60 Minutes

[Phil C]

A few years ago I saw a portion of the 60 Minutes show on CBS about a man that made his living helping out sports (mainly football) get scholarships for players who were not highly recruited but were good enough to play at smaller schools. I remember they had a players parents who had paid him $8,000 for his services but he got their son a scholarship worth $40,000 and they were delighted because not only did he get to play football but got a college education. Does anyone have information who that person is? He might be able to help a lot of 3A players get the same benefit. That is one time I wished I had had my VCR recorder on.

[whtfbplaya]

No I dont know who it is but you are right that there are a lot of guys who can play but dont get a chance.

[fwisd]

Phil - these are "services" that parents and kids can do for themselves. Problem is - many do not even know where to begin. There are so many players out there that many get overlooked, especially if they are not in schools that are regular stops for recruiters. My feeling is that as teachers and coaches our job is to prepare our students for the next step in their life and to help them make the step to that next level - whether that be college, the workforce or the armed forces. Much of my time is spent helping kids prepare resumes, sending out letters, email or calling coaches, writing letters of recommendation both for colleges and the job search, etc. etc. The competition for scholarships - both athletic and academic is so great that you cannot afford to sit around and wait for that telephone to ring. There are many coaches and teachers who do this - and having been (many, many years ago) a student who would not have been able to attend college had it not been for a scholarship - I can appreciate very much those who make this a priority. That is probably one reason I have made it a priority to do whatever I can to help my students take that next step in their lives. Parents and students - please don't be afraid to ask - seek out information and keep asking until you are directed where you need to be. Sorry so long - but I could just go on and on!

[Phil C]

Thank you fwisd! Also what do you think of parents or relatives and friends getting camcorders and making recordings of their kids in action to also show the colleges? It could be expensive for some parents but maybe they could pool with other parents and share a camcorder together. Then videos could be sent to prospective colleges. Just a thought. Also junior colleges could be checked out because if anything one could get at least two years of free tuition and board which would help with the possibility of maybe getting another scholarship after two years.

[Cameronbystander]

There was an article on the Clarion-Ledger web site (Jackson, Miss) last week about a kid and his family that sent out letters to 30 or so schools. He got responses from a few and he sent out videos to the ones that interested him. He would up with a free ride to the Univ. of Hawaii. Lot's of kids could probably follow his lead.

[fwisd]

Phil - Don't worry about sending out the videos unless one is requested. If they are interested - they will ask for one, but by all means have one ready that you can copy and send. Also - JUCO is an option, however - let me say that in Texas, Kansas and California the majority of the JUCO are D-I caliber - they just cannot qualify because of their test scores. I have a lot of kids who are highly recruited by D-I schools, but end up at the JUCO because they cannot score high enough on the SAT or ACT, so the scholarships at that level are very competitive also. Also, beginning this year (with the class of 2003), NCAA just passed the 40/60/80 rule. In the past you had to had 50% of your hours toward your degree or an associate degree to transfer to a D-I school after JC. Now you must have 60% after your sophomore year to transfer to D-I. If you transfer after your freshman year - you must have 40%. And it can't just be "hours" - must be toward degree requirements. And, also, remember - remdial doesn't count. With 50% of the Texas students (not just football players) who go to college having to take at least 1 remedial class (my thought is that this is the result of "teaching" TAAS for so many years and not preparing students with what they really need to know - but that's a whole other subject) - this certainly figures in. They're gonna have to take the max hours in summer school and during their regular school year to get this. Hope this helps - if you have any more questions, please feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to help if I can. FWISD (Cubs4ever)

<small>[ February 13, 2003, 06:10 AM: Message edited by: fwisd ]</small>