Dear Coach Taylor,
My high school team is not very good should I transfer high schools to play on a better team? I’m afraid college coaches won’t recruit me because my team is bad.
From average grades to being inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for academic success. That is what can happen when an athlete finds the right fit to grow as a student-athlete in College!
One of the great rewards with helping families with recruiting education and exposure is when it changes lives. In December of 2008 the South Bend Schools hosted College Recruiting Simplified. Among those attending was the Sanders family, whose daughter Ashlin was a senior at Riley High School. Despite being a four year letter winner in basketball, and on her way to being a 2-time All Conference player, she was not being recruited. She ended up fifth on the school’s all time scoring list with 1091 points and averaged 18 points a game as a senior. She did AAU Ball and everything but the family was frustrated about the whole recruiting thing.
“No one was recruiting her,” said her mother, Cherrie. “I wish we had become educated on the recruiting process early because the whole thing confused us.”
Frustrated, they came to the recruiting education event during the winter of Ashlin’s senior year and got into the NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network. They really worked it hard, and got results.
“In two weeks time we heard from over 100 colleges,” said Cherrie. “Amanda Rawson (Senior Recruiting Coach and former St. John’s University basketball player) and the people at NCSA were wonderful to work with.”
Ashlin’s hilite video was a hit with college coaches. Many of them had no idea she had such skills on offense. However, she would be the first to tell you that her Test scores were not top notch. An admitted shaky Test taker, her SAT scores limited her options. Her GPA at 2.7 did as well with some schools.
As NCSA always says, the better your grades, the more options you will have for scholarships to be a College athlete.
Ashlin decided the best route to go would be the Junior College route to shore up her academics. NCSA connected her with Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois, the only 2 year private residential College in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln christened the new town, named in his honor, with juice from a watermelon! Lincoln is about a 3 1/2 hour trip from her home. Ashlin wanted to be close enough to where family could see her play.
There, the structure of being a college athlete really helped her. She became very focused and constantly had help and encouragement. “There was a lot of academic support available,” said Ashlin. “The Professors really worked with you. I took my homework on road game trips and got it done. If they felt you were slipping, they would work with you. If you had a question, they were always there.”
Ashlin made the Presidential List her freshman year, with a 3.6 GPA!
“It took a lot of hard work and dedication,” said Ashlin.
She carried a 3.4 GPA her sophomore year and made the Dean’s List. Then came one of the most special moments of her young life. Ashlin was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, a junior college academic honor society. To be eligible for membership, students must have a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.5 or higher and have earned a minimum of 15 credits at Lincoln College. The photo below shows her proudly smiling on the front row, the third person from the right.
Ashlin Sanders honored for her academic success
“It’s all about balance,” said Ashlin. “School work, time with friends, basketball. You have to have balance. What I also liked about going off to College was that it got me used to being on my own and seeing different views on things. With the basketball I found that all of the girls could play. It was so much more physical.”
Ashlin made third team Midwest All Conference as a sophomore at Lincoln. At that point, it was time to move on from Junior College. Many schools at various levels continued to keep an eye on her including Eastern Michigan (D1), Lewis University (D2), Southern Indiana (D2), and many NAIA and D3 schools such as Franklin College. Having been almost four hours away from home, Ashlin decided she wanted to finish her College career very close to home.
“She’s a homebody,” said her mother, Cherrie.
Ashlin signed with NAIA national powerhouse Bethel College in Mishawaka, IN (photo below), which is very close to her home. Their coaching staff learned about her progress through NCSA. “I chose Bethel because of their strong academic support and the basketball program has a tradition of winning,” said Ashlin, who wants to be a Coach someday.
Ashlin Sanders signs with NAIA Powerhouse Bethel College
For Ashlin, the best fit for her out of High School was a strong Junior College where she learned what could be accomplished through focus, time management, and strong academic support. She had it in her to be a strong student. Lincoln was the right fit for her to bring it out.
“For Ashlin it was good to be in smaller class sizes,” said her mother, Cherrie. “She wasn’t just a number. A big College would have overwhelmed her. I thought she would struggle but with all the help she did it!”
At Lincoln, the average class size is 15 with many classes closed at 20 students. She also picked a school with a strong track record of academic success:
Be sure to ask hard hitting questions about the academic success rate of athletes at the particular schools that you are looking at in the recruiting process. Just like 4 year Colleges, not every 2 year school is as strong as others. Ashlin connected with a strong one in Lincoln.
While many athletes go D1 from Junior College, Ashlin really wanted to finish her College career very close to home and at a level where she had a chance to be on court a lot. I say “chance” because she will have to step it up on defense to get on the court at Bethel. “A lot of kids want to chase the dream and play D1,” said Ashlin. “That’s not for everyone. I had that dream, but you have to be realistic. Parents have to be realistic. I watch a lot of basketball games on TV and I see a lot of those D1 players riding the bench the whole game.”
“There are a lot of girls like me,” continued Ashlin, “that could be playing College on scholarship but they just don’t understand recruiting and they fall through the cracks.”
A.J. Fraser was a successful distance runner at 5-A Indiana power Penn High School. He connected with Jackson Community College in Michigan and wrote me these insights after finishing his freshman year:
“The places that we went as a team this pass season were awesome. My favorite meet was the Memphis Twilight Classic in Tennessee. That is probably the farthest that I ever traveled before in my life. I made some new friends and kept my focus through school. My academic interest there is their culinary program. When I was looking for colleges I was wanting to start out smart and less expensive. I looked for the academic program of my interest and then I looked at their Sports to see if they had mine because if I did sports I knew I would stay focused with academics. So I wanted to start out in a Jr. College. Jackson had great opportunity for me and that’s why I chose there (a few hours from his home. When I was looking for a school to go to I started looking for a Jr. college first because I believe it will be a great start for me in my career and in sports. I was also looking for opportunity. So Jackson was a perfect fit for me. The campus is great, classes, athletics, and not to mention the scholarship the coach gave me which was something I couldn’t let down. It’s also why I try to get a few guys from my high school which is Penn to come to Jackson because they don’t know what they are missing. Then after Jackson I am hoping to transfer over to Robert Morris University and continue there.
A.J. continues to grow as an athlete. He just ran a 16:38 5K in the off season, a personal record.
The NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network has over 250 team members helping athletes find the right fit for them. Here are some insights on the Junior College fit:
“Talking from experience, Junior College baseball was a great option for me. I played at a very small small High School in upstate NY. I felt it was in my best interest to ease my way into the college picture and stay local at a smaller school. Those 2 years were huge, and it allowed me to flourish in the classroom and on the Diamond. I was All Conference 2nd base my sophomore season, which lead to a full NAIA baseball scholarship to King College, in TN.”
Matthew Malinowski, NCSA Collegiate Scout
“Starting my collegiate career at a 2-year program was the best decision I made. From there I transferred to a DI Big East program (St. Johns University in New York) to play women’s basketball. The classes I took at the 2-year program were just as hard if not harder than some of the classes I took at the 4-year institution.”
Amanda Rawson, Senior Recruiting Coach/Training Assistant
“Softball-wise it can be a great option for some students to move into playing at a higher level. A few years ago we (NCSA) worked with a Texas player that went to Chipola JC in FL for a year (she had great grades and all – just not the right opportunity to play D1 – had some offers but wanted bigger level school).So she went for a year,-they won a championship, and then next year moved on to Texas Tech.”
“Some use the JC as a money saver (the top JC schools have two times as many Softball scholarships as do D1 NCAA schools). Some use is to gain maturity as they are not ready to leave home.Some are not sure about academics so they chose 2 year and will take that 1st year of General Education classes and explore academic options. A few for the women’s’ side use it academically so for those reasons dispel the talk that all JC schools are good for is the low academic kids. There are 4 year schools who request for JC kids at times to fill in those gaps on their roster. Softball JC’s that are very competitive are in the states of FL, TX, CA & AZ – but there are some top schools in various states.”
Joyce Wellhoefer, Senior Recruiting Coach (Softball), NCSA
“I attended North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City IA to play baseball there. I thought that a JuCo might have less talented student athletes, but that was a large myth. Everyone I played with was extremely talented; we had 4 or 5 D-1A players and one got drafted. It was an honor to play with such talented athletes. My parents also liked the idea of JuCo baseball because it was only a 2 year commitment so if I got injured or if the team wasn’t a good fit, I would be transferring after 2 years either way.”
Tim Murphy, NCSA Collegiate Scout
“The JC experience will allow athletes to:
- improve their game at the college level of competition
- live on her own (most do not have student residential housing)
- develop a list of personal and academic responsibilities
- get maximum grades
- open their eyes to the realities of the real world”
Scott Fuller, NCSA National Collegiate Scout
“I speak about Junior Colleges all the time when I do my College Recruiting Simplified talks. As a former athlete (UCLA and NFL) who has watched the type of athletes who go to certain schools I have noticed that many JuCos are just as competitive as some of the D1 schools. Growing up in Texas it was not such Taboo to see excellent student-athletes wind up at JuCos because all athletes do not have the academics that might land them in a D1 athletic program. There are more JuCos here in the state of Texas than the rest of the States so the opportunity is great, especially for Texas Student-Athletes. I like to emphasize that many D1 schools have specific JuCos that they use as feeder schools every year because they know they have great talent. When I was at UCLA, we used to get JuCo players all the time who would end up either starting or becoming contributors to the program. Chad Ochocinco, of the NFL’s current top receivers, started out at Langston University in Oklahoma then transferred to Santa Monica JuCo in Los Angeles,Ca before heading to Oregon State.”
Othello Henderson, NCSA Recruiting Expert/Speaker
Athletes that have started out in Junior College include future Hall of Famer Albert Pujois of the Cardinals, Super Bowl star QB Aaron Rodgers of the Packers, Major League Baseball All Star Evan Longoria of the Rays, the legendary Nolan Ryan, Danielle Adams, MVP of the Women’s Basketball Final Four for National Champion Texas A/M (30 points and 9 rebounds in Title Game win vs Notre Dame), WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoops, several of the key players on the Marquette University men’s basketball team that made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in March, Ben Wallace of the Pistons, and Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers.
Charlie Adams, NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network Expert/Speaker
cadams@ncsasports.org
To Talk In Depth with a College Recruiting Expert about Recruiting Click Here
“Jeremiah 29:11 is the scripture I am looking to in all of this,” said college basketball player Aubrey Minix. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Aubrey has transferred from D1 to D2.
“I never thought it would go this way,” she told me, “but it is what it is…”
She was one of the best shooters in basketball mad Indiana. She was all-state at Oregon-Davis High School and helped the Bobcats claim the Indiana Class 1-A state championship in 2007. Aubrey set a state record for three-pointers and was the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,606 points. Incapable of burning out on the sport, she grew up shooting 1000 shots every day, doing High School and AAU, and doing personal training. When she got an offer from D1 Murray State she accepted a full athletic scholarship. Aubrey red shirted her first year and played in just five games this past season, scoring one basket. She decided to transfer to Division Two University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN.
NCSA Recruiting Expert/Speaker Charlie Adams
“I want to play,” Aubrey told me. “The Coach here at Murray State didn’t think I could play with a foot injury (originally suffered in High School) so I got my release and looked at a lot of D2′s. To go D1 I would have had to sit out a year and I didn’t want to do that again. USI plays in a Conference that has many D1 caliber players.”
When an athlete transfers from D1 to a lower level, they can be eligible the next season, so she will have three seasons left.
There are D1 type players at practically every level of College Sports, especially D2 and high NAIA. When I spoke at a big Club Volleyball event, a Grand Valley State (D2) Volleyball coach told me he often gets calls from Club Volleyball Coaches saying “they have a great D2 prospect for him.” He quickly asks if the girl can play D1 because at Grand Valley they recruit against D1′s like Western Michigan and Ball State for recruits. He said 95% of families have never been to D2 Volleyball matches and generally don’t understand how competitive it is.
I spoke at the Goshen (IN) Noon Kiwanis Club to educate their members about scholarship opportunities. Goshen College (NAIA) Athletic Director Tim Demant is a member of the Club and heard my presentation. We talked afterwards.
“Every athlete has these D1 dreams,” said Demant,” and many are good enough to be on a D1 team but a lot get there and not get a lot of playing time. You then see them transfer to a D2, NAIA or D3. Two big reasons are the playing time and also you hear them speak of “being owned” at that level. One athlete talked about having to practice on Thanksgiving Day at the her D1 school and not being able to get home to family.”
“We see it a lot in baseball,” added Demant. “We put offers out and the players think this magical D1 offer is coming. We tell them in a nice way that if they have not received a D1 baseball offer by the start of their senior season they are probably not going to get an offer of their liking at that level. Many families don’t realize that their athletes can get a pretty good package at the NAIA level of a combination of scholarships that will rival D1 scholarships.”
Aubrey had several reasons for transferring after two years at Murray State (which is in Kentucky). “All of the coaches at the University of Southern Indiana went there to USI,” said Aubrey. “They are invested. They are there for a reason. They like it and there is a real family atmosphere there. The team chemistry at Murray didn’t help. There was a lot of animosity and it showed in our records. I never lost that much in my life (they were 9-21 this past season).”
She is giving up a full athletic scholarship at D1 but still doing well. “For me, I am getting a full ride here,” said Aubrey. “At D1 they have up to 15 full scholarships. At D2 in basketball there are 10 total. USI has five returning players and seven coming in prior to me but several of those are on academic money (D2 mixes scholarships). Basically, the scholarship I have here is what I had at D1 Murray State.”
Transferring is never what an athlete sets out to do, but it can often be fairly painless. Her coach at Murray State, Rob Cross, was very complimentary of her in remarks to the Murray Ledger and Times newspaper.
“I’m happy she’s getting to continue her education and play basketball at Southern Indiana,” Cross said. “I wish things had worked out better for her here. I have a lot of respect for her and think she’ll do good things.
“Most of the teams in that league have three or four Division I transfers on their rosters. I think it will be good for her and good for them.”
Absolutely. There are D2 programs that can beat lower level D1′s. There are good players at every level of college sports.
At every High School I speak at, I arrive early to ask the Athletic Directors what are the major challenges they face with families regarding recruiting. In virtually every case, the number one thing they bring up is that many of their families and athletes have unrealistic expectations of where they can play at the college level.
LaPorte High A.D. Ed Gilliland told me that he often see’s cases where an athlete may be “LaPorte good” but that doesn’t mean it will transfer to “D1 good” at the next level. Families and athletes often fall into the trip of being a big fish at a little pond and not realizing there are a lot of other really good fish out there.
As NCSA Recruiting Experts and Educational Speakers, we go all over the country and see the talent out there. I spoke at a Schuman NUC Football Combine in the Norfolk, VA area. There were some REALLY good players there. A few weeks later I spoke at the Schuman NUC in Indianapolis. I told the families about those good players in Virginia and in many cases they are competing against them for scholarships, not just the kids in their conference or state.
Shelbie Jones was a standout pitcher for Mishawaka High School. As a junior she threw five no hitters and three one hitters at the 4A level of High School sports, winning a school record twenty two games at Mishawaka High. She signed to play at the high NAIA level with Marian University in Indianapolis. She is a tremendous pitcher, and it just goes to show that there is talent at all levels of college sports.
Ben Davis is a massive High School in Indianapolis that produces many college athletes every year. A good chunk go D1 but also to other levels. Courtney Clark, a pitcher and third baseman, is playing for Ancilla College, a Junior College. Clark hit .427 as an eleventh grader.
It wasn’t unrealistic for Aubrey Minix to shoot for mid level D1 coming out of tiny Oregon-Davis High. She had the credentials. Her opinion of how much she should play and her Murray State coaches decision of playing time were different, and she made the decision to move on. She has invested so much in developing her remarkable basketball skills that she wants to be out there on the court. She has three precious years remaining so she wants to make the most of it while finishing her degree in Education. In her research on D2 she learned that it is very competitive. I would say that more than 80% of the High School athletes I speak to at High School Talks are not capable of playing at the D2 level in College. It is probably closer to 90% that wouldn’t be able to play D2, but a lot of them think they are D1.
It is CRITICAL families get a realistic evaluation of where they will fit best as a college student-athlete. This evaluation should be done early. It can change as the athlete physically matures, but a properly done evaluation can lead to a fulfilling college career where the athlete does not have to interrupt their college experience by transferring.
Send me an email with a description of your athletic and academic accomplishments and I will make sure you get an Evaluation with a Senior College Scout at NCSA. cadams@ncsasports.org is the email.
Here is a good story from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper about why athletes transfer
Charlie Adams, NCSA Recruiting Expert/Senior Educational Speaker
cadams@ncsasports.org
As a follow up to my previous blog, Why You Should Consider The Junior College Option, I want to make sure you understand some key rules. This way you will be on the right path and have the ability to transfer without any hiccups.
Before you graduate from high school, you need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. The NCAA Eligibility Center will determine if you are a qualifier, partial qualifier or non-qualifier. They will determine where you stand, based on the core courses you took in high school, your grades in those courses, and your scores on the ACT and/or SAT.
To avoid any hiccups, you need to be classified as a qualifier by the NCAA Eligibility Center and of course, be academically in good standing at the junior college you are attending, while completing the right amount of credit hours for each term of full-time attendance.
If you do not register with the NCAA Eligibility Center or do not meet the minimum requirements, you will need to graduate from your junior college, without taking summer classes, to transfer to a DI or DII program.
**For more details on all the transfer rules, you can read the NCAA publication, Transfer 101, by clicking here.
**For more details on registering for the NCAA Eligibility Center and the requirements to become a qualifier, please click here.
Q: Why is there no information about recruiting involving junior college players?
A: You asked for it, you got it. The first thing we’ll cover is transfer rules. This is taken from the Athletes Wanted website.
You are a transfer if…
• You were ever enrolled full-time in a two or four year school.
• You ever went to practice
• You practiced or played while you were enrolled part-time
What Type of Transfer Are You?
• Qualifier: A student-athlete who has met NCAA Eligibility requirements.
• Partial Qualifier: A freshman who has met some of the academic requirements, but not all. They
o Can practice
o Can receive financial aid
o Must sit out one year
o DII Only, DI does NOT have partial qualifiers
• Non-Qualifier: An S/A who has not met academic requirements.
o Can’t practice or play
o No financial aid for one year.
o Three seasons of competition in Division I
o Automatic non-qualifier if you never registered for the clearinghouse.
When do you need permission to contact?
• If you’re now full-time in a four-year school
• A written letter from your AD (or admin/compliance).
• You may write to any NCAA college saying that you’re interested in transferring, but the new coach must not discuss transferring with you unless they have received written permission from your current school.
• If your current school will not give you a written permission to contact, you will have to sit out a year or appeal.
When DON’T you need permission?
• You are attending a NJCAA, NCCAA school.
• DIII to DIII school. In which case you use a “Self Release” to allow the second school to contact you about transferring.
o Sample self-release at ncaa.org
Junior College Transfer
• If you are a two-year college transfer, you do not need a release.
• You may be required to get your degree in some cases or else you will have to sit out a year (academic year in residence).
I want to transfer
• Refer to the NCAA transfer guide and the FAQ on the NCAA site. Immediately call the NCAA (317-917-6222) to determine your eligibility status and familiarize yourself with the NCAA rules.
• Determine if you are eligible
o Did you fulfill NLI requirements?
o Are you academically in good standing?
o Are you a qualifier, partial qualifier, non-qualifier?
• Determine what release forms you need to get.
o Do you have written permission to contact?
o Coaches are required to have a transfer release in hand BEFORE speaking to a student-athlete from a four year college (scholarship or not).
o If you do not have a release the interested coach needs to inform their Compliance Officer and one will be sent to the your current institution requesting permission to contact.
Q: What are the scholarship regulations for an international, non-U.S. citizen?
A: First, you must meet minimum academic standards if you have never enrolled as a full-time student at a university. Secondly, you must take the SAT or ACT, tests such as the TOEFL or the TWSE are not accepted by the NCAA. If you are currently enrolled at a university you will be subject to the NCAA’s transfer student policy. You must also be sure that you have not violated any of the NCAA’s amateurism rules.
There were 155 players from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), 72 from the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA), and 7 from the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC). That is a total of 234 junior college players drafted or 15% of the 1,521 overall. Miami-Dade College led the way out of all the junior college programs with seven picks and Orange Coast College had six.
8 teams, 263 players, 48 transfers. Transfer players are showing up in bunches at the Men’s College World Series in 2009. Almost one fifth of the student-athletes playing in Omaha this year were at a different school previously. In baseball this is pretty common, but not as common at certain schools. The University of Southern Mississippi roster includes 15 transfer students, some from junior colleges and some from four year schools. In contrast, three schools have only one transfer – Louisiana State University, University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina. This is an area that high school and junior college student-athletes need to research when looking for the right college fit.
Many times a high school student-athlete can decide on a four year school, work hard for the first couple years, not receive much playing time, think they are ready to start that third year, and then a stud transfer comes along to take that opportunity away. This is going to be much more common if you see the coach is bringing in transfer students on a regular basis. On the other hand, junior college is a great direction to go for many student-athletes because of the big jump from high school to college. Overall, roster research is an area every student-athlete needs to take in to account.
There seems to be a negative aura associated with junior college baseball. Parents and student athletes alike tend to cringe when they hear the words “junior college”. True, campus life at junior colleges will not be as exciting as the life of a four year school. However, student athletes need to realize that the point of going to college is to:
1. Get an education
And
2. Play baseball
Athletic talent at junior colleges can be strong. I played at the junior college level and many of my junior college teammates transferred to DI or DII programs upon graduation and one went to play professionally. The talent of some of the junior college baseball programs is comparable to DI talent. Some of the schools I played against routinely send their players to schools such as LSU and Tulane to compete on their teams. Coaches at four year universities appreciate the experience that baseball players at two year schools receive and many are willing to take players from these programs.
For players not talented enough to play DI or DII baseball on scholarship after junior college, the system will still help to save a great deal of money. Instead of facing a $30,000 debt after two years of school as many of my friends were at four year schools, I went into my junior year having spent roughly $4,000 for two years of a college education. I had the same academic standing and experience level as any other junior baseball player in the country. Take a moment to think about some of these points the next time you are considering the junior college baseball route.
I often talk to athletes that are frustrated by their lack of playing time even though they are still underclassmen. Obviously, those athletes should keep working as hard as possible to break into the rotation, but they should also remember the old adage, “Sometimes good things come to those who wait.”
