College sports Recruiting 101 SPORTS ENHANCEMENT

STEP 1: BE THE BEST TEAMMATE ON YOUR TEAM COLLEGE COACHES LOOK AT EVERY ASPECT OF AN ATHLETE WHEN RECRUITING ATTITUDE ON AND OFF THE PLAYING FIELD (Positive or Negative?, Great Effort all the time or do you hold back for Game Day?, Are you Coachable or do you resist what your coaches try to teach you?) WORK ETHIC IN THE OFF SEASON AND IN PRACTICE (Your Attendance and Effort level in Preparation is a Reflection of your Commitment.) WHAT LEVEL OF TRUST DOES YOUR COACH AND TEAMMATES HAVE IN YOU? (Do people worry about you being Suspended?, Getting in Fights?, Stealing?, Breaking Laws?, not making Grades?, getting Detentions or Suspensions?, Being on Time?) **ABOVE THE LINE**

STEP 1: BE THE BEST TEAMMATE ON YOUR TEAM WHAT LEVEL OF RESPECT DO YOUR OPPOSING COACHES AND ATHLETES HAVE FOR YOU? (College Coaches talk to other schools Coaches about players at other schools they coach against, their Opinion of you Matters! Are you Respectful? Do you trash talk/take cheap shots? HOW DO YOU PORTRAY YOURSELF TO YOUR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS IN THE CLASSROOM? (When a College Coach asks them what type of Person you are, how will they Respond?) HOW DO YOU PORTRAY YOURSELF IN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS? (Trash Talk?, Illegal/Immoral Behaviors?, Questionable Decisions?, Unethical Activities?, Disrespectful?)

STEP 1: BE THE BEST TEAMMATE ON YOUR TEAM Do not expect your high school coaches/teachers/administrators/opposing coaches to lie on your behalf to help get you a scholarship. Doing so would risk the trust relationship with that college recruiter and have negative effects on future athletes.

Step 2: Enroll in the Eligibility Center NCAA FCS (Alabama, Ohio State) FBS (Missouri State, SEMO) Division II (Truman, Northwest Missouri State, University of Central Missouri, Lindenwood) NCAA Eligibility Center is a MUST for NCAA Division I and II! Enroll at the Beginning of your Sophomore year in High School! Division III (Washington University, William Penn) No eligibility center for Division III, each school has their own eligibility requirements. No athletic scholarships in Division III, however, they have creative ways to get you money academically and through grants. NAIA (Missouri Valley, Culver Stockton, William Jewell) NAIA has a separate eligibility center you need to register for, you should do this the same time you do the NCAA. JUCO (SCCC, Meramec) JUCO’s have their own requirements, this is how people that don’t have the grades in high school work their way into 4 year university eligibility.

STEP 3: BE REALISTIC WITH YOUSELF People often have this infatuation with being “Division I”. If you aren’t having Division I coaches talking to you by the end of your Sophomore season, you are HIGHLY unlikely to be recruited to be a Division I scholarship athlete. One of a FCS college’s first criteria is a players height and weight. If you are not 6’3 or above and 285 or above, you are not going to be on any list for division I football as a lineman. The worst Division III college team will beat high school state champion teams. Nearly EVERY player in college was All conference/all district/all metro/or all state in high school. This goes for ALL LEVELS of college athletics. Being the best on your team at your position is a start, but hardly means you are a division I player. Bottom line, IT IS SPECIAL and a PRIVELEGE to have the opportunity to play a sport at the college level. ANY LEVEL.

Step 4: Start Narrowing the Field It is never too early to start looking at schools and getting an idea of where you would like to go. Your number one criteria should be: Does this school have the degree programs I am interested in? If not, don’t waste anyone’s time. Once you get a list, start doing research and tour the campuses to help narrow down the list. Not only do you have to win them, they have to win you.

Step 5: Make Contact with Coaches Call/Email coaches from the schools you have on your narrowed down list to introduce yourself and express your interest in possibly playing for them after high school. If you get a response, go from there. If you do not get a response, it could be illegal for them to contact you directly at that time of year. If they contact you they may ask for transcripts/ACT/SAT scores to check eligibility, game film, (short clips of highlights are ok but you must add full games.) They will want to see how you play on every play, not just your highlights. High school coaches receive questionnaires via recruiting services, they add players they feel could receive college scholarships. Colleges receive this information and put you in their database. College databases send materials via mail to athletes homes and schools. These are just a confirmation they have your information. This is not being recruited.

Step 6: Make them want you Be a great and positive leader on your teams. Be the hardest worker on your teams. Show full commitment to your teams in both time and sweat equity. Deserve the respect of your teammates, coaches, teachers, and opponents. Do the right thing in social settings ALL of the time. Be self disciplined.

How are Scholarships Awarded? NCAA Division I No partial scholarships, it’s all or none. NCAA Division II Schools have so many full scholarships they can divvy up between athletes as they need. Partials are the normal at this level. NCAA Division III No Athletic scholarships but they have ways to give grants and academic money to help pay for school. NAIA Similar to NCAA D-II JUCO Depends on the school, some have athletic scholarships, some don’t.

Be Prepared for College Athletics When you receive a scholarship. It is a contract with the school. You are giving your personal freedoms to the school in return for an education and the chance to play at the college level. They own you They decide when you sleep, eat, take classes, study. Free time is minimal to non-existent. If you do not love the sport, you will probably not like college athletics.

Be Prepared to take your game to the next level Doing what you did in high school to earn a college scholarship was great. However, you will be competing against the best of the best every day in college. If you are not up to the challenge, they will forget about you in a heart beat with the next recruiting class. There are going to be 50 players with your size, speed, strength and ability they will have to choose from to replace you in the next recruiting class. You have to be prepared to take your game to the next level and compete every day!

In Closing It is an honor to receive a scholarship and play at the college level. You must earn this privilege every day. Effective Immediately.