NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Coach Taylor – What does it take to play my sport at each division level?

We get this question a lot at NCSA.  There is a lot that goes into an evaluation by a college coach.  NCSA has spent the last 10 years evaluating players for college coaches and has a tremendous amount of data stored up.  We used this data to develop our Exclusive Recruiting Guidelines to help give recruits an idea of what schools they should realistically be targeting.  They are guidelines, not hard fast rules, but they can give recruits an idea of where they fit.

Baseball Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Basketball Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Basketball Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Cross Country Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Cross Country Recruiting Guidelines

Field Hockey Recruiting Guidelines

Football Recruiting Guidelines

Water Polo Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Golf Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Golf Recruiting Guidelines

Ice Hockey Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Lacrosse Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Lacrosse Recruiting Guidelines

Soccer Recruiting Guidelines

Softball Recruiting Guidelines

Swimming Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Tennis Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Tennis Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Track and Field Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Track and Field Recruiting Guidelines

Men’s Volleyball Recruiting Guidelines

Women’s Volleyball Recruiting Guidelines

Wrestling Recruiting Guidelines

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

If you would like to speak with a NCSA Recruiting Coordinator about your personal recruiting situation, call 866-579-6272.

If you’ve read these pages enough, you know that a college decision is a life-altering, life time decision.  To make that decision without fully understanding the vast landscape of opportunities available is irresponsible at best and negligent at worst.  Another motivation for doing all you can to make a great college choice is found in Bob Greene’s article talking about great, enduring friendship.

As a follow up to my previous blog, Why You Should Consider The Junior College Option, I want to make sure you understand some key rules. This way you will be on the right path and have the ability to transfer without any hiccups.

Before you graduate from high school, you need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. The NCAA Eligibility Center will determine if you are a qualifier, partial qualifier or non-qualifier. They will determine where you stand, based on the core courses you took in high school, your grades in those courses, and your scores on the ACT and/or SAT.

To avoid any hiccups, you need to be classified as a qualifier by the NCAA Eligibility Center and of course, be academically in good standing at the junior college you are attending, while completing the right amount of credit hours for each term of full-time attendance.

If you do not register with the NCAA Eligibility Center or do not meet the minimum requirements, you will need to graduate from your junior college, without taking summer classes, to transfer to a DI or DII program.

**For more details on all the transfer rules, you can read the NCAA publication, Transfer 101, by clicking here.

**For more details on registering for the NCAA Eligibility Center and the requirements to become a qualifier, please click here.

One of the biggest myths about an NCAA scholarship is that the offer is good until graduation, or at least until their NCAA eligibility is exhausted.  However, as the Kentucky example proves, nothing could be further from the truth.  The example proves just how important it is to choose the right school in the first place.  One thing that sticks out during the video is how so many players are now on their 3rd or even 4th schools!

Recruits need to take their time looking at as many different schools as possible.  They need to have a clear understanding of every option available.  Only with a comprehensive search can players minimize their chances of picking the wrong school.  Remember, its not just about getting a scholarship, its about setting yourself up for the next 40 years of your life!

I talk to families every day who have no plan on how to pay for college.  When I ask the question, “How important is a scholarship when choosing your child’s college?”  The typical answer is, ”a scholarship is real important, but s/he is going to college no matter what.”  What they mean is that they are willing to borrow all kinds of money, go into all kinds of debt, to make sure the all important degree is obtained.  It is clear from these answers that these families are not aware of the quickly changing landscape in lending practices now. 

In this article in yesterday’s Washington Post, the rising costs of college and the reduced availability of student loans is documented.  The key sentence is, “The upheaval in financial markets did not just eliminate generous lending for home buyers; it also ended an era of easy credit for students and their families facing the soaring cost of a college degree.”  Read the entire article.  If you need a plan for paying for college and a student who is also a good athlete and enjoys playing their sport, that may be a way to reduce those student loans.  To learn more about opening up opportunities to play sports in college so your child’s education can be funded by means other than student loans, go here.  If your child is an 8th grader or older and you haven’t begun to plan for college expenses, you’re already late.

As a former collegiate athlete, this was the path I chose. I started my college career at South Suburban College in Illinois and transferred to St. John’s University in New York, where I played basketball.

If you are a senior, I urge you to look into this option, especially if you feel like you are settling with the 4-year program that sits on the top of your list.

If you are a junior or an underclassmen, I recommend that when you communicate with college coaches at 4-year institutions, if they tell you they are done with recruiting your graduating class or position, you should ask if you attended a junior college for one or two years, would they still recruit you and have spot on their team for your position.

Experience comes in so many different forums for college players. The biggest jump for any athlete is from high school to college. This is why so many players take the junior college route—to gain experience.

When a four year program gets a junior college transfer they are getting a player that is polished and is ready to compete. Unlike most high school players who do not hone the skills to step in and make an impact as a freshman.

Not only are players mature physically–they are more mature mentally. One of the biggest successes in a transfer is their character. They will prove it on the road, as well as, on and off the field. Many college coaches have stated that they prefer to take a transfer over a high school freshman.

It also makes “dollars and cents” to attend a junior college. With the cost of attending a University at its highest point and rising, many junior college tuition costs are less than the cost of books for the classes at a 4-year college. It is also very important to understand that you will take the same classes whether you attend a junior college or a 4-year institution for your first two years.

Junior college is not the right fit for everyone. However, junior college is not the black sheep of playing at the next level. Happy Hunting!

The Big Ten has thought in the past about adding another team to their conference and it is a topic that is being looked at again. It is not uncommon for conferences to expand. The Big East conference I played in during my colleges days has changed quite a bit and I assume it will continue do to so.

Quotes from article:

“Expansion of the Big Ten Conference from 11 to 12 teams is once again a possibility, the league and its Council of Presidents/Chancellors announced Monday.”

“I know from my personal experience, a variety of things come into play,” said Kevin Weiberg, CEO of the iHoops youth basketball initiative, who has served as commissioner of the Big 12 and deputy commissioner of the Big Ten. “When the Big Ten considers these matters, they consider it in a context that goes beyond athletics. It would involve compatibility of academic institutions. It’s broader than athletics.”

Click here to read the entire article.

What are your thoughts? What school should be added to the Big Ten?

Please take notice all men’s & women’s basketball recruits! Next week from December 24-26 of 2009 the NCAA rules state, that this is a dead period for all Division I colleges and universities.

Click here to see the full calendar by sport and division.

Dead Period (December 24-26, 2009):

The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents at any time in the dead period. The coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.

Click here to see the meaning of all periods in recruiting.

The National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the current economic downturn (recession) began in December 2007.  In the intervening 2 years, I’ve spoken with about 3,000 families about their child going to college.  Naturally, part of that discussion involves how families will pay for college.  As seen here, the average cost of a college education is above $30,000 per year.  The rate of increase is around 7% per year.  If you have a freshman in high school, your college expense will exceed $35,000 per year, on average.  These facts have led to some serious discussions between parents and their children on how they’ll pay for college.  In some cases, parents of good students are considering the local junior college route to get the core courses out of the way and save a lot of money during the first 2 years.  In other cases, the parents have encouraged their children to search for scholarships on the internet.  These kids are spending a lot of time doing this.  In some cases, parents are giving their children a budget to work with and any expense exceeding that budget will be the responsibility of the child.  In short, 99% of the families that I speak with do not have enough money stashed away to pay all college expenses.  So they’re at great risk of having their children graduate with a large financial burden called student loans. 

Financial Aid has two main categories:  grants/scholarships, i.e. money that doesn’t have to be repaid and loans.  To see the impact of student loans, read this NY Times article.  Because every college and university has different funding sources, financial aid policies, and pools of money available to offset the cost of college, it’s impossible to navigate this process efficiently by yourself.  You can’t gather all of the information from all potential schools with less than thousands of hours of grinding research on the internet.  Most families don’t have that kind of time.  Most don’t know enough about how financial aid is granted to increase any grant or scholarship awards.  NCSA has data from thousands of colleges and experts that will help families navigate the financial aid process.  One important aspect of this is completing forms correctly and on time.  Many families lose need-based aid because of inconsistencies on their FAFSA.  Others lose because they’re uncertain on timelines.  NCSA’s financial aid experts aid families in navigating financial aid.  The most important thing a family can do to increase financial aid if their student is also a talented athlete, is to make sure that there are a number of college coaches recruiting their child. 

In my case, my child received recruiting letters from 145 college coaches.  About 20 had real genuine interest.  My child narrowed those schools down to 3 great academic choices.  She’ll graduate from her selected college in May, 2010.  She would have never had this opportunity if it wasn’t for the hard work she did and the help we received from NCSA.  My return on that investment is she’ll graduate with no student loans.  My out-of-pocket expense for all 4 years was less than one semester at her private high school she attended.  My return on NCSA’s investment was 6,677%.  But the real return is priceless: Four years of playing a sport that she loves, a college degree from one of the top academic universities in the country, developing friendships that last a lifetime, and job interest in a career field that she chose.  What parent doesn’t want that for their child?  If you need help to get that for your child, go here.

Are you interested in knowing where your favorite school stands amongst the rest or knowing where schools are seated that are recruiting you?

2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball RPI

1 North Carolina

2 Pittsburgh

3 Duke

4 Michigan St.

5 Connecticut

6 Oklahoma

7 Louisville

8 Villanova

9 Memphis

10 Missouri

To see the full list click here.

*Get  up-to-date coverage of the Men’s rankings by clicking here.

*To see a list of the 2009 NCAA Women’s Basketball RPI list click here.

*Want to know about all other sports and divisions? Click here.