It’s important to know what you are getting yourself into before jumping head first into something as big and at times complicated as the recruiting process. That is why we are here, to help guide the way.
One of the most frequent questions we ask potential recruits is “what division level do you think you are best suited to play in?” an extremely important recruiting question that will set forth the recruits path. The responses we receive are commonly vague being; “I can play in any division level” or “I want to play in the best division.” From here we educate recruits there are different levels and different academic requirements for each of these levels.
Why knowing your division level is beneficial for you
Having a grasp on which division level you are cut out for will help you perform your best athletically. It will also allow you to set your academic standards high in order to meet the eligibility standards for that division.
What you need to know about NCAA division I and division II programs:
The NCAA requires student-athletes who wish to compete at these levels to register with the NCAA eligibility clearinghouse or what is now known as the NCAA eligibility center. This is a way for the governing body of college athletics to ensure fair play between all colleges teams affiliated with the NCAA.
What is required of recruits in order to become eligible?
Recruits need to know that NCAA looks at athletes’ high school transcripts and calculates their GPA according to what they call “core courses.” A student may have a high school GPA of 3.5, but only enrolled in so called “easy” classes that are not recognized in the NCAA core course calculation. NCAA wants to make sure that student-athletes are equipped for college, hence the word STUDENT-athlete.
How to make sure you are on the right core course track
Core courses as listed on the NCAA eligibility center can be unclear to students that have different titles and class names. We encourage recruits to meet with a guidance counselor early preferably during their freshman year in order to go over what is required academically to participate at DI or DII levels.
Knowing what is required of you as a student-athlete early will guarantee success
Understanding NCAA core courses will make your life a lot easier when you are ready to start reaching out and contacting college coaches. You will be able to tell these coaches you are on track to meet all of NCAA eligibility requirements and that you will be taking the SAT or ACT tests which will make your academic eligibility locked and ready once your IRL is requested by a college coach. Coaches will be pleased that a recruit has done their homework and is eager to learn more about their team and possible future opportunities.
If you have more questions about meeting eligibility we would love to help you just leave a comment below or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.
Hello, What a mess we are in and soooooo very coesnfud. My son went to an NAIA school (he signed the schools version of a letter intending to go there but this is not an NLI I dont think just a letter saying follow the rules or the partial scholarship we gave you goes away and so does your participation). Anyway here is the best I can explain it all.1)This is his first quarter, baseball aside this was a very clear mistake and he is leaving the college.2) I am trying to get him to hang with iot long enough to finish this academic quarter but if there is an advantage like saving a years playing time we will do that but need to do soon! I am NOT putting sports first but he is the type to do better in the classroom when athletics is involved.3) He had be practicing with the team, doing inner squad scrimmages and mock game this fall when he hurt his elboy pitching. We went to the best there is for this type of injurty and NO surgery is needed. But he will be on rehab for a while. The current coach (whom does not know we intend to leave) said with the time it will take him to recover he may medically be release but if WE desired he would give him a red shirt due to the injury making him miss nearly right up to game time. If we wanted him to use him where he could we the family could decide that and he would not give him a red shirt no matter what he will not name hime a red shirt until WAAAY after we are leaving the school.4) If I just drop him from all classes can he be treated as a freshman next year? If I go from this NAIA school and let him go to a community college for club ball for the seasoning is that ok? Can I take him right to (transfer) during the year and let the new coach based on medical situation decide to red shirt or not? (junior college or D3 tops) THEN next fall do a transfer to an NCAA3 school?5) I already feel I steered him wrong and need to get him on track we found a fantastic d3 who wanted him right out of HS but it was just too much money (this is where I feel I let him down)help!
Hi Fran,
Transferring does get complicated. It is good that he is wanting to stay at the NCAA DIII level and JC, both of which have less strict transferring rules. For both division levels he will need to talk directly with the coach and athletic director to determine how he will be labeled (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior)Since he did practice with the NAIA team and received a partial scholarship he will more than likely be entering into next season as a sophomore.
Ultimately the decision should be up to him, talk it through together to determine what the best option will be.
You really sulhodn’t have a problem (so long as your PT is up to Air Force/Navy par). It really depends, though, on what type of ROTC you’re interested in. If, say, you wanted to go to the Air Force Academy in CO or Annapolis, you need to get your butt in gear to find a government sponsor and you can select an option to receive information on scholarships. If you want to attend a civilian school, like UMass-Amherst (they have an AFROTC program (the only one I know of in the area!)) you need to speak with the ROTC program at the school. The scholarships offered by most ROTC programs are given out after the first semester of participation. However, I would strongly advise you do a little research to find an officer recruiter in your area and speak to him. They will have the answers with far more detail available for you.
Hi Rick,I am a sophmore DI athltee and I can’t stand playing for my coach anymore. Since I’ve gotten here, I like everything about my school and team except for the volleyball coach and program. The program is very unorganized. I was promised a scholarship beginning my junior year. She’s been promising me that since my incoming freshman year and that is the reason why I came to the school. It was just a couple of weeks ago that she changed her decision in giving me the scholarship. My mom advised me to share this with the compliance because she was upset about the whole thing. The compliance recently had a meeting with my coach about the scholarship problem. Yesterday, I received a call from compliance telling me that they reasoned with coach and I got my scholarship position back my junior year. Afterwards, I called my coach to say thank you but right when she picked up she talks to me in a shady way. I personally want to transfer to a different school. I thought Playing as a scholarship athltee once I’m a junior would make my collegiant volleyball experience bare able but I was wrong. I would like to hear from your point of view of whether I should stay or not.
This sounds like an extremely difficult situation. One that I will not be able to answer for you. You will need to ask yourself many questions including where you would transfer too? Do you want to continue playing volleyball at another college? How close are you to earning your degree? Are you prepared to transfer and possibly sit out a year if transferring to another DI college?
I completely understand your situation, we are here to help in any way we can, but this decision is yours to make.
Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.
Hi There.
I just graudated highschool and had a question about my GPA. In Grade 10, i failed Math (core course) but took it again in summer school to upgrade it. Will you guys use the upgraded mark when determining my GPA even though i failed the course first time around? I also did the same thing in Grade 12. Did not fail however, but upgraded in summer school. What mark will you guys use?
Thanks
Im from Canada by the way. International Student-Athlete
Tim,
When you retake a course, the better grade is used, provided the summer school course was the same as the original course. The NCAA may ask for additional information about the summer school curriculum (syllabus, course outline, etc.) so gather that up if you still have it.
John
My school is considering giving HS credit for Alg I in the 8th grade. To be eligible for this class a student would have had a “advanced score” on his state standarized test. Following completion of the course, he must have a “end of course exam” score of profiecient or advance to obtain the HS credit. My question is, “If a student takes this class and scores proficient or advanced on the end of course exam, and receives HS credit, would NCAA accept this as a math credit? From my understanding the purpose in allowing the top eighth graders to take ALG I was so that they would have the ability to complete the advance math track of ALG I, Geometry, ALG II, TRIG/College ALG, and finally Calculus.
Hi Adam,
Algebra I taken in 8th grade counts as a core course, so long as it appears for credit on the high school transcript. So it sounds like it would count. Make sure to get this all cleared with your guidance counselor also. Let us know if you have any other recruiting questions.