Will Whelan with his parents at the SF Giants game
Scouting for Division I Athletes,
A long, detailed process
By Will Whelan
Assistant Sports Editor
For most high school athletes, sports are a way to be involved, make friends and have fun.
But others play for their future, one that could be paid for by a full ride athletic scholarship.
Athletic scholarships to universities range anywhere from a full ride to a generous percentage of tuition, room and board that the university will award to the student.
About $1 billion was granted to over 126,000 student-athletes last year for scholarships, according to NCAA statistics.
These scholarships, however, are not awarded to just any player. Coaches and scouts recruit athletes from all over the country, and sometimes the sorld, to their schools, and they only target the best.
Obviously, some student-athletes are going to feel like they deserve more attention.
“Players and parents especially need to market themselves to and universities, “ said Marty Clark, a player development coach based in Denver. “This is the best way to get to know what the teams and players are like while giving you a gauge as to what level will be good for you.”
For those athletes who want more attention, there are plenty of ways to get it.
For basketball players, there are summer tournaments and camps in Las Vegas and other cities across the country that host teams and coaches nationwide. Football players can attend various camps sponsored by Nike as well as other companies to garner attention.
“Camps like Double Pump West Coast All Starts or Five Star Basketball both have very good track records, especially Five Star in the other Division levels,” said Clark.
Although Division I and Division II schools may offer athletic scholarships, Division III schools may only offer academic scholarships. But with that deal comes a guaranteed spot on the roster.
Historically, Cal High has not been a hotbed of talent for recruiters. But over the past three years that has started to change.
Dylan Tonneson graduated in June and is on a full scholarship to play baseball for UC Berkeley.
Fellow 2006 graduate Tyler Rodgers accepted a partial athletic scholarship to play baseball for USF. He joined 2005 graduate Keith Thompson, who is also on a partial scholarship for baseball.
Brittany Boehm and Julie Kopp, both 2006 graduates, are on scholarship to play soccer for San Jose State and University of Texas, San Antonio, respectively.
Cal was also home to the 2006 National Athlete of the Year for track and field, David Klech, who accepted a full athletic scholarship to UCLA>
The trend has continued this year as colleges have taken notice of Cal’s elite athletes.
Class of 2007 getting noticed
Many seniors have experienced the recruiting process first hand, including Josh Slaats, Andrew Wiedeman, Jeff Meads, Piersten Gaines, Rachael Martinez and Lauren Fickling.
Josh has already commited to University of Hawaii for baseball and Andrew is going to UC Berkeley for soccer.
Piersten is being recruited by Columbia University for soccer, and Rachael has committed to play lacrosse at UC Davis. Lauren has been promised a spot on the San Diego State volleyball team, but has yet to receive any scholarship offers.
Although Jeff may not earn a scholarship because of an injury to his knee, he is still optimistic.
“Most of the schools that were already recruiting me still are,“ said Jeff. “I don’t have any serious scholarship offers or anything like that, but I’m still hoping that I might be able to pick some up even though I’m injured.”
Andrew agrees it is important to market your self and contact college coaches early in high school.
While the most popular ways to get noticed are camps and summer tournaments, there are other ways for coaches to hear about a player. Various Websites provide rankings, videos and bios for the top players in the country.
“It’s a different kind of communication,” said ESPN columnist Jay Bilas. “(Web sites) are kind of a go-between for the players and coaches.”
Recruitment Regulations
While the NFL prevents players from being drafted until they have played three seasons out of high school, the NBA has a much more relaxed stance on the issue. It only requires players to be 19 years old or one year removed from high school.
Although this new rule prevents players to be drafted out of high school, it has still affected the way coaches recruit.
“It’s much more unstable,” said Bilas. “You have to expect big time prospects to leave after a year or two.”
Coaches now commonly recruit two or three players for the same position and offer the scholarship to the first player to sign.
“I was first contacted (by Cornell) my junior year,” said senior basketball player Chris Goutama. “They emailed me, but then they told me they weren’t recruiting any more guards.”
Chris also said that his recruitment didn’t pick up until he attending a Double Pump West Coast All Stars camp in Los Angeles. Camps such as this one and other events are set up to accommodate coaches’ strictly regulated schedules.
“There are only 20 days in July plus a few weekends in April in which (Division I) coaches can see players,” said Clark, the Denver based player development coach.
These restrictions also regulate how often a coach can call a prospect and how early they can begin courting players. NCAA rules specify that junior year is the earliest coaches can contact players.
Rules and regulations aside, the recruiting process can be very exciting for a high school athlete, as well as his or her family.
“My parents supported me in whatever school I wanted,” said Josh. “They would step in when needed, but they really left it up to me.
Scholarship Qualifications
In order to be eligible for Division I recruitment, all athletes must qualify through the NCAA Clearinghouse by completing high school with a minimum of a 2.0 GPA and a 1010 score in the math and verbal sections of the SAT. GPA and SAT score requirements vary on a sliding scale based on the students’ GPA.
Division II has no sliding scale, with a 2.0 minimum GPA and an 820 minimum SAT score in the math and verbal sections. The new essay section is not taken into account for both Division I or II eligibility requirements.
“Academics played a big role,” said Josh. “It made it harder for the Berkeleys and Stanfords to recruit me.”
Before committing to Hawaii, Josh made sure to take all of his official visits, including trips to UNLV, Fresno State, Hawaii and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
“(Recruiters) told me to take my time on making a decision,” Josh said. “I wanted to make sure to make the right decision for myself.”
It is not certain whether any college scholarship will lead to a professional career in that sport, but the free education provided in the classroom and on a collegiate team is invaluable.
“A college coach wants a talented kid who respects his competition and is willing to learn,” said Clark. “As we all know in the professional world, one is always learning something new.”
California High School
The Californian
November 16, 2006