Understanding the College Athletic Recruiting Process By Kelly Farland Loyola High School September 2016 1 Dedicated to the students of Loyola High School and their families as they pursue their education. Acknowledgements: I would like to thank everyone that contributed and supported my efforts to create this document. This includes: Dr. Ricardo Pedroarias, Mr. Paul Jordan, Mr. Chris O’Donnell, the entire Loyola High School Varsity coaching staff, Mrs. Cindy Cassutt, Mrs. Pat Salvaty, the Loyola High School Counseling Department, and Mrs. Melinda Wiggins. For their support and encouragement: Mr. Erik Ellefsen of Valley Christian School, San Jose, CA, Mr. Will Bufton of the Valor Christian School, Highlands Ranch CO, and Mr. Steve Bluford of the St. Ignatius School, San Francisco. And to my wife for her continued support allowing me to pursue my professional ambitions. Special thanks and appreciation goes out to the Loyola High School alumni and parents who support faculty Professional Development Programs through the Alumni Dinner. 2 Table of Contents Introduction and Explanation of this Document: page 4 The Student Athlete 5-6 The College Athletic Programs 7-9 Recruiting Strategies 10-11 Recruiting Terms 12-13 Loyola High School Form 48H (NCAA document) 14-16 NCAA Eligibility Requirements 17-19 NCAA Division 1 Academic Requirements 20-21 NCAA Division 2 Academic Requirements for 2018 22-23 The Academic Index for the Ivy League 24-26 The Sports-Including Recruiting Calendars for 2017 Baseball 27-32 Basketball 33-39 Cross Country 40-44 Football 45-53 Golf 54-59 Lacrosse 60-65 Soccer 66-71 Swimming and Diving 72-77 Tennis 78-82 Track and Field 83-90 Volleyball 91-96 Water Polo 97-101 3 This resource has been designed to help Loyola High School prospective student athletes and their parents better understand the recruiting process for each sport offered at LHS for those who want to compete in college. There are thousands of personnel dedicated to managing the college athletic recruiting process. This document will help Loyola Cubs, and their parents better understand the athletic recruiting process for all 12-varsity sports offered at Loyola High School. The NCAA refers to high school student-athletes as prospective student athletes or PSAs. For the purposes of this document the acronym PSA will be used in place of the phrase student-athlete or LHS student-athlete. The college athletic recruiting process is not a science, it’s a very human process involving college coaches who are often under a variety of pressures to win, compete or keep up with their competition. Most college coaches have significant experience recruiting high school student athletes, and they usually recruit multiple athletes for the same roster or scholarship spot. They control which athletes get offers and may make multiple offers for one roster spot. Understand that verbal offers are not binding to either party (the coach or the PSA) however most coaches are aware that their ‘word’ is a valuable commodity and they are careful about how they engage in the recruiting process. It’s probably good advice to remind the PSA to not ‘buy the hype’ but rather to stay focused on his own talents and what he wants out of his college experience. There are hundreds of rules which govern the college athletic recruiting process, this document does not outline these rules; instead it’s been designed as a guide to help members of the Loyola High School community anticipate and better understand this complicated process. Probably the most important information for a high school PSA to know is to…. 4 Know Yourself Your Talents and Demonstrated Abilities It’s important that you know what YOU want. Playing sports in college should be about what you want to do, where you want to spend your time and the people you want to associate with. Be realistic about your talent. Don’t just to listen to one person; your parents love you, but they may not have an objective perspective on your abilities, your high school coach certainly has an opinion on your talents, it’s important that you know what he thinks because college coaches may consult him as they decide to recruit you, your travel/club coach certainly also has an opinion about your talents and remember you are paying to play for him. Other coaches you’ve played against may also have an opinion about your talent (they’ve had to guard against you) but they are not likely to be able to help you get recruited. Your Potential: Size and/or Experience Sometimes physical size can make up for current talent, sometimes! If you have a recruitable body type college coaches may find you an attractive recruit. But remember even if you have the right size, if your skills don’t improve you’re not likely to keep your place on a team. Perhaps you just started playing the sport. College coaches may take a chance on an athlete who shows great promise with little technical experience. Again, the coach will expect that you commit yourself completely to the sport and that you continue to improve your talents. Your own Values: What type of institution fits your own expectations. What kind of college do you want to attend? The question to ask yourself is… If I didn’t play X sport at this college, would I still want to attend this college? If the answer is no, be aware that your love or passion for the sport may fade in college, and then what are you left with…. Your Priorities in College: Time Commitments for college PSAs You need to know what your own priorities are in college. Are you looking to compete after college? Are you thinking your talents can help you get into a ‘better’ academic institution? You need to talk with the people you respect in your life; your parents, coaches, guys a couple of years older than you are. 5 What does balance mean in your life? What priority are academics in your life? You need to know your own talent and interests College coaches are going to expect a significant amount of your time. College athletes’ times are committed to games, practice time, weights time, diet, during the season, preseason, offseason, during spring break and Christmas break. If you plan to play at an NCAA Division 1 institution (D1), you can expect to spend 40+ hours a week training year round. Remember why you’re going to college…to earn a degree and develop skills to help you earn a job after you graduate. Committing to play at an NCAA Division 3 program (D3) or Ivy League athletic program will likely require significantly less time with the team. Just how much less depends upon the sport and the program. Typically, NCAA Division 2 institutions (D2) and Division IAA (IAA) programs require significant time commitments, typically a lot more than D3 or Ivy programs. NAIA schools vary based on the sport and the institution. You might be surprised… College coaches are taking chances recruiting high school student athletes. They’re going to collect as much information as they can about a PSA’s CHARACTER. Way beyond ‘the numbers’ or statistics, college coaches are always looking to assess determination, personality, effort and the depth of character of high school recruits. Typically, college coaches like to know your academics, perception on campus and the type of support your family provides for you. These factors can play a role in determining if a college coach will recruit a high school PSA. If your academic record doesn’t match the standard determined by the college, most college coaches will stop recruiting a PSA. If the PSA is perceived as a problem on his high school campus, this factor might affect how hard a college coach recruits a PSA. College coaches don’t want to have to manage a player off the field. And if a PSA’s family members have a history of being difficult to manage, this also might affect how hard a college coach recruits the player. If your high school coach perceives family members as unsupportive or difficult to deal with, a college coach might decide to move on and recruit another PSA. College athletic recruiting is a fluid experience. College coaches rank and re- prioritizing high school recruits all the time. It’s important for the PSA to be clear about their own priorities and to find the college program that best fits their interests and talents. 6 Know the College Programs College Coach Expectations: Your time and commitment As you research your college recruiting you should be aware of how the coach conducts his business. When do they practice, where, how often, for which other commitments are the players accountable? Is the coach new to the school? Is he established at the school? Is he under additional pressure to win? Competition: Who’s in their conference? Often it’s the conference in which the school plays that determines the expectation to win or time commitments of the program. If one coach in the conference is interested in you, perhaps other coaches in the conference would consider you an addition to their program too. Pressure to Win: With pressure come expectations. More and more programs are getting TV time because conferences are creating their own networks, will this affect the pressure to practice, lift and win? The top programs are expected to win every year. This means the coaches are recruiting the top talent every year. Chances are they’ll be recruiting someone next year that will compete with you for playing time in the future.