NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

The Recruiting process has 5 things that every Recruit Must do to get Recruited.  You must

• Get Evaluated
• Post Your Academic/Athletic Resume Online
• Create a Winning Highlight/Skills Video
• Contact 100 to 200 Realistic Programs
• Execute the Proper Recruiting Strategy

Once you understand what need to be done recruits really only have three options.

1. Wait for a coach to find you.
2. Try to go about this difficult process yourself.
3. Get the help of a trusted third party like NCSA

Remember, that this decision will affect the rest of your life.  Are you comfortable leaving it up to chance?  Are you sure you can do it yourself?

Or, you can use someone like NCSA.  You can have all of the necessary tools built by a professional.  you can follow our step-by-step curriculum and get first-hand guidance along the way. You can also leverage the relationships with built with colleges for the past 10 years.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. But if you really want to get recruited, you need to accomplish these steps.

Michael Nestler a 2010 graduate out of West Palm Beach, FL is this month’s Football Impact Football Student-Athlete.  Michael has made a commitment not only on the field but in the classroom as well.  A 3.4 GPA student, who is enrolled in 2 AP classes, and has taken 4 honors classes, scored a 27 on his ACT.  Michael is also an All-Area Football player named by the Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentinel.

Michael has taken advantage of NCSA, by participating in 5 coaching sessions to discuss his recruiting strategy.  Not to mention the 5 times he has had his information sent out and matched with appropriate coaches, providing him with the exposure needed.  

Michael has been on visits to Georgetown, Villanova, and Delaware.  He is maintaining good contact with these and many other coaches throughout the process.  We congratulate Michael for being selected Impact Football Student Athlete this month, and wish him the best in his final season!

The following story was printed in October 27th edition of the Cayman Compass.  It details NCSA Recruiting Expert, Charlie Adams, latest visit to present College Recruiting Simplified.

About 27 years ago Charlie Adams was in a similar boat to many youth in Cayman.

He was looking to take his passion for sports, in particular basketball and football, to the college ranks.

Like many young people he made the mistake of thinking he could sit back and do nothing while coaches came after him and as a result a college sports career passed him by.

“I was a high school basketball and soccer player. One of my regrets in life is that I did not play college sports,” the 47 year–old Mississippi native said.

“My family and I had no guidance. We didn’t know how to go about the process.”

Fast forward to today and Adams is on a mission to ensure a similar story is not written for young athletes worldwide.

Adams is the Senior National Educational Speaker for the National Collegiate Scouting Association.

He was in Cayman recently hosting a sports seminar entitled “College Recruiting Simplified.”

The seminar, hosted by the Department of Sports, served to educate young athletes and their families on the key tips to American college recruiting.

For the most part the seminar was a success as some 100 people showed up and many of Cayman’s promising sports talents listened to Adams.

In Adams’ eye it’s all about making sure young people and their parents know their options and get significant help paying for tertiary education.

“I do this because it can change lives. I have seen the scouting association connect college coaches to good kids and educations become paid for, or at least a lot of it paid for.

“One mother sent me a note one time saying the association had been a godsend for their daughter, who is now getting $20,000 a year to play at a college in Illinois. Before, she probably wouldn’t have even gone to college.

“It is a passion of mine. I do it because there is a need for it. Families need to be educated and inspired.”

For Adams that passion for helping young people in their road to college got its roots in his background as a sports broadcaster.

Even though Adams earned a degree in Education from the University of Mississippi sports was always his first passion.

“I was a sports anchor at TV stations across the US where I saw what a great experience college sports were for athletes at all levels, whether it was division one or a small college.

“As a sports anchor, I was always intrigued why some young people played college and some did not. I came to find out that many didn’t because they didn’t know how to connect with college coaches.

“That inspired me to move my career towards helping and educating families on how to go about the recruiting process.

“I learned about the scouting association, which is based in Chicago and joined their outstanding team of recruiting experts.”

From there Adams, who is based in South Bend, Indiana (home of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish), would travel across the US looking to touch people and change lives.

“I first started working with families in 2001. A former sports–caster of mine had a company and he asked me to work for them while I was a sports–caster. From there I got onboard with speaking full–time since 2008.

“I have delivered “College Recruiting Simplified” in such locations as Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Juneau, Alaska, and small places like Akron, Indiana.”

The seminar gave Adams’ his first trip to Cayman and based on the feedback he has received he is eager to return.

“This was my first trip and I am determined to come back. The people are so genuine, nice and caring.

“I have talked with Collin Anglin of the Department of Sports and he wants to work it out where I come down more often to do recruiting seminars.”

For Adams his speaking tour is far from over as he has a number of stops before year’s end.

“Before coming to Cayman I was in Miami. From here I go to Alaska and then I will be speaking primarily near where I live in Indiana in November and December.”

An interesting part of Adams’ story is he lives what he preaches. Son Jack, 16, (eldest of three kids) wants to be a cross country runner.

Adams already has Jack on the recruiting process, garnering interest from a number of college coaches.

Ultimately Adams is eager to see young athletes in Cayman get a leg up in the college recruiting world.

“If anyone has an athlete that has the physical abilities, the academics, and the commitment to play college sports, an evaluation of them can be done to see where they stand.

“I also suggest ordering the new book entitled “Athletes Wanted” at athleteswanted.org. In my opinion, it is the best book written on recruiting.”

Today NCSA was named #12 on Brill Street’s Top 50 Generation Y employers in Chicago.  Attached below is Brill Streets synopsis of the NCSA work culture.

It’s been said that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. For the Gen Y sports fans and athletes who hold positions at the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA), the adage is right on. Opportunities for advancement, a flexible schedule, and–of course–plenty of time to workout are just some of the perks that keep the company’s young employees in the game.

NCSA helps college coaches locate recruits and offers education to high school athletes and their families about the college recruiting process. CFO Luke Adrian says that Generation Y talent is crucial in keeping this process moving. “It is constantly changing here,” he says. “Being tech-savvy, Generation Y employees are great for the culture of the workplace. The impact that technology has had on recruiting has completely changed the game. Their expertise and knowledge is vital to our business being successful.”

And success is what the employees want, too, for the company and for themselves. Luckily, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. “I had the opportunity to create my own role here at NCSA and re-shape a portion of the business,” says Brian Davidson, Director of Social Media. “I basically created my day-to-day activities. I’m currently writing a video script for a TV show that Gatorade is sponsoring. It is predicated to have 1.5 million viewers this year. I have no experience writing scripts, but I’m taking on this project.”

Other projects regularly cooking at NCSA provide benefits not just to the college students and colleges they assist. Employees reap the rewards, too. For Recruiting Coach Ryan Newman, the job is satisfying on a deep level. “To help these kids find the perfect school and right fit for their skills and to see the process go full circle is really something special,” he says. “I see myself in the kids’ shoes. It’s great being able to help these people live their dreams.”

NCSA regularly hires people with experience in sports, so they take physical fitness seriously. Employees who want to workout during lunch get an extra 30 minutes to do so, and receive a gym reimbursement, too. Cubs and Bears tickets are offered as performance-based awards, and the nature of the job puts sports-centric people in their element. “I’m in my third year into my job and I’m getting to interact with millionaires in the NFL,” says Davidson. “To have that opportunity says a lot about this company.”

Rick McDole did an excellent job last week explaining the importance of September 1st in the recruiting process. This is the time of year when the contacts with college coaches will begin in earnest. However, knowing that this communication is coming with college coaches is only half the battle. We need a strategy to handle these contacts and put our best foot forward to college coaches.

If you have already had contact (through letters, emails, met the coach at camp) with the college coach and the coach said they would call once they were able to, you should be prepared as a recruit. The most important thing when communicating with a college coach is to do your research on the school. We really want to make the communication as personal and as specific as possible. College coaches are not only calling you because they are interested in you as a student-athlete, but also to gauge your interest in the college they are calling from. The other way to impress is through thorough research on a school and asking questions that can’t be found on the schools website. Be specific! Why do you like the school? Do they have a great program for your major of choice? Have they had a chance to evaluate your video yet? Are their scholarships available for your position? These are all specific questions that will show a school you are truly interested in their program as opposed to asking questions that could be found through simple research on their site.

What we are saying is to make sure you are specific as possible when communicating with a college coach and tell them why you are REALLY interested in their school. Despite what some may think, saying something like “I really respect your strong academic and athletic programs” does NOT communicate interest to a college coach. Sure it is nice, and may even be true, but you could make that statement to any school in the country if you wanted to. This type of communication will not really impress the college coach who hears this from every recruit they talk to. Instead of using general terms, mention how you were impressed with their, for example, 8-3 record last year, how two players at your position were all-conference, or how they graduate 85% of their players. These are all examples, but the important thing to take away from this is to be specific in your reasons why you are interested in a school. Using specific examples like these will show coaches that you have done the work to research their school and you are truly interested in their program. This will make a much bigger impact on the coach than a general letter would. Coaches get thousands of general letters throughout the recruiting season expressing interest in their program, so anything that is specific will make you stand out in a good way to college coaches.

If this concept still seems difficult to grasp, imagine the positions flipped. Say you were a RB prospect who had letters coming in from two different schools. One of them reads…

“Dear recruit, Congratulations on your high school career and being named a top prospect at our school. We have a rich tradition here at School X and would like you to be a part of it. Best of luck.”

Pretty good right? Now compare that to this letter from a school who has done their research; School Y

“Dear John, I just saw your highlight video available on your scouting report on NCSA’s website. I thought you did an awesome job breaking tackles as a RB and fighting for the extra yard. That run you has against (opponent) was great, you must have dragged 5 guys into the endzone! I saw you had a big game last week running for over 150 yards with 3 TD’s. You are exactly the type of player we think can make an impact on our college program. We have a starting senior runningback right now who is graduating with a junior behind him. We want you to come in and make an impact immediately on our program. We really think your strength and versatility that you have shown us on the field will be able to help you excel at the college level. I am really looking forward to your game against (next opponent) to see what kind of numbers you can put up this week. I would love the opportunity to get a chance to tell you more about our program over the phone. Let me know when you are available and I would be more than happy to set up a time. Good luck against (next opponent) and have a great week.”

Now, which one was more impressive? X or Y? See how specific information makes the letter much more personal?

The college coach sees these details the same way. Keep these examples in mind the next time you are writing a letter/email to a college coach or preparing for a phone call. Take the opportunity with each contact that you have with a coach to make a positive impression on them. Be specific and do your research. College coaches will notice if you have put the research and it will make you stand out from the thousands (that’s right, thousands) of other recruits out there every year.

You can now download the first excerpt of NCSA President, Chris Krause’s new book, Athletes Wanted.  This installment explores the 8 Rules to Help Your Child Get an Athletic Scholarship.  We encourage you to download, email, forward and share this critical college recruiting information with as many different sources as possible!

You Can Buy the Book Here!

Q: How do I get noticed by college coaches?

A: There are Five Things You Must Do to get recruited. An athlete has to:

1. Get Evaluated: Coaches don’t have time to look at every player so they have to rely on credible sources to get their information.

2. Post your academic/athletic resume online: This is a fast and easy way to get connected with coaches.

3. Create a winning highlight/skills video: Again, coaches can’t personally look at every recruit so they need a way to see your talents.

4. Contact coaches: They can’t recruit you if they don’t know who you are!

5. Start building relationships and following up with coaches now: The recruiting process started yesterday! With how competitive recruiting has become, athletes need to start building relationships with coaches as early as junior high.

The SEC recently released it’s latest recruiting budgets and the numbers are extremely interesting.  Comparing the football, basketball and baseball numbers show exactly why its so important for student-athletes to be proactive (especially those in non revenue sports)!  Comparing Mississippi States 3 year budget averages you realize that the Baseball budget is only 7.9% of the football teams!

Can this budget actually cover a coaches expenses to thoroughly search for athletes across the country?  No Way!  That is exactly why athletes join NCSA’s recruiting database, Recruit-Match, to be seen for free across the country.

(Final number following football spending indicates the recruiting ranking according to Rivals.com for that year)

FOOTBALL

2005-06
Tennessee: $1,071,264 (23)
Florida: $643,406 (2)
Auburn: $621,115 (10)
LSU: $577,393 (7)
Georgia: $534,004 (4)
Arkansas: $490,771 (26)
Ole Miss: $436,948 (16)
Miss. State: $300,100 (44)
Kentucky: $291,370 (36)
S. Carolina: $248,585 (24)
Alabama: $237,774 (11)
Vanderbilt: N/A (60)

(more…)

It might be a bit premature to suggest the NCAA will finally be forced to compensate athletes with anything more than a scholarship, but the day could be around the corner.  Former UCLA Basketball star Ed O’Bannon, with the help of sneaker legend Sonny Vaccaro,  have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for using the likeness of former players long after they have left campus.

Ed wrote about his reasons for the lawsuit to the Lost Letterman:

I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it to help open eyes about how the NCAA has exploited tons and tons of student-athletes in basketball and football.

The Vaccaros came to me with an opportunity. And I thank God for this opportunity to represent these student-athletes, so they would at some point see some compensation for it.

Cutting Down the Nets in 1995, the NCAA is still profiting

I just think it’s my duty, as a former student-athlete, to open a door and let everyone see what’s going on. There are a lot of student-athletes who have played basketball and football whose faces are being sold. Their jerseys are being sold. Their images are being sold.

Below are some of the various opinions across the web on the implications of the lawsuit.

Yahoo:

“When you’re in school you’re obligated to live up to your scholarship,” O’Bannon said. “But once you’re done, you physically, as well as your likeness, should leave the university and the NCAA.”

Hausfeld notes that the very forms the NCAA cites in controlling all revenue are for one-year terms. ” [The scholarship] requires annual signing,” he said. It’s proof that the NCAA has no right over former athletes.

“What it does is emphasize the illegality with the Association essentially saying by reason of these annual, limited grants of right, the Association and the universities can exercise the right to use the image of the former student-athlete eternally,” Hausfeld said.

“The entire program is focused on the student-athletes’ enrollment in a university as well as the athletes’ eligibility,” he continued. “You’ve got two absolute qualifiers. You need to be a student and you need to be eligible. Once that ends, there are no rights the Association acquires over you.”

Deadspin:

What’s nominally at stake is control of the $4 billion market for collegiate licensed merchandise, but the lawsuit, orchestrated by crusading former sneaker impresario Sonny Vaccaro, is nothing short of an attack on the NCAA’s antiquated and evermore untenable notion of amateurism, in which the NCAA profits wildly off the rampant commercialism it pretends to decry. You can read all about the implications here. It’s a worthy fight, of which Ed O’Bannon, one of the more spectacular basketball flameouts in recent memory, is now the public face, a “sort of Curt Flood of college sports,” in Wetzel’s phrase. There’s something sort of sweet about that. The guy couldn’t crack the mid-’90s Nets lineups, and now he might very well wind up taking down the NCAA.

Sports Illustrated:
The stakes of O’Bannon v. NCAA are enormous. If O’Bannon and former student-athletes prevail or receive a favorable settlement, the NCAA, along with its member conferences and schools, could be required to pay tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars in damages — particularly since damages are trebled under federal antitrust law. The marketplace for goods may change as well, with potentially more competition over the identities and likenesses of former college stars.

A victory would also necessitate substantial changes in the relationship between the NCAA and student-athletes. Namely, the NCAA could be required to advise student-athletes of the importance of legal counsel and of ways in which student-athletes can obtain counsel.

Proponents of such an outcome would likely hail the creation of a more equitable bargaining relationship between student-athletes and the NCAA. Critics, in turn, would likely bemoan a more litigious experience for both student-athletes and athletic department officials. They might also worry about diminished NCAA protection of student-athletes, with swindlers and charlatans potentially having easier access to student-athletes as they transition into the real world.

A common complaint that we receive from student-athletes is that the majority of the letters they receive from college coaches tend to be generic and impersonal. It is amazing how a personal contact from a college coach can influence a recruit’s opinion of that school. In fact, we have noticed that some recruits who have seemed dead set on attending a DI university completely change their tune by receiving a simple phone call from a DIII coach. Everyone wants to be wanted, and understandably the personal touch goes a long way towards impressing a recruit.

What most recruits do not realize is that the same line of thinking holds true in reverse. College coaches receive an awful lot of information from potential recruits interested in their program. Unfortunately, some of the information can seem just as general and broad as the form letters that the coaches send to recruits.

What does this mean?

Get personal! If you are writing a letter to a college coach, make sure to individualize the letter for that college coach. Do some research beforehand and learn about the program and school. Express specifically what interests you about the college and why you might be a good fit for the program. If you talk to a college coach, make the conversation memorable by being more prepared than the other recruits that coach is talking to. When going on a visit, try to stand out by displaying the ability to effectively communicate and fit in with not only the coach but also the rest of the team.

An evaluation is made by both the college coach and the recruit after every single form of correspondence. That particular step in the process is either going to make the college or recruit more or less attractive. Keep that in mind the next time you are going to communicate with a college coach!