College athletic recruiting news | Varsityedge

How the new NCAA Eligibility Center Changes affect High School Athletes

The NCAA has recently tweaked their Eligibility Center process for high school athletes. In the past, only athletes that were interested in playing NCAA D1 or NCAA D2 athletics were required to register with the Eligibility Center and all had to pay a fee to register.

Per the NCAA website, the new classifications are as follows…

Certification Account: You need to be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center to compete at an NCAA Division I or II school. You also need to be registered with a Certification Account before you can make official visits or sign a National Letter of Intent in Division I or II.
Profile Page: If you plan to compete at a Division III school or are currently unsure which division you want to compete in, create a Profile Page. If at any time you wish to pursue a Division I or II path, you will be able to transition to a Certification Account.

Why did the NCAA make this change?

It’s possible someone raised a great point. If I am going to play D3 athletics, which doesn’t use the NCAA Eligibility Center for eligibility decisions or possibly not get recruited at all by any NCAA coaches at the D1 or D2 level, why do I need to pay the NCAA the $80 fee to register (or $135 for International athletes).

What if I am still not sure about what school I will attend or what school/coach will recruit me?

This is where the change works. The NCAA will allow you to create a profile page for free and then transition that page to a paid Certification Account once you get further along in the process and are actively getting recruited by D1 and D2 coaches who will need access to your eligibility status. PDF link with transfer instructions If you think you will definitely be playing D3 athletics, then there is no need for you to update to the paid certification account because it is not used by NCAA D3 schools.

NCAA Eligibility Center

What do I need to register with the Eligibility Center?

To register for either account (Certification or Profile), you need a valid email address that you have access to, basic personal and contact information, and a way to pay the registration fee. You will be asked questions like what high schools or secondary schools you have attended and what sports you have competed in.

What will I get back?

You will be given an NCAA ID number via email, which will be visibly in the top right of your account when you login.

What else do I need to provide the NCAA Eligibility Center?

If you are registering for recruitment at NCAA D1 or NCAA D1 schools, you eventually need to provide the NCAA Eligibility Center with your SAT/ACT scores.

That can be accomplished by logging into the College board website here or the ACT testing agency here. Each organization used code 9999 to send your test scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Can I check my status at the NCAA Eligibility?

Yes. Login to eligibilitycenter.org – go to your dashboard and your current status will be listed under the sports you select.

Where can I go for more information?

https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/

Do you have additional NCAA Rules and Regulations Info?

Yes, please see NCAA Rules and Regulations here

What is the best way to succeed in the college athletic recruiting process?

Question: How do you eat an elephant?

Answer: One bite at a time.

I talk to a lot of parents about recruiting. The word I hear over and over again is “overwhelming.” The quote about eating an elephant was in a Navy SEAL book I read recently. The author says one of the keys to success at BUDS, possibly the hardest training program on the face of the earth, is to apply the elephant quote. Not simply one day at a time, but one exercise at a time. The author describes being able to get through the training by simply trying to complete the next exercise and then telling himself, “that’s one less set of log lifts I ever have to do, now let’s make it to lunch.” “That’s one less beach run I ever have to do, now let’s eat dinner!” Worrying about what was to come tomorrow or next week at BUDS was a sure form of failure he said. One bite at a time!

The recruiting process can be as overwhelming as you make it. It can be more overwhelming if you are a marginal student or athlete because your choices will be more limited. What often makes it overwhelming is that families make the recruiting process one all-encompassing process, rather than breaking it down into small steps. Where you live, or your personal finances can make it even harder to get recruited or pay for school, which again, makes it overwhelming.

Before you step onto the field for your first college game, there are (pick a number) of steps that need to happen before that happens. You cannot step onto the field, until you show up at college. You cannot enroll in college until you accept your acceptance and send in a deposit. You cannot get accepted until you apply. You cannot apply until you have toured the school. You cannot know if your finances are in order until you have crunched some numbers and compared different financial aid options. You cannot pay for school until your finances are in order. You cannot apply until you have decided this is a college you can get into and are interested in. You cannot decide if this is a college you are interested in until you have done some research on it. You cannot show up for practice or your first game until you have signed a letter of intent or were recruited by the coach. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you have accepted their offer. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you have personally met with that coach in some capacity. You cannot get recruited by the coach until that coach has seen you play in a meaningful setting. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you have expressed interest in that school and program. You cannot get recruited by the coach until that coach contacts you. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you have supplied them with something tangible to evaluate your skills. You cannot get recruited by the coach until your grades are within what that college looks for in a student. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you and the coaching staff have had multiple conversations. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you contact that coach or the coach contacts you multiple times. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you do some research on different colleges to see where might be a good fit. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you have a realistic idea of what your skills are and how they apply to different colleges. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you have decided to you actually want to play college athletics. You cannot get recruited by the coach until you are physically, mentally and emotionally ready to tackle this “overwhelming” list.

So, how do you get recruited? One step at a time!

There is a big list of steps up there. Very few of them cannot be accomplished in one day, nor should they be. You should spend months online forming a list of colleges that might interest you before you send a single email or make a single phone call to a coach. There are 1,200+ NCAA colleges and several hundred NAIA and NJCAA colleges that are a potential fit for you. If your list of colleges just includes those you see on CBS or ESPN playing football on Saturday, you will probably fail at the recruiting process. There are colleges you have never heard of in places you have never heard of. Every one of them is a potential college for you to attend! You must dismiss funny names and strange places in order to succeed, because Big State U down the street from you is getting 40,000 applications and recruiting athletes from all over the world.

You need to spend time evaluating yourself as a person, as an athlete, and as a student, to decide who you are and what you want in and out of college. This will help you decide what colleges you might be able to or want to attend and what colleges you can potentially play at athletically. This is the hard stuff, and it’s the stuff that unsuccessful families DO NOT DO! College coaches spend countless hours in meetings with families telling them that their grades or athletic ability will not allow them to get into or play at that school. The reason they do this is because these families tried to eat the elephant in one bite. They didn’t do the research and evaluations they should have. They didn’t go step by step and decided to call or visit a coach at a school they didn’t fully research and match with their abilities. One of the things I hear most from the families that purchased The Making of a Student-Athlete is how attentive college coaches were to them throughout the recruiting process. That’s because they learned to do all the hard work ahead of time so when they contact college coaches, there is already a potential match in place academically and athletically.

Do not try to eat the elephant in one bite.

Tackle the recruiting process step by step. Spend some time online evaluating not only colleges in your state or region but colleges outside of your region. I can spend 20 seconds looking at a college roster and tell you how competitive or well-known a school is, what the coaches recruiting philosophy is and how good the team is without ever looking at their record.

Do not try to contact coaches with the goal of being recruited. Contact coaches with the goal of introducing yourself to them and expressing your interest in their program. You cannot get recruited off of one email, one online recruit form, or one phone call just like you can’t get marriage proposal by asking someone out on a first date. There is a process, that is why it’s called the “recruiting process.” It takes time and effort and doesn’t happen overnight. Start at the beginning and slowly work your way through the long list of steps you need to take in order to succeed.

NCAA Eligibility Changes for High School Athletes