I would like to take this time to address concerns regarding college recruiting and NCAA football scholarships.
There are 117 division 1A, 118 division 1AA and 150 division 2 colleges that offer football scholarships. That's a total of 22,779 football scholarships available in the NCAA alone. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND that these scholarships must be spread out over the course of 4 to 5 years. So 22,779 divided by 4.5 is approximately 5,062. In order for your son to receive a football scholarship, he must be one of the top 5,000 players in the country out of the millions that play high school football! On a smaller scale, 5 out of 1,000 football players earn a scholarship!
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 14 academic courses taken during grades 9 through 12. Only courses that satisfy the NCAA definition of a core course are acceptable. Core courses include:
National Clearing House Sliding Scale
Student-athletes are also required to take the ACT or SAT test. Meeting the criteria is based on a sliding scale. See below:
|
Division I Core GPA/Test Score Index |
|
Core GPA |
SAT Score |
ACT Score* |
|
3.550 |
400 |
37 |
|
3.525 |
410 |
38 |
|
3.500 |
420 |
39 |
|
3.475 |
430 |
40 |
|
3.450 |
440 |
41 |
|
3.425 |
450 |
41 |
|
3.400 |
460 |
42 |
|
3.375 |
470 |
42 |
|
3.350 |
480 |
43 |
|
3.325 |
490 |
44 |
|
3.300 |
500 |
44 |
|
3.275 |
510 |
45 |
|
3.250 |
520 |
46 |
|
3.225 |
530 |
46 |
|
3.200 |
540 |
47 |
|
3.175 |
550 |
47 |
|
3.150 |
560 |
48 |
|
3.125 |
570 |
49 |
|
3.100 |
580 |
49 |
|
3.075 |
590 |
50 |
|
3.050 |
600 |
50 |
|
3.025 |
610 |
51 |
|
3.000 |
620 |
52 |
|
2.975 |
630 |
52 |
|
2.950 |
640 |
53 |
|
2.925 |
650 |
53 |
|
2.900 |
660 |
54 |
|
2.875 |
670 |
55 |
|
2.850 |
680 |
56 |
|
2.825 |
690 |
56 |
|
2.800 |
700 |
57 |
|
2.775 |
710 |
58 |
|
|
Division I Core GPA/Test Score Index |
|
Core GPA |
SAT Score |
ACT Score* |
|
2.750 |
720 |
59 |
|
2.725 |
730 |
59 |
|
2.700 |
730 |
60 |
|
2.675 |
740 |
61 |
|
2.650 |
760 |
62 |
|
2.625 |
770 |
63 |
|
2.600 |
780 |
64 |
|
2.575 |
790 |
65 |
|
2.550 |
800 |
66 |
|
2.525 |
810 |
67 |
|
2.500 |
820 |
68 |
|
2.475 |
830 |
69 |
|
2.450 |
840 |
70 |
|
2.425 |
860 |
70 |
|
2.400 |
860 |
71 |
|
2.375 |
870 |
72 |
|
2.350 |
880 |
73 |
|
2.325 |
890 |
74 |
|
2.300 |
900 |
75 |
|
2.275 |
910 |
76 |
|
2.250 |
920 |
77 |
|
2.225 |
930 |
78 |
|
2.200 |
940 |
79 |
|
2.175 |
950 |
80 |
|
2.150 |
960 |
80 |
|
2.125 |
960 |
81 |
|
2.100 |
970 |
82 |
|
2.075 |
980 |
83 |
|
2.050 |
990 |
84 |
|
2.025 |
1000 |
85 |
|
2.000 |
1010 |
86 |
|
|
*ACT Score is a sum of English, Math, Reading and Science scores. |
When will I be contacted?
Remember that you cannot 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.
Questions you should ask your recruiter:
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:
1. How many players are you recruiting at my position?
2. If I decide to visit, are you offering me a scholarship?
3. How long do I have to accept or decline your offer?
4. Are you offering the same scholarship to other players?
5. Are you offering me an official campus visit?
6. Where am I on your priority list?
7. If you offer one scholarship to me and others, will it go to the first player who commits?
8. 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?9. 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?
10. 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.
Recruiting Facts
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 player.
As you see the process is complex. What can you do to be in the top 5 out of 1,000 - hoping to receive a football scholarship? Here is my advice for someone who wants to be among the elite of high school football players:
1. ACADEMICS FIRST! Consider this. If two players with the same abilities are being recruited and player A has a 3.0 and player B has a 2.0, player A is going to be given the scholarship. Player B would be considered more of a risk. Remember, you are an investment for that college football program. They are not going to take "chances" on athletes when they have other dependable athletes to recruit!
2. MAKE GOOD DECISIONS! Stay out of trouble! No college football program wants to deal with any athletes' "drama" off the field.
3. SURROUND YOURSELF WTH POSITIVE PEOPLE! If you hang with negative people or underachievers, they are going to bring you down. You will underachieve along with them! If you hang with motivated people, they are going to bring you up! Surround yourself with winners!
4. ACHIEVE AT EVERYTHING YOU DO! Winners just don't win some of the time - they win all the time! Winners are just great athletes - they are great students and great people!
5. MAKE FRIENDS AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS! I cannot stress this enough. Make every student, every teacher, every parent, every coach and every administrator your FRIEND. When you are in the school building, you should smile and shake hand with everyone you know! These people WILL help you and WANT to help you!
6. DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP! There are people all over this campus that are willing to assist you at any time.
7. THINK ABOUT TEAM - NOT YOURSELF! Don't have the attitude that "you have to get yours (superlatives, honors, stats, etc.) in order to receive a scholarship. Put TEAM first and everything else will take care of itself!
8. TRUST & LISTEN TO YOUR COACHES! Your coaches tell you all the time: "Work harder!", "Be on time!", "Change your attitude!", "Be respectful!", "Pay attention in class!" "Do this! Do that!. Players don't often like to take constructive criticism. Trust me, we are trying to help you! We only ask you to do things that are going to make you excel as an athlete, student and person! Your coaches are HIGHLY DEDICATED to high school athletics and don't make millions for their countless hours of work. They are in this business because they care about young people!
9. GO THE EXTRA MILE! In order to be the best, you have to outwork the rest! Be early to practice! Stay late for films! Be involved in all off-season programs! Get involved in summer camps: skill camps, speed camps, combines, etc.
10. As you begin to accomplish great things, BE MODEST. Let your actions speak louder than your words. If you are successful, there is no need to tell anyone - your actions will speak for you. Remember that along the way, there have been people there for you who were willing to help you and advise you! Thank them often!