Informed Athlete by Allen Athletic Consulting » Recruiting Issues

Recruiting Calendars for July & August posted!

Rick Allen — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:51:09 +0000

The NCAA College Recruiting Calendars for July & August 2010 for many of the top sports are now posted on Informed Athlete’s website: www.informedathlete.com under “Recruiting Calendars” in the menu bar. For your convenience, the calendars are in pdf format, and the first page contains a listing of the recruiting definitions.

This month’s calendars also make note of the new Phone Call Rule which is effective on August 1, 2010.

Informed Athlete educates, advises, and assists families of high school and college student-athletes on issues related to athletic recruiting, academic eligibility, transfer isues and financial aid rules so that they are able to make informed decisions that are in their best interest.

If Informed Athlete can be of assistance to you in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 918-994-7271 or send an email to rick@informedathlete.com. We don’t charge for an initial 15 minute call. If your situation requires additional time and research, I’ll be honest and upfront about the time involved and we can discuss the fee.

We hope you’re having a great summer!

Commitments & Signings Getting Out of Hand?

Rick Allen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:27:19 +0000

Last week, Seantrel Henderson, one of the top football recruits in the country, flew from his home in Minneapolis to New York to announce his college commitment (University of Southern California) live on the CBS College Sports Network’s National Signing Day special.

That same day, other elite recruits announced their college choices on ESPNU.

Then, USC was in the news again a few days later when it was announced that the Trojans and new head coach Lane Kiffin received the verbal commitment of a young quarterback from Delaware. Did I say young – David is in 7th grade! That will make him a college freshman in 2015!

Certainly, college sports has become a big business at the Division I level, at least with the revenue-producing sports of football and basketball, but in my opinion, these extremely publicized commitments have gone a bit too far.

A year ago, the NCAA enacted rule changes to govern the recruiting of 7th and 8th graders in the sport of men’s basketball. With the recent announcement about this young football player’s commitment, will changes to football recruiting rules be far behind?

Recent Coaches Controversies

Rick Allen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:48:41 +0000

If you are a fan of college football, you have probably heard of the recent controversies at the University of Kansas and Texas Tech University, as well as at South Florida.

At each of those schools, the head coach was fired for alleged mistreatment of players. One coach allegedly made inappropriate remarks about players families or backgrounds, the second coach allegedly required a player to be locked in a dark storage area for two or three hours, while the third coach was alleged to have grabbed a player by the throat.

As a recruit or the parents of a recruit who hopes to earn an athletic scholarship, is there any way to predict this type of behavior from a college coach? No, in most cases there isn’t. However, I believe that it re-emphasizes the importance of making a connection with the head coach when you are visiting campus.

Your primary recruiter may be one of the assistant coaches, but it won’t be the assistant coach who decides on the starting line-up. It is important to spend some time with the head coach to try to determine the type of person that he is and if he is truly interested in you, or if he is just going off of the recommendation from an assistant.

It is also important to try to determine what kind of relationship the head coach has with his players. Is he the outgoing type that you can talk to about a personal problem, or is he the quiet type who is hard to “read” because he is quiet and doesn’t say a whole lot?

If you are asking the right questions and asking the right people, you stand a better chance of perhaps getting a least an indication of how a coach treats and communicates with his players.

In some ways, it may be easier to be recruited by and to play for a fiery, volatile coach, because you at least have an idea of what to expect when you arrive on campus. A coach that is quiet, doesn’t say much, and is hard to read can be tougher to figure out because it is harder to assess their personality and how they might react in various situations.

Our “Plan for Success Roadmap” includes a list of questions you should ask and things you should look for during campus visits that will help you obtain some good information.

Do you have other questions about recruiting, or about academic eligibility or athletic scholarships? Contact Rick Allen at 918-994-7271 or at
with your questions. To receive our complimentary monthly newsletter, sign up here on the website.

National Letter of Intent & Athletic Scholarships

Rick Allen — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:13:25 +0000

November is an exciting time for those high school seniors (or junior college athletes) who have been recruited by an NCAA Division I or II athletic program and have been offered an athletic scholarship to continue participating in their sport in college.

These athletes will have an opportunity to sign a National Letter of Intent with an NCAA Division I or II institution during the early signing period that begins on Wednesday, November 11. The signing period continues through Wednesday, November 18 and is available for athletes in most sports.

High school football seniors will not sign a National Letter of Intent until February 3, 2010. Other sports that do not sign until February 3 are cross country, track and field, soccer, field hockey and water polo.

Do you have questions about the National Letter of Intent?

Questions about scholarship offers that accompany the National Letter of Intent?

Join Informed Athlete for our next teleseminar when we discuss the rules and processes regarding the National Letter of Intent and scholarship agreements.

This topic will be especially helpful to any high school athletes and parents who are planning to sign a National Letter of Intent during the November signing period, or during a future signing period.

Date: Wednesday, October 28th
Time: 7 PM CST

Rick Allen, Founder of Informed Athlete will discuss:

The NCAA rules regarding the National Letter of Intent

Institutional athletic scholarship agreements.

Recruiting rules during this signing period.

“Double signing.”

Publicity about letter of intent signings

To register for this FREE teleseminar, go to National Letter of Intent.

If you would like to submit a question before the teleseminar begins, you can send it to rick@informedathlete.com.

This teleseminar is one of our regular series in which we discuss topics of interest to athletes, parents, and coaches, and interview coaches, scouts and other from the world of baseball. It is provided as a complimentary service of www.informedathlete.com, but registration is required.

Campus Visits 101

Rick Allen — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:14:32 +0000

One of the most important decisions that a college athlete recruit will make is which college scholarship offer to accept. The best way to learn about a college or university and the baseball program, that you are interested in or that that is recruiting you, is to visit campus. From the standpoint of NCAA rules, there are two types of visits: “official” and “unofficial”. This article will discuss both, the differences and the rules for each.

Unofficial Visits
Any time an athlete visits campus with parents or other family members, or with some of their friends, at their own expense, this is an “unofficial” visit. Some facts about unofficial visits:

Must be made at prospect’s expense

University can provide up to 3 complimentary admissions to campus athletic event

No limit on number of unofficial visits

Cannot visit campus during a dead period – a period of time in which the NCAA will not allow any contact between the coach and a recruit.

Cannot participate in tryout during official visit (Division I)

Official Visits

Official visits are highly regulated by NCAA rules. During an official visit to an NCAA institution, it is permissible for the institution to provide a prospect with transportation to visit the campus, and with meals and lodging during a visit to campus that cannot exceed 48 hours from the time that the prospect (and parents or legal guardians, if they accompany the prospect) arrives on campus.

Large universities with ample recruiting budgets may provide all of the permissible expenses that they are permitted to provide. However, some institutions, especially smaller colleges or universities with limited recruiting budgets, may only provide meals while on campus, or meals and lodging for just one night instead of two.

Some important points to know about official visits include:

Cannot be made prior to first day of classes for senior year of HS

Limit of 5 official visits, only one per school (even if 2-sport athlete)

Cannot visit campus during a dead period

Must be registered with Eligibility Center

Must provide HS transcript and ACT or SAT test score to university

University can provide transportation, meals, lodging for prospect

University can provide meals and lodging to parents, also transportation if traveling together in car with prospect

Phone call rules prior to visit (unlimited during 5 days prior to visit)

48-hr. rule from time of arrival on campus

Will visit interfere with competition?

Can combine two visits into one trip with assistance of schools.

Cannot participate in tryout during official visit (Division I)

This article has addressed the difference between official and unofficial visits and outlined the rules for each. However, knowing the rules is only the starting point.

Many parents and athletes are so excited and happy about being noticed and recruited, that they often forget the ONE THING that is vital to their future success and happiness playing the sport they love at the level they aspire. That one thing is proper preparation for the visit!

Making the decision on which college to attend is extremely important and can have major financial and emotional implications for many years.

The visit, whether official or unofficial, is extremely important and should be treated as you would a job interview. Proper preparation is essential for you to make sure you have the information to help your son or daughter make the very best decision for them.

If you have questions about this topic or any other issues related to recruiting, eligibility, financial aid or transfer issues, please go to register for our free newsletter, or contact Rick Allen at 918-994-7271 or rick@informedathlete.com. Rick has over 20 years of experience in NCAA rules at the college level and is also the parent of a college baseball player who was recruited at the Division I level.

College Recruiting – The Importance of July 1st

Rick Allen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:57:01 +0000

For high school athletes in many sports who are upcoming seniors, July 1 is an important date. July 1 is the date when it is permissible for coaches in most NCAA Division I sports to begin to have off-campus face-to-face contact with high school recruits who will be entering their senior year. July 1 is also the date in most sports when once-per-week phone calls to high school upcoming seniors are permissible as well.

For those athletes who are fortunate to receive recruiting interest at this time of year, enjoy the attention and be sure to ask a lot of questions. Remember that you should be evaluating the coaches and the schools just as much as they have been evaluating you. For those athletes who do not receive a recruiting phone call, or a visit by a college coach to your home, on July 1 or within a few days of this “special date,” don’t panic and get stressed out. There is still plenty of time to be recruited and plenty of opportunities for you to be seen. You may not be recruited by your first choice of schools, but there are plenty of other schools to choose from.

For more on the permissible dates for phone calls and other recruiting information, sign up for our newsletter and encourage your teammates and friends to sign up as well.

Have a great week!

Summer Camps – An opportunity to be seen!

Rick Allen — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:46:38 +0000

Summer is a very important time in the recruitment of high school athletes by college coaches. Participation on summer teams, in summer individual competition, or in summer camps and clinics are an opportunity to be seen by college coaches as you are participating in your sport. This has become more evident over just the past few years. We see the trend noted frequently in the sports pages as college football programs announce high school athletes committing to their program during campus visits in the spring of the junior year or during participation in summer camps held on the college campuses.

This trend is also being noted in other sports as well. During this past spring, I have been on college campuses from Carolina to the west coast and have heard comments that are very similar, particularly from sports such as soccer and volleyball. When I was on those campuses to analyze and review their athletic compliance program, I met with a sample of coaching staff members to ask them about their recruiting practices. One of my routine questions is about recruiting phone calls and how they document and monitor those phone calls so as not to violate the NCAA recruiting rules regarding permissible phone calls to recruits.

Coaches in the sports of soccer and volleyball told me that “When it becomes permissible for us to start calling prospects on July 1 following the junior year of high school, our recruiting for the upcoming class is already completed for the most part. By then, most of our recruiting has been done through e-mail contact and through camps and unofficial visits during this past year, and our phone calls are mainly just to keep in touch with prospects who have already committed to us.”

So, as much as possible, get out there this summer to participate in camps and clinics, on your summer teams, and visit college campuses as you travel this summer if possible. When visiting college campuses, contact the athletic department and ask if a coach is available to speak with you.

In addition, remember that when you are participating in summer events, and camps or clinics, that somebody is always watching how you perform, not just on the field or on the court, but how you conduct yourself on the bench, in the dugout, and during pregame warm-ups. They are watching to observe if you are going 100% on each play. Are you a team player? How do you interact with your teammates and coaches?

Enjoy your summer and go out there and have fun. And remember that each time you step out there to compete, it’s like a tryout opportunity. Even if a college coach is not watching you, your current coach is, and the college coaches are frequently asking them not only about your athletic ability but how you conduct yourself.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your individual situation, please email rick@informedathlete.com or call 918-994-7271.

College Recruiting – Why doesn’t the coach call me back?

Rick Allen — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:40:06 +0000

“Stressed Athlete” recently sent me this question: “I called and left a message for a college coach asking him to call me back because I have some questions about their program, but he has not returned my phone call. Does this mean they are not interested in me?”

Answer: If the coach has already called and spoken to you or one of your parents that week, the NCAA rules do not permit him to call again during that week. For example, if the coach called and spoke to you on Sunday evening and you called back and left a message for him with some questions on Tuesday, the coach is not permitted to return your phone call until the following week. However, you can try to call again to reach him at his office or send him an email with your questions.

For information on recruiting, please go to http://www.informedathlete.com/recruiting/recruiting-info/and you will find recruiting calendars for most sports. These can serve as a reference for when and what type of contact that coaches are allowed to have with prospective student-athletes.

NCAA redefines “Prospect” in Mens’ Basketball

Rick Allen — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:56:29 +0000

At the NCAA Convention in January, the Legislative Council approved a proposal to define 7th and 8th grade boys basketball players as “prospects.” This means that the NCAA rules that regulated the interaction between a Division I men’s basketball coach and high school age basketball players now also apply to 7th and 8th grade players.

While some people have commented how ridiculous it is that 7th and 8th graders are now considered “prospective student-athletes”, this legislation was actually enacted to try to protect talented basketball players of that age from being pursued as college recruits. Until this legislation was passed, it was permissible for men’s basketball coaches to call or write 7th and 8th graders in an effort to recruit them, because the rules did not prevent such action.

In fact, last summer University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillespie offered a scholarship to an 8th grader. Media reports at that time indicated that University of Kentucky President Lee Todd was shocked when he was informed of Kentucky’s newest basketball recruit.

Now, the rules will (or should!!!) prevent college basketball coaches from recruiting these young “stars” until they have completed their sophomore year of high school. Hopefully, this new rule will not be needed with other NCAA sports in the near future.