NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

It isn’t often that a high school coach bans a Division I football coach from his campus.  Especially when that coach’s name is Steve Spurrier.  But, that is just the case in Atlanta where Tucker High  Coach Franklin Stephens told reporters that Steve Spurrier is no longer welcome.  The rift began when South Carolina told Tucker High LB Jonathan Davis that it was pulling his scholarship offer.

“The bottom line … what South Carolina did to Jonathan was wrong,” Stephens told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Coach Spurrier accepted blame for the situation … [but he] is not going to do anything to fix the situation, therefore South Carolina will not be recruiting any more Tucker players.”

Initially this looks like a case of poor recruiting ethics, but beneath the surface things look a little murky.  Rumors are floating about poor grades, and a rogue, since departed, assistant coach who may have offered Davis without the consent from the staff.

Davis has spoken about moving on and realistically it is his only choice.

“No sir, I don’t feel that way about anybody at South Carolina. Actually, I’m thankful they [South Carolina] called me when they did and broke it off … I know it’s late in recruiting, but by letting me know then, it still gives us a little time to find another school. What would’ve been very disappointing would’ve been to sign with South Carolina, get up there next year, and then not get a chance to play because none of the [remaining] coaches wanted me there in the first place. So it’s better we ended things this way. I still have time.”

He is making the best of poor position, but I can’t help but wonder if things would have turned out better if he had some better guidance throughout the recruiting process.  Could he have seen this curve ball coming?  That is anyone’s guess, but I hope that this story will cause recruits to pause and really think about making a commitment.  Without a solid relationship to a coaching staff that commitment might just be an empty promise.

Fox Sports recently ran an article discussing the recent trend of scholarship offers coming as early as the 8th grade.   At least 10 sophomores and a handful of freshman basketball players have already committed.  In response the National Association of Basketball Coaches passed a non-binding rule asking coaches to not offer scholarships or accept commitments from players before June 15th following their sophomore year in high school. 

But, basketball is far from the only sport being affected.  Virtually every single NCAA sport has coaches offering and accepting scholarships earlier than ever.  Many are concerned:

Haney, the NABC executive director, said it’s difficult to predict if a junior high player will make enough progress on the court and in the classroom to live up to a commitment.

“Kids committing in the eighth or ninth grade, in some cases they haven’t even taken a core course toward initial eligibility,” Haney said.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop said college presidents and deans of admissions need to stop coaches from offering seats at their universities to players with no high school academic credentials.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski worries about high school students getting preoccupied with college instead of focusing on high school academics and experiences like the prom.

“They’re going to get screwed up a little bit,” Krzyzewski said. “You’ve got to stay in the moment. As a parent, I think you would be concerned.”

Morgan, the sports ethics expert, said coaches under intense pressure to win sometimes do things they otherwise wouldn’t. He said it’s up to the schools to stop them.

“Institutions can’t get off the hook here,” Morgan said. “Simply leaving these kind of decisions up to the coaches is an abdication of an ethical role of these institutions.”

However, some defend the open system.  Coaches at small programs argue the only way they can compete with larger BCS schools is to get started early.  Others point out that by committing early an athlete can help minimize distractions and focus on school.  Some even say its un-American to limit when someone can make a choice.  What do you think?

The recruiting process moves extremely quickly.  If you blink an eye your chance at playing in college could blow by before you even get a chance to get started.  So recruits need to prepare early in their high school careers so that they can act quickly when the times comes.

 However, sometimes recruits can move too quickly. and make a decision they will later regret.  Boston College Linebacker Mark Herzlich sat down with The New york Times to discuss his recruiting story. 

I guess my recruiting story was a little different than most people. I came out of high school and was decently recruited by some A.C.C. and Big 10 schools. It really came down at the end to Virginia and Boston College. And UVA was my first choice. I committed to there the summer before my senior year in June. I loved the campus, it was a great place and I could see myself fitting in there. They also run a 3-4 and the outside linebacker spot would be ideal for me there. To be honest, most other schools had recruited me as a defensive end. Boston College was another one who said we’re going to give you a shot at linebacker. In high school I weighed 260 and I was more projected as a defensive end.

The recruiting process was done and I didn’t take any visits before I committed. I had unofficially seen schools. My commitment to UVA happened and the season started. I was watching them and came down for a game and didn’t feel as at home as I had during the recruiting process. This is right at the time that Al Golden and Ron Prince had left. I was a little different. I would say that my relationship with the coaches hadn’t grown to the extent where it really affected my decision too much. It was more the fact that when I was down there and I was down there around the program, it didn’t seem to be a good fit for me. With these questions in my mind, I talked to my parents about it. I said that I made a big decision and a big commitment and I don’t know if it was right one. I did have a great relationship with the Boston College coaches, who are now down at N.C. State, so I called up Jason Swepson and asked him if I would be able to come up and take a visit because I wasn’t sure about my decision to go to UVA. He said, yeah sure, you can take an unofficial visit up here and we’ll keep it under the radar. You can tell UVA if you would like, not tell them if you don’t like. He said I need to give you a call back because I need to check with Coach O’Brien to see if your scholarship is still available. He called back and an hour later and said that it was. I came up a week later. It was between their last game and their bowl game, before they went out to Boise. I stayed with a player and then spent the night with my family and basically just realized that this was the place. It was the atmosphere, the coaching, the type of player that I loved. Basically I left, called UVA and told them that I had taken a visit. They weren’t very receptive to it. Basically from then on it was B.C. all the way.

Luckily, Mark took the time to visit schools early on in the process.  If he had not been so pro-active early on he wouldn’t have a relationship with Boston College to fall back on.   That being said, choosing a school is such an important decision that you shouldn’t commit until you feel ready.

The University of Miami (FL) signed 13 players for the 2008 class.  The class includes five pitchers and eight position players.  Ten players haul from the state of Florida and three from Texas.  Five of the newcomers were selected in the 2008 MLB Draft including junior college transfer Chris Herrmann who was taken in the 10th round.  Coach Morris expects all of these players to make an impact during the 2009 season.

NCSA student-athlete and Emory University freshman, Ben Schlang, made headlines last weekend by scoring the 20^th “golden goal” in school history. A “golden goal” is one that is scored during sudden death overtime. Ben’s goal was the first “golden goal” scored by an Emory freshman since 2000.

Ben hails from Cooper City, Florida and applied early to Emory last fall. Ben chose Emory primarily because of its excellent academic reputation and after visiting other Division I and Division III campuses he felt that everything about the school was the right fit.

                                                                                                                                                                                          The landscape of college recruiting has changed in recent years. There is no denying this fact. Most parents and former players remember a time when the senior year would determine the opportunities they had at the collegiate level after the fall seasons were complete. As seniors all over the country are finding out, scholarship offers have been made, some rosters are full and in many cases, doors have been closed. This can be a devastating realization for families that have not realized just how much the recruiting process has evolved over the years and thus accelerating its timeline. In most cases parents are left wondering, “Have we started to late?”I’m here to tell you there is still time. In the famous words of Douglas Adams, “Don’t Panic!” If you have a sincere desire to find a home to continue your athletic and academic career, there is a place for you to play. But I am going to be honest with you; the recruiting process is a game, plain and simple, and you have to know how to play it.

The first thing you have to realize the game has already started and you have to make up ground. Second, if you don’t know the rules of the game, or how it works, you can guess that you aren’t going to have much success in attempting to win the game. Now apply that analogy to the recruiting process and you can easily guess that your first step should be to get educated on exactly how the recruiting process works. Don’t go into this process blind, get educated and start making up ground.

First, you should read the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete. This will give you a ton of great info concerning the rules and regulations surrounding the recruiting process. You should use the information in this booklet to guide you on what sort of events should be happening to you throughout the year. You should quickly notice that there is a calendar of events or time periods that allow coaches to contact recruits through letters, calls and in person visits. This should allow you to construct a rough timeline for the recruiting process. Understanding this timeline is a great first step to becoming educated on how the process works and should really allow you to get off on the right foot with playing the game.

Now that you’re ready to play the game I want to pass along some very helpful advice on how you can make up ground. Recruiting is about relationship building. If you think of it in those terms it is easy to guess your next step. Whenever attempting to start any sort of relationship with someone, the first thing you would want to do is introduce yourself. Send out video, make phone calls, send emails, and get proactive! The more personal touches you can have with a coach and his staff, the more likely it will be that they will become comfortable enough with you as a player and a person to extend an offer. Use any means available to you to get in front of the coaching staffs that you want a chance to play for.

Be persistent and don’t take and don’t be afraid to hear the word no. Odds are there are going to be more schools that aren’t interested in having you play for you then there will be schools that are interested in playing for you. This is simply a numbers game. It’s ok to hear “no”, and “I’m not interested in players at your position,” you can hear one thousand “no’s,” but you only have to hear one “yes.” Odds are in your favor.

Again, keep in mind that you want to build a relationship with these coaches, so after you’re introduced don’t stop there, make sure to ask them questions, make visits and get to know the coaches that you want a chance to play for. A great way to build upon your relationship is to set up an unofficial visit to a local school. This way you can have an opportunity to ask questions about recruiting needs and opportunities at the various schools surrounding your home. Once you start to get introduced to these programs you should really start to see some momentum build for yourself, and hopefully those local contacts will turn into national contacts.

Building a strong relationship with each and every coaching staff that you are working with will ease some of the pressure of the recruiting process. It will make it easier to truly find out where you stand with them, and whether or not they plan to offer you a roster spot. If you’ve built a strong relationship, whatever the outcome concerning a scholarship, that coach will be an advocate for you in the future.

Remember there is still time left if you want to get involved with college athletics, but you have to start making up ground.  If you feel like you need assistance there are avenues you can explore to become more educated on how this process works. You only get one shot at the recruiting process, do not leave any stone unturned, and make sure to put in as much effort as possible and you will find success.

Typically the trend in lacrosse is that the goalie position is wrapped up and filled as early as possible. Some might say it is due to the growing nature of the sport, as others have expressed that there are just less spots on every team. Either way, athletes are giving their verbal commitments in recruiting earlier and earlier each year–no matter what their position. If you plan on playing at the next level you need to get seen by the college coaches at the big camps and tournaments the summer before your junior year, as well as, the summer months before your senior year.

Among the many reasons to enter the college sports recruiting process earning an athletic scholarship to pay for college is always at the top of the list. Playing in college offsets the burden of paying for college. After all, who wants to be paying for college 10 years after they graduate because of student loans? In May 2007, testimony before US congress revealed that a quarter of all students graduate with too much debt to pay back on a starting teachers salary. That is way too high.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be knowledgeable in the ways of Financial Aid?

I earned my MBA from one of the top business schools in the country and traded sophisticated financial instruments for over 20 years. I thought I could figure this financial aid thing out. I couldn’t. I needed help. I’m very glad I invested in professional advice that helped maximize the grants and scholarships my daughter received. One of the great things about NCSA is that their advice on how to maximize scholarship dollars actually works. And it continues to work. Except for the less than 1% of college athletes who have “full rides” (tuition, books, room & board, fees, transportation), most families must negotiate their financial aid package on an annual basis. Paying for that expert advice helped – a lot! As she enters her junior year, my daughter has received over $135,000 in financial aid. Not one penny of that is a student loan. It’s all grants that don’t have to be paid back. Do you think I’m happy with the professional advice I received? My return on that investment was over 6700.00 per cent!

When I talk to families and tell them that the freshman year of high school is the optimal period to begin recruiting, most parents and students will be in shock.

Now usually, I attribute that state to parents thinking that recruiting doesn’t begin until junior year. But maybe some parents thought freshman year was too late.

Why do I say this? Because incoming freshman hockey player Jordan Schmaltz already has verbally committed to the University of Wisconsin on a full athletic scholarship.

Talk about getting a jump on the game! From the article:

“It was a hard decision,” Schmaltz said Tuesday, “but I think Wisconsin is the place for me.”

What does Schmaltz’s father have to say about his son’s über-early commitment?

Mike Schmaltz said Jordan, who turns 15 in October, has seen a variety of hockey atmospheres in the U.S. and Canada and felt comfortable making a decision this early in his development.

“He’s got a pretty good idea of what he wants,” Mike Schmaltz said of his son.

Here’s the thing: I’m seeing a lot of so-called “weak” words from Jordan and Mike that don’t exactly emphasize the word “commitment” — namely ”think” and “pretty good.”  

The reason I tell everyone to get started on the recruiting process earlier than later is so you have optimal time to learn about as many schools as possible, get to know more about academics, athletics and college life at the vast majority of those schools and eventually make the best possible decision.

Now is this to say that if you get started your freshman year and commit by the time you’re a senior, you’re going to be attending the perfect school for you? Not always. But taking the time to examine every little thing about a school and a program greatly improves the odds.

And who knows? Maybe Wisconsin is the perfect school for him right now. But what about in four years, when Jordan grows from a young teenager to a young man? From experience, my ideals, priorities and maturity level significantly had changed from my first year of high school to my last, and I’m sure many of you out there would agree that the same happened to you.

Don’t think you’re going to the place for you. Get started early, take your time and know you’re going to the right place.

Do you think the college athletic recruiting process should provide you with the highest number of opportunities? Do you think understanding college athletics recruiting can reveal the perfect college fit for you? How do you go about increasing your opportunities? What system should you employ to make sure you are selecting the right opportunity for you?

College coaches begin by initially contacting 1,000 or 2,000 or even 10,000 (depending on the sport) student athletes by sending them camp brochures, emails, questionnaires, etc. Those same college coaches are clearly not recruiting all of those student-athletes. Why do they start with such a large pool? They are following the advice of Marketing 101: the more kids who they find out about, the better chance they’ll find the really quality student-athlete who will help their program. If that’s a good strategy for college coaches, shouldn’t a student-athlete use the same strategy? Doing so will increase your number of opportunities.

A savvy student-athlete will learn as early as freshman year that they need to develop trust-based relationships with college coaches. This can only happen through communication. Since the NCAA restricts the amount and timing of contacts initiated by college coaches, the student-athlete must be proactive. Unfortunately, the 14 or 15 year old student-athlete doesn’t have the life experiences or the maturity to begin building relationships with adults. The good news is they can be trained in that skill set. It’s like interviewing for a job. 

College recruiting boils down to trust-based relationships between college coaches and student-athletes. What college coach is going to make a significant investment in a student-athlete unless they know a lot more about that student-athlete than her/his performance on the playing field?

If you agree with playing the numbers game and building trust-based relationships with college coaches, have you thought about how you would do that? If you’re a student-athlete reading this, do you think your parents can do this for you? If so, you better forget about playing sports in college. Do you think your coach can do this for you? Again, if so, you better forget about finding the perfect college fit for you. You are the one that needs to take charge. You can only do that if you develop the skill set to do so. Who will teach you that?

Finally, if you do all of the above correctly, how do you determine the right fit? There are many different factors including: academic quality of the school, size of school, location of school, financial aid package, level of competition, opportunity to play early, getting along with the coaching staff and players, receiving tutoring help (if necessary), etc. There is a way to logically sort out all of those factors. If you need help, go here.