NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

While college recruiting for many student-athletes is a rewarding and educational experience, the process can also be extremely frustrating and overwhelming.  Unfortunately, this frustration often times results in too many student-athletes wondering “what could have been” and leaves everyone involved pointing the finger at someone else at the end of the process.  Typically, there is no “one person” to blame and the common excuses are entirely understandable given the lack of experience most families have with recruiting.

The good news is that due to changes in recruiting in the last decade, many of the common excuses for recruiting failure can be easily avoided…

Do any of the following statements sound familiar?

“I play for a small high school and college coaches will never find me…”

“I am stuck behind a talented, older student-athlete and will never get the playing time I need to be recruited…”

“My high school team is 0-15 and they are killing my chances at getting noticed…”

“My high school coach has done nothing to help me with the recruiting process…”

For those of you who have gone through the recruiting process as a parent or student-athlete, you have undoubtedly heard one of the above reasons for recruiting disappointment.  While these factors certainly have an impact on a prospect’s recruiting process, they do not make or break success the way they once did.

As a minor disclaimer…I thoroughly appreciate why these sentiments would frustrate a student-athlete and like I said, they will have an affect on the process, but….

Think about all the advances in technology and how they have made the exchange of information between recruits and college coaches much easier than in the past.  The internet has opened new lines of communication, created efficient distribution channels, and quite simply, changed the way college coaches recruit.  The recruiting playing field is more level than ever…you just need to know how to take advantage of it!

Let’s address the traditional recruiting frustrations one at a time…

“My high school coach has done nothing to help me with the recruiting process…”

Although we have discussed why your high school coach cannot get you a scholarship in the past, it’s certainly worth reviewing again because every year it seems to be a common source of contention.  20-30 years ago, the high school coach played a much different role in college recruiting.  Much of this role centered on the access to game footage. 

Back in those days, high school coaches were almost always the only ones who had film, which forced college coaches to partner with them.  College coaches would plan recruiting trips that included stops at high schools that allowed them to review film.  This forged relationships that did in fact have a strong influence on recruiting. 

Today, college coaches have a variety of ways to review film.  Families can now film their own games with affordable video equipment and distribute it directly to college coaches.  While the high school coach can still be very helpful in this part of the process, they are no longer required.  As a result, any authority they might have had over a college coach has been greatly diminished.

Make sure to develop a strong relationship with your high school coach, because they can serve as a great mentor and a reliable reference, but keep in mind the average coach has fewer than 5 contacts with the college coaching community.  Recruiting responsibility ultimately lies with the student-athlete and no one else!

“I play for a small high school and college coaches will never find me…”

This seems to be the recruiting frustration most affected by the developments in technology.  Simply put, geographic location used to have a huge impact on college recruiting based on the difficulty coaches had in receiving information about prospects from rural areas.

However, with the internet and subsequent recruiting resources that have emerged, geographic location can be overcome to a certain degree with even the slowest of internet connections.  There are countless websites and online avenues that a student-athlete can utilize to gain exposure to college coaches. 

Think about this scenario…

The year is 1980 and a student-athlete is interested in sending their information to 50 college coaches.  Here is the process they would have to go through: First they would have to create a physical, paper athletic and academic resume.  The next step would most likely include a trip to the local library to search through a college guide to find the addresses of each college program on the list.  Once the list of addresses had been gathered, the student-athlete would have to put together a mailing list and send it out through the traditional mail…Seems rather tedious, doesn’t it?  To top it off, since the college coaches had most likely never heard of that student-athlete before, who knows if the information would have been reviewed at all?

Today, a student-athlete can create an athletic and academic resume on line in a matter of minutes.  They can then find the email addresses of most the college coaches in the country online and then put together an email campaign and send the information out.  Now that sounds a little better, doesn’t it?

“My high school team is 0-15 and they are killing my chances at getting noticed…”

While there are unquestionably some exposure advantages that can be had from playing for a state powerhouse with a tradition for winning, even student-athletes at a weaker quality high school program can gain exposure.  Using the internet as we have talked about and having a properly edited highlight and skills video can go a long way towards overcoming this obstacle. 

In the past, playing for an awful team might have truly hindered a student-athlete’s potential to play at the next level.  However, a student-athlete can now generate the initial exposure using the internet, and a college coach is ultimately looking for a qualified prospect regardless of the team’s success.  If a college coach were to watch film on a baseball player who is throwing 90 mph or a quarterback who can throw the ball 65 yards, they are going to recruit that student-athlete regardless of how many wins the high school team has.

“I am stuck behind a talented, older student-athlete and will never get the playing time I need to be recruited…”

This one is tough.  Yes, playing behind a quality athlete who might have the advantage of seniority can have an impact on a student-athlete’s recruiting.  However, if the student-athlete who is on the receiving end of this lack of playing time is truly a qualified student-athlete, there is no reason they cannot distribute their information to college coaches.  It will be important to capture any varsity game footage possible, even if its limited, and combine that with the athletic and academic information that college coaches would be interested in to get your name on their recruiting list.  This way, come senior year, the college coaches will already know your name, you will have started a recruiting relationship, and they can make sure to monitor your progress.  Waiting to get involved with college coaches until you begin playing every second of the game will significantly hamper the recruiting process.

Just as example of how you can use the resources available to overcome the playing time issue, here is a wonderful recruiting story that recently happened at NCSA.

We began working with a senior football player out of Texas.  Due to quality competition, this student-athlete was not even starting at the varsity level as a senior.  Although he received playing time, mostly late in the game when the outcome was not in question, based on his size and his willingness to pursue opportunities at all levels, our football department felt like he was someone we could help.  Using the limited game footage, we introduced him to a number of DII and DIII colleges.  Within weeks, this student-athlete, who hardly played at the high school level, had received two DII scholarship offers.

Does this happen to every backup varsity athlete?  No.  Is recruiting tougher if you are not playing full time as a Junior or Senior?  Yes.  However, if you are realistic in the level of competition you can play and you take advantages of all the resources that are available online and through technology, you can overcome many of the difficulties recruits once faced. 

Finally, your high school athletic experience no longer defines your recruiting success.  Club experience is now more accessible and more necessary than ever in many sports.  College coaches love club experience.  They view this experience as a higher level of competition and in some sports might not even recruit a student-athlete who lacks it.  Sports such as soccer, volleyball, softball, basketball, and baseball all have strong club and travel team presences.  Involvement with these types of teams in many cases will trump the high school experience all together, if not at least make up for a poor quality high school team. 

The recruiting process will indubitably cause some sort of frustration for even blue-chip recruits.  That reality is an unfortunate product of the current system.  However, families should be optimistic that there are resources readily available, if they are willing to be proactive, to help get past a few of the traditional roadblocks that have plagued recruits in the past. 

In an article in Dec. 4th’s Wall Street Journal, Harvard’s endowment has been hit by losses of 22% in the 4 months between July 1st and October 31st.  That’s 8 Billion dollars!  More than the total endowments of all but 6 universities.  Income from Harvard’s endowment funds 35% of its budget.  That includes athletics.  As mentioned in the article, all other college endowments have suffered a similar fate.  State schools, who don’t have large endowments, must cut back because of reduced tax receipts. 

So what does that mean to student athletes and their parents?  First, recruiting budgets for college coaches are going to be reduced.  That means less travel for coaches.  They will be relying more on video than ever before to evaluate talent.  Second, college coaches are going to be more careful in their selections.  So those high school students they’ve known the longest (starting freshman year) will be more likely to score the scholarship.  Third, colleges will be reducing the financial aid awarded for academics.  A smaller percentage of elite students will receive the top awards.  A student athlete who wants to compete will need better grades and test scores than ever.  She/he better be working on that starting freshman year!  Fourth, large state institutions will be cutting costs.  That means larger class sizes for required courses.   If your student-athlete doesn’t do well in class sizes of 300 or more, then they need to find a better fit.  Finally, student-athletes will be competing harder than ever for the existing scholarship dollars.  That competition will be in the work out room, in the class room, in preparing for college entrance exams, and finally in knowing the rules of the recruiting game.   How can you gain a significant competitive advantage over others and win the recruiting game?  Start here.

It is the time of the year where I get a lot of, ”Is it too late for me to find a place to play?”  Absolutely NOT!  Coaches at Division II and III are just getting into their main recruiting season.  I encourage every athlete with the desire to play to pick up the phone and start calling college coaches today.  You can also contact NCSA for an evaluation to learn how we can jump start your recruiting cycle.  As the video below proves, you never know… 

 Today’s New York Times posted a great article about the emergence of Internet videos as a tool for college athletic recruiting.  The article examined how a father initially posted a YouTube video for fun and soon his daughter was being recruited.

A couple of hundred fans were on hand in Weston, Fla., in 2006 to see April Carson break the Tequesta Trace Middle School record for 3-pointers in a game. But her father posted an Internet Video of the performance, which has been viewed more than 11,000 times by people who have joined that small crowd in watching April sink seven 3-pointers.

Among the expanded audience were representatives of women’s college basketball programs across the country. Baylor, Clemson, Princeton and Yale have sent recruiting questionnaires and e-mail messages to April’s family.

Now a 15-year-old high school sophomore, April is among a growing group of young athletes to benefit from the growing influence of Internet video on sports.

“Originally, I just wanted to make a highlight reel as a keepsake,” said Billy Carson, April’s her father and A.A.U. coach.

But after his homemade highlights of April drew a following, Billy Carson changed his approach. He and his daughter sent YouTube links of their videos via e-mail messages to college programs.

“You have to be aggressive and seek out colleges that you are interested in, especially today,” Billy Carson said.

College coaches acknowledge that the internet has become a primary tool in identifying talent for their programs.

Chris Gobrecht, the Yale women’s basketball coach, said it was now common for coaches to receive e-mail messages with video links. Recruiting rules prohibited Gobrecht from commenting specifically on Carson. But she described online highlights as “a good place to start” in scouting talent.

Alas there is a downside

The problem is that you can’t see well or judge if someone will truly help your team from just a video,” Gobrecht said.

Despite the clear benefits, Marie Hardin, an associate professor of journalism at Penn State who teaches course on sports media, said “Coaches need the chance to talk to a player, and see them play to accurately assess their talent.”

At NCSA we taken this Internet model and strengthened it with our verified Scouting Reports (compare it to a typical YouTube Video here).  Our Scouting Reports are a vast improvement on an email with a video link.  The video is a marked improvement featuring improved flash clarity, spot shadowing, and proper sequencing.  We couple the video with verified grades and stats to make it a complete snap shot for any college coach. 

When NCSA puts its trusted name on a prospect a college coach is far more likely to actually view the video.  A coach can then easily look at a players contact information and begin the next steps towards deciding if a prospect is worthy of a scholarship.  I encourage every recruit to get their name out on the internet.  I would also encourage every recruit to learn the advantage of an NCSA enhanced video.

I’ve got this great new car that I think you’d like – V-8 engine, leather interior, personal navigational system, Dolby Digital Surround sound, anti-lock breaks, gets 40 mpg, and handles like a dream. Here’s a picture of it:

Like it? That will be $110,000, please.

Wait, you’re not going to buy it? Why not? I’ve given you all of the specs and you’ve seen a picture of it! What else do you need?

Oh, you want a test drive!

Hopefully by now, you’ve caught on the where I’m going with this. High school student-athletes (and their familes, for that matter) often wonder why they’re not being looked at by more colleges and why they’re not getting scholarships to play at the ones that are looking at them, even though they have a profile and a picture of themselves.

Here’s the kicker though. They don’t have a highlight video. What that means is that coaches can’t take a “test drive.”

Before coaches shovel out scholarship dollars in your direction, they need to make sure you’re worth the investment by seeing you play. And because schools don’t have unlimited recruiting budgets, they unfortunately can’t travel to all 20,000 high schools across the nation for that to happen. So, the highlight video is the coach’s best friend. 

It’s one thing if you can run a 4.5 forty. It’s another thing entirely if the coach can see you use that speed to break away from tacklers. You can bench 250, but can you use that strength to bring down the charging tight end? The fastball hit 85 mph on the gun. The question is, did it hit where the catcher’s mitt was?

It’s one thing to see the car and its specs. It’s something totally different to get in and take it for a spin.

(And I don’t have a Maserati … sorry.)

 With Football season kicking off recruits are starting to send tapes to colleges all over the country knowing that decisions on scholarships are offered at a sometimes blinding pace.  Many athletes are depending on their high school coach to assist with the process.  At Fleming Island, one of the top athletic high schools in Florida, Coach Neal Chipoletti is working overtime to make sure his players get the recognition they deserve.  Gatorcountry.com details Coach Chipoletti’s efforts in assisting 2010 Florida commit Ian Silberbman:

“We sent out Ian’s highlight tape to over 100 schools across the country,” Fleming Island coach Neal Chipoletti said. “If a kid demonstrates the interest in playing college football, we will do everything we can to help them out.”

Fleming Island offensive line coach Damenyum Springs has known all along that he has a big time player on his hands. He knew it wouldn’t be long until the rest of the country discovered what he already knew.

“A lot of people didn’t know or hadn’t seen him,” Springs said of Silberman, whose first season as a starter was last season as a sophomore. “His highlight film was nice and people said ‘wow, how did we miss this kid?’ Then everyone jumped [to try and recruit him].”

Chipoletti said he bought $1,500 worth of DVDs, in order to make highlight tapes for his players and also has invested heavily into audio-visual equipment to help make the process go smooth.

Things have paid off quickly for Fleming Island, which has sent 30 players to college in only five seasons of fielding a varsity football team.

Overall, it takes a total commitment from everyone involved at the program to help kids make it to the next level.

“My principal and athletic director have been very supportive of everything we’ve done,” Chipoletti said. “They’ve allowed me to bring in talented coaches … the coaches who coach for me are professionals and do a great job with the kids.”

What parent and recruits all over the country need to realize is that the effort by Coach Chipoletti is far from the norm.  Even with all of his extra work several issues need to be considered.  There is a tremendous cost involved with sending so many DVD’s around the country.  For athletes that aren’t targeting D1 schools, 100 schools may not be enough.  Also, many athletes are asked by coaches to send in updates as the season progresses or early next season.  If this is the case the tremendous cost and effort in sending out so many DVD’s will have to be repeated.  Can you count on your high school coach for that much help?

The reality is that you can’t.  Coaches are paid to coach, not to find athletes a place to play in college.  That is why thousands of athletes are turning to NCSA’s verified scouting reports.  They allow athletes to quickly send updated information and video to coaches around the country efficiently.  Too many athletes wait too long waiting for help that never arrives.  I suggest that you get moving today.

Recently, while evaluating football players for the NCSA/Takkle Top 200 list at our offices in Chicago, founder and CEO of NCSA Chris Krause came into the room to check on the progress of the project. At that time I reported to Chris that things were moving a bit slower than planned. The reason? The quality of some of the DVD’s that were to be evaluated. These DVD’s were of some of the possibly best football candidates in the country and they weren’t up to par!

Chris and I began to discuss as to what actually is a good DVD and what is a DVD that would be considered sub-par. Let me begin by saying that in this day and age, there is no excuse for a DVD being sent to colleges that does not give a clear picture as to the abilities of the young man in question. Let’s look at it this way — when you consider all of the hours, days, months and years that a young man prepares as a player and when his “audition” finally occurs, it is displayed in a manner that makes the sum and total of his efforts difficult to discern. It’s just is not fair to him, his team or his family.

This process should not be difficult. Camera equipment and the use of the equipment in today’s era of technology should be considered as an investment in the future of the young men on a particular team. When you consider the number of players on a high school team and the cost of basic and good equipment, the cost is minimal. There are adequate cameras that actually cost less than the amount of money needed to suit up one player!

Parents as well as booster club members need to investigate and know the quality of camera equipment at their respective school. As a college coach, I don’t want a huge production of a game tape. I want clear and concise footage that permits me to initially identify the prospect in question and to watch game footage knowing exactly where he lines up on every play.

I don’t want to have to be a “detective” searching for the young recruit on every snap of the ball. Again, I need a clear and concise tape that moves along in a manner that affords the evaluating coach an opportunity to make a fair and accurate evaluation.

Consider the consequences of poor footage. I can only reflect upon the years and years of being met by literally hundreds of VHS tapes in the staff room at the beginning of the evaluation process — hours and hours of evaluation that need to move along expeditiously in order to complete the process. At times, we had difficulty identifying a young man in question, so his particular tape was moved to “the back of the line.” This should never happen. It is just unfair to a young guy who has so much invested in his performance.

Every school has an AV office with trained professionals that should be solicited, and yes, compensated for the effort in assisting with the presentation of good game footage. Many times, these wonderful people just love to be included with “the team.” Look to these people at your school — include them, make them part of your football family. That investment will bring huge benefit to your program. Their technical knowledge will not only bring a very viewable tape to the table, but also, their expertise will be able to identify players with an actual arrow pointing to the player in question or use the technique known as “spot shadowing.”

Spot shadowing is the process by which a player singled out just prior to the snap with a bit of a shadow. Ah! Spot shadowing! An evaluators dream! At NCSA we have the ability to do both of these techniques. We are able also to educate you as to what college coaches are looking for in a prospect’s tape.

Finally, please do not let all of those hard, tough days on the practice field go unrewarded when all is said and done because there was not prudent diligence in the preparation of game footage. It is your duty and responsibility to know that when your school sends out a recruiting DVD, it is minimally of a quality that gives the young guy in question the opportunity to be evaluated in a fair manner as he pursues his dream of playing in the college ranks.

 Why do high school student athletes want to play collegiate athletics?  I speak with so many student athletes who express that commitment on a daily basis and often times I wonder if they truly realize the advantages of being a collegiate athlete. Outside of love for their sport which is the best reason to want to continue to play at the next level, I believe that if student athletes realized the ancillary benefits of partaking in collegiate athletics, their desire to maximize the recruiting process would increase significantly. 

I have often contemplated writing a list of all the rewards that accompany playing collegiate athletics to pass along to prospective student athletes, but quickly realized that it might take hours if not days.  Secondary advantages such as an immediate community of possible friends on a new college campus all the way to an instant alumni network for career opportunities after college fall into this extensive list that student athletes should think about.  I believe it will inherently create more value on the goal at hand and thus a greater attention to the steps required to achieve that goal.   

Student athletes should realize that a love for their sport should serve as their main motivation for working hard in the classroom, on the field, and throughout the recruiting process.  However, they should also understand the ramifications of taking part in collegiate athletics and how that might change their entire life.  Knowing what’s at stake, every student athletes should make sure to maximize this process.  What are some other advantages that college athletes receive?  I think that is a topic well worth a discussion…

With offers from Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama, Florida State and UCLA among about seven more Division I-A offers, OL Stavion Lowe, a 6′6 294-pound senior from Brownwood, Texas, an ESPN Top 150 prospect and a member of the NCSA, has verbally committed to play football at Louisiana State University.

“All of the other schools that were recruiting me were great and they made it very difficult for me to make my final decision,” Lowe said on TigerRag.com. “But I feel like every player is not made for (every) program.”

With the assistance of the NCSA Football department’s education and guidance, Lowe found the school that’s right for him. Take the first step to finding the school that’s right for you.

Every year on the center stage of collegiate sports, we hear the story, often told by television announcers, of the touching tale of the courageous walk on.  Visions of Rudy instantly come to the forefront as the journey of the underdog warrior starts to unfold.  “He was never recruited out of high school by any of the major programs . . .” says the announcer during his crescendo to the game breaking play.  “He has waited his whole life for this moment, battling disappointment after rejection.”  It is heartwarming.  Life is fair again. That could have been me.

There are few stories that compare in nature.  There are fewer that compare in occurrence.  The closest relative to Rudy would be the 71 year old retired truck driver who on his last few dollars cashed in on millions playing the random pick’m game at the local gas station.  The only difference is, that story happens more frequently!

For the serious competitor, walking on to a collegiate athletic team can be compared to earning a medical degree and then working as a custodian.  You both work in a hospital but unlike all of your classmates, you’re not actually doing what you trained so hard to do for so long.  Most collegiate athletes have played their sport since before they could remember, years and years, always starting, usually better and often in the spotlight.  To cash in a lifetime of hard work and natural talent for a dream that was forged from within a child’s perspective seems foolish.

Take football for example.  There are over 800 colleges that offer football as a varsity sport.  Most sports fans in this country can name up to fifty.  In baseball there are over 1000 colleges that offer the sport.  How many can you name?  There are numerous opportunities to explore if the desire to actually play exceeds common ignorance and childhood fantasies.

Walk-ons, just like custodians in hospitals, have vastly different experiences than the scholarship players.  First, the ceremonial National Letter of Intent signing day – that does not happen.  Next, the preferential class scheduling – no.  The second, third, or fourth pair of coaches’ eyes watching you to make sure that you’re taken care of – not so much.  You are a necessary tool to help the real players practice, rarely taken serious, rarely awarded a scholarship and sparingly shown respect.  Rudy was a great film but I hope it is not your story.  Below is a short video of how USC treats its potential walk ons.  There are a few questionable language choices in this clip so do not watch if you will be offended.  USC Walk On Clip

In summary, if you work your entire life to achieve the goal of becoming a college athlete, find a place where you are wanted.  Find a school where you will play and make an impact.  Go somewhere that will set you up to have a great experience while you earn your degree, an environment that will help provide you with teammates for life.  Step outside of your comfort zone and learn all you can of what is out there.  You just might find something that is priceless.