May is an important month in the recruiting process for many high school juniors. NCAA Division 1 football coaches may make one phone call to a 2009 grad anytime this month. If a current junior football player is not receiving a large number of phone calls from D1 coaches, he is not on their radars, and so it is important to start being proactive. NCAA D2 football coaches may start making phone calls to juniors next month, beginning June 15.
Also of significance, May 21 was the end of the late signing period for senior basketball players who want to sign a National Letter of Intent. After that date, a senior basketball player cannot sign a National Letter of Intent (in simple terms, a contract that in part obligates the school to give athletic money to the student athlete), but he or she could still accept an offer to play at a school (although this is generally rare at the D1 and D2 divisions, this late in the year). For most other sports, the National Letter of Intent window does not close until August 1.
Also remember that for NCAA D1 programs, especially the top programs, it is critical that a student athlete start getting recruited EARLY. Some of these programs are actually looking at freshman, and definitely are looking at sophomores they know about.
Early promotion to college coaches is important in order to have the most college choice options available - choosing the right college is one of the biggest, perhaps life changing decisions a student can make (both the athlete and non-athlete). Consequently, the student athlete wants to be in the driver's seat in the recruiting process and in the best position to select the school that is best for him/her academically, socially, athletically, and financially.
Recently, the New York Times posted a series of articles about playing college sports, the misconceptions of scholarships and the life of a college athlete. The main link is below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/sports/10scholarships.html?ex=1205812800&en=54620915f9340feb&ei=5070&emc=eta1
On the left hand side of the article are links to related articles which are part of the series - those are must reads, as well. Please print them out and read them if you are seriously considering pursuing college sports. Why would I, a person in the business of helping student athletes get on college sports teams, be urging those same individuals to read these articles, which at first blush at least seem to discourage kids from playing sports? Because my main goal is to make sure student athletes and their families understand the realities of playing college sports, that very few students play D1 or get full ride athletic scholarships, and that no scholarship is guaranteed for 4 years (the National Letter of Intent signing only obligates the college to award athletic aid for one year). Yes, I love signing on student athletes, but only when they have their eyes wide open to what is in store for them. It is my opinion that HS student athletes, in order to enjoy and get the most out of their college experience, must have a sound understanding of the pros and cons of college sports. They need to start the recruiting process early, research the types of schools they wish to attend, understand life as a college athlete, and make sure they do not allow the athletic factor (or financial aid, for that matter) to solely dictate their college choice. Similarly, there are smaller programs that do not offer athletic scholarships, but have excellent athletics (and academic programs), and offer financial aid (through academic scholarhips and similar endowments) that rival athletic financial awards offered at much larger D1 programs, for e.g.
I encourage those of you who read these articles to post your thoughts about the articles on this blog.
Thanks!
All college-bound students wishing to receive financial aid from a college must have on file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referrd to as FAFSA. This application can be filed on-line at www.fafsa.ed.gov on or after January 1 of the year the student will be entering college (for 2008 high school graduates, that means on or after Jan. 1, 2008). The actual deadline to file the FAFSA is June 30, but many schools have hard deadlines beginning in February or March, so in order to be eligible for the maximum amount of aid, the application should be filed as soon as possible after January 1, and may be based on the previous tax year's return. For example, a 2008 graduate may complete the FAFSA based on his/her parents' 2006 tax return, since many people do not have enough information in January to complete their 2007 tax return.
Contact the FAFSA website above for me detailed information, but remember that it is important when applying to colleges, generally the fall of one's senior year of high school, to apply for financial aid, as well. Full-ride athletic scholarships are like hitting the lottery. even student athletes who do receive significant money receive a fair portion of it from other sources, such as need-based grants and academic money and other endowments. Most student athletes only receive partial scholarships, some or none of which is athletic-based.
