A few things you may not know about college athletic scholarships

In December 2014, only several months after we had decided to begin working on the concept of ProScoutSports LLC (www.proscoutsports.com), I received an e-mail from my sister, Lori Antolick. She is an attorney in Albany, New York, and was an NCAA Division III All-American swimmer at Johns Hopkins University.

The daughter of one of Lori's co-workers was navigating the recruiting process and her mom wanted some advice about recruiting services. I asked Lori the age of the girl and she told me that she's a senior. I immediately became concerned as December of a student's senior year in high school is really late in the game to start researching recruiting services. I did tell my sister that I'd volunteer to help Lindsay and I received an email from her several days later and we began communicating.

I first wanted to answer the recruiting service question for Lindsay's mom. ProScoutSports is a youth sports consultant and athletic evaluation business, not a recruiting agency. Because of this, I didn't have an inclination to recommend, or not recommend, such a service.

My answer to her then, and my answer today, is that I have mixed feelings about recruiting services. First, most recruiting services are very expensive. Yet, if a high school athlete earns scholarship money that he or she would not have earned had this individual not enrolled in the service, it can certainly be worthwhile and financially beneficial. Many of these recruiting services also do a very good job placing students with schools that may be a bit off of the beaten path, such as NAIA schools, that often have significant athletic and academic scholarship money to offer.

I do feel that many families can do many of the things that a recruiting service can do without the large expense, although navigating those waters can be tricky and a recruiting service can help guide a family through a difficult, time-consuming process. However, please understand that while a recruiting service will help provide a guide to this process, your family will, and should, do the lion's share of the work. Your son or daughter will be emailing college coaches, you will be following important timelines, and you will be checking off a lot of items on extensive checklists to reach the desired end. A recruiting service will also not make you a better athlete. That's the student's responsibility.

Because she was a senior and a swimmer, Lindsay was in a different situation than many athletes. Because she had quantifiable times in a variety of events, it was quite easy to determine at what level she'd be able to compete. Lindsay was a successful high school swimmer, yet she did not have the times to be a scholarship swimmer at the Division I level.

Fortunately for Lindsay, she had excellent grades and test scores and had already targeted the schools she wanted to attend. She began with a list of about 15 different schools, which included top academic schools such as Boston College, Johns Hopkins, and Tufts, among others. The list she provided me was helpful because we were able to narrow our focus. Knowing her swimming times, I knew some of the programs where she could swim, and some where she simply wasn't good enough. I also had to do some research on some of her lesser known schools.

Do not fall into the trap that just because a sports program is Division I that it is automatically better than a Division III school. In swimming, there were several top Division III schools on her list that have better times across the board than a few DI schools at which she was looking.

After looking at her times, Lindsay could make the roster at most NCAA Division III schools, which give academic and need-based aid, but not athletic scholarships. Again, Division III schools do NOT offer athletic scholarships. In too many instances that is usually followed with, "But, if you are good enough they'll find you money." I can't tell you how often I've heard that phrase offered by just about anyone while discussing DIII sports, everyone except for DIII coaches, who know better. I know they'd like to see that supposed "they'll find it for you" money. Academic and need-based scholarships are, of course, available at many of these schools, but your young athlete better have the grades to compete with the general student seeking the same scholarship.

At Division III schools, athletic achievement can help lower the admission standards into top-notch schools, although this is a limited and differs from school to school. My sister is the first to admit that, while she was a very strong student, she would not have been admitted into Johns Hopkins had it not been for her swimming abilities. I know of a Division III soccer coach who is given some leeway on admissions. While the minimum standards are still quite high, she is given a point system by the school and the higher a recruit's academic deficiency or risk, the more points she must exhaust. Once the points are exhausted, every other athlete she recruits must meet the same academic standards as the remainder of the student body.

After I received Lindsay's list of schools, I went through it and gave her notes on the swimming programs at all of those schools. Facilities, coach's background, and where she may fit on the roster (can't make the team, could make the team but be at the bottom of the roster, will make the team and be at the top of the roster, etc.), as well as a several other factors. That narrowed Lindsay's focus even further.

One of the schools on Lindsay's list was Boston College. I follow college swimming quite closely and knew that Boston College does have a team that competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) but that it is not a program that, for the most part, attract high-level swimmers. To be honest, I didn't know the reason why BC struggles to compete in the ACC and that's what Lindsay learned during this process, which we'll discuss later in this article.

After we researched more info about the different swimming programs on her list, we reduced her targets to a handful of schools. Because Lindsay is such a great student, we wanted to be certain that she'd pick a school where she would receive a great education, as well as have a wonderful experience, even if she didn't make the swimming team.

I then instructed Lindsay to begin email the coaches at the schools where she wanted to swim. I told her to be honest about her times, state that she is interested in the school and that her application is in process, and how much she desired to swim at the schools that she wrote. She began to visit these schools as well after she heard back from some of the coaches.

One of the schools she heard back from, and the school that I felt she was most interested in all along, was Boston College. What she learned during her communication with the coach was shocking to her. Boston College does not offer any athletic scholarships to its swimmers. None. Zero. Is it any wonder that BC really can't compete against other top schools in the ACC in swimming?

The coach at BC told Lindsay to get admitted into school and that if she gets in that she'll have an opportunity to try out for the team. There are no guarantees she'll make it. The coach even said that it's been his intention to reduce the number of swimmers on their roster. Yet, she had made contact with the coach and will have the opportunity to try out.

As you may know, NCAA Division I athletic teams are limited in the amount of scholarships they may offer. There is a maximum number, but no minimum. For example, St. Bonaventure, a school in the Atlantic 10 Conference, only offers four (4) softball scholarships. These scholarships are also one-year aid, so the school may decide to pull the scholarship.

While most schools won't pull a scholarship because it may become more difficult to recruit future players, it does happen on occasion. Recently, there are some schools that have changed their model and are now offering four-year scholarships. This article gives a school-by-school look at who is rewarding multi-year scholarships, and what schools are the most likely to pull a scholarship: https://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24711067/schools-can-give-out-4-year-scholarships-to-athletes-but-many-dont

Also, please understand that many Division I athletes are not on full scholarships in many sports. In baseball and softball, for example, a few top players (usually pitchers and catchers) may receive full scholarships but other players on the team receive partial scholarships. This varies by sports as some, such as Division I volleyball, are "head count" sports that do not allow partial scholarships.

This wonderful grid looks at sports at the NCAA DI, DII, and DIII levels, as well as NAIA and NJCAA and the scholarships maximums available for each sport at each level: https://www.scholarshipstats.com/ncaalimits.html

We'll get into much more detail in future articles but we wanted to begin this discussion today. As for Lindsay, she was accepted to Boston College and will be trying out for the team this fall.

She sent me the following email yesterday and provided permission for me to share it with you. It reads, in part:

"I wanted to let you know that I have officially decided to attend Boston College next year! I will be trying out for the team in the fall! I am very excited for this new experience.

"I also wanted to thank you again for all of your help throughout this process. You have not only given me valuable information that has helped me greatly in making my decision, but have also given me the confidence to pursue my goals of swimming in college! Your advice has been so helpful, and I really appreciate you taking the time to work with me! I really enjoyed working with you and getting to know you."

I wouldn't bet against Lindsay being on the BC swimming roster next fall and, even if she isn't, she'll be attending a wonderful academic institution. I'm extremely proud of her and BC will be blessed to have her as a student.

If you are a parent or grandparent and there is someone you love involved in youth athletics, we hope you'll take a close look at ProScoutSports LLC, a youth sports consultant service based in Wheaton, Ill. More details about ProScoutSports LLC (https://www.proscoutsports.com) are below. 

Here are your action steps as a parent or athlete:   

1) Visit www.proscoutsports.com.
2) Fill out the online questionnaire. The tab for it is on the top of the page at the site
3) At the end of the questionnaire form you may upload as many as three (3) videos of your child. HUDL (www.hudl.com) is a great service to use if you need video, or we can suggest video companies in your area if you do not have one available. It doesn't have to be fancy. Smart-phone generated video works as well.
4) After completing the questionnaire and uploading the video, you will purchase the service with a one-time fee.
5) The questionnaire and video will then be sent to one of our scouts who has vast experience in the sport that your child plays. If we don't have a scout that is qualified to evaluate your child's sport, we will find one. Our staff has a vast resource of top coaching contacts around the country in every sport imaginable, from football to synchronized swimming (yes, we even have a top-level synchro scout at our disposal).
6) The scout will review the questionnaire and video and will then write a scouting report and individualized action plan, which may include sport specialization or playing multiple sports, playing club or travel sports, helping locate top local private instructors, and other key details.
7) Upon completion of the report we will send the individualized plan to your family. If you subscribe to the Platinum package you may follow up with questions via email for up to one year after your purchase. 

Simple, straight-forward, objective, honest. 

Don't you want to know how "good" your child really is, and the best way to plan his or her athletic pursuits? ProScoutSports is the place. Visit www.proscoutsports.com today. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected].

Todd Starowitz, the writer of this blog, is the CEO of ProScoutSports, LLC. In his work with the NFL's Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as at Indiana University and Tyndale House Publishers, Todd has worked with many high-profile coaches and athletes, including Tony Dungy, Bob Knight, Emmitt Smith, Cam Cameron, Drew Brees, John Harbaugh, Gene Chizik, Jim Tressel, and Joe Gibbs, among others. Todd was also a gameday statistician for the Chicago Bulls for six season. Todd played club lacrosse at Indiana University and was the head varsity softball coach at Wheaton (IL) Academy from 2009-11.