NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

NCSA student-athlete and future Northwestern Wildcat Patrick Ward has been regarded as one of the top lineman in the Chicago land area and arguably the best to come out of Providence Catholic High School. You can’t ignore Patrick’s size at 6’7″ tall and weighing in at 295 pounds. After evaluating Patrick’s film, he is a mauler on the field and it will be tough for defensive ends to get around him at the next level. His massive build and long arms had recruiting coordinators across the country drooling.

NCSA recently caught up with the Providence Catholic tackle and here’s what he had to say:

NCSA: What influenced you to choose NU?

PW: Northwestern felt like the best fit. I felt at home there and the guys that are coming in have the same goals as I do. You’re a student first and athlete second.

NCSA: What advice can you give other athletes going through the recruiting process?

PW: First and foremost, keep your grades in order because education always comes first. Be open to all possibilities and don’t rule out a school unless you’re absolutely sure. Also, make sure coaches know you exist and do your best to get your name out there.

NCSA: What are your thoughts on the Big Ten and where the conference is going?

PW: The conference is down right now, but there are quality teams and I want to help Northwestern get better.

NCSA: How much assistance did NCSA give you in the recruiting process?

PW: NCSA helped me get my name out there and get scouts interested to watch my film and watch me in person. NCSA also gave me tons of information about the recruiting process.

NCSA recruiting analyst Tom Lemming was quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, saying Ward was “One of the fastest rising prospects in the state and in the nation. He has redefined himself this year. He has gotten bigger and stronger and has improved his quickness. Lemming also described this commitment as another big catch for Northwestern and head football coach Pat Fitzgerald. Many are considering this the best recruiting class in the university’s history with QB Evan Watkins of Glenbard North, Mike Trumpy of Wheaton North, and defensive end, Anthony Battle of Mount Carmel.

 Athletic scholarships are dispersed by coaches using a variety of evaluating factors.  Grades and talent are usually the first two factors that come to mind, but don’t overlook another equally important trait:  attitude.  Fox Sports took a look at John Wall one of the nations top point guard prospect and how he is near implosion and rebound were both triggered by key changes in his attitude.

Early in Wall’s high school career he was best known for his blow-ups, not his blow-bys. However, a few coaches stepped into his life and through some strong words and counseling, helped transform him into the player he is now for Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C.

“I think it happened because I got in the right situation,” Wall says of the coaches who became a triumvirate of mentors. “I was with Brian Clifton and Tony Edwards at first and then there was hard work and dedication. What really helped me was when I got cut from Broughton and transferred over here.

“Then coach (Levi) Beckwith helped me out a lot. Attitude-wise, I had a bad one when I got (to Word of God). He changed all that around and didn’t let me play with that. (They) set me down and made me realize I had to trust my players and have a better attitude.”

These days, Wall’s attitude is in check. He’s grown up, learned some tough lessons and continues to check himself. “I got frustrated last year when I made passes and they were dropped,” he explains. “Now, I just pat (those guys) on the back and tell them to get it next time, so “I was sitting home going to the website and looking at other people just wishing I had a chance,”

Wall reflects on where he used to be. “(Last) summer, that’s when everything changed for me.” it doesn’t stop me from playing.”

Keeping a positive winning attitude throughout your high school career is a key to making sure you have the character that college coaches demand in their scholarship athletes.

Freshman recruits aren’t supposed to see the field.  They will spend their first two years firmly planted on the bench and possibly red-shirted.   That old way of thinking is vanishing from the college football landscape.

Today’s Wall Street Journal profiles a few high profile recruits that are expected to make immediate if not major contributions this season.

But, this trend isn’t unique to only college football or even Division I.  Coaches in all sports across every level are ever more willing to play the best players available no matter their age.  This means that recruits looking for a chance to play early have more options.  If playing early and not riding the pine for a few years is important to you, I suggest getting started with recruiting as early as possible.

 Bigger, Better, Biggest.  That short phrase can usually sum up most athletic departments and their budgets across the nation.  While most schools strive to insulate their athletes with as many athletic department only perks as possible one school in the SEC has chosen to go in the opposite direction to great success. 

Five years ago this week Vanderbilt president Gordon Gee decided to eliminate the schools athletic department and fold athletics into the division of student life.  At the time many alumni were furious with the decision.  But as they say in sports; winning cures all problems.  Both basketball teams made the NCAA tournament, the baseball team is considered a powerhouse and the football team just upset South Carolina to remain undefeated.  But, beyond just an improved record on the field the move has benefited the student athletes in countless ways.  The average GPA has risen to 3.1 and it graduation rate stands atop the conference at 94%.  Still, as the AP reports numbers still don’t tell the whole story.

But Vanderbilt says the real success is an athletics program that is no longer viewed as an appendage, a side business for entertaining students and donors. And Gee’s vision – that if the whole university is responsible for the athletic program, everyone invests more to make sure it succeeds – shows signs of taking hold.

David Williams, the law professor and vice chancellor of university affairs whose job now includes oversight of the athletic program, brags about the music school dean who teamed up with the baseball staff to recruit an outfielder who plays the tuba.

Administrators worked with the honor council to adjust time requirements so athletes could serve on the body – something that hadn’t happened for years. Athletes are picking an expanding range of majors, and are encouraged to study abroad.

“I can’t imagine too many places supporting their athletes to go do something that isn’t athletically related,” said Nick Cromydas, a senior tennis standout from Glenview, Ill., who got financial support to study in Barcelona. “I didn’t bring a tennis racket. I didn’t bring a pair of tennis shoes.”

Now the university is working on a program to send whole teams on foreign trips with athletic and academic components.

“When you look at some schools, and I kind of have, the kids are segregated, they have athletes-only dorms, they eat in the same spot,” said Jensen Lewis, a 2006 Vanderbilt grad now pitching in the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen. “We really developed some great relationships with some – I hate to use the word regular students – but people who weren’t involved in athletics.”

Lewis said his team quickly saw the upside of the changes. Players recognized they’d be better off with support from the full university and not just the athletic department.

“You feel as much a part of someone winning a concerto competition as they feel part of you winning a baseball game,” he said. Ultimately, that experience was something to sell to recruits and helped build the program. He remembers telling them: “You’re coming here to one of the toughest academic universities in the nation, and you’re also coming to one of the most elite programs in college baseball. This isn’t an opportunity that presents itself just anywhere.”

The Vanderbilt story shows recruits exactly why just looking at a handful of schools is simply not enough.  If you really want to find the right school, getting out of your comfort zone and thinking outside the box is an absolute must.  Changes like this are slowly happening across the nation.  If you want to be a part of the change I suggest you start proactively getting your name out now.

 Will I hurt my chances of receiving a scholarship by playing 2 (or more) sports?  It is a question that many recruits wrestle with as they try to maximize scholarship dollars.  Today ESPN chronicled the bizarre recruitment of Flenard Whitfield.  His story gives some great insight as to what basketball coaches look for in athletes.

Whitfield is headed to Western Michigan to play basketball for Coach Steve Hawkins despite a late recruiting push from Michigan to play football.

A few years ago, Hawkins attended a Tom Izzo clinic and remembered the Michigan State coach explaining how virtually every member of his national championship team also had been offered a football scholarship.

The notion stuck with Hawkins, who now classifies his favorite type of basketball player as a football player in high-tops.

“It’s the toughness, the tough-mindedness that it takes to play through pain,” Hawkins said. “You see it all the time. In a basketball game, a guy gets tired, he looks at the bench and tells the coach he wants out. It’s accepted. You don’t see that in football. These guys play with broken bones, torn ligaments. It goes with the mentality.”

When Hawkins first spied Whitfield in summer AAU ball playing for The Family, he was actually recruiting other players. But every time he looked up, Whitfield was outmuscling someone else for a rebound.

For a coach who puts a premium on defense and the boards — last season the Broncos ranked 37th nationally in field-goal percent defense and 34th in rebounding margin — Whitfield was a dream.

And when he heard Whitfield also was being courted for football, Hawkins liked him even more.

Why did he choose to play basketball at Western over the more prestigious Michigan football offer?  It turns out his heart was in basketball.

“To me, I wasn’t good at football; I was athletic and my height gave me an advantage,” Whitfield said. “I considered myself a basketball player. My heart was always in basketball.”

I encourage more recruits to follow their hearts and play the sports that excite them.  Hopefully, your love will lead you to finding the right fit at the nest level.

 It’s common knowledge that athletics can be the key to a free education.  But what athletes often overlook is the fact that athletics can be the key to admission.  Former IU coach Gerry DiNardo sat down with the Indy Star to discuss just how far he was sometimes able to bend admissions standards for athletes.

Coach DiNardo’s first recruiting class at IU had a 42% “special admission” rate and he even recalled getting a freshman into Vanderbilt with an SAT score of 710.

“We know they’re not qualified academically,” said DiNardo, now a commentator for the Big Ten Network, “so our obligation extends past what it is for a non-student-athlete.”

It can be a heavy obligation. Many of the nation’s largest universities rely on special admits — students admitted under exceptions to normal admission standards for reasons including “special talent” — to stock their football teams, an Indianapolis Star study of 55 universities found. At these schools, the percentage of special admits among students overall is extremely small.

The disparity can be stark: The University of California in 2004 reported that 95 percent of its freshman football players on scholarship were special admits, compared with 2 percent of the student body. Others: Texas A&M in 2004, 94 percent to 8 percent; and Oklahoma in 2002, 81 percent to 2 percent.

While many in academia decry this practice, it is important for athletes to realize that these types of admission policies are in place.  Recruits shouldn’t cross any potential school off their list because they don’t think that they have the grades to get admitted.  This isn’t to say athletes should slack off in the classroom and assume their grades will get them into school.  Grades still play a major factor in recruiting and are often used to break a tie between two players, but this type of admissions benefit is just one more reason why playing sports can be such a positive experience.

5 Star, 4 Star, No Star, What does it all mean?  It can mean a lot in the recruiting world or it can mean nothing at all.  Highly ranked players often end up with many scholarship offers early in the process, but under the radar recruits still have their place with major college programs.  Penn State opened their football season with an impressive victory on Saturday.  The media likes to focus on team captain Derrick Williams the former #1 recruit in America, but his counterparts Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood also contributed heavily in the Penn State victory.  The Morning Call.com examined the performance of their wide receivers and their vastly different recruiting stories.  

This is not to suggest that Penn State shouldn’t chase everybody’s All-Americans, or that smart recruiting is conducted only on the fringes. Over the summer, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno took a glancing blow at the recruiting services, saying, ”There are a lot of great football players that Rivals and Scout don’t know about.” True, but there are even more whom they do know about — and who don’t end up at Penn State.

So, what does this have to do with recruiting? Remember, both were overlooked in high school. Butler was a preferred walk-on, and Norwood might have been known better as a basketball player at State College High. In fact, that’s why Paterno offered him a scholarship in the first place.”I’ll take credit for Jordan Norwood,” the head coach said Saturday. ”I’m serious about that.”

”Recruits complain all the time about where they’re rated on these Web sites,” Jay Paterno said this past summer. ”It’s like, Why do you care? Get to your schools, prove everybody wrong.”’

Many times the only thing separating a recruit with a 5 star rating from a no star rating is a little exposure.  I suggest recruits work to get their name out early and often so they don’t end up as walk-ons a.k.a long shots.

Character matters in recruiting.  Virtually every college coach you talk to will tell you that he tries his best to do a thorough background check on every incoming recruit.  Athletes need to understand that the search doesn’t just end with talking to your parents, coaches, and teachers.  These days that search extends to the Internet on site likes Facebook and MySpace.  Want proof?  Both the University of Nebraska and Creighton University recently released Interent Ethics Codes.

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne told the press that the athletic department will be monitoring more than 500 Nebraska athletes this fall. 

Osborne bluntly stated, “We wont turn our heads if we see something inappropriate.”

Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen echoed the statement. 

“If, in my opinion, I see anything that affects them, the team, the athletic department or the university in negative ways, I’ll handle it any way I see fit.”

College coaches have limited scholarships available and their jobs are on the line if they can’t produce results.  Losing players to suspension is a major blow to any program.  Coaches will continue to monitor their athletes with any tool possible.  Recruits need to realize that the same type of scrutiny will fall on them.  Don’t throw away a potential scholarship by posting a “funny” picture on the Internet that can come back to haunt you.

by Chris Krause, NCSA Founder and President

There is something that sets a few select athletes apart from their competition in the eyes of college coaches.

What that “something” is might surprise you.

It isn’t anything that happens during competition.  It’s not something that happens during practice, or even in the classroom.

It’s what happens during a crucial part of the recruiting process, when a coach can finally get the chance to talk one-on-one with the prospect they are interested in after reviewing their academic and athletic credentials.  It’s what happens during a phone call from a college coach to a high school student-athlete.

What happens, most of the time, is a lack of good communication on the part of the student-athlete prospect that is getting a call from the college coach.  Most athletes give simple “yes” and “no” answers.  They mumble.  They don’t give coaches the information they are searching for in the phone call, and it frustrates those college recruiters.

You see, when a college coach gets to the point of calling a high school prospect, something pretty significant has just happened: That athlete has jumped ahead of the pack of other prospects on a coach’s list, and are now being called to see if they would be a good fit for that coach and his or her program.

Most prospects on a coach’s recruiting list do not get called.  Those that do hear from a coach have a unique opportunity to really stand out from the crowd, and accelerate their chances of getting an offer from a coach.

However, when that prospect doesn’t communicate effectively with a college coach that is calling them, it may cause the coach to reconsider whether or not that prospect would be a good fit for their program.  It’s one of the most frustrating aspects of recruiting, and it seems to be getting worse.  In the age of e-mail and text messaging, and the general use of computers by teens to communicate with other teens, coaches are noticing that it’s getting harder and harder to have really good, really in-depth conversations with their prospects.

That’s where the opportunity exists for prospects who want to get an edge over their competition for athletic scholarships.  If you can talk to a coach, carry on a conversation, and communicate effectively, you will stand-out from your competition in the mind of that coach.

If you are the prospect who gives them the information that they’re looking for, you will be the prospect that they are more likely to pursue because they are able to learn about you as a person, and not just as an athlete.

Do you want to be one of those prospects who knows how to talk effectively with a college coach?  Here are my tips for communicating with college coaches:

Return their messages.  If they leave a message on your voicemail or message machine, it’s vital that you call them back immediately.  Even if it’s late at night, call back and leave a message.  Let them know that you received their message, and that you are interested in talking to them.

Be persistent.  You will see that many coaches are pretty persistent when it comes to getting your attention and trying to convince you to come play for their program.  Take a page from their playbook, and make sure you are persistent in getting back in touch with a coach who has tried to call you.  Don’t give up after just one return call.  Call again, follow-up with an e-mail, and then do all over again in a day or two if you haven’t heard back from them yet.

Tell them when you can spend time talking.  Let them know when the best time to talk is, and what your daily schedule looks like.  Most prospects don’t do that, and it frustrates coaches. 

Speak clearly, and use your best grammar.  Don’t mumble or slur your words.  How you talk to your friends at school might not be the best way to talk to a college coach who is thinking about paying for your college education.  Try to impress a coach with how you speak.

Show respect.  Address them as “Coach Smith”, or “sir”, or “Ms. Jones”.  Until you have an established relationship with that coach, show him or her respect in how you address them.  It sounds like a small detail, but it can make a really positive impression in a coach’s mind.

Ask questions.  You should have a list of “ready to ask” questions that you would want to discuss with a coach.  They might be questions about playing time, the majors their school offers, or dormitory options on campus.  I recommend that you write down a few good questions and refer to that list when you hear from a college coach.

Answer questions with a lot of details and information.  Remember, do not give them short “yes” or “no” answers.  Go into a lot of detail.  Give them more than they are looking for in terms of information on a particular topic.  The more you talk to them, the more excited they’ll be about the idea of you coming to play for them.

Write them a thank you note right away.  Send a quick e-mail and let them know that you really enjoyed the conversation.  Then, do this:  Ask the coach what the next step in the process is.  If you do that, they will tell you.  And, you won’t be left wondering if you’re going to get recruited by that coach or not.

Do you see how important good communication on your part is?  Do you understand how rare it is these days that a college coach comes across a student-athlete who communicates effectively during the recruiting process?

If you commit to doing this, I promise that you will not be disappointed.  Coaches will notice your approach, and put you at the top of their call list.

Forbes magazine sat down with their proclaimed “Sports’ Most Powerful Coach,” and he offered a line that hammers home one of NCSA’s core beliefs:

When he visits a recruit, he says, “I tell them this is a 40-year decision, not a 4-year one.” He stresses the importance of his players’ being successful as people, as students and as athletes. Queen Marvin, the mother of Julio Jones, says: “He came in here and talked about education. That’s what I want for my son. Football won’t always be there.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves…