NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

I speak with 30-40 families weekly about college recruiting and I’m amazed at the lack of knowledge of the APR – Academic Progress Rate. Here is a very long article that is a must read for any parent of a 9th grader, or older, who has aspirations to play in college. It details the 4 stages of penalties for athletic programs that the NCAA imposes should their athletes not make progress toward graduation. If you have questions, go here.

Q: What college would you recommend for an athlete looking for a good mix of soccer and academics?

A: Finding the “right fit” is important. You need to find a school that fits your needs both athletically AND academically. Connecting qualified athletes with coaches based on their positional needs is the first step, a player can then filter through schools to find the right academic fit to go along with the opportunity to play college sports. To find out how a school compares to others based on both academic and athletic factors check out NCSA’s Power Rankings.

In our July 21st newsletter we wanted to know if you had any questions about recruiting. Here’s one:

Q: What are the minimum standardized test scores you need for a D1 school?

A: Individual college admissions vary depending on schools. For example, a highly selective, ivy league type school generally only admits students with scores of:
SAT: 
   Critical Reading: 690+
   Math: 700+
ACT: 31+

Whereas a less selective school would only require scores of:
SAT:
   Critical Reading: 460+
   Math: 450+
ACT: 18+

Admissions also put into account GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, and writing samples so these numbers are only a generalization.

In regards to NCAA Division I scholarships, in order to be eligible to receive one, the NCAA has a sliding scale of requirements. The higher one’s GPA is, the lower their test score must be and vice versa. For example, a student with a 3.0 GPA needs an SAT Composite score of 620 (Critical Reading + Math) whereas one with a 2.0 GPA has to earn a 1010 to be eligible. The minimum GPA to be eligible for an athletic scholarship is a 2.0 with the minimum SAT score being 400. You can view the full scale here.

With how competitive college recruiting has become, potential student athletes need to be able to siphon through the pitches offered by smooth talking recruiters and be able to pick out legitimate interest. In order to help recruits better understand their chances at actually joining a program that has shown interest in them, University of Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall has suggested that early offers by college coaches should be eliminated reports Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham News.

[Edsall] doesn’t believe [schools] should be able to offer scholarships in any sport until September 1 of a recruit’s senior year. That’s when an academic transcript should be able to point to them being able to tackle college classes first, and college football second.

“You can’t admit a kid to a school without a junior year transcript and a test score,” Edsall said. “Why should football programs be able to commit to a kid in his junior year without an SAT score?”

He wants to deter kids from early commitments.

“What we are teaching kids is their word and our word doesn’t mean a thing,” Edsall said. “A kid commits and de-commits and then a program can go back on a previous offer once they have the players they need at his position. I’ve heard of coaches that offer kids having never seen them on film. They offer because everyone else is and want to get in the game. I’ve heard about coaches who offer a 150-200 kids a year.”

Would it hurt if Mr. Super Recruit committed in September of his senior year? It might help. Does a kid who is verbally bound to a big-name school bang out that extra rep in the weight room when his future is secure?

“Some kids, you tell them they they’ve got a scholarship, they don’t work as hard, and they don’t develop into the player you thought they’d be,” he said. “A lot of these 16- and 17-year-old players are not mature enough to handle all this attention. It is too much attention.”

He believes an early signing period to be a must should things continue to go unchecked. He believes the high school coach is being left out of the recruiting process. He believes secondary violations wouldn’t be so popular if schools lost the right to woo players they didn’t recruit according to the rule book.

It’s great to see a college coach (especially on who has rebuilt a program back into a contender) understand that there are more important things in a player than 40 times and bench press maxes. He knows that maturity and an ability to handle the stresses of college life are what can make or break an athlete.

From a recruit’s stand point, Edsall brings up a good point about the legitimacy of offers. Athletes have to keep themselves educated about how interested a school really is. A recruiter can offer the world but you might not be first in line. That’s why it helps to have experienced professionals in your corner to help guide you along the way, to help you set realistic goals and to educate you in the recruiting process.

Evaluating a potential recruit’s recruiting potential is extremely difficult.  Due to the process moving earlier each year, coaches have to make difficult decisions without the luxury of sitting back and seeing a player will develop.  A huge part of that process is how a player will develop academically.  The Columbus Dispatch took a look at how Ohio State tries to gauge a recruits academic ability.

When Ohio State recruit Carlos Hyde failed to qualify academically for this fall, it was a surprise.

“All indications were that he was going to make it,” said Bill Kurelic, a recruiting analyst for Bucknuts.com and ESPN.com.

What’s equally surprising, though, is that it doesn’t happen more often. Hyde was just the fifth OSU recruit to fall short in coach Jim Tressel’s nine recruiting classes — out of 178 signees.

Evaluating high school players is a complex process. It’s tough enough to watch game video, or see a player perform drills at a camp, and try to project whether he is talented enough to be worth a precious scholarship.

But evaluating whether he can meet academic standards is an even thornier process.

“It’s very different when you have to look into the hearts and minds of these kids,” said Allen Wallace, national recruiting analyst for Scout.com. “There’s a certain amount of guesswork involved. It’s subjective.”

Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman said the key in determining a recruit’s academic potential is to talk to as many people as possible who know him — parents, teachers, coaches and counselors.

Recruiters ask about the player’s character; how motivated is he to work to make the grade?

These days, the job is even tougher, Bollman said, because the trend is toward recruiting players at a younger age.

“You don’t have near the perspective that you had 10 years ago,” he said. “You’re recruiting juniors who haven’t even taken a (college-entrance) test yet.”

Student-athletes should take their academic reputation very seriously.  Taking extra steps like taking the PSAT early in high school or participating in extra curricular activities can go a long way to proving that the student-athlete takes academics very seriously.

In an ESPN article, Andy Katz shows how ever changing practice regulations put in place by the NCAA may be shifting drastically in college basketball.

College coaches have whined for years about the lack of access to their current players in the summer.
The complaint is legitimate. Anyone — notably agents and their hand-picked workout employees — can have complete access to the players. To think there isn’t any influence over the player, especially on his game, is naive. That doesn’t mean all the advice from a third party is wrong. It’s not. But college coaches want to be in control of a player’s college career.

They might finally get their wish — with a hitch.

Next month in Indianapolis, the NCAA’s board of directors will listen to a proposal from the basketball academic enhancement committee, chaired by UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, that would allow coaches access on the court with players as long as they’re in summer school.

The model would be that over an eight-week period the coach would have access to the player, with two hours a week in skill development and the other hours to be determined, with possible uses like watching tape, observing pickup games or weight-room workouts. The only thing the coaches couldn’t do is have a full practice.

Guerrero said the minimum for a player to be eligible to participate is three hours of summer school in the initial year. In the subsequent summers, the player must attend six hours to be eligible to work out with his coach. The NCAA won’t make this mandatory because there are a number of schools that don’t have summer school (like schools in the Ivy League). According to Guerrero, there is also a cost analysis that has to be taken into consideration.

This is obviously a long awaited change for both coaches and players. Many players enroll in summer school without this ruling in place in order to lighten their academic load during the season. Now while they are advancing academically, they can also improve athletically with coaches that know what specific skills they have to improve. Also, this is a great way to keep players out of trouble. There have been many recent examples of NCAA sanctions that have hurt the eligibility of player. If coaches have more contact with players, they can make sure they stay out of trouble and on top of their grades.

But what does this mean for basketball recruits? According to Katz:

If this is passed in the legislative cycle next year, the July evaluation period might get another tweak in 2010. If college coaches are allowed to work with their own players in July, it will lead to even more coaches and assistant coaches heading back to campus either in place of or between recruiting evaluation assignments in July.

This means that there will be even less time to get evaluated by college coaches! The recruiting world is competitive as it is and if coaches have fewer opportunities to look at potential players it’s even more important that you familiarize yourself with the Five Things You Need to Know About Recruiting and the Five Things You Need to Do to Get Recruited in order to give yourself an edge over the competition.

Senior Courtney Kupets, a female gymnast from the University of Georgia has been named the top female athlete in 2008-2009 according to an ESPN article.

She [Kupets] led Georgia to its fifth straight NCAA crown in April, amassing individual titles in the all-around, bars, beam and floor competition.

On Monday, Kupets won the Honda-Broderick Cup, given to the nation’s top female college athlete. She received the award at Columbia University.

“One person cannot win a team sport alone,” Kupets said. “It was because of the great team camaraderie.”

In 2003, Kupets tore her left Achilles tendon, but recovered in time to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics. On the world stage, she won the Olympic silver medal in the team all-around and captured individual bronze in the uneven bars.

In her junior year, Kupets tore her other Achilles tendon while performing the floor routine and needed surgery in March 2008. She gained strength from her older sister, Ashley, who also competed in gymnastics despite numerous injuries.

At the NCAA championships in Lincoln, Neb., Kupets’ four titles in April tied the record for a single national meet. She earned three 10s the first two days of the meet and came close to another one on the balance beam.

Coupled with a win in the vault in 2007, Kupets became the first gymnast to win a national title in each event. She clinched it by winning the floor exercise.

Kupets ended her career with a record nine individual titles in just three seasons, beating the mark of eight by Kentucky’s Jenny Hansen over four seasons in 1995.

Kupets is talented in the classroom as well, where she’s majoring in housing and consumer economics. She won Georgia’s Marilyn Vincent Award as the senior female athlete with the highest GPA (3.78).

Congrats to Courtney, she is an example that with enough hard work and dedication, anyone can achieve their athletic goals despite adversity.

Bob Howdeshell, a former Philidelphia Phillies player and an associate scout for the Cinicinatti Reds, has written an article on the common pitfalls of high school athletes. While the article is targeted towards baseball players, athletes from every sport can learn from his advice. Howdeshell lists “The Big Three” mistakes a player can make as them having:
•  No sense of urgency that time is slipping by
•  Inability to listen to Coaches and Teachers
•  The way I dress and act is just “my style” and if they want me, they know where to find me, then I will change

He continues to say that

Believing that attitude has very little to do with your appeal to a college coach and My poor work habits will improve when I get around a college coach are also ideas that can hurt a recruits chances.

He finishes the article by pointing out things that do not go unnoticed by college recruiters. Some negative are:
•  Long Hair & Facial Hair
•  Earrings & Tattoos
•  Poor fitting uniform
•  Being unprepared to play
•  Being late for a game
•  Being rude or obnoxious
•  Tantrums, swearing, helmet or bat throwing
•  Arguing with Umpires 
•  Always having an excuse
•  Immature behavior

Some positives:
•  Clean, well kept appearance
•  Wearing the uniform correctly
•  Hustle and Enthusiasm
•  Encouraging teammates
•  Arriving early to game
•  Helping clean up gear after the game
•  Good speaking abilities
•  Working hard in the classroom
•  Addressing adults with respect (yes sir and yes ma’am, etc)

For a player of any sport interested in having the chance to continue their careers past high school, this should be a great guide as to how to make yourself look more appealing to college coaches. Because of his position as a professional scout, Howdeshell obviously understands the inner aspects of recruiting.

This year’s winner of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winner defines the ideals of the premier student athlete.

University of Florida infielder Brandon McArthur, a student-athlete who helped his team to the NCAA Super Regional after overcoming a serious injury his freshman year, has been selected as the winner of the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the baseball division.

The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of coaches, media and fans, is presented annually to college baseball’s outstanding NCAA Division I senior student-athlete. The announcement and trophy presentation were made today by Lowe’s, an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, during the 2009 NCAA Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award has grown into the nation’s premier tribute to college seniors. The award identifies personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete, with criteria including excellence in the classroom, character and community, as well as competition on the field.

McArthur ended his senior year with a .338 batting average, 41 runs batted in, 25 runs scored and three home runs. He led the team with 14 doubles. Florida finished the season ranked ninth in the nation with a 42-22 overall record. The Gators were eliminated from the 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship by Southern Mississippi in the Super Regional.

McArthur received his bachelor’s degree in criminology and is working towards a master’s degree in anthropology. He carries a 3.21 GPA and is a four-time selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. He is one of only four Gator student-athletes to have been named to the conference honor roll at least four times.

In the community, McArthur regularly donates his time to various local causes, including Special Olympics, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the March of Dimes. He recently received a President’s Volunteer Service Award, recognizing his contributions to the Gainesville community. In addition, he is a two-time selection to the SEC Baseball Community Service Team, highlighting one baseball player from each conference school for his superior service efforts.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Brandon displays the character that college coaches dream of. While his on-field accolades are impressive alone, when considered in conjunction with the work he has done in the community, his example is one that all student athletes should want to mimic.

It is well known that hard work is a necessity if any athlete wants to achieve their dream of competing at the collegiate level. Hours in the gym, countless repetitions, sound recruiting strategies, and good old fashion luck are required if they want to make it to the next level. However, it is often seen that these are not the only factors that coaches look at when deciding whether or not a student-athlete is worthy of a scholarship, or even a spot on the roster. It is becoming more and more evident that a student’s academic accolades as well as their overall character are able to make or break their chances of continuing their athletic careers. Academic merits are able to make a recruit more appealing to a coach. First, if they qualify for academic scholarships, it lowers the burden of a coach to divide limited athletic scholarships throughout an entire team. Secondly, academic failure can lead to sanctions against a program. A recent example would be that of the Florida State University football team. The NCAA recently divulged information of academic indecency at the school, including 61 players within the football program. The result of these finding could be head coach Bobby Bowden losing 14 of his career wins (his current 382 puts him one win behind Joe Paterno for the title of all-time winningest Division 1-FBS coach). The scandal does not reflect well upon the program or institution as a whole. It is a scar that will mark the prestige of a program, costing it alumni dollars as well as student interest. Academic failure can also result in the loss of scholarships for a program, thus making them less able to compete at the highest level. The final example of the importance of academics within college recruiting is that a high academic standing is often associated with a high moral standing. Coaches are committed to winning, and that requires coachable players. Players with off the field issues are shied away from by recruiters. Lance Stephenson deemed as “once the most-hyped recruit in the country” by Chris Chase of Yahoo! Sports “enters June without a school, without much hype and with many recruiting circles saying he’s not worth the trouble”. Stevenson has pending criminal charges and some question his amateur status. This has led most college coaches to lose interest in him because of the burden Stephenson would be on the chemistry of their team. Even Gary Williams who Chase describes as being “desperate to sign a big-time national recruit” following some disappointing seasons has deemed Stephenson’s services unworthy of the baggage that would follow him.

These examples make it obvious that a prospective collegiate student-athlete cannot simply concentrate on improving their athletic premise. It is necessary that an athlete stay out of trouble and in the classroom. With the competitive state that college recruiting is in today, athletes cannot afford to give coaches a reason not to recruit them.