This document provides information to help student athletes navigate the college search and recruitment process. It notes that only 2% of high school athletes receive NCAA scholarships and that average scholarships are much lower than the cost of attendance. The probability of competing at higher levels is also very low for most sports. Resources are provided on NCAA divisions and their differences. Sample athlete resumes and cover letters are given to help "white chip" athletes market themselves. Coaches' pet peeves and general advice to athletes are also summarized.

1. STUDENT ATHLETES
& THE COLLEGE SEARCH
09/16/13 Jennifer “JT” Thomas

2. ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP
REALITY CHECK
• In 2003-04, NCAA institutions gave
athletic scholarships amounting to 2% of
the 6.4 million high school/youth
athletes.
• Average NCAA scholarship not
including football & basketball is
$8,707.00/year.
• Average baseball or track & field
scholarship is $2000.00/year.
• Scholarships must be renewed each
year. They are not guaranteed year to
year.
• Tuition, room & board for NCAA
institutions cost between $20,000-
$50,000 per year.
(The New York Times, March 10, 2008)
09/16/13

3. Student-Athletes
Men's
Basketball
Women's
Basketball
Football Baseball
Men's Ice
Hockey
Men's Soccer
High School Student
Athletes
540,207 439,550 1,109,278 472,644 36,475 391,839
High School Senior
Student Athletes
154,345 125,586 316,937 135,041 10,421 111,954
NCAA Student
Athletes
17,008 15,423 66,313 30,365 3,945 21,770
NCAA Freshman
Roster Positions
4,859 4,407 18,947 8,676 1,127 6,220
NCAA Senior
Student Athletes
3,780 3,427 14,736 6,748 877 4,838
NCAA Student
Athletes Drafted
44 32 250 600 33 76
Percent High School
to NCAA
3.1% 3.5% 6.0% 6.4% 10.8% 5.6%
Percent NCAA to
Professional
1.2% 0.9% 1.7% 8.9% 3.8% 1.6%
Percent High School
to Professional
0.03% 0.03% 0.08% 0.44% 0.32% 0.07%
NCAA: National Collegiate Athletic Association
Estimated Probability of Competing in Athletics Beyond the
High School Interscholastic Level
09/16/13 JT 11/11

4. THAT SAID…
09/16/13

5. THE EXPERIENCE OF
09/16/13

6. COLLEGE ATHLETICS
09/16/13

7. LASTS A
09/16/13

8. LIFETIME!!
09/16/13

9. NCAA: Which division is my
best athletic fit?
• The National Collegiate Athletic Association
is a voluntary association of 1281 institutions
who make and monitor rules regarding
eligibility, recruiting, amateurism, financial
aid, etc. (www.ncaa.org)
• Division I
• Division II
• Division III
09/16/13

10. DI Oregon Football…
is it the right fit for me?
No. Name Ht. Wt. Position
47 Alonso, Kiko 6-4 222 LB
85 Anderson, Anthony 6-5 233 DE
78 Armstrong, Karrington 6-2 283 OL
79 Asper, Mark 6-7 322 OL
51 Ava, Isaac 5-10 251 LB
24 Barner, Kenjon 5-11 180 RB
31 Bassett, Kenny 5-9 175 RB
93 Beard, Rob 6-0 218 PK
3 Bennett, Bryan 6-2 183 QB
71 Benyard, Everett 6-7 315 OL

11. Stanford Women’s Volleyball
Height matters!
• No. Name Height Position Yr
• 1 Lydia Bai 6-2 Outside Hitter FR
• 2 Carly Wopat 6-2 Middle Blocker FR
• 7 Jessica Walker 6-1 Middle Blocker SO
• 10 Alix Klineman 6-4 Outside Hitter SR
• 11 Charlotte Brown 6-5 Middle Blocker FR
• 12 Stephanie Browne 6-4 Middle Blocker JR
• 21 Hayley Spelman 6-6 Outside Hitter SO

12. Do I match up?
DI UCLA Men’s Water Polo
No. Name Ht. Wt. Position Year
15 Grant Zider 6-4 215 Center/RS SO
13 James Palmer 6-5 205 Attacker/RS SO
2 Ted Peck 6-6 230 Center SR
3 Chris Pulido 6-6 190 Defender SO
6 Brad Greiner 6-6 195 Ctr Defender SO
16 Tim Cherry 6-6 220 Ctr Defender FR
14 Logan Powell 6-4 194 Attacker/RS SO

13. Division I
• The most expensive, competitive, and time consuming
division of the NCAA
• 351 institutions
• Big athletic department budgets
• Sizable athletic facilities
• Increased scholarship money available (ex. DI Football is
allowed a maximum of 85 full scholarships)
• Toughest eligibility requirements: graduate high school
with 16 core courses and test score/GPA determined on
a sliding scale.
• Local examples: CAL, Stanford, USF, Santa Clara, St.
Mary’s, UC Davis, SJSU, Pacific, Sac. St., and Cal Poly.
09/16/13

14. Division II
• Intermediate level as an alternative to the highly
competitive DI and the non-scholarship DIII.
• 308 full or provisional members
• Smaller public schools and many private colleges
that often draw more locally and play closer to
home.
• More limited scholarship opportunities and more
partial scholarships that vary from school to school
(ex. DII football is allowed 36 scholarships).
• Eligibility requirements: graduate high school with
16 core courses, earn a minimum 2.0 GPA, and a
combined 820 SAT or sum 68 ACT.
• Local Examples: SFSU, East Bay, Chico, Humboldt,
Sonoma, Monterey, Dominican, and Notre Dame de
Namur
• Others: UC San Diego, Colorado Springs, WWU09/16/13

15. Division III
• Largest of the three divisions with 444 member
institutions that range in size from 500-10,000
students.
• Colleges & schools choosing not to offer
athletic scholarships. No redshirting athletes.
• Small class sizes, regional season play, and the
opportunity to play more than one sport in
college.
• Each campus determines their own eligibility
requirements.
• Local examples: Menlo, Mills & UC Santa Cruz
• Others: Tufts, Middlebury, Williams, Amherst09/16/13

16. NAIA
• National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics seeks to
fully integrate life, academics, sport and fitness into the
higher education environment.
• 300 colleges & universities in the US & Canada (College
of Bahamas)
• More relaxed rules, especially related to transferring
• Athletic scholarships
• Eligibility Center (2010)
• 23 National Championships in 13 sports
• 50,000 student athletes
• Eligibility requirements. Meet two of the three: 18
ACT/860 SAT, 2.0 GPA, or graduate in the top half of
class
• Local examples: Maritime, Fresno Pacific, Holy Names,
Patten, and William Jessup
• Others: UC Merced, Southern Oregon, Evergreen
• Options: community college, club, intramurals, PG
09/16/13

17. BLUE CHIP ATHLETES
Who are they? Indicators?
• Highly valued & recruited athlete.
• College coaches will make contact with these athletes early
(soph year) through club coaches.
• “You’ve got mail” = September 1st
of junior year
• Phone call July 1st
of senior year.
• Paid official visit invitations for senior year.
• Home visits from coaches senior year.
• Coaches visit high schools with principals permission.
• Coaches attend their tournaments and sometimes even high
school games.
• Coaches spam, call, email, these recruits, their families, and
their coaches as often as the NCAA permits (and then some).
• Blue Chips tend to “commit” to colleges early in the process.
09/16/13

18. Blue Chips!
09/16/13 JT 11/11

19. WHITE CHIPS…
MUST MARKET THEMSELVES
• Keep your grades up so you have more options.
• Create a resume/profile with brief athletic, academic &
personal information
• Create a cover email letter
• Register for the NCAA Eligibility Center (by junior year)
• Get to know the NCAA website/understand the recruiting rules
specific to your sport.
• Talk to high school coaches/club coaches, trainers, and
camp/showcase coaches to determine best athletic fit.
• Search NCAA “Who We Are” to determine which colleges have
which sport and division.
• Create a big list and MAKE CONTACT!! Email resume/cover
letter!!
09/16/13

20. Sample Athlete Resume
09/16/13 JT 11/11

21. Sample Cover Letter Email
• Dear Coach __________,
•
• My name is ___________, and I will graduate in (2014). I am a (year in school) at ____________ High School in
California with a ____ grade point average. I currently play for the ______________ club (you can add more info
here to highlight your club team). As well as continuing my education, I would like to play soccer at the (DI, DII,
DII, NAIA) collegiate level.
•
• School specifics here. (I’m interested in your ‘college’ because of... stuff…make this specific but not too long.
Put in something specific about the school or program, a friend that speaks highly of it, or if you know the coach
mention it, or simply congratulate them on a good season or recent win).
•
• While I understand that NCAA rules do not allow you to contact me by phone until July 1 before my senior year
(this is for DI & DII schools, not DIIIs) or by mail on September 1st
of my junior year, I am attaching a resume of my
personal, athletic, and academic information. This link will take you to a short video of me in action
_____________________ (optional). My coaches contact information is ______________________________ (name, email
and phone if you are a sophomore so they know who to contact).
•
• I am interested in, and looking forward to, learning more about ‘school’ and the ‘mascot’ (soccer/softball/LAX). I
would appreciate receiving information about your upcoming ID and summer camps.
•
• Sincerely,
•
•
• Your Name
09/16/13 JT 11/11

22. WHITE CHIPS
After initial contact must:
• Track responses & non responses equally.
• Fill out athlete questionnaires on websites.
• Make a highlight video and send the link.
• Stay in contact with coaches (send tournament updates
early).
• Visit campuses. Attend games/matches/meets to show
interest and determine fit. If possible, watch practices &
attend class.
• Attend ID Camps, summer camps, prospect camps,
invitational camps, tourneys and combines (ask for feedback).
• Learn from the veteran parents/athletes in your sport who
have been there, and are now wearing the sweatshirt!!!
09/16/13

23. Blue Chip or White Chip?
09/16/13 JT 11/11

24. NCAA RULES
http://www.ncaa.org
09/16/13
SEE THE NCAA WEBSITE REGARDING RULES,
COMPLIANCE, RECRUTING, ELIGIBILITY AND
AMATURISM AS THEY DIFFER GREATLY BY DIVISION
AND SPORT.

25. TOP 10
COACHES PET PEEVES
1. Parents send emails instead of athlete.
2. Parents call instead of athlete.
3. Parents call and ask us to call them back when it’s
against the NCAA recruiting rules.
4. Use of recruiting services.
5. “Game playing” in the process.
6. Sending hours of video or testimonial.
7. Trying to engage us in conversation at tournaments
when it’s illegal.
8. Not taking “no” for an honest answer.
9. Sending information on their high school athletics only.
10. The myth that everyone gets a full ride or a scholarship.
(Information polled from CAL assistant coaches in all sports)
09/16/13

26. ADVICE TO ATHLETES
DON’T!
Believe everything you hear about scholarships.
Verbally commit without a read from the admissions office.
Put all of your eggs in one basket.
DO!
Keep grades up!
Cast a big net and stay in contact with many coaches.
Have strong back ups.
Meet deadlines for transcripts/test scores/transcript release
form
Go to your counselor for advice about academic/social fit.
Start earlier & work harder at the process than non-athletes.
Use the NCAA website, “Who We Are”.
Buy the book - The Academic Athlete by Dickson/Laughrea.
09/16/13

27. Jennifer “JT” Thomas,
Maybeck High School College Counselor
jt.thomas11@yahoo.com
09/16/13