Myths and Realities of
College
Athletics and Recruiting
Reprinted From:
Varsity
Edge
Myth: If you are good enough, coaches will find you
Reality: There are too many
players and too few coaches for every player to get exposure, plus many coaches
have strict recruiting budgets and part time jobs, making it sometimes
impossible to see many players in person. Their season is also much more
rigorous and takes place the same time your does, leaving them little free
time.
Myth: Division 1 programs have big recruiting budgets.
Reality: Some of the larger
schools with top notch football and basketball programs do have large
recruiting budgets but most do not. There are very few coaches that have the
ability to fly around the country to recruit players and have an endless
coaching staff that they can send out to scout.
Myth: Division 3 Schools are weaker athletically
Reality: In some cases yes, but
in many cases no. Many Division 3 programs have very talented athletic
programs, this is often because players there are there to get an education
first and play athletics second. But they are still talented and dedicated
athletes who wanted to continue their athletic career in college, but wanted to
do it on their own terms. If you think you can just stroll onto a D3 program
you are in for a surprise.
Myth: All colleges offer athletic scholarships
Reality: Only Division 1 & 2
colleges can offer athletic scholarships. Division 3 Programs cannot offer
athletes athletic scholarship money.
Myth: Most athletes get a full scholarship or no scholarship
Reality: Most coaches divide
scholarship money up to a number of players, so if a coach has 2 full
scholarships available he or she can divide that money up and offer a portion
to 10 different players if they want to.
Myth: Division 1 programs do not offer walk-on tryouts.
Reality: While walking onto the
Myth: I shouldn't go to a Division 3 School if I need scholarship
money
Reality: Many D3 schools offer
attractive financial aid programs and you should not overlook any school, even
if they do not offer athletic scholarships.
Myth: College coaches will help me get into their school if I am
on the bubble academically.
Reality: While some coaches may
be able to "nudge" the administration and I use the term nudge very
carefully, most coaches will not and cannot help you get into the school. There
are thousands of students who may want to attend a school, who may be more
talented than you and they have every right to attend even if they don't play a
sport. Plus, a coach does not want to put you in a position where you may fail
academically. That is not fair to you or them and they
will be pretty honest with you when assessing your academic standing. Some
college coaches will not even acknowledge your athletic skill until they have
determined you are close enough academically to get into their school
Myth:
All Division 1 & 2 programs have scholarships available
Reality: While the NCAA mandates how
many scholarships a school can offer for a particular sport, it is up to the
school whether or not they want to and can offer the number of scholarships
allotted to them. Example: Division 1 baseball programs are allowed to offer
11.7 scholarships, but most division 1 baseball schools may offer only 3 or 4
scholarships. I have been told that the
Myth: If you receive a form letter from a coach, you are being
recruited
Reality: Coaches send out
thousands of letters to players they may or may not have heard of and there are
probably 200 kids tearing open the same exact letter you got. Read the letter
and respond to it, whether you are interested in the school or not.
Myth: Recruiting companies give me a better shot at being
recruited.
Reality: While recruiting
companies have been around a long time, there has been a surge in the number of
companies attempting to promote athletes over the Internet claiming that if you
put an online profile of yourself on their system, coaches will find you. While
there are rare cases of this happening, the research we have done and the
feedback we have received on these services is very poor. There are simply too
many of them and coaches will be hard pressed to spend 2 hours sifting through
a 1000 student-athlete profiles online that really tell the coach little about
you as a person and as an athlete.
Myth: Graduating from high school and getting good grades in
enough to make me eligible to play college athletics
Reality: You must have a minimum
GPA, SAT/ACT score and must complete a certain number of core classes such as math,
english, history, science,
and foreign language. If you have good grades and good SAT scores but maybe
failed english your
freshman, you may be in trouble. Please sit down with your guidance counselor
to review your courses and to register with the Initial Eligibility
Clearinghouse.
Myth: College coaches only recruit top players
Reality: College coaches recruit
anyone they think can play at their program and recruit anyone who shows an
interest in their program. Just because you are not the star of your team does
not mean you cannot play in college.
Myth: I shouldn't go to a school where I can't start my first
year
Reality: Why not, If you go to a school where you can start your first year,
chances are you are not in a very strong program or they do not face strong
competition. You should go to a program where you have time to grow
athletically and get better over time. You will be facing more experienced
players in college and it will take you time to get your skill level up to
theirs.
Myth: High school coaches are qualified to determine if I am
college athletic material
Reality: While many coaches are,
many are not and many never played a sport in college. The bottom line, there
are many factors that determine if you can play in college and your high school
coach may have no idea if you can or not.
Myth: College coaches will be honest with me when I meet with
them
Reality: Many will, but in some
cases this is big business and coaches cannot afford to have few options
available, so even though they may tell you that you are the number one
quarterback, there may be 3 or 4 other quarterbacks that they have recruited
already or are trying to recruit.
Myth: College coaches can contact me anytime they want.
Reality: There are strict rules
as to when a coach can send you literature and contact you. A coach cannot call
you till after you have completed your junior year. For more specifics, please
visit NCAA.org
Myth: Playing college athletics will not be much different than
high school, aside of the skill level
Reality: Playing college athletics is an unbelievable commitment in time and
in dedication and will be nowhere close to your high school experience. In
college you will play or practice for 3 seasons, in the fall, winter and in the
spring, and be required to do lifting and running programs as well. You may
also be practicing at 6AM or Midnight or twice a day depending what facilities
are available when.
Myth: I will be able to play more than one sport in college
Reality: While this may be
physically possible, it may not be realistically possible. College athletics is
not like high school where you have one season in the fall, spring or winter
and that is it. A college athletic team will work out in all three seasons in
one form or another making it very difficult to dedicate yourself to one team.
Coaches will also question your own personal dedication to their team and may
frown upon any attempt to play more than one sport.
To see more of the quality information on the
Varsity Edge website "click" on the logo
