The Dad posted on November 25, 2009 14:31
The recruiting experience can be exhilarating. When players (amd parents) discover that college coaches are seriously interested in having them play basketball for them, the excitement level is elevated. Players (and their parents) must take care and temper their excitement with sober research. Here are a few things that you should know before accepting an offer:
- Does the school fit your academic/athletic needs?
- How many returning players at your position are on the roster?
- How does the coach plan to use you?
- Does the coach pass the character and coaching style test?
- Is the coach offering a full scholarship now?
The BBC Recruiting Toolkit (RTK) will help you formulate answers to these and other questions. In this article, I will focus on the last question, which is very important.
Recruiting is like shopping at the mall. Some coaches will put a product on ‘hold’ promising to return and ‘buy’. However, if a better deal is found elsewhere, the item on hold is returned to the ‘for sale’ rack. Sometimes, other buyers are told that the item is reserved and no longer for sale! Remember nothing is completely secure until some ink has dried on some paper. Most coaches will honor the verbal commitments that they make, but the only thing that binds them to a verbal agreement is personal integrity.
Ensure That Verbal Agreements Are Clear!
It is critical for you as a player and aspiring collegiate athlete to ensure that verbal agreements are clear! You need to understand exactly what is being offered and if there are any ‘stipulations’ to the agreement. If details of the ‘verbal’ agreement are omitted or misunderstood, you might learn too late that the offer was not exactly what you expected.
Here is an example. The coach tells a parent that “you will not have to pay anything to have your son attend our school”. What does that really mean? In your excitement, you interpret this as a full scholarship offer, however, in the coaches mind, this may mean that they will pay the balance of costs after applying scholarships, grants and loans. This is really a partial athletic scholarship. The worst part is that your SON will have to PAY back the loans after he leaves school!
Here is a financial wake up call. Let’s say that tuition, books, room and board total $16,000 per year. After applying for financial aid, you receive academic and grant monies totaling $5,000 and you are awarded $6,000 a year in loans. The school also awards you an athletic scholarship for $5,000 a year. Guess what? Your parents do NOT have to pay any money for you to attend college (this is what the coach offered). However, you will OWE $24,000 (plus interest if the loans were not interest free) when you leave school! If you need a fifth year to graduate (this is not uncommon) you may also have to pay at least $6,000 to cover costs no longer covered by the athletic scholarship. By the way, if your parent’s financial status changes (i.e. a raise or two), you may lose some grant monies and be required to pay that too! In the famous words of Gomer Pyle, “surprise, surprise”.
Avoid the Scholarship Offer Trap
How do you avoid this trap? Simply ask the coach, “Are you offering a full scholarship?” If not, have the coach clarify exactly what IS being offered! Ensure that you get a good understanding of the terms and conditions of the offer. Be sure to ask what circumstances might cause the offer to be withdrawn . Also keep in mind that a verbal commitment from you or the coach are technically non-binding. Either party can withdraw until an agreement is signed.
Remember that college basketball is a business. Colleges are in business to make money. Most schools will exhaust every opportunity to reduce the monies that they have to pay for scholarships. The more funds they can acquire from the government and other sources, the better it is for their bottom line.
A Tip FromThe BBCRTK
Here is a tip that may help you to move higher on a coaches list. Get busy early and apply for scholarships, grants, church assistance, etc. You will make yourself more attractive to some schools if you have acquired some of the funding needed for college ahead of time. This demonstrates initiative and benefits the school’s budget. This will also help you in the case that you need help paying for college. The RTK contains resources that will help you to locate scholarship and other financial aid resources. We provide guidelines and tools, but you have to do the work. Here is some good advice from Sherman Klump, “Let’s get busy”!
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