Athletics in College Admissions

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Julie Shields-Rutyna: Okay, so we are recording this, uh, athletics and college admissions, and we will send you the recording and the webinar slides tomorrow. So you'll have those, you don't have to take too many, too many notes. You can just sit back, relax, and listen. And I think, I think that's it. And with that, I will pass that to you, Mike.

Oh, I guess I'll just tell you a little bit about MIFA if you don't know. So MIFA has been around since 1982, and our mission is to help families plan, save, and pay for college. And we're still doing that today. We have the state's college savings plans, the U Plan and the U Fund, and we also have low cost loans if Families need that type of financing for college, but everything else we do is all around free guidance at whatever stage you're at in the college admissions process.

So, or, you know, we help you with financial aid and scholarships and how are you going to pay the college bill? So please stay in touch with us throughout the process and you can always call us with quick questions or for longer conversations. So with that, I'll pass it to you, Mike.

Mike Janicki: All right. Thanks, Julie.

Um, hi everybody. Um, I should say hello friends. Um, so what we're going to talk about tonight is, um, kind of what college athletics is defining the different, um, governing boards, um, how high school students develop, uh, eligibility, maintain eligibility. Um, And then I'm sure the last piece will be kind of what everyone is all wondering about is how do you, how does the student athlete go about the search process, how is it different from, um, you know, just the run of the mill college search.

First and foremost, one of the things that I do want to, to, to point out, just be aware only 2%, 2 percent of high school athletes are ever offered athletic scholarships of anything. I don't mean like full ride. I mean, any like 1, um, any piece, just 2 percent of high school athletes are offered athletic scholarships.

So, you know, I've been on, I've been on more than my fair share of sidelines of. You know, youth, high school, college games, courts, everything. Um, and I hear a lot of conversations of, you know, oh, my kid did this and my kid did that. Um, just be aware that it really is a small, small percentage. Of athletes that are offered any type of athletic scholarship whatsoever.

Um, I don't mean to, I don't mean to point that out as, as a poopooing the idea, but just putting the reality of the situation. So let's just dive right into it. NCAA. We'll start here because that's the one that everyone knows, um, is most familiar with, um, National Collegiate Athletic Association. This is, um, you know, the, the, this is March Madness.

This is college football, as we all know, um, you know, almost half a million student athletes, um, three divisions. And just to point out those three divisions, division one, two, and three, Um, are not, um, are not based on school size. You can have, you know, rather large Division 3 schools and rather small Division 1 schools.

It's really determined by, um, the facilities on campus, the resources. AKA money, um, allocated to the programs. Um, it is possible to have a division one hockey program and division two, everything else. Um, so there is some fluidity, uh, amongst, amongst that and upwards of 40 different sports, everything from, like I said, the football, basketball, uh, all the way down to archery, rifle, Um, and even some emerging sports, uh, equestrian, um, you know, so there's, there's a number of different sports involved.

So again, just to break down a little bit between what division one, two, and three really is in terms of. What to expect as a student athlete. And I actually, let me pause a second there. Cause I've already used the word a couple of times, but I want to reiterate the emphasis on student. You're always a student first.

It's always a student athlete. Okay. Um, you are no good to your teammates. You are no good to your coach. You are not even eligible to participate. If you are not a student first. So first and foremost, um, take care of grades, uh, take care of classes. That's why, um, that's why you're in college. That's why you're in school.

Um, that, you know, 2 percent of, of high school athletes get a scholarship. Well, that's percentage points of how many go on to be pro. Um, so you are going to need that college degree. So the emphasis is always on student athlete. Um, at the division one level, really consider your participation and it doesn't matter if it's football, basketball, track, archery, rifle, whatever.

It's a full time job. Okay. The, the time commitment is, is substantial. Um, not just games and practices, but film study, um, team meetings, travel, uh, depending on the conference area and you could literally be traveling cross country. Um, It is a substantial amount of time, um, and really considered a full time job.

Um, you know, there are most scholarships are, are, are in, uh, basketball and football, um, not all are all full scholarship, full rides. Um, so just kind of be aware there. Division two. Um, you know, larger emphasis is on is again, um, having the student in the on campus in the classroom. I'm not as much time, but still a substantial amount of time involved.

And for the most part, conferences are more regionalized, so you don't have anything such as you know the big 10, where you're. You know, literally going coast to coast or, you know, what's left of the PAC 12 and going up and down the West coast. Um, you know, so it's, it's much less travel, but, um, but still a substantial amount of time.

Um, and then division three, you know, you're, you're shorter practice season competition seasons are, are, are shorter. Um, you know, the coaches understand the nature of the beast of, of where they're at. Um, and so it is much less responsibility, um, or expectation, I should say, placed on a student athlete at D three level.

Um, don't get hung up that one is better than the other. You know, there are, there certainly are division two programs that facilities are. I mean, mind blowing of what is available on campus, way better than some division one programs. Same thing for division three. Division three programs can have facilities and opportunities available that are way better than division two or even one programs.

Don't get hung up that, um, just because it's D one, that it's the best. Um, you can have, you know, literally hall of fame, professional athletes coming out of D two D three programs. Um, you know, so it's, one is not better than the others. Um, just because Okay, other two athletic associations that are out there, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Um, most of these programs and actually over the past, I don't know, five years or so, um, I have seen a number of, of students, uh, athletes from the area here Going out west. Um, the majority of the NAIA programs are in the Midwest Great Lakes region. Um, that's kind of the predominant where the conferences lie.

Um, and I have seen over the past five years, like I say, a growing trend of students going out to NAIA schools. Think of them compared to the N. C. Double a level. Um, think of them more like a division to, um, that type of resource, that type of expectation, that type of competition of of what's out there. Um, you know, there's a good balance of academics and athletics on campus.

Um, the Junior College Athletic Association, uh, this is going to be your, you know, two year schools, your community colleges, um, that can be really a solid option if you need to increase your level of academics, you want a year of getting stronger and faster, uh, getting better on the field. Um, if you want to improve your academics, uh, you know, a JUCO, um, uh, participation might be something of interest to you.

Let's talk a little bit about eligibility and how you are, um, you know what, what, what it takes to be a student athlete. Um, bottom line here is at the top 2. 3 or take a knee. If you don't, if you do not have a 2. 3 grade point average coming out of high school, you are, that's eligibility. You need a 2. 3, which is essentially a C plus.

77, you need a 77 C plus 2. 3 GPA to be eligible academically eligible, um, to participate at the division one level. And I say that as division one, um, because I always tell students. Shoot for the most difficult one and you're going to meet everything else. Okay. If you can get a 2. 3 GPA, you're going to be eligible everywhere else.

Okay. Division one, division two in the brackets there, um, will be the classes that you must. Take, um, this is where you're not taking basket weaving and graduating with a, with a, uh, a gimme diploma, the 10, it's referred to as the 10 7 rule. You need to take 10 of your core classes. We'll talk about that in a slide here.

before your seventh semester, meaning before your senior year. So 10 of your core classes, English, math, science, social studies, need to be taken before the start of your seventh semester. And again, that's the rule for division one. Division two, that's not, that is not the case. That's a rule set for division one.

And again, my advice is always shoot for the most difficult one and everything else is going to fall into place. Again, a 2. 3 GPA in those 16 core classes and a 2. 2, so 70, 76, 77, um, GPA for division 2. We'll go into the next slide. We'll go into what the core classes are, what those 16 core are. Um, SATs, ACT are no longer required, but just a quick word there, just because the NCAA is not requiring the SATs, the school, the major that you might be looking at.

might still require it. So just because it's not required for the NCAA, you still may need a solid SAT ACT score. Okay. So just be aware there for division three, essentially, you are L your eligibility is dependent on successful completion of high school and being admitted to the institution. Um, again, you know, shoot for that 2.

3. Um, that's the, that's the highest GPA required. But if you can be admitted to the institution, the division three institution, um, that is establishing academic eligibility at that school. So we were just talking about the core classes. NCAA has set, you need 16 core classes, four years, English, three math, two science, one, any of those, um, two social studies, and then four years of.

Kind of any elective that fits into those core into those subject areas. Best way to the easiest way to kind of map this out is really just take one of those core classes every year of high school, English, math, science, social studies, all four years of high school, regardless of what your high school's graduation requirement is.

Um, I mean, that's just good. That's just good academic advising advice. Um, if you have four years of, of English, math, science, or studies, you know, you're, you're in, um, you're on a good track. Okay. You're on a good track. We talked about a 2. 3 GPA. Um, keep in mind that, um, pass fail classes. If you take, if, if you're, if you're graded on a pass fail basis for one of these classes and you pass, it is the equivalent of the lowest passing grade at your school.

So typically it's a D. Okay, so keep that in mind if you're taking your class on a pass fail basis. It will be calculated by the NCAA into your GPA as a one. Okay? Um, yeah, as a D. So, just be aware of, of how that works. Every high school, usually out of the guidance office, I've seen some schools where the athletic department takes care of it.

Um, um, but usually it's, typically it's the guidance office, sometimes it's the athletics office, but they will, every high school needs to, um, submit their program of studies, course descriptions, all of that to the NCAA for their review that it is a legit college prep level class. Um, you know, so that it is maintaining a level of rigor, a level of expectation that it's just not, you know, simple arithmetic is, is, is your math class?

Um, you know, that there is a, there is a level of expectation that is handled. Um, the N. C. Double A. Maintains, you know, records on every high school and will then kind of establish that It's a legit class. So make sure that when you're registering for classes, um, you know, for really most, really, this only falls that electives might not be, um, the equivalent of an NCAA class, you know, for the most, you know, English, English one, English nine, freshman year English, sophomore year English.

Yes, those, those will most probably be, Uh, you know, the equivalent of an NCAA class, biology, chemistry, physics. Yes. Those year long math science classes. Absolutely. Um, you know, but if you're taking an elective, just be aware, especially like a half year elective, just be aware that, you know, just something to be cognizant of.

Okay.

Continuing with eligibility. Um, the eligibility center, formerly known as the, uh, clearing house. Um, last few years they've rebranded to the eligibility center. This is your, this is the front door to participating in NCAA athletics. Um, you know, every, everybody that's in the recruiting process will need to register with the eligibility center.

So this is an absolute for everybody. There are three different. Um, uh, levels. Um, the first one being just a simple profile page. It is a free, free, um, uh, account to open up. Um, this will be used by division three schools. And not division two, but division three schools, you'll need to have this profile page.

I'll explain how they're using it in just one second. And then the second level, there is the academic and amateurism certification, which is that second, um, that second level within the eligibility center. Um, that's a hundred dollars. Uh, and it will be used if you're, if you are thinking that you're being recruited by division one or two schools, you'll need this academic and amateurism certification.

The third part to the eligibility center is mostly for international students. Um, students transferring from one university to another. Um, so I don't think it's going to be anybody in, um, uh, in this webinar. Um, so really we just focus on parts one and two here, easy online registration, you know, go to eligibility center.

org, put in your name, you know, some basic demographic, your high school, um, um, You know, where are you going to school and, and you're good to go. They will send you, um, an NCAA ID. This ID number will be used by all coaches to, cause they will then need to, um, Kind of register that they're meeting with you, um, with the NCAA.

That's how the NCAA tracks that the whole process is legit and no one's skirting the system. That's how coaches on campus will know that your transcript, your transcript has been submitted, um, and is cleared. Um, you know, that is, that, that is the, your NCAA ID is, is the key to everything. You will absolutely need that.

If you're going on an official visit. whether it is division one, two or three, uh, you'll need that ID, uh, for any of that. When the coach asks, you'll need to, to, to share that number with them. Okay. Just a couple other things on eligibility for any IA schools, just because it is a little bit different. Um, um, GPA is a 2.

0. But one thing to keep in mind that, um, the unique part here is that students must graduate in the top half of their senior class, which is really kind of a, a, a unique standard that NAIA schools are looking for. Um, you know, you'll need, um, a letter from your principal guidance office that they're in the top half of the senior class.

And again, um, I haven't seen anything where the SATs or ACTs are still in place. So that is, um, simply crossed off there and not deleted. Um, eligibility at, uh, junior colleges, um, simply, I mean, quite honestly, just to put it blunt, meet the entrance requirements of the school. Graduate high school and be admitted to the institution.

Um, you maintain your amateur status, but, um, uh, be admitted to the school maintain academic, um, standards of the school that you're admitted to. And you are eligible at the junior college level. Just a quick piece. I know this is kind of getting a couple years ahead of where everybody is. I believe right now, um, if you are looking to transfer because that junior uh, college option might be something that is, um, You know, a possibility for you, just be aware that, um, you're really going to work with both the school that you are at the junior college you're at or the, the, the first school you attend and, and the, um, Athletic department of both schools, um, maintain, you know, again, emphasis on the student athletes, um, maintain your grades all the way through, academic rigor all the way through, and then transferring to the next school will just simply be a lot easier.

Um, you know, you can use that, that junior college as a post, kind of a somewhat post grad year, um, If you're looking to improve your academic standing, improve your, um, athletic standing a little bit, uh, and then you'll just make that transfer process a little bit easier. Let me, um, let me pause there before we get into the recruiting piece.

Um, any questions?

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Yeah, we have, we have two people really asking us the same question. So that's good. Um, when, when actually do you submit? Uh, the eligibility form through the eligibility

Mike Janicki: center that so you should you should really if you're thinking that you're going to be participating, um, in college athletics registered sooner rather than later, um, you know, some students, you know, will register as early as eighth grade.

Um, but if you're, you know, I know for my own kids, um, you know, they didn't register until their senior year. Um, it wasn't, you know, As prevalent, it wasn't a pot as strong possibility. Um, and then once they realize, yeah, I'm kind of interested. Um, and, and actually I've had students register as a freshman year in college, you know, that they, when they get to school and they realize, you know what?

Yeah, I miss it. I want to play. And then they come back and register and go through the process. So sooner is better. Um, especially if you're just doing that profile page, it's free, so might as well, when we're done here, you can do it right now. Um, so, piece of cake. And

Julie Shields-Rutyna: then the, the next two questions actually kind of involve the transcript.

The NCAA says the student is supposed to upload their transcript at the end of sophomore year and again at the end of junior year. Why is this? And then, um, because they're probably not certifying until senior year. Right. And then the second question around that is, um, does the high school just keep submitting it or does the student have to take action?

Mike Janicki: So ideally the high school should just submit it at the end of, at the end of each year. Um, you know, so on the high school side, you know, we'll, we'll have a list of all of our students that have. registered with the NCAA, we don't necessarily see the level. Um, because from our, from our perspective, it's all the same.

We're just uploading the transcript. Um, so at the end of each year, we will upload everybody that's registered, um, upload their transcript. And they typically, the, some of the coaches. Some coaches may want to see, um, an ongoing transcript, uh, just to make sure that the student again is making, is on track, um, and making the grade that it's not somebody that they're going to have to worry about.

Again, you're not, if I'm a coach, you're no good to me. If you're, if you're academically redshirted and not eligible, you know, I've put all this effort into you and now you can't play. Um, so some of that is that they want to maintain, they want to kind of follow academic progress as well as progress on the field.

Thank you. We good? We're good. Alright. All right. So in terms of how to go about, um, the search, the college search process and all this, um, on one hand, it is exactly the same as anybody's college search process, whether you're a student athlete or not. Um, and it's, it's exactly the same. And it's also nothing like it.

So I know it's really weird, but it's all about fit, you know? So when we talk about, you know, where do you want to go to college? What do you want to study? Where do you think you, where do you envision yourself? Um, down the road a piece it's really, where are you going to be the most comfortable? Um, and, and to that, it's.

It also includes the size of campus, the class environment, the, you know, the, the campus setting. How far away, uh, from home are you willing to travel? Maybe you want to go someplace warm. Um, but then also, what is that coach like? What is the fit for the coach? What is the fit for the program? What are the facilities like?

You know, where are you going to be the happiest playing? Are you going to play? Um, You know, are you, if you're a shooting guard and they just have, they, you know, they recruited the three years in front of you, you know, two other shooting guards, well, are you going to see the court anytime soon? Um, you know, or is there a shooting guard, uh, just about to graduate and you can be the next one in, um, you know, so, you know, all of those things need to kind of come into your head and question about.

Um, you know, in terms of fits, how are you going to fit into the team as well as how are you going to fit onto the campus? Um, some other things to, uh, this slide is, oh, I think the rest of this is down at the very bottom of the screen, you know, the editing of it. Um, some other things to think about is the responsibilities of the student athlete.

You know, a lot of coaches will do summer camps, you know, for kids in the area. Um, you know, and they're staffed by people on the team. Um, so what is your expectation of vacations? Um, you know, if you're, if you're playing basketball, I mean, you know that, um Um, you know, winter break is, uh, that's right in the middle of basketball season.

You're not really going home from a long time. Um, we talked earlier about the time commitment to the team. Well, it's, it's real hard to maintain a full academic schedule in the middle of a football season of, of, you know, when you're in the middle of cross country season, when you're running all over the place, um, you know, maintaining a full academic schedule is tough.

So how are you going to make up those classes and and continue on progress towards graduation? Um, you know, so what, what are the responsibilities of you as the student athlete? Um, you know, If my, you know, family members who play basketball, division one basketball, and they're there all summer long, uh, well into the off season, but that's because they're taking the classes that they weren't able to take during the, during the season.

Um, so just, you know, the search is really how involved and again, going back to the treating it like a full time job. Um, you know, are you ready, ready, willing, and able to commit to it? Um, I want to spend some time talking about, um, contact and communication with coaches. Um, and this is not, I know this is kind of going to be taken from the NCAA, but that's kind of the more prevalent.

Um, but some of these same rules apply, uh, at the NAIA, uh, conference as well. Keep in mind, there's going to be all of these. terms, the terms will be universal. Um, but dates are going to be all over the places. Um, as far as when coaches can contact you just because each sport has a substantially different calendar.

Um, and so, you know, rules that apply to baseball, softball, golf, um, You know, are going to be a lot different or the dates will be different from, you know, football, uh, field hockey thing, you know, fall sports cross country. Um, um, so just be aware that dates are going to be substantially different. So in terms of just kind of some of these slides are going to be more glossary things just so that you hear and are aware of them, um, a contact, a contact is anytime a coach says more than hi, uh, to you.

If they say hi, how you doing? That's a contact. They're only allowed so many during, um, during the contact period. Um, and that is, you know, those are set days. And again, each sport will have different calendar days of what constitutes a contact period. Um, you can find those calendars if you just do a Google search or search on, um, uh, eligibility center, NCAA, just Google search NCAA.

contact periods, um, you'll find the calendar for your sport. Um, you know, coaches can call and write, um, you know, face to face contact, uh, any of that stuff during the period, uh, as opposed to a dead period where they may not speak to you. Okay. They cannot have any, any face to face communication with, um, students, whether it's on campus, off campus at a showcase, um, at your school.

If they come to, they can come watch, but they cannot speak to you. Okay, so that's and that's during a dead period. Any evaluation is, you know, when they come, when a coach comes to, to watch you play, um, you know, whether, again, whether it's a showcase, a camp, a game, a practice, whatever it is, anytime somebody's coming to watch you, that's an evaluation.

And again, there's a set evaluation period. Um, uh, for each for each sports, some sports, you know, some sports have longer periods for evaluation just because of the nature of how the schedule goes. Um, and, you know, so again, refer back to the, uh, NCAA website for the calendar, uh, dates. An official visit, um, whether it's one, two or three, um, any time an official visit is any time that the school pays for the student, um, you know, meals, uh, transportation for, uh, the student and, uh, two family members.

Um, sometimes it can involve tickets to a game. So if you're, you know, if you're being recruited for basketball, they can get you tickets to the game. Um, You know, and this is really the official visits are when you will absolutely need that N C A I D. They will need that number to kind of blank on the right term register or log that they are meeting with you and you're you're on campus.

Um, with, uh, um, uh, during the official visit. Um, no visits during the dead period. You can certainly Yeah, absolutely. Um, uh, go on your own and an unofficial visit, um, outside of, you know, or within those dead periods. That's, that's on your dime. You can go, um, you may not speak with the coach or anything, uh, during a dead period, but you can certainly pay your own way and go visit campus on your own dime.

Um, and that's, that's kind of on you. Okay. So that's really the difference between official and unofficial is who pays for it. Letter of intent. So you've got this far, you've visited schools, you met with the coaches, you know who you're, you want to play for, and you're going to sign that letter of intent.

Um, this is a voluntary program, but treat it like a contract. Um, again, you're essentially registering, committing to the NCAA, to that school. And quite honestly, to all other schools that you're not going to play for them, that you're not going to play for the other schools. Um, if so consider it a contract.

Um, if after signing that, um, letter of intent, you have a change of heart. You are committed to sitting out, uh, uh, an academic year, two semesters, three quarters, whatever it is, um, uh, and not playing anywhere else. If that school lets you out of that contract, that's between you and the school, but that's essentially what that letter is signing, that you are agreeing to, um, uh, to play there, to play there and attend school there.

Okay, some things to consider. Actually, let me pause. That's, I know that's kind of the, the legal mumbo jumbo stuff. Are any, Julie, any questions on that stuff? Not yet. No, not yet. Okay. Um, some things that want to talk about over the next few slides is, um, you know, just, you know, the grades desire to play, you know, the reality of the ability.

Um, and some of the issues with the transfer portal over the, um, uh, last few, uh, last few seasons. Um, first off with, with, grades. And again, going back to the student, the student advisor, student athlete. Um, when I was a few years ago now, a number of years ago now, um, I was working, uh, uh, Providence college and UConn was, you know, undefeated, you know, season after season undefeated national champs, um, and working with some of, um, uh, the women on the team after one of the games.

And, you know, they're talking about. You know, they got Sports Illustrated coming in tomorrow and ESPN doing a photo shoot and, you know, they're like, well, what, what class do I have tomorrow? And I raise that not to say, gosh, these guys don't even know what class they have tomorrow. Absolutely not. Quite the opposite.

They're so committed and so much time and dedication is involved. They really need help. Um, in terms of. just guiding through some of this. And that's where that academic advisor comes in. And this is where schools, and one of the things to ask when you're meeting with campus, when you meet with the coaches, what is, what are the supports that a school has for student athletes?

Um, whether it's, you know, mandatory study halls, um, You know, team GPA checks, academic advisors, uh, tutors. Um, how are you, you know, if you're going to be on the road for some of these, um, You know, for, for, for games and sometimes some long road trips, possibly, um, you know, winter tournaments, things like that, you know, what academic help are you getting while traveling?

Um, you know, so just things to be aware that, you know, odds are you're not going pro. So take care of the grades first. Um, you know, just so something to just keep in mind when you're meeting with with coaches. In terms of the reality of the ability and again, desire to play. Um, I just want to ask, you know, make sure that I encourage parents here to really have that introspective into yourself.

Who wants to play? I mean, I, as a parent myself of, of, of three student athletes, um, You know, it's really cool to be on the sideline and, and say, well, my kid met with this coach and this coach caught reached out to me and, you know, we're looking at this place and that place and, and, you know, it's really, it's, it's kind of flattering and all that, but really, you know, think of, think of.

Who really wants to play? Is it that you want your kid to play? You know, do I want my kid to play? Um, does the student really want to continue playing after high school? Um, you know, we're not, we're not talking AAU tournaments here. Um, this is, this is big boy school. Uh, so, um, think of whose desire it is to play and, and the reality of the ability are really that good.

Um, you know, I, I, again, I've been on more sidelines where, you know, as parents, um,

Think of, are they really that good to be a division one athlete, to be a division two athlete, to be a college student athlete, um, you know, just have that own self thought, um, as, as you're, as we're all going through this process. Some things to ask coaches, you know, when you're doing the tour, um, and meeting with them, you know, what's a typical, what's a typical day, weekly you're like, um, what's the off season like, um, you know, I've, I've met with a number of students who, um, you know, want to go into be, to be a nursing major.

I'll tell you what, nursing major and, um, being a student athlete. You know, that's tough. Um, not impossible. Certainly, certainly can be done. Um, but just be aware of how you're going to get those hours in. Um, you know, again, what kind of academic supports? Um, you know, what's, quite honestly, what's the housing?

What's the meal plan like? You know, we're talking, you know, we're talking some major calories being taken in here. Um, sometimes, sometimes it's cheaper to pay the, the food bill on campus than it is here at home. Um, you know, but, but what are the, what's the meal plan option like? Um, you know, what are your graduating athletes?

Um, you know, are they at your position? Um, who, are you recruiting others at my position? Um, you know, what is that? What's that scene like? Um, you know, what happens when the coach leaves? You know, if the coach gets a promote, you know, uh, an opportunity to coach someplace else, what happens there? Um, and specifically towards that division one level.

Um, you know, if that's where you're looking, how's the transfer portal? playing out. Um, for those that, you know, those that not familiar, the transfer portal is an opportunity where instead of in the past, you had to sit out a season. If you transferred from one school to another here, you can enter the transfer portal and be picked up by another school by another coach essentially.

Um, well, that's kind of wrecked havoc with coaches communicating effectively with high school students. Because, well, yeah, I've got, you know, you're a great high school kid, but we're competing for, you know, a conference title, a national title. And I can get, I can get a, an established, uh, player who's three, four or five years older, stronger.

Um, you know, I, that's where I might be going. Um, and you're left, well, what about me? Um, so, so feel free to ask about how the transfer portal is affecting the team next season. Getting seen. I know this is a really a big point. Uh, question of how do you get noticed? Um, going back to, um, the NCAA ID. That's you're going to need that here.

Um, there are a lot of different recruiting services. Um, you know, those are great, you know, huddle. PBR, um, all of those programs that are out there to help, uh, the recruiting process, um, you know, for, for the rest of us, um, you know, simple communication, email, phone call, uh, most, most division three. tool to programs will have right on their website, interested in being a student athlete, fill out this form, um, and, and do that right there on the website and, and supply the information.

Um, keep it basic, keep it from the student athlete. Um, part of this is coaches want to know that, you know, somebody on the field, somebody can handle themselves, um, that they're, Um, they have the maturity, they have the responsibility, they have the leadership skills to send their own email and speak for themselves.

Um, if you can't at least do that, how are you, how am I going to know what kind of person you are on the court, on the field? Um, so the students should really be. leading the charge here, but send, you know, send your name, height, weight, position, play, um, your GPA. If you have S. A. T. Scores, if you want to share those, um, your head coach's name, both your high school club, um, club coaches, teams, um, how they can get in touch with your coaches, um, when you're going to graduate, when you plan to enroll, um, you know, if you're thinking of a post grad year, um, you know, you're in, you'd be enrolling the following, um, you know, depending on the nature of your situation, um, you know, if you have any upcoming tournaments, um, I mean, my God, I would spend every summer up in Stowe, Vermont at lacrosse tournaments.

Um, you know, Hey, we're going to be up in Stowe and we'll be at UMass. Um, you know, so any kind of upcoming games or, uh, tournaments to share. Just a quick word on the post grad year. Um, you know, whether it's prep school, um, you know, a one year. PG year. Um, you know, we're using the junior college, um, as the opportunity for that, um, you know, sometimes it is a good opportunity to, um, to get a little stronger, to get a little faster, to get a little bigger, um, to get a little stronger grades, to get your GPA up.

Um, you know, so just a quick, just a quick point that that might be, um, an avenue to consider. Um, if, uh, if all else doesn't play out, um, and let me pause there for questions. There we go. That was a lot of stuff for a quick, ah,

Julie Shields-Rutyna: that's great. A lot of great info. All right. So we have a few questions. So the first one is.

Are LNI strictly for D one or did D two and D three have NLI as well?

Mike Janicki: Contractually, D three does not. I have heard ID two i, I haven't heard them being contractually, um, used at, at D two. Um, but mostly D ones. I know a lot of a lot of high schools will make a big deal of, you know, the photo op of signing the letter and stuff.

Um, those are not necessarily contractual. Um, and only about five, not every school, like 500 schools use the end of the letter of intent. Um, not every school uses it. Um, but, um, yeah, mostly D ones,

Julie Shields-Rutyna: right? And then someone's asking about why did did the transfer portal come about because of the pandemic and students missing a year of eligibility?

And if that's the case, do you think the transfer portal will go away at some point?

Mike Janicki: This is where the business. comes into play. Um, this is where the business of college athletics. Um, and, um, And, uh, name, image, and likeness and everything is coming into it. Um, I, I, I don't think it really came about because of the, I think that was more a convenience that it came about because of the, the pandemic timing.

Um, that's, you know, how I understand. Um, I don't think it's going to go away. I think there's too much money involved. Um, yeah, uh, in terms of division one sports, um, it's, it's, it's a, it's a monster, um, which also, you know, I, I have just within my own family. I mean, I've got kids and family members at, you know, everything from, you know, division three.

Um, division three sports schools, um, division two National Championship schools, um, and club at Division one, and then also at division, you know, big 10 basketball. Um, it, it, it's. It's an interesting environment, um, regardless of the division, regardless of the region, regardless of this, of the, the sport itself, whether it's basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, um, uh, track cross country, everything.

Um, it's one of those things like take your time. Be patient. One thing to also, I forgot to mention earlier, coaches will never, coaches cannot, cannot admit you to the university. Um, I've had more conversations where, with, again, with parents, you know, coach promise, you know, coach is offering a spot on the team and coach is offering this and offering that.

Coach can't do jack squat. They cannot admit you to the university. the admissions office can. Now, a coach can have a preferred recruit, but it's the admissions office that will admit you to the university. Um, you know, so every time I hear somebody say a coach got me into the school, no, they put in a good word for you.

Um, you know, so how that doubles back to that transfer portal question. Um, it, you know, monetarily college athletics is a beast. Um, so when you're going through this process, take your time, be patient, ask questions. Um, every campus, every college campus will have a compliance officer. So if there are any questions there, as far as eligibility and, you know, what's.

what you can and cannot do. The compliance officer will maintain the integrity of the pro of the of the process, but then also rely on your school's um, athletic, uh, athletic director, um, guidance office to maintain the integrity of the program from from your side as well.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And someone asked, Is there a transfer?

Portal for D3.

Mike Janicki: No, no.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And then where do you recommend students get seen?

Mike Janicki: So if, if you are, if you're a average student athlete, um, you know, depending on the sport, um, you know, coming from, um, you know, those tournaments, showcases are always. You know, good thing coaches always go to those, um, you know, but really sending, um, sending that email, uh, communication to a coach, um, let them know where you're going to be or at, you know, if it's a school that, if it's a school that you are really interested in, which really should be ideally, that would be directing the search is where do you want to go?

Um, you know, and let it, let the chips fall where they may, whether or not you can play there or not. Um, but if you, if you have a school in mind that you really want to go there, um, share that with the school, with the coach, um, um, and find out from them. Are you, you know, what tournaments are you going to go watch?

What, you know, and. You know, again, depending on the sport, you can sign your team up to go play a tournament someplace. Um, you know, but if sometimes there are in, you know, if you're playing tennis, you're playing golf, if it's an individual sport, um, sometimes you can get into that tournament, um, um, you know, attract me, um, you know, sending in your times, um, you know, tracking cross country or sometimes some of the easier ones, just because, you know, the clock doesn't lie.

Um, so you can, uh, uh, send in your times. Um, you know, but really reaching out to the coach to see where they're going to be to get seen.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Then, why do students intending to play D3 need to create an NCA account? Do they just need the ID number? They

Mike Janicki: need the ID number. Um, again, it's just, it's just kind of Some of the formality of some of this, um, you know, so that if you have the ID number, um, the coach will then share it with the NCAA.

Um, you know, there's stuff that they have to do on, on the back end on their side, the, the, the compliance officer, um, needs to, uh, just register that they've got these recruits coming in, um, you know, to check some of the, the transcript, if there's a, if there's a question.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And can a D3 school, well, the assumption here is that they can't, but they don't do official visits where they pay for a player to visit, correct?

Mike Janicki: You know, no, no, usually they don't have the money for that. Yeah. Um, no, but they, you know, they would certainly. You know, certainly ask and make it attractive, you know, Hey, come in and we'll, we'll take you out to a game or something. Um, come watch, watch us play and see, you know, have you on the sideline and preferential seats at a, at a game or something.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And then how do you know if an athlete is good enough for division one, two or three?

Mike Janicki: Um, how do you know if you're a division one athlete? You know, it's, it's kind of like the eyeball test, but it's somebody else's eyeball, you know, as parents. You know, it's real easy for us to sit back and say, yeah, my kids are really great. Um, but when, you know, they're division one, yeah, there's something different about that.

There's just something different about a D one athlete. They're, they're just They're just better. You know, it's, it's, it's, uh, they're just bigger, better, faster. Um,

Julie Shields-Rutyna: but then would you say there's a little more fluidity between division two and division three?

Mike Janicki: Yeah, actually, I mean, quite honestly, there's, there's fluidity between all of them because I mean, I can use, I can use university, I can use university of Tampa as an, as a example.

I mean, U Tampa is a division two school. with incredible resources on campus. I mean, they're national champion lacrosse. They're putting kids into the major league baseball draft year after year. The facilities are rival division one programs. I mean, what, what they have going on there. And I don't mean to pinpoint and spotlight Tampa because these schools exist.

all over the place. I'm just familiar with them. Um, but those schools exist all over the place. And the same thing from division three. Um, I mean, my, my alma mater, St. John Fisher, small little place, nobody's ever heard of around here. Well, they host the Buffalo Bill's training camp. You know, I mean, the facilities.

For their football and division three. Um, you know, so just because a, a school is one, two or three doesn't mean that, you know one's better than the other because, you know, you can have division three programs with state-of-the-art facilities, um, and, and, and, and literally hall of fame coaches and players.

Um, Adam Venet, Terry came from a deep. Um, you know, so it's, it's, it's, it is fluid between, between the three.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: What do you do if a college coach who is notorious for poor communication doesn't respond to your high school athletes email?

Mike Janicki: Uh, assume you're not going to school. I mean, if the coach isn't getting back to you, you know, that's bad on them, but honestly.

They might not be getting back to you because they don't need you. I, you know, if I use the example earlier, if you're, if you're, if you're a point guard and, you know, you're, you're telling the coach, I'm a point guard. Well, geez, we've got four point guards in the freshman class, you know, another one in the two more in the sophomore.

And we have already talked to seven other, other high school seniors. We don't need you. Sorry. It's not that you're unwanted. It's just that we can't use another point guard. Um, and I mean, it'd be nice to say, to say that maybe not so blunt, but, um, you know, but sometimes coaches don't answer the question, answer the emails quickly.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Now what if your student plays on a high school team that is not doing well,

Mike Janicki: um, demonstrate your leadership. Demonstrate your leadership. You know, it's not, you're going to be, each, each year is a new team, you know, students graduate and freshmen come up, um, and, you know, and the same will be when you get to the college level, you're going to be that, it's going to be a new team, it's going to be a new team for them too, because you're now on the team.

Um, but it's an opportunity to, um, to showcase, it's You understand the game. You know, I've seen, I've seen some, I've seen some bad teams with good players, and that good player isn't staying in position and is running all over the field and out of position. You know, so you have a, you know, a center half back and they're all the way up.

All you know, they're just all over the field. Well, actually that's a bad example because they should be all over the field. Um Mm-Hmm. . Um, but play the game the right way and you'll get noticed. Um, don't try to overcompensate, um, you know, be a leader. Play the game the right way. And, and, you know, that will be seen when you're sending in the video, um, that will be seen, um, whether you're in position or not.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Well, we came to the end of our questions. I'll give people another moment if you have another question, but that was so much great information. Mike, thank you so much. And thank you all for all of your questions. Those were, those were good ones too. And I don't see any more. So I think. We will say everyone have a wonderful evening.

Thank you everybody. All right. Thank you very much.

Mike Janicki: Are we clear? We're good.