College Volleyball Recruiting Senior Challenges, part II

Our 6' 1" daughter plays all around and has received communications (call or text) from the same Power Conference D-1 university coach and assistant coach every week since July.  She has made the decision that this school is the "only" one she will attend for volleyball.  If no scholarship offer or an invited walk on offer is received, she will attend another D-1 school on academic scholarship.  

We are told that she will hear from them officially at the end of their year.  Am I correct to assume that is because they may have student athletes decide not to participate in the following year due to playing time, etc.  

We entered the mix only after attending their camp for fun (she got the Top Hitter Award) and immediately (the next morning) received a 6 hour tour of athletic facilities by head coach including meeting entire staff, trainers, tutors, etc and other "high profile" football and basketball coaches at the university.  Our daughter was told there was only 1 scholarship remaining for 2013 and it had been offered to a foreign player (although there was concern she would qualify).  

T.H.

Apologies for the later reply - I actually had to confirm a rule with a NCAA DI Compliance Director buddy of mine. 

When I read your email, the warning buzzers started going off in my head - Let me elaborate:

1.  It is against NCAA rules for NCAA DI schools to TEXT PSA's at anytime.  They can only TEXT after she has signed her National Letter of Intent (NLI). The rule is very clear, no TEXT'ing until a player signs the NLI - So, the DI school has been knowingly cheating in the recruitment of your PSA.

2.  Your PSA is their back-up.  They have a scholarship offer to an international player and "end of the year" means that she will be the back-up player if/when they cut players from this year's roster.  RARELY, does a SA decide not to participate next year (playing time or not) - It is the coaching staff which decides a SA will not participate because they cut her.

3.  End of the year - Is this the season, the semester, the calendar year, the academic year?  Very nebulous.

4.  Your PSA's mental limitation of scholarship acceptance to this one and only DI is illogical.  They are stringing her along as the back up. Take the situation at face value - She was good enough to immediately get heavily recruited by a Power Conference school.  That means that she should be good enough to get recruited by any other Power Conference school and there a quite a few programs which fit this description.

5.  Because of this affirmation, she/you/the family pet should be immediately reaching out to the other power conference and upper ranked mid major programs; a very good 2013 recruit this late in the recruiting process is Golden (as in Antonia).  Her value is multiplied because she is rare, and should be marketed to all potential and attractive schools.

6.  What could easily happen is she gets a scholarship offer next week - Great and I congratulate you on your good fortune!  What could easily happen is she does not EVER get a scholarship offer and is waiting on the line, and waiting, and waiting.  Don't wait, make the scholarship offers roll in by reaching out to the collegiate programs of her desire.

My hard, December wake up call for you is that your PSA is quite possibly played; I hope you get that call next week, but the future of your daughter is worth sending out emails and videos to appropriate college programs.

Coach Matt Sonnichsen