General Recruiting Tips
 

2. Don't sit back and wait to be recruited.  Put yourself out there to be seen at different exposure tournaments and camps.  There are many different places to be seen over the month of July. 

Make sure that if you are playing AAU that you are on a team that is going to some of these tournaments with college coaches in attendance.  There are great tournaments held at WVU, down in Orlando, and also right here at Hoop Magic.  The best week to get out to a camp is the Hoop Group Elite July 5-8.  Hoop Group runs quality exposure camps through July if you can't make that week.  There are other camps that college coaches show up to as well that are all within a few hours drive. Hoop Group's web page is: http://www.hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/hg_events.php
 
Just about every college now days runs their own "Elite Camp" where they bring in players who they are interested in and have the players go through a camp at their school.  These camps are usually 1-2 days.  If you find a school that you are interested in, please let us (Alex or Mandy) know and we can easily get you an invite to the school of your choice.

3. Make the initiative to contact schools that your are interested in.  It is a simple as sending an email to let a coach know who you are and that you are interested in them.  By doing this you will be put on their "radar" and they will then try to make the attempt to get to see you play at an AAU event, exposure camp, or High School game.  Another great way to grab a college coaches attention is to send them a DVD of a game.  Coaches don't want to see a highlight tape, but sending a DVD of a full game and also a highlight reel at the end of the DVD is a smart idea.  When contacting coaches make sure you let them know all the important info... name, address, school, High School coach's contact info, AAU team, AAU coach's contact info, and a schedule of when they can see you play.

4. We are your best resource.  Please don't hesitate to call us to ask questions, we are here to help. 

Understanding the different levels
 

First and foremost, knowing what level player you are is important.  As we all know, everyone thinks they are a D1 player, but in reality, not everyone is.  This is something that we can discuss as to what levels you should be looking at and focusing on.  We never want to give up the dream of playing at the highest level we can, but at the same time we have to be realistic as to where we should focus our college search. 

Below is are links to the NCAA website.  These are lists of ALL D1, D2, and D3 schools.  If you click on the school name it will take you directly to their athletic website, if you click on the conference it will take you to the conference website.  Its a great idea to take a look at the conferences.  For example, if you are interested in American University, you can then click on the Patriot League Conference and see what other schools they compete with.  This can help you narrow your search to schools at that specific level.

Within the different divisions there are levels in themselves.  They are usually separated by conferences.  For example the ACC is one of the top Conferences in the country and is considered a "Major" conference and has some of the most well known basketball programs (UNC, Duke, etc.).  The CAA is considered a Mid-Major Conference and has schools that play at a very high level, but not like the ACC where they are competing for a National Championship.  Some of the CAA schools are George Mason, James Madison, Old Dominion, William & Mary.  And an example of a "Lower Level" Division 1 Conference is the Patriot League.  They still are playing quality basketball, but schools like American University, Lehigh, and Holy Cross cannot compete on a regular basis with schools from higher level conferences like the CAA and ACC.

Scholarships are obviously a big deal, but does that mean you have to go Division 1 to go to school for free?  NO, not at all.  Here's a breakdown of what to expect financially at each of the different levels.

Division 1 - Just about every D1 school will give their basketball players full scholarships.  The only schools that are not allowed to give athletic scholarships are the Ivy League Schools.  A full athletic scholarship pays for everything, you shouldn't have to pull out your check book for 4 years except for on campus parking tickets which I learned the hard way... 

Division 2 - Most D2 Schools give full scholarships to basketball players.  But begin that many D2 schools are smaller schools and D2 basketball doesn't bring much revenue in for the school they sometimes will offer half scholarships or some portion.  For example when I was at LeMoyne College the team had 10 athletic scholarships to give.  Instead of giving 10 full scholarships the coach gave 8 full and 4 half scholarships. 

Division 3 - There are no "athletic scholarships" in D3 sports including basketball.  With that begin said that doesn't mean you have to pay full price.  Many D3 schools that place a strong emphasis on their athletics will find a way to help you pay for college.  Whether it be a financial aid package, an ACADEMIC scholarship, or a combination of both, if a coach wants you bad enough they will find a way to get you enough aid to make their school as appealing as possible.  A good friend of mine played D3 ball at a school that was traditionally ranked in the top 10 in the nation and made the final 4 several years in a row.  On that team not one of the players paid a dime to go to school, they were all compensated financially through aid packages or academic scholarships.  This varies from school to school and their emphasis on the basketball program. 

What's a walk-on?  A walk on is reference to someone who plays D1 or D2 basketball and is not on scholarship.  Walking on to a D1 team is something that can be a good situation for the right kid.  As a walk on you ARE a practice player.  Generally speaking a walk on does not get to play in games.  You would get to dress for games, but you are always the last person off the bench IF you get the chance to play and that's always when you are up 20 points with a minute to go.  Often you will hear the term "preferred walk on".  What that means is you will be guaranteed to be on the team, you won't have to "try out" as some other walk ons do.  Also, preferred walk ons may get help getting into school academically if need be and will also have a better chance of getting financial aid packages.  This will vary from school to school.

The best resource for information on Academic Eligibility and the Recruiting guidelines is to go straight to the NCAA website.  These rules are constantly changing to keep up with the times so this website should be your best way to keep current.  Knowing the academic requirements is very important and all that information can be found at the below link.

NCAA Academic and Eligibility Information

The best person to talk to to make sure you are all set with requirements is your high school guidance counselor. This is part of their job and should be a knowledgeable source to make sure you are meeting all the NCAA requirements.  A few pointer of things to discuss with the counselor are:
1. Core Course Requirements
2. Sliding Scale (referring to Core Course GPA and SAT scores)
3. NCAA Clearing House

Here is a PDF from the NCAA on Frequently Asked Questions concerning Academic Eligibility Requirements - Click Here

This page is yours to use, send it to college coaches, recruiting services, etc.  The information on that page is everything that a college coach will need to know to contact you and all of your coaches.  They will also have the information on where you will be for tournaments, camps, etc. so they will be able to come out to watch you play.  We will also keep the info current as to each players accomplishments, stats, and even post video.  The idea is to have it be a "one stop shop" for college coaches to go for any info they will need through the duration of the recruiting process.  We just ask you to help us keep it current by giving us updates on any necessary information (schedules, awards, video, etc.).