Athletics, Recruiting, and the NCAA

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings” - C. Archie Danielson

It is not universally understood that academic eligibility in high school or college is not always equal to academic preparedness. A student can be eligible to compete on the field or court, yet be unprepared to compete in the classroom. A student can be eligible to graduate from high school, yet be unprepared academically to enroll in the college of his or her choice much less graduate from that college.

Success in a college classroom is directly linked to the type of academic preparation a student-athlete has received at his/her high school. That is, it is extremely important to select the right courses in high school. A college-preparatory curriculum is best if it is offered.

Most public and some private high schools in the country require the following minimum courses for graduation:

4 years of English
3 years of math
2 years of social science
2 years of science (include 1 year of lab science)
2 years of a foreign language
4 years of additional coursework (electives)

As compared to the minimum high school graduation requirements above, the nation’s best and most competitive and selective colleges require a higher standard from their entering freshman class. For example, as a minimum, you would need to complete the following:

3 to 4 years of English
3 to 4 years of math
3 to 4 years of social science
3 to 4 years of science (includes 2 years of a lab science)
2 to 4 years of a foreign language
Additional years of additional college-prep coursework (AP, Honors, etc.)

As a true student-athlete, your goal is to be prepared for the college classroom as well as the playing field. The reward for success in the high school classroom is academic success in college. The ultimate success in college is graduating on time with a meaningful degree. The grim realities of those who are not prepared academically, (scholarship athlete or non-scholarship athlete) are severe. Academic probation, potential loss of scholarship, refused admission to a selective college or worse yet, not earning a degree, are the results of poor academic preparation.

NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse (www.ncaa.org)

(General Information)

Student athletes who want to participate in NCAA Division I or II athletics should start the certification process early - by the end of their junior year or early in their senior year in high school. Students may obtain a copy of Making Sure You Are Eligible to Participate in College Sports and a Student Release Form (SRF) free of charge from a high school counselor.

To be certified by the Clearinghouse, students must:

Graduate from high school Students should apply for certification before graduation, usually after their junior year. The NCAA Clearinghouse will issues a preliminary certification based on information available before graduation, so that the student is informed about any potential reasons that he or she may not be certified. Final certification will be issued only after receipt of a final transcript that includes proof of graduation.
Earn a grade point average of at least 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) Students must achieve a grade point average of at least 2.00 in a core curriculum of at least 13 academic courses taken during grades 9 through 12. Only courses that satisfy the NCAA definition of a core course are acceptable. Core courses include:
- 4 years of English
- 2 years of math (including algebra and geometry)
- 2 years of natural/physical science (including at least 1 lab science)
- 2 years of social science
- 2 years of additional core courses from English, math, natural/physical science, foreign language, computer science, philosophy or nondoctrinal (e.g. comparative) religion
Earn an ACT score with a sum of subscores no less than 68… or a combined score of at least 820 (700 composite score if original SAT taken before April 1995) on the SAT I on a national test date. Note: For Division I, the minimum grade point average in the 13 core courses and the required ACT or SAT I vary according to the initial-Eligibility Index.
Get a Student Release Form from your high school counselor or any NCAA member institution offering Division I or II sports.
Complete the form. Include: Student and High School Information, Authorization Signatures, Permission to Release to Colleges/Universities, Learning Disability Check Off, Personal Identification Number (PIN), Payment.
Submit the completed original (white copy) of the Student Release Form to the Clearinghouse. Mail to: NCAA Clearinghouse-Forms Processing
P.O. Box 4043
Iowa City, IA 52243-4043
Give both the yellow and pink copies (or photocopies) of the Student Release Form to the college counselor at every high school you’ve attended.

Recruiting

Remember that you can not be approached by a college or university representative who is associated with the athletic department until on or before July 1 after the completion of your junior year at a secondary institution. The only exception would be with the military academies, which may approach you significantly earlier because of their unique and long selection process. Violations should be forwarded to the NCAA and are punishable.

Not every scholarship athlete was heavily recruited out of high school. Often times, a student will make the first contact with a university. Especially if the university is out of the high school student’s region. For example, there is enough talent in the East that colleges and universities generally don’t have to look West to recruit their talent (and vice versa). But, a college or university without hesitation would welcome an opportunity to open a cross country market and get a “pipeline” of talent flowing. Usually, your non-revenue producing sports (everything except (M/W) Basketball and (M) Football ) will rely on students and their high school coaches (club coaches) contacting them to generate leads of interest. Remember, unless you are one of the most highly sought after athletes in your sport, you will need to be aggressive in marketing yourself to college and university coaching staffs. Your coaches play a very important role in promoting you and should be aware of your interests to pursue athletics in college. They will also be very good judges of your talent and abilities to play at the next level, whether that be Division I, II, or III.

The Athletic Scholarship

The Odds of Signing a National Letter of Intent

“Dollars have never been known to produce character, and character will never be produced by money”. -W.K. Kellogg, I’ll invest My Money in People (W.K. Kellogg Foundation)

If you are considered by the “experts” to be one of the more elite, highly recruited athletes in the country, recruiters and athletic scholarship offers will find their way to you. If you have talent and you are being recruited rather heavily, but you simply need to ask hard questions of the person (s) recruiting you, try these: For example:

How many players are you recruiting at my position?
If I decide to visit, are you offering me a scholarship?
How long do I have to accept or decline your offer?
Are you offering the same scholarship to other players?
Are you offering me an official campus visit?
Where am I on your priority list?
If you offer one scholarship to me and others, will it go to the first player who commits?
What percentage of all students graduate in four years? What percentage of athletes graduate in four to five years? What percentage of athletes from your team graduate in four to five years?
If I don’t turn pro, what are the placement fates of your graduates in professional schools (i.e., medical school, law school, etc. …) and professional jobs?
Of the athletes who do not turn pro, what are their outcomes after graduation? What post-graduate successes have they experienced?

You are entitled to ask whatever questions you deem necessary in order to understand the recruiting process better and to know exactly where you stand in the process. It is imperative that you and your parents know how to communicate with college recruiters. They are hired to evaluate your athletic ability; you must evaluate their professional ability and integrity.

In order for you to understand the complexity of earning an athletic scholarship, look closely at the following numbers. Remember, numbers tell the truth:

Example: NCAA Football

107 Division I Schools
85 Scholarships allowed per school
9,095 total scholarships, nationally
6,955 approximate number of returning players nationally
2,140 available scholarships for approximately 1 million high school senior football players

Example: NCAA Men’s Basketball

298 Division Schools
13 Scholarships per school
3,874 total scholarships nationally
1,788 approximate number of returning players nationally
2,086 approximate number of scholarships available for 550,000 high school senior basketball players

Division III Athletics

The chances of earning a Division I scholarship are very small. The chances of earning a Division II scholarship are even smaller because they usually have fewer full scholarships available.

Although many Division III student-athletes receive scholarships, they don’t receive them because they play a sport. Their scholarships are based on financial need and/or academic merit. And while the competition and rivalries of Division III athletics are as intense as those at any level, if athletes become injured, lose interest or simply decide something else is more important when it comes to how they spend their time, they don’t have to worry about losing their scholarships. In this division the values of amateur athletics, playing purely for the love of the sport, is universally preserved.

In general, Division III athletes experience a high degree of academic, social, and post-graduate success. Occasionally, some do turn professional. Today’s professional scouting is so highly sophisticated and pervasive that if you are a standout at any level, a talent scout will find you.

The odds of turning professional for student-athletes in any of the three divisions are not encouraging. If you have your sights set on going to college with the intention of turning professional, consider the following statistics:

Out of approximately 1 million high school varsity football players in the country… 150 will make NFL rosters: 6,000 to 1 odds.
Out of 550,000 high school basketball players, about 50 make NBA rosters: 10,000 to 1 odds.
For every 1,223 high school senior football players - 44 will become “major-college” players- one will make an NFL roster.
Fewer than 30 percent of all NBA players graduate from college… less than one- percent graduate after turning professional early.

Hopefully, it is clear that you need to have distinct goals and a plan for your future. A college education should factor into your plans regardless of whether you are a scholarship player, future pro prospect, or just a “weekend warrior”. Choosing the right college is the most difficult part of the recruiting process.

Even if you are fortunate enough to receive an athletic scholarship, there is no guarantee that the school offering the scholarship will be a good fit or match for you. In the long term, it becomes imperative that you choose a college for all that it has to offer. Academic reputation, quality of student life, diversity, outcomes of its graduates, post graduate placement rates, and academic support are just a few of the things to consider when you are choosing a college. If the school can reasonably provide what you need and want from it, then there exists a great match between you. Remember, college is not just a four-year decision; it is a life long decision, so you must choose wisely.

When an athletic scholarship is not worth the paper it is written on …

Be sure that you understand the terms of your scholarship offer before you sign anything! Often there are terms and conditions that place limitations on your scholarship offer. For example, there are some athletic scholarship offers that have one-year, renewable limitations. Therefore, it allows the coach and/or university the legal right to terminate your scholarship at the end of an academic year.

If you prefer to transfer to another Division I or II university, asking permission from the coach to be released from your scholarship can also prove to be difficult and frustrating. Coaches generally do not like to admit to a failed situation. Therefore, they can make life difficult by holding up or simply refusing your scholarship release. You must have written permission from the athletic coach from any other university to which you may want to transfer.

So be sure to read and understand all of the terms and conditions of your scholarship before you sign anything!
Do not believe the hype. That is, if something sounds too good to be true, then it generally is.
Never allow yourself to be compromised. If you find that your decision to accept an athletic scholarship is based solely on the opportunity to turn pro, or you feel that your intelligence, integrity, and/or athletic ability are being compromised, get out of it! There are far too many disturbing consequences and an unlimited assortment of positive alternatives to compromise. Colleges and universities are always looking for something unique and positive in the students they admit. Most colleges offer competitive academic and/or need-based financial aid packages, which provide most students the opportunity to attend the school. So never, ever compromise your college choice. The right choice will pay off for you at a time in your life, perhaps when you least expect it.

National Association of Collegiate Athletics (NCAA)

*NCAA On-line (www.ncaa.org)

The official web site of the national collegiate athletic association. Find detailed information on NCAA news, general information, college bound, sport lists, championships, statistics, NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse, recruiting Div. I, II, II athletes, and more. Very comprehensive and can answer almost any question regarding the recruiting, scholarship, and collegiate athletic participation process. A great site!