National Scouting Report

NCAA Says Yes to DII, but No to DI and DIII

If you are not in your high school sport’s season, NCAA DII coaches may ask you to come to their campus for a tryout.  You may not, however, tryout at a DI or DIII college.  Confused?  Let’s explain.   

NCAA only allows tryouts in DII.

The reason for restricting DIII schools is because, in theory, no DIII prospect can be admitted because of athletic ability.  Again, in theory, the only qualifications a potential DIII student-athlete have to meet for admission are the academic standards set by that school.   Neither the candidate’s athletic skills nor the opinion and influence of a coach can have any bearing on that particular student’s admission.  So, a tryout would be pointless.   

As for DI, the no-tryout rule is a way to level the playing field to some degree for DII athletic programs competing for DI-level prospects.  Prospects may take unofficial and official visits at both and the rules pertaining to those visits are the same in both divisions. 

No such rule or restriction on athlete  tryouts exists in the NAIA or NJCAA.  In fact, in these organizations, even juniors, sophomores and freshman may try out, or work out, for a coach at any time.  If you ever have a question about whether or not a scheduled “tryout” is legal or not, contact our office at (800) 354-0072.

Good Grades = More Scholarship Opportunities

The NCAA has spent the past twenty-five years creating recruiting rules for four specific purposes: 

Reaching higher for better grades is in your best interest.

1. To create a level playing field among the three divisions
2. To react to rules abuses by member institutions and coaches
3. To ease the pressure placed on prospects by coaches
4. To improve the academic responsibility and raise the graduation rate of its student-athletes

A little history, if you will.  There was a time when athletes at many colleges were only required to carry and pass a bare minimum number of hours to remain eligible to participate in athletics.  They needed to have taken and earned passing grades for as few as nine hours per semester.  With the exception of the most stringent academic institutions, there existed few academic requirements for athletes, including the type classes athletes were required to pass.  In the old days, college athletes did not have to demonstrate progress toward attaining a degree to play.

Flash forward to the present day.  Firm restrictions are now ensconced in the NCAA which indelibly connect an athlete to academics in both high school and college, legitimizing the term student-athlete.  The bottom line?  At some point, to become a college athlete, you must study and produce grades to play.

On the front end of recruiting, prospects must meet strict academic requirements to become eligible to participate in NCAA Division I and II as a college freshman.  While initial eligibility rules governing the NAIA and NJCAA affiliated schools are not as limiting for prospects, they too have raise their academic requirements over the years.  Knowing these requirements as a freshman in high school is essential because getting and staying on the correct academic path is necessary to eventually qualify to play college sports. 

More college doors are opened through good grades than athletic stats.

On the back side of recruiting, much has happened to athletic programs which have squeezed them into a corner.  On one side are the NCAA initial eligibility and ongoing academic requirements which must be met or exceeded for student-athletes to become and remain eligible.  On another side are the limits on scholarships permitted per sport by the NCAA.  And, finally, there are budgetary constraints which individual institutions place on their athletic departments and coaches. 

Put all this together and the ideal situation for an NCAA coach is to find, evaluate and recruit prospects with great high school academic records (and some need-based federal money) – records which will earn the student-athlete a lot of free money and allow the coach to insert a minimal amount of his or her athletic scholarship money to help make college affordable for the prospect and parents.

In short, the higher the grades and test scores a prospect delivers, the less money an NCAA coach has to fork out in scholarship aid.  Therefore, the better your grades, the more coaches which will, and can, be attracted to you as a prospect.  Higher grades, more coaches.  Lower grades, fewer coaches.  It’s really as simple as that.

Financial Aid Packaging: Colleges’ Way of Making Freshman Year Affordable

Packaging is a term used by college admissions officials and coaches to describe financial assistance for prospective  college student-athletes.  It occurs at every level of college sports, even NCAA Division I.  

Surprised?  Well, you aren’t alone.  Very few parents and athletes are aware this happens, much less expect it, yet most families encounter this very common strategy when working with college coaches and admissions departments. 

The NCAA has set firm rules for high school and college students to follow.

All things regarding financial aid for a freshman athlete begin with academics.  Once an admissions office has received a prospect’s official high school transcript along with proof of standardized test scores (SAT or ACT), decisions regarding financial assistance can start in earnest.  Three high school academic measuring sticks are examined to establish academic scholarships:

• Unweighted, core course grade point average
• Class rank
• Standardized test score

With these scores in hand, any admissions officer can calculate a prospect’s basic academic award.  Other issues can be influential, but the foundation of any academic scholarship is built on these three key factors.  College credits earned while in high school, advanced placement classes and other recommendations can add more to the base amount. 

After the academic award number is finalized, the admissions office then considers merit, institutional, state and other  scholarships which the prospective student may be eligible to receive.  They then add any need-based award assigned to the student by the Department of Education.  Parents must submit a copy of their personal financial status to the school as well as fill out and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to determine this amount.  In this process, the Department of Education seeks to determine if a family qualifies for the Pell Grant or any other free federal monies.   Finally, the admissions office tacks on any state or federal loans to supplement the package and lower the immediate cash outlay for the family.

Packaging helps parents and prospects understand where they are financially.

College coaches, knowing all this, will ask freshmen (and JUCO) prospects to apply to the college prior to committing to an athletic scholarship amount.  Once that information is in hand, the coach then can add an athletic scholarship dollar number to the package.  Knowing that most families want their out-of-pocket expense to be at or below what they might otherwise spend for their child to attend an in-state, public institution, coaches will typically attempt to add an amount which will help the family reach or exceed that goal.  This amount can also be influenced by any one or more of these important issues:

• The amount of athletic scholarship money available to the coach after taking into account the other committed scholarships to current players and prospects
• The coach’s opinion of the prospect’s anticipated impact on the program
• Anticipated competition with other college coaches to sign the prospect
• The quality of the relationship established with the prospect and parents
• The quality of the relationship and reliability of the sources which connected the coach with the prospect
• The expectation of capturing a another prospect closely connected to the prospect such as a teammate or sibling

The final package is then sent to the family for their consideration.  In some cases, the amounts are negotiable which gives the parents the option to get a few more dollars here or there from the college.  As for the athletic scholarship amount*, that depends almost solely on the coach and the value he or she attaches to the prospect. 

Next in this series, we will examine how and why college coaches are limited in regards to which prospects they can or will recruit and the connection to academics in that part of the recruiting process.

Recent Changes Will Work in Students’ Favor

Pell Grants, the federal government program which gives financial assistance to low-income families whose children attend college, changed in several significant ways with the passage of the healthcare bill.

Changes in Pell Grants will benefit more students and families.

In short, the Department of Education has stepped forward to take over the student loan process.   Why?  The U.S. government was paying billions of dollars in annual subsidies to banks and private lenders to award Pell Grants then operate and manage the loan and collection process.  The new law provides that as of July 1, 2010, all federal student aid loans will derive from the Federal Direct Loan Program.  Simultaneously, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program has been shuttered.     

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that while shifting the loan process away from the private sector and eliminating paying subsidies to them that America’s taxpayers will save $61 billion in the next decade.  It is the CBO’s plan to put $10 billion of the savings toward reducing the federal deficit while nearly $36 billion will be rechanneled into Pell Grants for students and families.  The new process will, in 2017, permit the Pell Grant maximum awarded amounts to increase to $6,000.00 annually, up from the current $5,500.00, a jump of $2,000.00 over a four year college career. 

Perhaps more importantly, students and parents will be dealing with one secure lender instead of facing the uncertainty accompanied with their loans being passed along to new lenders, as is common with private lenders and banks, or wondering if those holding their loans will be in sound financial condition in the event of another economic downturn.  A number of other benefits, according to the COG, are in place with the new legislation.  For instance, in 2014 borrowers will have better repayment options including holding their monthly payments to no more than 15% of their income. 

The Federal Pell Grant Program awards grants to America’s neediest college students. This year alone the Department of Education will bestow nearly $32 billion in Pell Grants to approximately 8.4 million U.S. students.

The federal government still faces the chore of choosing who will manage their clients’ accounts and their choices will come from the private sector.  The management contracts for individual accounts will be awarded based upon what appears to be an as yet to be determined list of criteria linked to customer service and assistance. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, “These changes will expand educational opportunities for millions of students and families and will make it easier for them to pay for college.”

Popular Web Site Taps Freshman Heavyweight

Jamison Sacco of Western New England College continues to receive awards even after wrestling season has long past.

Jamison was one of the year's top DIII wrestlers.

A native of Syracuse, New York, and former NSR prospect, Jamison was recently named to the d3wrestling.com All-Freshman Team in the 285-lb. division.  He enjoyed a tremendous season for the Golden Bears compiling a 25-3 record with 19 pins while capturing his weight class at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Championship, which was held on the WNEC campus.  At the NEWA Championship, Jamison pinned four opponents in a combined 2 minutes and 50 seconds, receiving the award for the Fastest Fall (14 seconds) in the tournament.   Jamison was also named NEWA Rookie-of-the-Year. 

Successfully navigating the regional qualifer, Jamison was one of 160 DIII wrestlers to reach the Division III Championships held at US Cellular Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 5-6.  Although he dropped both matches, his performance during the season drew considerable praise from coaches throughout the region.

A New and Informative Series for Prospects and Parents

Good academic performance is the optimum pathway for making college affordable for aspiring, high school student-athletes and their parents.

Academics play a crucial role in recruiting.

We often find that parents and prospects are surprised to learn that a majority of college athletes are not offered full athletic scholarships but instead are presented with scholarship “packages.”   This has been a common practice for years. 

College coaches have financial limitations (budgets) like any company or family.  In the NCAA, the control of athletic budgets begins with their mandating to member schools the maximum number of scholarships allowed per division, per team, per sport.  Then, in annual conference meetings with member college presidents in control, scholarship maximums are determined per sport, conference-wide.   Individual schools then decide on the budgets for each sport.  Finally, coaches are given an amount of scholarships they are allowed along with their operating budgets.  Talk about trickle-down economics! 

So, how does all this relate to a prospect’s academic performance?  Over the next few weeks, NSR will tackle this critical issue.  We will explore a number of inter-related components which impact and influence a high school prospect’s ability to attract college coaches through academics. 

We will answer key questions such as:

• How are prospects academically “packaged” by colleges?
• Do all NCAA colleges accept or admit prospects meeting minimum academic requirements?
• Can the dynamics at home really change to improve academic performance?
• How can a prospect academically break away from negative peer influences?

At NSR, we have long held the belief that athletics and academics share an inescapable bond.  Over the years, our success rate of over 90% can be tied to the excellent grades our prospects earned in the classroom.  We hope you will learn from our 25+ years of experience and will look forward to this excellent series.

Prospects, Parents and Coaches Breathe a Sigh of Relief

In a surprising, but long-coming announcement, the NCAA last week said that legislation would be introduced which, if passed, would bring an end to the controversial practice of verbal offers from member coaches to prospects.  The proposal would pertain to all NCAA sports and divisions.  With passage, the new rule will usher in a more competitive age for college recruiting.

The Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet on June 24 released plans to present the legislation for NCAA full body review and perhaps membership vote at the upcoming NCAA Convention to be held in San Antonio, Texas, January 12-15, 2011.   

Much will be debated in the meantime, but it appears the measure has a clear path for immediate adoption, especially with the simultaneous announcement of an adjunct proposal which would allow coaches to begin contacting prospects by telephone on or after July 1 following prospects’ sophomore year in high school, a year sooner than is now allowed.   This concession will most likely appease coaches, but it may also signal a new round of concerns from parents and NCAA student-athlete advocates.                  

However broadly accepted, the custom of early offers has not escaped frequent criticism over the years, most often revolving around a central issue – pressure.  From a prospect’s viewpoint, the pressure to commit is palpable and can be emotionally debilitating, exhilaration aside.  Many argue that placing youngsters under such intense stress unfairly skews their high school experience, academically as well as athletically.  Many parents who experienced their children’s anxiety over making an early decision, say there is not ample time to properly evaluate all the options which may present themselves.  Moreover, they assert that their children should not be subjected to tactics which could distract from being able to enjoy high school.  Coaches opposing verbal offers, faced with media pressure to get involved and get commitments from top prospects around the country or within their region, say they do not have the proper time to develop relationships with prospects.  To them, making verbal offers is a gamble which has only about a 50-50 chance of working out for the best. 

Gillespie's offer was called "exploitive."

A cloud of uneasiness has been wafting over journalists and bloggers covering and commenting on college sports for a number of years.  Eamon Brennan on Rivals.com described the offer then-Kentucky head basketball coach, Billy Gillespie, made in 2008 to eighth-grader Michael Avery from Lake Sherwood, California, as “creepy” and “exploitive.”  Referring to DePaul’s offer this past year of a basketball scholarship to 14-year-old Jahlil Okafor, blogger Matt Norlander said, “Listen, this kind of courtship is greasier than a muffler-shop floor.”  So, when this past February, Southern Cal’s head football coach, Lane Kiffin, made a verbal offer to 13-year-old, Delaware middle school quarterback, David Sills, and Sills committed, eyebrows were raised as the writing on the wall was big enough to see from Los Angeles to Indianapolis – soon the practice of early offers will  be out of control. 

The NCAA apparently sees the road ahead, doesn’t like the landscape and plans to put a stop sign in the middle of the freeway.  Apparently, they have had enough.  The new legislation should bring fast moving NCAA coaches to a screeching halt.  But, what residual impact should we anticipate?

It is widely known that coaches at every NCAA level make offers to underclass prospects.  It is more than a fad, though.  It has become a part of the culture of college athletic recruiting — moreso than may be apparent on the surface.  With the new ruling, however, we should expect the dynamics of recruiting to change significantly as coaches will line up ten deep each year on July 1 to make offers to rising seniors.  The pressure which the NCAA hopes to lift off everyone concerned may actually become more intense.

There could be as many fireworks on July 1st as July 4th in the future.

Oh, and expect July 1 to take on a name, or a clever, catchy tagline to excite fans and perhaps make or break recruiting classes and, in the end, some coaching careers.  Every sports broadcaster in America will point toward 7/1.  The hoopla will be over the top.  It will be bigger than huge and, of course, somebody will figure out a way to make Hummer-loads of money from this new Holy Cow Day.  It will be something to look forward to and something to remember – that’s for sure.

NSR Prospect Picked to Represent USA

When the invitation arrived from the USA Junior National Basketball Team Committee, NSR basketball prospect, Alexis Jones from McArthur High in Irvine, Texas, knew she desperately wanted to make the 16U squad.  A rising junior at McArthur, the 5’9” guard wanted to compete with the best.  Given a chance to try out for the 16’s last summer, Alexis had failed to make the team.  This year, she vowed, would be different.

At the tryouts held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, CO, Alexis thought she was competitive with the other girls, but she was pulled aside and given the news that she would not be a candidate for the 16U team.  Instead, Alexis was informed that she was being pulled up to compete for a spot on the 18U squad, a jump few players have ever made.

Alexis Jones is excited to represent U.S.A

The USA Junior National Team Committee is chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA’s vice president for Division I women’s basketball.   Members of the committee itself are Joanne Boyle (University of California head coach), Coquese Washington (Penn State University head coach), Connie Yori (University of Nebraska head coach) and Beth Cunningham (1999 USA Pan American Games Team member) who is the “athlete representative.”

From June 8-11, 27 players battled during three days of trials for the USA U18 National Team, and 36 additional athletes competed in the USA U17 World Championship Team Trials.  The USA Junior National Team Committee chose 16 finalists – 12 from the U18 trials and four from the U17 trials – to vie amongst each other for the 12 USA U18 National Team roster spots over four more trials sessions, which culminated with selections which were announced Sunday, June 13.

Alexis had made the 18U team and would represent her country.   When asked to comment, Alexis said, “I was surprised that they were going to let me try out for the 18s. I was real shocked but happy.”

The FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women tournament format features eight teams divided into two preliminary round groups:  Canada, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico in Group A; and Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico and the USA in Group B.  Preliminary round play will be held June 23, 24 and 25, and each team will play the other three teams in its preliminary group.  The top two finishing teams in each preliminary round group will then advance to the June 26 medal round semifinals and play for 1st-4th places.  Teams placing third and fourth in each preliminary round group will advance to the June 26 consolation semifinals and play for 5th-8th places.  The FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women finals will be held Sunday, June 27.

The top four finishing teams in this year’s FIBA Americas U18 Championship will earn berths in the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Two Homers in State Playoffs Put Swain County Star in the Books

For NSR softball prospect, Kayla Myers, setting records was nothing new.  In fact, it had become her habit.  By the end of her junior year at Swain County High in Bryson City, North Carolina, Kayla had already helped lead the volleyball team to a state championship, the school’s first in volleyball, set the school record for career three-point field goals as a point guard, and establish a new standard for base hits as a three-year starter on the softball team.  All-conference and MVP plaques lined the walls in her room.  Still, her next achievement would surpass even her high expectations.

Kayla Myers heads to Catawba College as a five-tool player.

Going into her senior season for the Maroon Devils softball team this past spring, Kayla had a shot at becoming the all-time hits leader in North Carolina high school softball history.  The 5’3”, 115-pound Myers had a ways to go and she knew it.  Needing more than 45 hits to surpass Kassie Norton’s 184 (South View), Kayla went to work.  Undaunted by the pressure to get in the record books, Kayla would do what she usually does, focus and hit everything in the strike zone.  As a senior, and her team going 22-4, she would bat .644 with 33 runs batted in, 14 steals and five home runs during the regular season.  As her team headed into the conference tournament held at Hayesville High, the record seemed out of reach.  Kayla needed 13 hits to be the new state standard bearer. 

Then, Kayla did something a lot of her fans at Swain County High School had hoped for, but few actually expected.  In three games, while leading her team to the conference tournament title, Kayla ran off 10 consecutive hits, including her sixth homer of the year.  The extraordinary performance not only put her within three hits of the all-time record, but it also gave Swain the number one seed in the West division of the state tournament.

Two games later, the Catawba College signee would be facing conference nemesis Hayesville in the third round of the state playoffs needing but one hit to set the record and two to write another accomplishment on her lengthy resume.  With the game tied at zeroes in the fifth inning, Kayla stepped to the plate with one runner on base.  The first pitch she saw would not touch the ground again until it landed 210 feet from the batter’s box beyond the right field fence. She had tied the state mark.  A standing ovation by both teams and fans would not be enough for Kayla on that day as later in that same inning she would finally have her shot at becoming the greatest hitter in North Carolina history. 

This time, it took two pitches.  With two on base, Kayla launched a 230-foot blast to over the right field fence.  She had tied and set the record in the same inning with two home runs.  With her team anxiously waiting on her, Kayla, in typical form, simply ran the bases with no fist pumps or hat doffing.  She just had a huge smile on her face. 

Although Swain would go on to lose the state championship game to two-time defending title holders, East Surry, Kayla Myers’ position in the record books would be secured.  She had become the greatest hitter in the history of North Carolina fastpitch softball history.

With No College Options in Sight, Cary Family Turned to NSR

Midway into her senior year, Morgan had heard from no coaches.

Morgan Cary is the quintessential NSR high school prospect, but with a twist, or a twist and a half.  Like thousands of other high school seniors, Morgan wanted to play college sports.  And as a promising young athlete, Morgan had set her sights on doing something many prep athletes dream of but few accomplish – securing a college athletic scholarship.

There was a problem, though.  Even though Morgan was an accomplished three-sport athlete at The Villages High School in The Villages, Florida, she had received no interest from college coaches midway through her senior year.  Panic had set in.  Would her dreams, the dreams of a solid high school athlete, be lost because no college coaches knew she even existed, much less was an excellent prospect? 

Then one night something happened which changed Morgan’s life.  Sean Kitchen, an NSR scout from Ocala, walked into the gymnasium where Morgan was playing volleyball.  He was at once drawn to Morgan as the best player on the court.  Her athleticism, competitive drive and attitude stood out from the other players.  Following the match, Sean approached Morgan and began to ask her questions about her athletic future.  To his surprise, Morgan had no athletic future to speak of.  With 14 varsity letters to her credit, here was an athlete whose career was coming to a close as her dreams and goals were apparently fading away day-by-day.  

After seeing the passion and hope in Morgan’s eyes, Sean spoke to her parents and set up an appointment the following Friday evening to interview Morgan and to discover if she, indeed, qualified as a college student-athlete.  Sitting around the family pool on a warm, Florida, November evening, Sean explained to the Cary’s their predicament.  Morgan would be getting into the recruiting mix very late.  But, if they worked hard and fast to make her profile and video available to coaches ASAP, then she stood a chance of being noticed, evaluated and recruited.  The Cary family took the plunge.

Fast forward to December, a month later.  With Morgan’s profile and video posted on NSR’s Web site, the interest by college coaches about Morgan began to pour in.  And pour is a mild description.  In the month of December, buoyed by excellent volleyball workout footage, Morgan heard from an incredible 80 college coaches.  With Sean advising the family regularly, Morgan began to make visits, unofficial and official, to colleges up and down the East Coast. 

Then, magic happened as it sometimes does with prospects, campuses and coaches.  Morgan found her home away from home at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.  The school simply felt right in every way.

In an amazing turnaround, Morgan heard from 170 coaches.

Still, by January Morgan was experiencing something akin to the remarkable as questionnaires, emails and phone calls from coaches increased to a level the Cary family could hardly believe.  Although Morgan had found her dream school in ECSU, she continued to receive offers, more than 15 in all.  Some were full ride offers, some were partials, but regardless of the final tally, Morgan was going through in four short months what most prospects can only imagine in an entire high school career.  She had received interest from 170 college volleyball coaches by springtime. 

After Morgan had formally accepted and signed the ECSU offer, she had a graduation party at her home.  And, of course, Sean Kitchens was invited.  But as he was leaving to go to the celebration, Sean found that there was a message left on his home phone answering machine from the Cary family which said, “Sean, please don’t bring a gift.  You have given Morgan something no gift can replace – a college education.”