We are having multiple student-athletes call us for help in guiding them through transfers because of coaches reneging on a “promise” that they would increase their scholarship in future years.
If you are being recruited and a coach is telling you that “I don’t have a scholarship now but can give you one in the future,” or “I can increase your scholarship based on how you perform this year” our advice is to just assume that WON’T happen.
If it sounds like I’m cynical about such promises after my many years in this business, that would be correct! Here are a few reasons why:
- Once a coach gets your athlete on campus as a walk-on or only on a small scholarship, they know that in many cases your athlete will start making multiple connections – with classmates and teammates, and being “all-in” with their choice of school.
- Some coaches assume that if you could pay for your athlete’s freshman year with only a small scholarship or as a walk-on athlete, that you can find a way to continue paying once your athlete is happy and invested at their college.
- Coaches are always trying to improve their programs by recruiting athletes who are better than the ones they already have. When deciding between allocating scholarship money to a new incoming recruit or an athlete who’s already in their program, most of the time the coach is going to give that scholarship to an incoming recruit to attract them to the school while your athlete has already “bought in.”
My personal opinion
I suggest an athlete or family should NEVER expect that the scholarship value will increase in future years – UNLESS your athlete receives an official multi-year scholarship offer that provides a freshman year scholarship AND steady or increasing values in future years.
Need Advice?
If you’d like an unbiased, confidential opinion about your athlete’s scholarship offer or how that scholarship might change in the future, schedule a Scholarship Strategies Consult online, send an email to rick@informedathlete.com or call our office at 913-766-1235.
