College Athlete Recruiting

A select few can say they came out alive after the college recruiting process for any sport, but the journey is one that affects many alike across campus. As a high school athlete, it is a true dog fight to get your spot at the school of your dreams.

After high school, some students decide to make the decision to go to college to further their education, earn a degree, have fun, and some, to play sports. College sporting events bring in money through tickets, jerseys, shirts, and other gear. The money made for all of these items and expenses go to paying coaches, the school, charities, utilities, and other expenses a school has to pay to have a sports team. Most college athletes are given scholarships to allow them not to have to pay for college or anything that comes with the college experience. Some athletes, that are good enough athletically, do not ever pay for tuition, living expenses, meal plans, books, and everything else a normal student would have to pay for. For some college athletes that is not enough. Some college athletes believe that they should get a paycheck based on the money that the school makes on putting on sporting events that these athletes are participating in. Other college athletes are satisfied with the scholarship given to them and do not seek additional money.

There are many good athletes in professional sports today. There are many good athletes in college sports today also. Some of the biggest names in sports are Mark McGwire, Steve Young, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and so on. Now, imagine if all of those players never made it to the pros. What would happen to professional sports? Why are they in the pros now? To make it into professional sports you need more than just talent. You need opportunity. College scholarships not only give athletes the opportunity to reach the professional ranks, but also give the chance for many players to earn a degree in higher education.

What most people don’t is that not all athletes get the full-ride scholarships that people think of. Most collegiate sports don’t even offer full-ride scholarships; instead they have a set amount of money that they can do whatever to give scholarships. According to a U.S. News article, “The average athletic scholarship is about $10,400. Only four sports offer full rides to all athletes who receive scholarships: football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball” (O'Shaughnessy). Just to put this into perspective, there are twenty-four total college sports, and only these 4 offer full scholarships. This showcases the rarity of a full-ride in college athletes. Looking into it even more, most of those college athletes come from low income families, “86 percent of college athletes come from below the poverty line” (Hayes 1). A college athlete's schedule is also very hectic. In an article showing the schedule of a football player, it lists, “6am-7am: Wake up,

The payment of college athletes will kill the principles of recruiting.High school students want to continue their sport at the collegiate level is for the increased level of play, competition, team bonding, and the college athlete experience. College recruiters love to offer an athlete the

Being recruited as a senior in high school for any sport seems like an opportunity of a lifetime. The athlete thinks they are going to college debt free because of the

Once the proposal was shown, the NCAA council and the committee made all necessary changes; they were then able to call for a special convention that same year in 1973 (Katz & Seifried 2014). This time, Sherman proposed three legislative and three competitive divisions (Katz & Seifried 2014). The institutions would be able to pick a division without considering their football teams, and then the College Football Committee would determine where the college football team should fall and the institution would follow suit (Katz & Seifried 2014). He also proposed by 1975 that there would be 39 national championships and 10 in each division (Katz & Seifried 2014). Once brought to a vote, the results were much different: 366 were in favor and only 13 were not (Katz & Seifried 2014). The birth of the three divisions we know of today was then officially born, but these three divisions all had their own distinct

An athlete scholarship covers room, board, and tuition. Universities estimate the cost of attendance runs between $1,500 and $2,500 a year beyond the basics covered by athletic scholarships. (Looney 2) Some of the athletes that are participating in the NCAA are not from wealthy backgrounds. Their families cannot afford to give them $1,500 to $2,500 a year. In this case the athletes will have to work to survive in school. Until recently college athletes were not able to work during the season according to NCAA rules. Now that athletes are permitted to work, there are limitations that make it hard for athletes to find a job. One of the limitations that the NCAA has is that college athletes are not able to work for companies that are owned by alumni of the school. In some places this is difficult cause in college towns everyone one has some kind of tie to the school. Another limitation to an athlete working is his or her schedule. Student athletes have very limited time due to attending classes, schoolwork, practices, and games (which include traveling all over the country). After a student athlete does all of this, they hardly have time left to spend with

As a former college athlete, someone who had relatives who played college sports, and have relatives who are in college now playing sports, I have a lot of insight into the struggle of being a college athlete. You have to understand first that an athletic scholarship is not guaranteed, every year you resign a scholarship contract. The coaches and universities have control of if you can keep your scholarship and it can be terminated at any time for anything.

College athletics are a huge part of the culture of the university and sports. The best of the best high school athletes go on to compete at an even bigger platform and competition through college sports. Universities put in money through recruitment to find the right kind of athlete for their school. These athletes, through all their hard work and commitment, are rewarded different scholarships to continue their sports. At the top level of college sports, athletes receive a plentiful scholarship of full tuition and room and board. That type of scholarship can range from $100,000 to even a $180,000 depending on the school. Other students at the same university, who are not playing sports, are expected to cover this tuition themselves. This large sum encourages athletes to put all their time and resources to the sport that they came to school to play. Even with the scholarship money that is given, some believe that college athletes should be paid to play their sports. This is a problem especially at the highest levels in NCAA football and basketball. NCAA sports have a unique competitive atmosphere that also encourages education; however, that would be lost if college athletes were being paid to play.

Attending an eminent college, obtaining a priceless education, and playing your favorite sport, a dream come true for every teen. “Most people would salivate at the opportunity to attend one of our nation’s prestigious universities” (Walton), college athletes receive that privilege and it costs them nothing. They are fed, clothed,

They spend many hours conditioning, working out, and practicing just as professional athletes do. College athletes practice every day they do not have a game with the exception of the required one day off. They lift and go through training camps during the off-season. In addition to preparing and practicing the same as professionals, they experience added challenges. They are required to hold full-time college student status. This means that they are attending college classes and completing homework assignments, while at the same time holding a full time sports job, and receiving no compensation for their efforts with the exception of scholarships. Full ride scholarships cover only the cost of tuition, room, and board and do not cover the added expenses that come with going to college (gas money, room supplies, etc.). Very few full ride scholarships are offered to students, which means that the majority of athletes receive only partial scholarships and incur more college debt. Some student athletes choose to fill the position of walk-on and receive absolutely no scholarship money but still put in the same work and time commitment (Gregory). The extra hours from athletics means they work hard for nothing, and even if they wanted to get a job to make money, it would be really hard “since sport practices take up all of their time after their academic

College scholarships, the attraction of every devoted sports player out there. Earning scholarships brings players together not only to step up their game, but to be enthusiastic about exceeding their academic goals. Colleges put down an amount of money to attract top athletes from high schools all over their state. Athletic meaning all sports, like golf, fencing, and water polo. Tons of schools and families support the aid colleges grant in their athletic scholarship programs, while others are against it, saying that it has too few people who are accepted and that it takes away money that everyone else has to pay for their classes. They don’t realize that players will be encouraged to do great academically, so that they may do great

Since I have contacts at FCA, I asked them if they wouldn’t mind sharing with me with information on their College Recruiting focus. They ended up e-mailing information on why it’s important to maintain a corporate presence on campus, and what information they present at college campus visits and student events. Also as part of this paper, I’ll benchmark some of the best practices for college recruiting and since I’ve been applying for positions at other companies I’ll provide some insight into their new hire focus.

I vividly remember my recruiting visit to the University of Connecticut. I had just led my team to a high school state and national championship. Among others, I had offers to play basketball at Stanford, Duke, and North Carolina but my true passion was to play at UConn. The recruiting visit turned out to be a memorable one. Our room at the Nathan Hale flooded due to a leaking toilet above, we had a flat tire on our rental car after the basketball game (that UConn lost), and on our ride back to Storrs, we ran over a large dead skunk in the road. However, I did not let these things deter me because what I remember most (other than Geno offering me a full scholarship) was Dr. Scott Brown and how he discussed the sport management curriculum.