NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

NCSA founder Chris Krause’ first book, Athletes Wanted is now available to pre-order for shipping June 1st! Athletes Wanted is the premise that athletes are indeed wanted in all areas of society. Just look at the record TV contracts for college and professional sports networks, the rise of ESPN and the conference networks, and the growth of collegiate athletics in popularity year in and year out.

The other areas athletes are wanted is on college campuses and in the professional world. Statistics prove that the recruited student athlete is much more likely to be accepted to a better college or university, and receive a better scholarship and/or grant and aid package. After college employers want former athletes as well. Just polling recruiters and CEO’s it is apparent- former college athletes are in demand for leadership position in every career imaginable!

Why? The book digs into the Athletes Wanted world and is designed to shed light upon why, and gives tips and anecdotes into how you can help maximize your student athlete’s athletic scholarship and eventual life potential.

Student athletes are taught life skills that impact them continuously. The former collegiate student athlete brand is something they carry with them always. Since the average person changes jobs over 25 times throughout their lives, this will come in handy in opening doors, building relationships, along with the learned skill set of hard work, leadership, goal setting, team work, time management, and achievement that will help them succeed at whatever they set their minds to. These invaluable tools will continue to help them thrive in a meaningful and rewarding career to provide for their families and be positive role models, spouses, friends and parents long after the cheers and roar of the crowd are over.

M.I.T is the latest school to respond to the economy, announcing this weekend that they will eliminate eight varsity sports – alpine skiing, competitive pistol, golf, wrestling, men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey and gymnastics. This move will strip $1.5 million from the M.I.T. Budget.

The announcement ended several weeks of meetings and student hand-wringing over which of M.I.T.’s 41 Division III varsity teams would be cut. Being an innovative lot, M.I.T. students looked for ways to save programs, including fund-raising and protests. Some disgruntled students even kidnapped Tim the Beaver, the institute’s mascot, demanding that all 41 teams be kept.

The institute said, however, that even in flush times, the 41 teams weighed heavily on the department, and that the cuts were intended to strengthen the remaining 33 squads.

Some of these sports may turn into club programs, which would at least allow current students to play their sport, although not at the NCAA level. These cuts are a major disappointment for  M.I.T. students as well as the hundreds of high school athletes who aspired to play their sport at the prestigious institution.

It takes a mature person to understand the keys to being successful and accomplishing goals. It is especially tough when the task is both physical and mental in nature. The steadfast and focused individuals are able to handle the ups and downs that eventually lead to success. The following is a road map for young athletes to follow if they are truly committed to being the best they possibly can be in their particular sport.

Keep All Doors Open

As an athlete, you need to give yourself every opportunity to succeed. The better you are in the classroom the more opportunities you will have in the future. Everyone would like to play at the top level of collegiate competition but we all know those opportunities are limited. If you are talented enough and dedicated, those chances may indeed come to fruition. The ultimate goal, however, is to end up at a school that is the best match for you. The better you are in the classroom, the more choices you will have from which to pick.

Be Committed

Once you have decided to make college athletics your goal, you need to set your game plan and be rigid in keeping your every action toward accomplishing that end result. It’s easy to stray from the disciplines it takes to be successful; only the strong-willed reach their goal.

Let Others Know Your Intentions

As an athlete, don’t be afraid to communicate your intentions. There are a lot of people who can be instrumental in the process. Relatives, coaches, administrators, and friends are just a limited example of those who can be important as you work to accomplish your goal.

Ask For Help

Even though the bulk of your success rests within tour attitude and your efforts, it’s smart to learn from those who have been where you want to go. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about physical training, improving technical skills, or mental maturity; seek help from those who know what it takes to max out ones’ potential.

Work to Improve

As you go up the athletic ladder the competition gets tougher and tougher. Everybody you will face at the next level will be as good as or better than the best of the best you have already faced. The great athletes thrive on competition and know if you don’t get better you are doomed for failure.

Ignore Naysayers

Remember that not everyone you come in contact with is as dedicated and committed as you. There will be those who try to deter you along the way; even though sometimes not purposefully. Others will be jealous of your successes. It is crucial to keep your eye on the target and not get off track.

Be a Leader

Just as others have done for you, you have an obligation to pay back and pay forward. The examples you set may well be the standard other athletes will use as their guidelines in the future. Remember, the best leaders are those who lead by example.

Learn from Failure

The road to success is a rocky one. There will be ups and downs along the way and it’s important to not dwell on the shortcomings but use them as motivators. Every failure is learning and growing experience. Getting knocked down is going to happen, the key is to get back up and go again.

Share Your Successes

Great teams celebrate together. As an athlete, never forget your success is a team success even if the sport is considered an individual success. Your team is comprised of may who have and continually helped out. Let them know your success is a direct reflection of their help and support.

Believe in Yourself

Confidence in yourself and your convictions is the self-motivator to finish the job. Never waiver from your belief in your own abilities. Others can help but you have to have the grit and determination to do it yourself. The long hours of physical and mental preparation fall solely on your shoulders; be proud.

Christopher Manfredi, Baseball, SUNY–Oswego
Mathew Legg, Football, Elmhurst College
Matthew Taybron, Football, Muskingum College
Cody York, Football, Briar Cliff University
Nico Bourgeois, Football, Harding University
Peter Jarrett, Football, Wheaton College (IL)
Denzel Drone, Football, Michigan State University
Jordan Sexton, Football, University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh
Karlos Marshall, Football, Mercyhurst College
Ryan Hughes, Football, Graceland University
Xavier “X” McGinnis, Football, Palomar College
Vince DiPiero, Football, University of Redlands
Randy Stanley, Football, University of Central Oklahoma
Alex Furth, Football, John Carroll University
Seth Thomas, Football, Simpson College
Aaron Peterson, Football, Henderson State University
Marcus Washington, Football, Arizona State University
Shane Catts, Football, Albright College
James Gilburn, Football, SUNY–Stony Brook
Patrick Christopherson, Football, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
Cameron Lyons, Football, Baylor University
Curtis Dempster, Football, Moorpark College
Elijah Hart, Football, Morgan State University
John Hamilton Jr., Football, Notre Dame College of Ohio
Alex Tweedy, Football, Palomar College
Zachery Sprowls, Football, Allegheny College
Demetry Sawyers, Football, Ferrum College
Ghaali Muhammad, Football, University of Wyoming
Tyler Bammert, Football, Drake University
Matt Sadlier, Football, Concordia (WI) University
Donte Glenn, Football, Southern Connecticut State University
Darwyn Walker, Football, Dickinson State University
Kyle Wehner, Men’s Basketball, Salve Regina University
Nate Robertson, Men’s Basketball, Williams College
Ryan Hooks, Men’s Golf, Point Loma Nazarene University
Scott Schultz, Men’s Golf, Johnson & Wales University at North Miami
Brett Gutierrez, Men’s Golf, California State University — Chico
Josh Sturges, Men’s Lacrosse, Carthage College
Shawn Meek, Men’s Soccer, Mercer University
Brian Hanley, Men’s Soccer, SUNY — Old Westbury
Julian Miller, Men’s Soccer, Flagler College
Nick Colangelo, Men’s Soccer, St. Michael’s College
Levi Harville, Men’s Soccer, Atlanta Christian College
Caleb Matthews, Men’s Soccer, Stetson University
Josh Sposato, Men’s Soccer, Delta State University
Kyle Simons, Men’s Soccer, University of Sioux Falls
Sam Schneider, Men’s Soccer, Georgetown University
Samuel Gordon, Men’s Soccer, St. Norbert College
Michael Disco, Men’s Swimming, Canisius College
Kevin Madden, Men’s Tennis, Indiana Institute of Technology
Anthony Becker, Men’s Tennis, Westminster College
Joseph Boyle, Men’s Tennis, Chestnut Hill College
Evan Daniel, Men’s Tennis, Cowley County Community College
Taylor Schmalhofer, Men’s Track, Virginia Military Institute
Joel Lu, Men’s Track, Carnegie Mellon University
Joseph Oliveri, Men’s Track, Lynchburg College
Rachel Scribner, Softball, Lake Forest College
Nicolette Goranson, Softball, Kankakee Community College
Shakeyia Colyer, Women’s Basketball, Eastern Kentucky University
Sarah Tusting, Women’s Cross Country, University of California – Davis
Dayna Bersamin, Women’s Golf, University of Northern Colorado
Jordan Mackey, Women’s Golf, Savannah College of Art and Design
Erin Mulrooney, Women’s Soccer, California State University–San Marcos
Taylor Bugg, Women’s Swimming, Mars Hill College
Kendall Robison, Women’s Tennis, Northern Illinois University
Cece Greco, Women’s Tennis, George Mason University
Jennifer Fields, Women’s Track, California State University — Stanislaus
Emily Kersting, Women’s Track, Sacramento State University
Kendal Ford, Women’s Volleyball, McMurry University
Amanda Dills, Women’s Volleyball, University of Arkansas–Monticello
Robyn Harrison, Women’s Volleyball, University of Maine — Machias

To anyone who saw this weekend’s NCAA championship, “what a game!”

There was an interesting article in the Washington Times about Jack Parker’s recruiting.

If Parker wins his third NCAA championship Saturday, it won’t be because he went back to those long-running pipelines. In some ways, it will be more because he realized he couldn’t.

The makeup of this year’s team, the first Terriers squad to reach the Frozen Four since 1997, represents how much Boston University has had to adapt to the changing recruiting game. Players are coming from more places than ever before, and many of the top talents aren’t staying in high school. Instead, they’re going to junior hockey leagues, the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., or Canadian major junior leagues. The last of those three options makes players ineligible for the NCAA, but Parker has used the first two to great effect.

Just like Parker has had to adapt his recruiting style and philosophy, serious recruits must play the game by today’s rules. Being a good AAA or prep school talent is not necessarily enough anymore. No matter how good you are, you need to play in the right places for coaches like Parker to watch you play and ultimately offer you an athletic scholarship.

It has helped put Parker back on the map. He’s still somewhat nostalgic for the days of teams loaded with New Englanders, but he knows surviving in today’s college hockey world requires something different now.

“It’d be nice if Massachusetts could get back to producing a lot of great hockey players again. But in the time being, we can recruit Western Canada against North Dakota or against Denver, go out and recruit in the Midwest against Michigan,” Parker said. “We still don’t have a lot of success in Minnesota. Pulling kids out of Minnesota is a very difficult situation. But other than that state, we can go anywhere we want.”

Think college coaches aren’t evaluated players on social networks like Facebook?  Guess again.  NFL scouts even go to length of creating fake profiles of attractive women and friend potential draft picks to see how they will interact.  Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports reports on why coaches can’t afford to leave any stone unturned.

“It works like magic,” said a personnel source that was familiar with his team’s tactic of using counterfeit profiles to link to Facebook and Myspace pages of potential draft picks. The source directed Yahoo! Sports to one of the team’s “ghost profiles” – a term he coined because “once the draft is over, they disappear. It’s like they were never there.”

Most NFL players and draft picks still have their own profiles on social networking sites. Every potential first-round pick in this year’s draft currently maintains a presence on Facebook. But many of them learned long ago to scrub their pages of anything that would give teams ammunition to use against them. Perhaps they followed the lead of their predecessors.

“I have a Facebook page. I’m rarely on it. But when I was in college, I didn’t have anything to hide,” said Houston Texans defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, a 2007 first-rounder. “But I was just mindful of whatever was on there. If you had the slightest doubt that it might create some controversy [it wasn't on there]. My whole thing is that I live by the phrase ‘You don’t want to give anybody a reason.’ ”

If NFL coaches are going to this length, so are colleges.  Recruits need to be ware that photos posted of them in Middle School have the chance to later impact their recruiting efforts.  My advice is to avoid any potential scenario where you could be seen to be involved in questionable behavior.

But, recruits could take the idea one step further.  Since they know coaches will be following their activities online, why not use their page to highlight their best attributes?  Use it to show off their highlight video.  Use it to display the charity work they have done in the community.  Take another recruit’s smoking gun, and turn into an advantage.

Chad Musser, Football, Sterling College
Jack Lazar II, Football, University of Saint Francis
Ethan Kagy, Football, University of Toledo
Jeffrey Heiner, Football, Lindsey Wilson College
Jeremy Caseltine, Football, Miami University–Oxford
Paul Fackler, Football, University of Dayton
Tyler McClure, Football, King’s College
AJ White, Football, University of Texas-Austin
Pablo Gross, Football, Fort Lewis College
Roderick Thomas, Football, University of North Alabama
Anthony Tucker, Football, Augustana College
Casey Monaghan, Football, Virginia Tech
Justin Rayome, Football, Fort Lewis College
Justin Wortman, Football, University of Arkansas
Jamar Rogers, Football, Winston-Salem State University
Tyler Burns, Football, Loras College
Jacob Lilly, Football, Benedictine College
Brian Holman Jr., Football, Oklahoma Panhandle State University
Darrell Harris, Football, University of Charleston
Connor O’Hara, Football, University of Dayton
Quinton Pirl, Football, Robert Morris University
Jonathan Zytkoskee, Football, Wheaton College (IL)
Christopher Tozer, Football, Foothill College
Austin Kubit, Men’s Basketball, St. Xavier University
Taylor Alex, Men’s Lacrosse, Northern Arizona University
Jesse Brennan, Men’s Soccer, University of California–San Diego
Jake Geiger, Men’s Soccer, University of Dubuque
Kyle Adams, Men’s Soccer, Delta State University
Luke Snow, Men’s Soccer, Louisiana State University–Shreveport
Kenny Harriman, Men’s Track, Colorado State University
Courtney White, Softball, University of the Cumberlands
Autumn Taylor, Softball, George Washington University
Renae Tubergen, Softball, Aquinas College
Alyssa Bergquist, Softball, Whitworth College
Erin Johnson, Softball, Iowa State University
Catherine Hensley, Women’s Soccer, New Jersey City University
Katherine Sanderson, Women’s Soccer, Marietta College
Tara Simon, Women’s Soccer, California State University–San Marcos
Lauren Pfister, Women’s Soccer, Philadelphia University
Kyrsten Rezac, Women’s Swimming, University of Arkansas — Little Rock
Tamara Gagne, Women’s Track, Pittsburg State University
Betsy Stevenson, Women’s Volleyball, University of Montevallo

 It has been called “the window.” For example, experts say the Phoenix Suns have missed “their window” to win the NBA title.  The Cleveland Cavaliers are in “their window” to win it.

There is also a “window” to play college sports.

Last summer I was at State University of New York at New Paltz. I was talking with one of their college athletes. She said that when she was in high school she figured she had her four years of high school sports and four years of college sports and that was it. Sure, there would be adult league basketball and slo pitch softball and all of that, but she didn’t want to miss out on “the window” of playing college sports.

This past weekend I delivered “College Recruiting Simplified” at the NIKE Football Combine put on by ESPN RISE. Before speaking, I was talking to a high school football coach from Ohio. He talked about how precious the years were to play high school and college football. Once they were done, serious organized football was over for the great majority of players.

“I am over 40 years old,” he told me. “I can get a few of my buddies and we can play a basketball game. But I am not going to be able to get 21 of my buddies and play a real football game. Kids have one shot to play college football, and after that . . . ”

My advice – do everything you can to make college sports a reality. Don’t let “the window” go by.

Charlie Adams

Every year female hockey prospects have more opportunities to choose from. St. Norbert College is the most recent school to announce that they will add a women’s hockey team for the 2010-2011 season.

Current men’s head coach Tim Coghlin took over the fledgling St. Norbert program 16 seasons ago.

“When I came here, this was not recognized for hockey,” said Coghlin.  Working out of a trailer at the beginning, Coghlin has built the men’s team into a national power.  The new women’s team will have the added benefit of feeding off the highly successful men’s program.  Last year the Green Knights won the NCAA Division III national championship. Overall, they’ve made 10 NCAA tournament appearances.  “That’s the blueprint, the template,” Bald said. “Obviously, we don’t have to start with a trailer and start with growing pains that (Coghlin) had. His success is enabling the women’s hockey program to start where we’re at.”“The first step is for Bald to hire a head coach, which he hopes to do within the next few months.  You can have a really good hockey team in place by bringing someone in and starting them in August.  Giving them one entire calendar year makes all the difference in the world.”

Along with recruiting and purchasing equipment, the new coach will also have to figure out how to build a winning program.  It will have pretty high standards to contend with.“Don’t know if we can bring more attention,” Coghlin said. “If they win a national championship, then I guess so.”

The time is finally here – you have found your dream school. You can not wipe the grin off your face while you call your new coach to inform him that it’s official. Your parents take you out to dinner to celebrate. Your classmates give you high fives in the hall. Congratulations on making your final commitment but you still have one step left.Do you know what it is?

Notify the other coaches that were recruiting you.

Now is the time to contact all the other coaches who courted you throughout the last few years. A phone call is a nice gesture but in most cases a simple email will do the trick. Just do not neglect this courtesy. These coaches spent a lot of time and money telling you about their school and trying to prove that it was the right fit for you. Even though you made another decision, you still owe these coaches a heartfelt “thank you”. There is a good chance you will face off against these coaches for the next four years and in the tumultuous world of college coaching, you never know what the future will bring.

You have put a lot of time, energy and work into your recruiting process, and yes, you deserve some time to celebrate. Soon, however, you must begin your preparation to become a college athlete so do not leave any unfinished business behind you when you enter this next stage in your athletic career.