in the world.

10. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?

Email me and fill out our online questionnaire:

http://www.frontrush.com/Templates/FRGeneral/Carleton/MBaseball/SubmissionForm/carletonmbaseball.html

I will also want a skills video and a copy of their transcript.

NCSA recently received feedback for the College Coach’s Corner from Loras’ Baseball Coach, Daniel Wellik:

1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

Personable, demanding, and understanding.  As a younger coach it is easy for me to relate to players, as not too long ago I was in their shoes.  I expect alot out of my athletes and in turn hope they expect alot out of me.  We are all together for common goals so we hold each other accountable.  I feel that I expect alot but am fair in doing so.  I also understand that sometimes things don’t go as planned and being able to adapt is one of my strengths.

2. What is unique about the experience at your school?

First and foremost, Loras College is a wonderful place with great people.  The people are what makes Loras, you will not find a friendlier atmosphere where young people turn themselves into responsible adults.  It is a great place to learn and grow at.  A few things other things to note would be that we are a smaller school (enrollment 1800) and that we are a laptop computer campus in which every student receives a computer and where technology is used in the classroom on a daily basis.

3. What do recruits need to know about you?

We are here to help you become who you want to be.  As cheesy as the NCAA television commercials are about student-athletes going pro in other things than sports, it is true.  There are so many things outside of baseball that we try to help our athletes with.  From internships, to studying abroad, to learning important things about life in general.  We try to teach our kids how to be most importantly good people who will be good husbands, fathers, and members of their community.

4. What do you look for in recruits?

Ability is the first thing that most coaches look for and so do we, we want kids that can help us win.  Second, we look at the person academically usually over a 3.0 gpa and 20 act.  There are also other things like character, internal drive, and we want kids that want to be at Loras not kids that want to be somewhere else.

5. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?

Be honest with themselves and with coaches.  Always keep the lines of communication open and let coaches know if you are or are not interested.  Coaches would rather hear no than not hear anything at all.  Also, look at what the school is offering you and ask yourself if that is what you want.  We have had kids who have picked other schools when they don’t have their majors.

6. What sort of questions do you really like to hear from recruits?

I like to hear questions about goals we have for our program and the future.  I also like questions about what we see in them as players.  It gives them a good idea about how much we are interested.

7. What turns you off when you are recruiting a student athlete?

When they don’t respond.  If I contact a young man and they don’t respond in a reasonable amount of time, it frustrates me becasue I don’t know if they are not interested or are.

8. What do you think your program is the most successful at?

I feel like we are successful in instructing and teaching the game of baseball the right way.

9. Why should a recruit consider your program?

The opportunity to play with outstanding teammates, be coached by outstanding coaches, and receive a degree that will set them up for success for the rest of their life.

10. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?

Email me at daniel.wellik@loras.edu or they can go to our baseball webpage at www.duhawks.com and fill out a prospective athlete questionnaire.

College Coach’s Corner: MacMurray College’s Baseball Coach, Fred Curtis

1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

Believer in the importance of executing and doing the “little things” well.

2. What is unique about the experience at your school?

Classes ONLY 4 days aweek!

3. What do recruits need to know about you?

That they will be treated fairly and given equal opportunity to play! All playing time is based on performance.

4. What do you look for in recruits?

Quality student-athletes! Sound baseball skills. Good character, team players, ability to get along with others, coachable, positive attitude, mental toughness, goal-oriented, passion to play and compete.

5. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?

Make application to the school and get FASA info. to the school!

6. What sort of questions do you really like to hear from recruits?

Any questions the recruit would like to ask that they feel is important for them to know weather it be about me or anything related to our program.

7. What turns you off when you are recruiting a student athlete?

Failure to inform me about their REAL interest in our school within a reasonable amount of time. Failure to answer phone calls or to return messages.

8. What do you think your program is the most successful at?

Showing special interest and concern for the overall success of our players both in the classroom and on the baseball field.

9. Why should a recruit consider your program?

Great opportunity to get a quality education and a great opportunity to play and compete in college baseball. Be exposed to a college campus with many friendly and caring people who will do what the can to help you be successful.

10. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?

Please call me at 217-479-7153 or e-mail me at fred.curtis@mac.edu