RECRUITING 101 - BREAKING DOWN THE RECRUITING PROCESS - PART SIX

Breaking down the NCAA recruiting process

The purpose of these articles will look to give guidance for the student-athlete looking to find the best university for them.

PART SIX

COLLEGE BASEBALL FULL RIDE MYTH/SCHOLARSHIP BREAKDOWN

In this article we will breakdown all you should know about college baseball scholarships and the offer. College baseball is much different when it comes to athletic scholarships. If we look at both college football and college basketball the "full ride" scholarship exists. Let’s first look at college football. Programs are allowed 85 scholarships on their rosters and are allowed to sign a max of 25 players a year. They have a roster limit size of 105 student-athletes. All 85 scholarships are full rides. In college basketball, programs are allowed to have 13 scholarships. They do not have a roster limit but most teams carry close to 15 student-athletes. All 13 scholarships are full rides and cannot be broken up into percentages.

So what is a full ride? By definition a full ride in NCAA college athletics covers the cost of tuition, room and board, and some course fees. Along with the full ride in 2016 the NCAA came up with the term of "cost of attendance". This is a stipend that is paid over and above the benefits of the full scholarship. If the college supports the cost of attendance student-athletes receive a check in the amount somewhere between $2,000 to $5,000 dollars on top of their scholarship.

Now we know what the definition of a full ride and what costs it covers. We also know that any student-athlete on a NCAA Division 1 football or basketball program who is on scholarship is on a full ride, so let's discuss college baseball roster limits and athletic scholarships.

Division 1 College baseball has a roster limit of 35 players, with only 27 players allowed to be on a athletic scholarship. If, and I mean if the program is fully funded, they have a scholarship limit of 11.7. That 11.7 is allowed to be broken up into percentages, with 25% being the lowest allowable scholarship offer. What does that mean? First of all, not every division 1 program is fully funded. That means there are plenty of division 1 programs who have less than the 11.7 scholarships to give out. It all depends on the university and conference they play in. That will determine the limited amount of scholarships they must give the baseball program to be eligible to remain in the conference. Yes, some division 1 college baseball programs only have 5 scholarships.

Let's discuss those programs who are fully funded, how they have to operate, and ways they have to be creative to make up for the limit of 11.7 athletics scholarship available for those 27 student-athletes. Breaking down the total amount of the 11.7 athletic scholarships into percentages is allowed by the NCAA. That is the first step in the process. There is a slim chance a coach would use one of those 11.7 for one student-athlete. I am sure it has been done, but very rarely. The logic behind that is a coach would rather have 3 student-athletes on scholarship than one. The next step in the process the coach will try to combine other resources to get the best package for the student-athlete. For instance, some schools offer academic scholarships. The guidelines on how to receive an academic scholarship is determined by the university. I have coached at a university where a 3.0 with a 1200 SAT would get the student-athlete a $20,000 academic scholarship, and I have coached at a university where a student-athlete with those same grades would not qualify for a academic scholarship. The same goes with financial aid, the university sets the bar on how much financial aid money one could receive. I mention these two factors because they play a large part when it comes to scholarship offers. Coaches will look to see how much academic/financial aid money a student-athlete can receive before determining the percentage of scholarship money offered. If a coach can get an academic and financial aid package to cover 50% of the cost, then he would only have to offer a 50% scholarship to get that student-athlete a full ride. Breaking up the athletic scholarships into percentages enables college coaches to be able to put 27 student-athletes on scholarship dollars.

Basically when it comes down to college baseball scholarships, there is not enough to offer out full rides. It is not good business for the program. The scholarships are broken down into percentages and combined with other monies to be able to get the student-athletes the best possible package. When receiving an offer, ask questions, see if there is any academic scholarships available or financial aid. Don't be upset when hearing the percentage of athletic scholarship, when it is all said and done what really matters is what the total cost is for mom and dad after combined with other packages. Hopefully the combined package will get you that full ride!