NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Dear Coach T,

I was  injured last week, should I tell the college coaches that are recruiting me?

Dear Coach Taylor,

My high school team is not very good should I transfer high schools to play on a better team? I’m afraid college coaches won’t recruit me because my team is bad.

Signing day is about a week away and many athletes out there are wondering what Coaches look for when they offer student athletes scholarships. Coach Bob Chmiel discusses the three things he uses to evaluate players. Coach Chmiel spent seven years as Notre Dame’s Director of Football Operations and Recruiting Coordinator/Assistant Coach. Prior, Chmiel was the University of Michigan’s Football Recruiting Coordinator, where he also served as an assistant coach. He was named one of the “Top 11 Recruiting Coordinators of All-Time” in Tom Lemming’s book Football’s Second Season: Scouting High School Game Breakers.

What is the National Letter of Intent?

The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student athlete and an NLI member institution

• A prospective student athlete agrees to attend the institution full time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters
• The institution agrees to provide financial aid for one academic year 

Penalty for breaking this contract

• Student athletes have to serve one year in residence at the next NLI member institution

• Sit out for one season of competition in all sports

What is Signing Day?

• Signing day is the day you actually sign the NLI

Does every division 1 and 2 athlete sign an NLI?

• Most people will say that every D1 and D2 athlete will sign an NLI, but this is not the case.
• It is not so much about being in a certain division as it is whether or not the school is a member of the NLI program.
• There are 600 schools who participate in the NLI program
• All D1 schools are involved with NLI except for service academies and Ivy league.
• A majority of D2 programs participate in the program
• No D3, NAIA, Prep schools or 2 year colleges participate
• For a complete list of schools who participate in the NLI, visit the NCAA’s website (more…)

Golf is sport that is very different from any other sport. It is one of the only sports where it is just you. It’s you against the course, you against the weather, you against that “big” gap in the trees, and you against that “little” pond in front of you. In tournament golf, it’s you against the field, you against the scoreboard, and you against the pressure. It is always you against that little white ball. It is always you against yourself.

You stand on the first tee getting ready to start the tournament. You get your scorecard from the starter and grab a pin sheet and pencil.  You mark and identify your ball to your competitors.  You pull your glove over your hand and stick a few tees in your pocket. Then you grab your driver, take a few swings to loosen up and wait for the starter to call your name. “On the tee from Chicago, IL please welcome Johnny Golfer“. You tee up your ball, take a practice swing, take a deep breath, step up to address the ball, look up at your target one last time and swing away. Off you go to navigate your way around 18 holes of golf. You’ll face hazards, rulings, club selections, uncertain reads in the green, bad breaks and course management decisions.  You will weigh out the options, make a decision, and then stand over the ball trying to remind yourself it was the right decision so you can make a confident swing. Sometimes you get lucky and even a wrong decision ends up working out for you. Other times you get in your own way and let your lack of confidence turn a right decision into a bad one.

How much easier would all of this be if you had a caddy to guide you through those 18 holes of decision and shot making? A caddy who knows the course and knows the game of golf to help you more confidently make a decision and stand over the ball knowing you have done all that you could to prepare for that one shot. Well that’s what the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network is here for; we’re here to be your College Golf Recruiting Caddy.

The caddies on Tour go out and walk the course, marking off yardages, hazards, breaks in the green, aiming targets and carry distances. They go out with their player during practice rounds to lay out a game plan for the tournament. When the tournament begins together they are prepared with knowledge of the course and can more confidently navigate their way around those 18 holes. As the Head Golf Recruiting Coach here at NCSA I use my knowledge and experiences of not only the recruiting process but also the process of getting to next level. Whether you’re hoping to become a better junior tournament player, focusing on your future in college golf or hoping to go on from there to be a professional golfer, you will have a caddy through that process. Navigating through your way through the NCAA rules and regulations, coach communications, visits and ultimately finding the right college fit can be a very difficult and time consuming task to do all on your own. Out on Tour the phrase to ask if you have a caddy is, “Do you have someone on your bag?” Well here at NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network you have a whole team on your bag.

Brandi Jackson, Educational Speaker and Head Golf Recruiting Coach

LPGA Tour Member 2004, 2008, 2009

To receive more education and guidance on the College Recruiting process follow this link: http://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/fasttrack/landing/general/metal.jsp?lnkSrc=Referral-BrandiJackson

Dave Long and his family are relieved he has connected to the “right fit” to be a college athlete and that he has earned significant scholarship for his athletics ability.

NCSA Senior Speaker Charlie Adams

Dave and his father (also named Dave) came to hear me deliver College Recruiting Simplified at Northridge High School on a December night. Athletic Director Dave Harms brings in Recruiting Education each year so that Raider families would understand the recruiting process. At the time, Dave was going into his 11th grade golf season. He had won the Regional Championship as a freshman with a round of 73 on a tough Orchard Ridge course, but his sophomore season had not been as good. He had a 3.8 handicap with a 78 average for 18 holes. He was a good, a really good young man, and an athlete with a really nice golf swing and great potential.

“We did our Scouting Evaluation with NCSA Scout Will Smith,” said Dad Dave. “Will was great. I just enjoy honesty and my son is the same way. Will Smith is brutally honest. He tells it like it is. He laid down the law on academics and athletic expectations. Kids need to hear that from the outside. At the time, David hadn’t played his junior year of golf. He was a 3 handicap. Will told him where he needed to be in golf and in the classroom. It visibly affected Dave.”

“Being in NCSA was huge,” added his Dad. “We’re busy parents here in Elkhart County. We don’t have time to sit here and pump out letters and videos not knowing if they are even being opened up. What I found with NCSA is that it is like pre qualification for the College coaches. They know if NCSA has already looked at the athlete then it is worth their while to look at the Profile.”

The College Coaches looked at his verified transcripts, video of his golf swing, and accomplishments in the high school season and summer tours such as Mt. Dew Junior Tour, Masters Tour, and Jr. PGA Tournaments. They then started reaching out to him when they were allowed (NAIA and D3 can contact anytime).

“We had a ton of NAIA schools after him, around twenty. We had about six D2′s and about six D3′s. Dave really liked Bridgewater College in Virginia. That was probably his second choice when all was said and done. The experience was busy. It was exciting, but now I am glad it is over. We visited Colleges from Virginia to the Carolina’s to Illinois, Missouri and Iowa and points in between. What we found is that when the College Coaches saw him in person and got to meet him that made a big difference. He is a good golfer and one of the late maturing players physically. When Coaches saw him hit balls, they saw that.”

That is why families need to start taking unofficial visits early, so that relationships can start to develop and College Coaches can get a feel for the character of the young man or woman. They can also do the “eyeball” test and look the athlete over. In sports like football, that is especially big.

“Through this process my son went from wanting to play D1, which a lot of kids do, to being thrilled to find the right fit in NAIA,” said Dad Dave. “He will play right away. I told him go where you can compete early. I know some kids want to go to North Carolina or someplace to be a part of a bigtime program, but my son has a friend from High School golf that is on the Ball State Golf team. He is a junior in College now and has yet to play in a match.”

“It ended up with the right fit for him being Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis,” said Dad Dave. “We took three visits there. On the third visit the coach wrote an offer. Their tuition is right around $18,000 a year. Dave got a significant part of that covered through athletic scholarship. That is what I love about NCSA. Where else, in this economy, can you get that kind of return on investment? He is still working on other scholarships with the University.”

“He really connected with the Coach at Missouri Baptist,” added Dave. “Their Coach, Justin Hoagland, is a fulltime PGA Teaching Professional as well as having his own Golf Academy (manages GolfTECH, the world’s largest golf instruction company). I spent ten years as a professional in golf. I have been out of it awhile, but my son grew up around it. All he wants to do out of College is to be a teaching professional. His College coach has such credentials. He has taught under Hank Haney. He is a strong Christian man, and we could tell he really cared about our son. During recruiting, he encouraged Dave to take the SAT again. The Coach pushed the admissions process and was very involved. He went to bat for us. We were looking for a Christian school and this one is in an affluent part of St Louis, ten minutes from downtown. “The location is six hours away. It is all interstate. The team has a player from England and a player from Scotland, so an added benefit is he will broaden his horizons.”

Dad Dave added that although his son originally wanted to go far off to College, Dad made it clear it needed to be a place he could drive home within a day. St. Louis certainly met those criteria. Kids are different. Some want to be at a College in their home town. A lot of others like being 2 to 3 hours away. Then you have those that like 6 hours away, and those that like being way off.

Young Dave’s handicap is down to about a 2 and his scoring average is 75 going into his senior season of golf. He could possibly one day play on a professional Tour. Lindsay McBride also went to Northridge High School. She played College golf at D2 University of Indianapolis, won the National Championship, and is now aspiring to make the LPGA Tour.

“Who knows?” wondered Dad Dave. “He could play professionally one day. If that happens, it happens, but he is realistic with his goals, and his main one is to be a PGA Teaching Professional one day.  He loves the game. He is a gym rat on the golf course and he is still maturing. He is 6’3″ and 142 pounds. We are beefing him up this winter. When he adds strength he will be able to knock it out there with the big boys. The College coach saw that his swing was literally flawless and knows he will keep getting better. College coaches project a lot in recruiting. That’s why you have to develop relationships with them as early as possible.”

Dad Dave makes a living in the Sales world, so he knows what it is like out there. He had candid comments about several topics, including the bright future of true College student-athletes.

“I know what it takes to be successful in the corporate world,” said Dave. “You give me a chance to hire a regular student with good grades compared to a young woman who played College softball and made good grades or a young man who played Golf or Baseball or something and made good grades, and I will hire that student-athlete every time.”
He also implored families to start the recruiting process early. The Long family got started before his son’s junior season but looking back would have started earlier if they had known how recruiting is today.

“He has had a pretty good weight lifted off his shoulders,” said his Dad. “He is a different kid since he made his decision. He has a College home and knows where he is going. He has friends that waited too long to start the recruiting process and panic mode is setting in. They are kicking themselves. So many get caught up in playing bigtime D1, and I understand them wanting to play at a high level, but they don’t understand all the opportunities out there, especially at the NAIA level like we learned.”

“If a family has an athlete that is fairly talented and loves their sport’” said Dave, “it is ludicrous that they don’t take advantage of NCSA. I am dead serious. If you want a walking billboard for how much it means, it’s me! How much money we saved on College because of NCSA is remarkable. Not in a million years would we have connected with all these good schools.”

2012 UPDATE: Here is Dave’s College Golf Profile:

Click here to see it

Charlie Adams, NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network Senior Speaker

To learn how to get into the Recruiting Database that worked so well for the Long family, cadams@ncsasports.org

To bring College Recruiting Simplified to your High School, Club or Special Event

Coach Taylor, when sending highlight videos to colleges you’re interested in, should a cover letter be enclosed or just a note stating my interest. If so, what exactly should it state besides my desire to play for their organization?

I would definitely recommend including a cover letter. The only reason you might not include a cover letter with your video is if you already have sent one to this particular coach. It is a good idea to keep track of what you send to each coach.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when constructing your cover letter to coaches:

1. Most every coach now relies on e-mail to both contact and receive contact from potential recruits. That is the preferred method of communication. To find out the e-mail addresses for the coaches you are looking to contact, simply go to the college’s athletic website and look for a staff listing of names and e-mails or ask your Recruiting Coach.

2. Be brief. Coaches at all levels receive dozens and dozens of e-mails/letters from high school-aged players. All you are trying to do is show you have interest, pass along all of your contact information, your resume, and provide each coach with an upcoming schedule of your matches so he can see you play.

3. NEVER HAVE ONE OF YOUR PARENTS WRITE TO A COACH. You are the one the coach might be recruiting, so he/she wants to hear from you directly. (If the relationship develops and it appears that you might be attending that college, they’ll be plenty of time for your parents to have contact with the coaching staff.)

4. Provide contact information for yourself and your coaches. Nothing is worse for a college coach than to have to track down your coach’s e-mail or phone number. By having both an e-mail address and a phone number listed after his/her name, it allows for the college coach to quickly e-mail or call your private and/or high school coach to follow up.

5. Always include basic information about yourself such as grad year, high school, athletic history, GPA, SAT/ACT scores. Tell the coach why you are a good fit for their program.

6. Do not send a form letter that starts out with “Dear Coach” and does not mention anything specific about his/her program and school. The bulk of your e-mail will be kept the same for correspondence you send out to various coaching staff; however a portion of it should be personalized. Bring in something specific about it that you learned by going through the website. State your interest in the school and specific reasons (like “my Dad went to Madison and I want to carry on the tradition” or whatever fits you personally)

7. Detail is important! Be sure that you use spell check and proper English. This is a reflection of your ability. You may send your letter to NCSA to revise.

8. If you are emailing rather than regular mail, DO NOT mass email a bunch of coaches. This comes across as lazy and shows the coach that you didn’t take your time to personalize for them. Make sure to address the letter Dear Coach [[last name]].

Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org

You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.

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

As a speaker, I have a few thousand conversations a year with families and coaches that are going through, or have been through, the recruiting process. I often share them in this blog.

During my son’s 12th grade season, I was at a top Cross Country Meet. A veteran South Bend (IN) High School Coach came up and told me one of his sophomore runners had recently done a Recruiting Analysis with NCSA. The Coach said it had an immediate positive impact on the young man.

“This athlete wants to compete at a high level in college,” the coach told me. “During the Recruiting Analysis he told the NCSA College Scout his times. The Scout told him they projected to be D3 or NAIA times. Well, that put a fire in him because he wants to eventually run at a higher level. Then the kid told the Scout he has a 2.5 GPA. The Scout chuckled slightly. It wasn’t in a rude way, but in a way where he was challenging the athlete that he could do better than a 2.5 and that he would need to do better to be in better position for scholarships. Ever since that Recruiting Analysis, the runner has been more focused in practice and has immediately started improving his grades. I have seen a distinct difference in his focus, even as a sophomore. I tell athletes these things all the time, but when it comes from that third party, it’s big.”

THAT can be the power of a Recruiting Analysis. It is important to do one to see where you stand in recruiting. If you have not done one yet, or never set up a time after hearing a NCSA speaker, contact us

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 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