Things Student-Athletes need to know when preparing for college.

I. NCAA Eligibility Center

a. Web Address: https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/common/

b. 2008-2009 Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete (Left-Hand column on Eligibility Center front page). Download in PDF format.

c. The answers to most of your questions can be found in this guide or by accessing the Eligibility Center’s resource page on their website at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net

1. Click on “Prospective Student-Athletes”.

2. Click on “Information and Resources for Prospective Student-Athletes”.

d. You can also contact the Eligibility Center by phone at …

317-917-6222 (This is a customer service line that is open Monday – Friday from 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time).

II. Steps to Achieving Your Eligibility FRESHMAN and SOPHOMORES.

• Start planning now!!
• Work hard to get the best grades possible.
• Take classes that match your school’s NCAA list of approved core courses.
• You can receive your school’s list of approved core courses at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net

JUNIORS

• At the beginning of your Junior year, register at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net and complete the amateurism questionnaire.
• Register to take the ACT, SAT or both and use the Eligibility Center code (9999) as a score recipient.
• Double check to make sure the courses you have taken match your school’s NCAA list of approved core courses.
• Ask your guidance counselor to send an official transcript to the Eligibility Center after completing your Junior year. (The Eligibility Center does NOT accept faxed transcripts or test scores).
• Prior to registration for classes for your Senior year, check with your guidance counselor to determine the amount of core courses you need to complete your senior year.

SENIORS

• Take the ACT and/or the SAT again. The Eligibility Center will use the best scores from each section of the ACT or SAT to determine your best cumulative score.
• Continue to take college prep courses.
• Check the courses you have taken to match your school’s NCAA list of approved core courses.
• Review your amateurism questionnaire responses and request final amateurism certification on or after April 1^st (for fall enrollees) or October 1^st (for spring enrollees).
• Continue to work hard to get the best grades possible.
• Graduate on Time, (in 8 academic semesters). If you fall behind, use summer school sessions prior to graduation to catch up.
• After graduation, ask you guidance counselor to send your final transcript with proof of graduation.

III. Eligibility Center Registration

a. Complete the Student Release Form

• To register with The Eligibility Center, you must complete the Student Release Form and amateurism questionnaire online at the beginning of your Junior year and send The Eligibility Center the registration fee ($60 for domestic and $85 for international students).
• The ONLY method is to register on-line at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net
• Pages 17 & 18 of the guide will inform you of the entire process in detail.

IV. Your Eligibility and You

1. Core Courses, GPA and the Sliding Scale.

If you want to participate in athletics or receive an athletics scholarship during your first year you must…

• Graduate from High School
• Complete these 16 core courses

-  4 years of English

-  3 years of math (algebra 1 or higher)

-  2 years of natural or physical science (including 1 year of lab science if offered by your school).

-  1 year extra of English, math or natural or physical science.

-  2 years of social science

-  4 years of extra core courses, (from any category above, or foreign language, non-doctrinal religion or philosophy).

-  Earn a minimum required grade point average in your core courses; and …

-  Earn a combined SAT or ACT sum score that matches your core courses grade point average and test score sliding scale.

1. Page 6 of the Guide for Student-Athletes will supply you with the sliding scale and other information pertinent your eligibility.

Recruiting Terminology

Contact: A contact occurs any time a coach has any face-to-face contact with you or your parents away from the college’s campus and says more than hello. A contact also occurs if a coach has any contact with you or your parents at your high school or any location where you are competing or practicing.

Contact period: During this time, a college coach may have in-person contact with you and/or your parents on or off the college’s campus. The coach also may watch you play or visit your high school. You and your parents may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone you during this period.

Dead period: The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents at any time in the dead period. The coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.

Evaluation: An evaluation is an activity by a coach to evaluate your academic or athletic ability. This would include visiting your high school or watching you practice or compete.

Evaluation period: The college coach may watch you play or visit your high school, but cannot have any in-person conversations with you or your parents away from the college’s campus. You and your parents can visit a college campus during this period. A coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.

Official visit: Any visit to a college campus by you and your parents paid for by the college. The college may pay the following expenses:

Your transportation to and from the college;

Room and meals (three per day) while you are visiting the college; and

Reasonable entertainment expenses, including three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest.

Before a college may invite you for an official visit, you will have to provide the college with a copy of your high school transcript (Division I only) and SAT, ACT or PLAN score and register with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Prospective Student-Athlete: You become a “prospective student-athlete” when:

You start ninth-grade classes; or

Before your ninth-grade year, a college gives you, your relatives or your friends any financial aid or other benefits that the college does not provide to students generally.

Quiet period: The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents away from the college’s campus. The coach may not watch you play or visit your high school during this period. You and your parents may visit a college campus during this time. A coach may write or telephone you or your parents during this time.

Unofficial visit: Any visit by you and your parents to a college campus paid for by you or your parents. The only expense you may receive from the college is three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. You may make as many unofficial visits as you like and may take those visits at any time. The only time you cannot talk with a coach during an unofficial visit is during a dead period.

Verbal commitment (or oral commitment): This phrase is used to describe a college-bound student-athlete’s commitment to a school before he or she signs (or is able to sign) a national letter of intent. A college-bound student-athlete can announce a verbal commitment at any time. While verbal commitments have become very popular for both college-bound student-athletes and coaches, this “commitment” is not binding on either the college-bound student-athlete or the school. Only the signing of the national letter of intent accompanied by a financial aid agreement is binding on both parties

NCAA.org

Calendar National signing day next year will be Feb. 3. The signing period runs through April 1.

Timeline The NCAA recruiting timeline for Division I football coaches for the 2008-09 school year, according to NCAA.org:

JUNIOR YEAR

NCAA permits recruiting materials to be sent starting Sept. 1 of junior year in high school.

One phone call permitted between April 15 and May 31.

SENIOR YEAR

One phone call per week starting Sept. 1; unlimited phone calls during contact period.

Off-campus contact allowed starting Nov. 29.

Official visits can begin during opening day of classes.

Additional timeline information for 2008-09 school year, according to About.com:

Aug. 1-Nov. 29: Recruits can visit with coaches on the coaches’ campus. This also is an evaluation period in which recruiters can visit recruits off campus during 42 evaluation days during September, October and November.

Nov. 30-Jan. 31: This is a contact period in which coaches are allowed to visit recruits off campus. Coaches can only make one visit per week to individual recruits. Also, there are intermittent quiet periods and dead periods (during which no in-person contact is allowed) for the following dates:

Dec. 21: Quiet period

Dec. 22-Jan. 1: Dead period

Jan. 2-4: Quiet period

Jan. 11: Quiet period

Jan. 12-15: Dead period (staff allowed to have contact with recruits who have been admitted for mid-year enrollment)

Feb. 1: Quiet period

Feb. 2-5: Dead period

Feb. 6-April 14: Quiet period

April 15-May 31: Another evaluation period. Coaching staffs have four weeks to conduct athletic and academic evaluations of potential recruits. Days that aren’t used for evaluation during this time are otherwise considered “quiet.”

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Recruiting Facts & Information

The NCAA allows each division IA college football program 85 scholarships and each division IAA college 63 athletic scholarships. In division 2 there are 36 Scholarships.

To retain division I status, a football team must have 76.5 football scholarship players and can carry 85 active scholarship players. In division I-AA, schools have 63 scholarships, usually divided among 85 players.

FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) = Division IA
FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) =IAA

Not all football scholarships are “full-ride”, most are. Football scholarship numbers and rosters explained.

There are 117 division 1A, 124 division 1AA and 150 division 2 colleges that offer football scholarships.

In the past ten years at Fairfield there have only been 6 football players that have received a scholarship offer from a division 1A school.

Don’t just concentrate on the top division 1 colleges, many of these bigger schools usually have a large number of potential athletes that they are actively recruiting. The competition is cut throat, unless you are a blue chip recruit you won’t receive a scholarship offer. There is nothing wrong with smaller division 1, division 2, division 3 or NAIA colleges. At the end of the day it’s your education that’s important.

• Percentage of scholarships on back page

Many high school students play sports – both girls and boys, those that are good start to think they could play their sport at college level. It’s not that easy. The truth is that most high school athletes won’t get the opportunity to play.

Athletes	Women’s Basketball	Men’s Basketball	Baseball	Men’s Ice Hockey	Football	Men’s soccer
High School Athletes	452,929	546,335	470,671	36,263	1,071,775	358,935
High School senior athletes	129,408	156,096	134,477	10,361	306,221	102,553
NCAA Athletes	15,096	16,571	28,767	3,973	61,252	19,797
NCAA Freshman Positions	4,313	4,735	8,219	1,135	17,501	5,655
NCAA Senior Athletes	3,355	3,682	6,393	883	13,612	4,398
NCAA Senior Athletes Drafted	32	44	600	33	250	75
Percentage: High School To NCAA	3.3%	3.0%	6.1%	11.0%	5.7%	5.5%
Percentage: NCAA To Professional	1.0%	1.2%	9.4%	3.7%	1.8%	1.7%
Percentage: High School To Professional	0.02%	0.03%	0.45%	0.32%	0.08%	0.07%

• Information is from collegesportsscholorships.com