As someone that has coached high school football for a number of years, one thing that I've learned through my involvement in the college recruiting process is that the process is anything but easy to understand. Even more apparent is that many of the student-athletes and their family support structure are walking into an environment that has moved towards putting a lot of emphasis on what I like to call the Bright Lights on Friday Nights...the stuff that shines...while leaving all of those important details that are in many ways encyclopedia-like to the fringes. Let's be honest, that makes sense, the hope of having a five star recruit at your alma mater is much more entertaining to talk about than rules, regulations and the NCAA clearinghouse. I get that, at the same time I also get that when it comes to discussing those not-so-exciting elements of the process, presenting that type of information isn't exactly the priority for the big-business machine of college recruiting. Understood, but that doesn't make the information any less relevant and I would suggest that in reality is even more important.
The college coaching staffs that I've worked with and their support structure spend a lot of time once they begin to recruit a student-athlete in explaining all the details and providing as much information to families as they can handle. But for those that are just starting out the process and thinking about the possibilities of being recruited there is a large void when it comes to knowledge about what is and isn't the reality of the process. It is in this void, fueled by the reality that recruiting from a commercial perspective is big business along with increased media coverage that has given hope to almost every young man that suits up on a Friday night that they might one day find themselves playing college ball, that entities have swooped in to satisfy the hunger for understanding, excitement, hope and answers.
My own personal journey has shown me in large part that the reality is that the void, even with all that is out there to fill it, is still pretty empty when it comes to substance. What I hope to do through this new feature on Bull City Football for Starters is to periodically address topics that I personally feel are important to the process of being The Recruited. Topics that to be perfectly honest would have a hard time of convincing folks to spend $9.95 a month to access that all important information about future recruiting classes, but in the end are about real substance, the stuff that if you or someone you know dreams of being The Recruited, should know, need to know, so you can navigate the process and not be staring at National Signing Day wondering what happened, but instead understand the why of what occurred so that you can move forward appropriately with the power of real knowledge!
In this first installment of The Recruited I wanted to touch on one of the biggest myths out there when it comes to college scholarships and that is the supposed 'Full Ride'. I can recall when I first started coaching in the late 90's that my impression was that if you signed to play college ball at the big-time level then you were getting a 'full ride'. I thought at the time that the reality was that you'd be taken care of for the entire time you were at school, but the hard facts are that isn't necessarily the case at least at its most fundamental level, although there are caveats. Yes everything is more complicated it appears.
Before I go any further, it's best to state the following - if you haven't visited the NCAA's site, then I'd advise it. They have a wealth of information on the mechanics so to say of the process and taking the time to read through it as early as possible will pay dividends in how you understand the recruiting process [www.ncaa.org].
Athletic scholarships are awarded on both the Division I and Division II levels and are awarded for up to one academic year. Yes, you heard that correctly. They are not awarded for a 'guaranteed' four or five years, the time it takes most folks to complete their degree, rather they are awarded for a single year, that first year you step on campus. Specifically with Division I schools, after that initial year, one of four things can happen to your athletic scholarship. It can be renewed for a second year, reduced or increased, or canceled. The following quote comes directly from the NCAA site, page 19 of the 2010-2011 Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete. Concerning the reason why one of the four above options may occur, '...from year to year for almost any reason.' The document goes on to say that if your scholarship will be reduced or canceled that the college or university you are attending must provide you with an opportunity to appeal the decision. Following along with this point, the handbook concludes page 19 with the following that I think brings into focus even more the fact that the guarantee of four years of athletic scholarship money isn't in stone when you sign the dotted line, "You should also consider how you will finance your education if your athletics scholarship is reduced or canceled." [2010-2011 Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete].
In one paragraph we went from full ride equals four years to you have one year and then once that year is up based on any reason, changes to the status of your athletic scholarship could change. I would say that about 80 to 90% of the student-athletes and their family that I've worked with over the years when I explained that to them were to put it bluntly, dumbfounded. Rarely do folks talk about this as a focal point, but rather it's left buried somewhere if it is discussed at all. I have to admit that I'm a facts-junky and so one of my favorite shows is Outside the Lines on ESPN. They tend to tackle substance more than fluff and a little over a year ago they aired a segment where they spoke specifically about the one year renewable scholarship and the fact that colleges can change the status of that scholarship for any reason after that year. Specifically, they reported on the University of Kentucky basketball program and coach John Calipari, but the point isn't lost because it deals with basketball as opposed to football. Full ride doesn't equal four years. [Outside the Lines: One-year renewable scholarships, aired January 3rd, 2010, Tom Farrey reports]. I should clarify that I'm not stepping on any soap-box about whether or not this is right or wrong. Rather, I'm simply bringing forth the facts, facts that I personally think are important for folks to know about, especially in the current environment when we see the level of monetary, emotional and time investment being put forth by student-athletes and their families to get into the game of college recruiting.
One of the reasons that the recruiting process can be so daunting is that there is so much involved and I'm going to do my best with each installment of The Recruited to not discuss too much in any one segment. There are numerous places we can go directly from this one element we've discussed today, but rather than delve into a number of points in one installment, we'll try to hit one point with each post and hopefully the impact will be more than if we were all over the place.
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