| APRIL 2011 VARSITYEDGE.COM NEWSLETTER
RECRUITING RULES
There was a situation recently with a basketball player who signed an NLI with a D1 team in the fall. Shortly after, the college fired the head coach and the recruit asked fro his release from the NLI which was granted. Shortly after that, the recruit signed another NLI with another D1 college. Not so fast…The NCAA bars athletes from signing another NLI in the same signing year. So while the athletic aid agreement (the scholarship offer to the player that accompanies the NLI) was accepted by the second college, the actual NLI became void! An athletics aid agreement is only binding to the institution but not to the athlete. So in this case, if the player wishes to attend the second University he signed with, the institution has to honor the scholarship offer. But the athlete is not bound to attend that college and in reality can seek out another college to attend with no penalty!
INTERVIEWS
I recently interviewed Fairfield Women Soccer coach Jim O’Brien. The interview will provide great insight on recruiting and many of the questions we covered will apply to any sport. Read Interview
ARTICLES
This is an extended version of an article I was writing for a baseball magazine with quotes from several college coaches. Read Article
ODD’S N ENDS
I recently partnered with the Complete QB Quarterback camps. Complete QB runs about 20+ camps throughout the country in 18 different states. Quarterback is an extremely challenging position so I am a big fan of resources that can help increase the skills of high school athletes in a very specific setting. The camp includes classroom sessions and video to assist QB’s. I have created an online recruiting resource center for their website as well as a recruiting handout that will be provided at their camps. Please visit their website to check out the programs. Visit Website.
Women’s D1 soccer scholarships are up from 12 per team to 14.
There are currently 18 NCAA men's gymnastics varsity programs left at the college level. It could be 17 next year if Cal fails to raise the money they need to save their gymnastics program that is slated to be cut after this year!
NEWS ON INDIVIDUAL COLLEGES
The University of Massachusetts announced it is moving its football program from D1AA to D1A. In order to satisfy the move to D1, the school will play its home games at Gillette Stadium, currently the home of the New England Patriots. In case you are wondering, Gillette stadium is about 90 miles away from the UMass campus. The Minuteman will play in the MAC which includes Miami (OH), Ohio, Temple, Kent State, Buffalo, Bowling Green and Akron in the East Division and Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, Ball State, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan in the West Division.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is also banning the use of Tobacco on any part of campus!
Division III Husson University, located in Bangor, Me., will add women’s outdoor track during the 2011-12 academic year and women’s indoor track in 2012-13 to boost the school’s offerings to 16 varsity sports
Canisius has announced the addition of women's rowing with the program scheduled to begin competition next academic year. In the last 15 years in particular, the number of female athletes choosing to row has increased. In the 1994-95 academic year, the NCAA had 44 teams in Division I with 1,804 women rowers. By 2008-09, the number of teams nearly doubled to 87 with 5,448 athletes participating in the sport at the Division I level.
Delaware will sponsor women’s golf at the varsity level for the first time in school history next fall. Women’s golf becomes Delaware’s 23rd varsity sport and the first new sport since women’s rowing was added for the 1998-99 season. Delaware and William and Mary are now tied with the most varsity sports programs among Colonial Athletic Association institutions. The Blue Hens sponsor 13 women’s and 10 men’s sports.
Houghton College will become a new member of the Empire 8 beginning in 2012-13. The NAIA institution is in the process of applying for NCAA Division III membership. If accepted, the school will be required to go through one year of exploratory membership followed by four years of provisional membership before becoming an active Division III member.
Cal saved their baseball team with a pretty aggressive fundraising effort.
Pitt opened up the $29 million Petersen Sports Complex. The facility includes baseball, softball and soccer stadiums, locker rooms and training facilities.
Texas Christian is renovating their football stadium to the tune of 100 million dollars
Auburn University started building a new wellness center which will include weight training pools, a track, a climbing wall and a multipurpose gymnasium, the $20 million facility will be made possible largely by student activity fees
Penn State’s opening a new hockey facility in 2014 to help the university launch Division I men’s and women’s hockey programs The Pegula Ice Arena honors alumnus Terrence M. Pegula and his wife, Kim, who donated $88 million to the project.
Glenville State College plans to build a new health and wellness education center…
The Utah State University is trying to build a 28,000-square-foot, $8 million indoor basketball practice facility and volleyball competition venue.
The new Student Fitness Center and McCormick Hall at Illinois State University - a 111,000-square-foot fitness and recreation center - includes a climbing wall, lap pool and a whirlpool, spaces for group exercise and dance classes, weight training and cardio fitness spaces, racquetball courts, a jogging track, a gymnasium and multi-activity courts. The 68,000-square-foot kinesiology wing includes multiple classroom and lab spaces to support disciplines such as biomechanics research, athletic training, clinical instruction, sports psychology and exercise physiology.
Due Diligence
I always stress that families due their due diligence when researching a particular recruiting program. The more questions you ask and have answered not only about a college but a particular athletic program will go a long way to helping you succeed in the recruiting process. We also encourage recruits to get off the beaten path and apply to colleges that might be off of the radar with other recruits. Some colleges, for whatever reason will attract thousands of applicants and their athletic teams will be sought out by thousands of high school athletes. Other programs, for whatever reason, sometimes have trouble fielding a full team of talented athletes. These might be smaller programs, newer programs, or programs in areas of the country that might have difficulty attracting recruits. With that being said, I was reading an article the other day about a former college baseball player who attended an NAIA college. NAIA colleges are often small colleges located in the Midwest that are not always on the radar of high school athletes looking at NCAA programs. This recruit discussed how there were over 80 players at tryouts. This happens when a coach has no other interest other than winning and fielding the best team he can at the expense of 50 other recruits. There is no reason for a small NAIA college to have 80 players at tryouts. While it may be difficult to find that information out ahead of time, it is important to try.
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