Recruiting Calendars for July & August posted!

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!

Key Points About Outside Scholarships

The end of the school year will be arriving before we know it, bringing with it graduations and awards ceremonies where many scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors to help pay for their college education. 

For those students who will be playing a sport at an NCAA Division I or II university, it will be important to remember some key points if they receive one of these scholarships from their high school, local civic club, parent’s employer, or other organization.  Local organizations providing these scholarships should also keep these key points in mind.

The NCAA considers any financial aid for an athlete that comes from a source other than their family, or the college or university they are attending, to be “aid from outside sources.”  This “aid from outside sources” is classified into three categories.  Those three categories are:

• No relationship to athletics ability;
• Athletics participation not major criterion; and
• Athletics participation as a major criterion. 

Here are some key points about outside aid classified into these three categories:

No relationship to athletics ability:  A scholarship program that requests or encourages an applicant to include their athletic participation or achievements as part of the application process cannot be classified in this category.  The organization that awards the scholarship may be asked to confirm that it did not consider athletics participation or achievements in selecting the athlete who receives the award and must not restrict the athlete’s choice of college institution. 

Athletics Participation not Major Criterion.  Scholarships fit in this category if athletics participation or achievements are one of the criteria considered in awarding the scholarship, but are not the major criteria for awarding the scholarship.  Organizations awarding scholarships in this category are strongly encouraged to provide written notification of the award to the financial aid office of the college that the athlete will be attending.

Athletics Participation as a Major Criterion.  Scholarships are classified in this category if the athlete’s athletics participation and achievements are the major criteria for awarding the scholarship.  In fact, if applicants or nominees are required to be an athlete in order to be considered for a scholarship, then that scholarship will automatically be considered to be in this category.  Furthermore, if the recipient of a scholarship from this category was recruited by the college they will be attending, the recipient will be considered a “counter” for financial aid purposes and the value of the scholarship will be counted toward team financial aid limits as if it were an athletic scholarship awarded by the college.  Scholarships in this category should be sent to the financial aid office of the college the recipient will be attending so that the aid will be properly tracked for NCAA limits.

Athletes attending an NCAA Division I or II university will likely be asked to indicate on a form for their athletic department whether they are the recipient of an outside award.  In addition, an awarding organization may be asked to provide a copy of their application or nomination form and a list of criteria for the scholarship.

If you have questions about outside awards, or other questions about athletic scholarships, contact Rick Allen at 918-994-7271 or at rick@informedathlete.com.  You can also subscribe to the Informed Athlete monthly newsletter at www.informedathlete.com, or join the Informed Athlete Facebook fan page.

Update on Donnie Webb

We are excited to provide this update on Donnie Webb following our recent interview with him. 

His agent informed us that Donnie was called up from the Indians minor league camp to the Cleveland Indians big league spring training squad. 

In his first at bat in the sixth inning of a shortened intra-squad scrimmage game, Donnie hit a game-winning 3 run home run! 

Since that intra-squad game, Donnie has pinch-hit in 4 games with the major league squad and has two hits in four at-bats.

It certainly appears that Donnie has taken right up where he left off at the end of last season when he was called up from Class A Lake County to the Triple A Columbus Clippers. 

Congratulations to Donnie on a great start to spring training!  We will keep you updated on his development.

If you would like to listen to our interview with Donnie, sign-up for our newlsetter & you’ll receive the March issue with the link. 

Informed Athlete helps families of student-athletes (high school & college) who have the athletic skills to compete at the collegiate level, but often struggle through the recruting or transfer process. 

If you need assistance, please visit our website:  www.informedathlete.com, call us at 918-994-7271 or send an email to rick@informedathlete.com.

FREE Webcast – From Defeat to Success

How determined are you to achieve your goals? 

Could you overcome being cut from your high school team?  Once?  Twice?

How about not being chosen for the local summer team? 

Would you keep trying?

What if you were cut from the post-season travel squad of your college team after you had key late-season hits in crucial games?

Could you keep battling back?

Join Informed Athlete on Wednesday, February 24th at 7 pm CST for our interview with Cleveland Indians 2008 10th round draft pick Donnie Webb.

Donnie will share his story of how he worked to overcome obstacles at nearly every level and how, during the 2009 season, he was called up from Level A ball to finish the season with the Triple A Columbus Clippers.

During our discussion, I’ll ask Donnie to talk about how he was able to battle through major disappointments at the high school, summer ball, and college level and achieve major success at the professional baseball level.  We’ll also have him tell us about some of his college and minor league experiences that will be sure to interest those athletes (and parents) who hope to move on from high school sports to the college level and beyond. 

While Donnie’s sport is baseball, his experiences will surely resonate with all athletes no matter what their sport. 

Join us on Wednesday, February 24th at 7 pm CST to hear Donnie’s story and ask him questions about his experiences. 

To register, go to http://www.informedathlete.com/donnie-webb/. 

If you have any questions that you would like to submit before our interview, please send them to rick@informedathlete.com.

Commitments & Signings Getting Out of Hand?

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

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.

FREE Telseminar – Mental Strength & Athletic Performance

Have you ever watched an athlete who obviously has raw athletic skill falter and not achieve his or her highest potential while others who aren’t as athletically gifted excel far beyond anyone’s expectations?

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a GOOD athlete and a GREAT athlete?

If  you are an athlete, the parent or coach of an athlete, you will not want to miss this seminar on Wednesday, January 13th at 7 pm CST.

Dr. Chris White is the co-author of the NY Times and USA Today best seller The Flip Side – Break Free of the Barriers That Hold You Back.  With his Ph.D. in statistics and his uncanny ability to communicate, Chris has helped launch a division of The Flippen Group that assists with the development of top professional athletes.

During this hour, Chris will:

• Talk about what Mental Strength is and how to develop leadership skills
• Discuss the 5 top skills that an athlete needs to excel both on & off the field
• Give real-life examples of how he & The Flippen Group work with professional and college athletes to build confidence and become exceptional leaders in their sport

To register for this FREE teleseminar, click on this link: Informed Athlete Seminar.

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

This teleseminar is one in our regular series in which we discuss topics of interest to athletes, parents, and coaches  It is provided as a complimentary service of Informed Athlete, but registration is required.

We hope that you are able to join us on Wednesday, January 13th at 7 pm CST!

What is Informed Athlete?

National Letter of Intent & Athletic Scholarships

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.

Does your nutritional supplement contain banned substances?

It was recently reported by the New York Times that two dietary supplements that are popular with high school football players, Mass Xtreme and Tren Xtreme, contain steroids, according to court documents filed by federal authorities.  Search warrants executed by authorities on July 23 allege that the products, manufactured by American Cellular Labs, contain illegal man-made steroids.

This news should serve as a reminder to high school athletes, parents, and coaches to be careful about nutritional supplements that are purchased over-the-counter.

In addition, high school athletes who will be starting their college careers at NCAA colleges and universities within the next month are reminded that they will be subject to NCAA drug tests, and in many cases, additional drug tests administered by their school or conference.  These athletes should have received a list of the NCAA’s banned substances from their college or university.  If you did not receive such a list, be sure to contact your coaches and request a copy of the list.

Many universities, especially at the Division I level, have their own drug-testing policies, which in most cases are “help-based” programs.  This means that if an athlete tests positive in a university drug test, they will be referred for counseling and/or drug education classes, and may serve a penalty determined by the coach or school, but will not necessarily be subject to restrictions by the NCAA.

NCAA athletes will also be subject to drug tests administered by the NCAA.  The NCAA drug-testing program is a “punitive” program.  Student-athletes who test positive for NCAA banned substances will be ineligible for one calendar year from the date of a positive drug test. There have been cases in which freshmen athletes tested positive for a substance that they began taking while involved in high school sports because they were not aware that the product contained an NCAA banned substance.

Athletes and parents are reminded that a product as common as caffeine is on the list of NCAA banned substances.  Most athletes would have to drink a large quantity of caffeine to test positive in a NCAA drug test, but due to different body compositions and metabolic rates, there is no sure way to know how much caffeine may be consumed before being in danger of a positive NCAA test.

For more information about matters regarding NCAA rules, or any other issues that athletes and parents have questions about, go to www.informedathlete.com to sign up for our free newsletter, or contact Rick Allen at 918-994-7271 or rick@informedathlete.com.

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