Tag Archive for: High School Recruits

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Should High School Recruits Consider a Gap Year Because of Overloaded College Rosters?

It has become more common over the last two years for high school recruits to take a gap year after graduation to continue training in their sport while taking college courses to get a start toward their college degree. The primary reason for this has been college rosters being overloaded with athletes who were granted an additional year of eligibility.

Is this still something that high school recruits should consider? In my opinion, yes!

Almost all college athletes were granted an additional year on their eligibility “clock” and were not charged with one of their four seasons of playing eligibility during the year 2020.

This was applicable to Spring sport athletes during the 2019-20 academic year and for Fall and Winter sport athletes during the 2020-21 academic year. In addition, many junior college and NCAA Division III athletes in Spring sports were also not charged a season for Spring 2021.

That is FIVE YEARS of college athletes who were given an additional year on their eligibility clock – from athletes who were already in their 5th year of college at that time, to athletes who were only college freshmen then and who now have an eligibility clock that might not expire until the end of the 2025-26 academic year.

If you’d like to have a confidential consultation about the possibility of a gap year for your athlete and factors that you may want to take into consideration, schedule a confidential Eligibility Issues Consultation online, or by writing to rick@informedathlete.com.

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How ACT & SAT Test Scores Can Impact Recruiting Opportunities

We were recently contacted by a family whose son is a 2020 HS grad and hasn’t yet taken the ACT or SAT test.

The athlete and his family were not aware of how important his ACT or SAT test score is in the recruiting process.

Here’s why:

While athletic ability is important, an athlete’s NCAA eligibility status is a top consideration for many college recruiters. More coaches might be interested if they know a recruit’s ACT or SAT test score so they have an idea of their NCAA eligibility status and opportunity to be admitted into their university.

Some college athletic departments don’t allow an athlete to make an official visit to their campus if the athlete doesn’t have an ACT or SAT score on file (even though it’s not a requirement under the NCAA rules).

Upcoming ACT & SAT Test Deadlines

The deadline to register for the December ACT and SAT tests is fast approaching. November 8 is the regular registration deadline for both the December 7 SAT test and the December 14 ACT test.

There is a late registration period available for each test, but there will be an additional late fee required at the time of registration. Also, those registering late may not be able to get into their first choice of test location.

The late registration period for the December 7 SAT test is November 9-26, while the late period to register for the December 14 ACT test is November 9-22.

Do you have questions about your athlete’s eligibility status?

For questions about recruiting or academic eligibility requirements for NCAA or NAIA, schedule a confidential eligibility issues consult online, call us at 913-766-1235 or send an email to rick@informedathlete.com.

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For HS Recruits: College Experience Expectations

If you’re a high school recruit competing for an athletic scholarship offer, have you defined your college experience expectations? 

Do you want to compete at the highest level possible and try to win a championship for your team – whether that’s a conference, regional, or national championship?

Or, will you be completely happy if you’re enjoying college, making lifelong friendships, and possibly participating on a junior varsity college team to stay physically active and spend more time with some of your new friends?

Many colleges at both the NCAA and NAIA level use their athletic teams to boost their enrollment numbers. 

But, some programs take that even a step further by adding junior varsity teams to the athletic program.  Those coaches might recruit you to join their teams with the opportunity of being promoted to the varsity level at some point in your college career, but they may primarily be looking to just boost college enrollment.

Don’t get me wrong – if you will be happy being on the JV team and not having as many commitments on your time as you would have with practice and travel commitments of a varsity program, then that’s great.

The point I want to make is to be sure you ask – especially at smaller colleges – if they have both a varsity and junior varsity team in your sport, and where the coach sees you fitting into the program.  As the article that I’ve linked below describes, the coach may be more interested in your participation to boost college enrollment rather than for the talent that you can provide to help their team win.
http://blog.naia.org/index.php/2017/11/06/goshen-college-boosting-recruitment-with-junior-varsity-athletics/

If you’re a high school recruit and have questions, click here to learn how to schedule a confidential consult or contact us directly at 913-766-1235.

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