Recruit My Student-Athlete 101

            Star high school student-athletes (and their parents) often overestimate their athletic ability and aim for Division I athletic programs when they would be more successful exploring opportunities at smaller colleges.

            Other high school athletes underestimate their ability and don’t even try to obtain athletic scholarships. In reality, reasonably good athletes don’t have to be stars to succeed in college sports programs, especially at smaller colleges. 

            Recruiting rules and academic standards for NCAA Division I colleges (such as the University of Iowa) and NCAA Division II colleges (such as Upper Iowa University) differ from the rules for NCAA Division III colleges (such as Central College). And all of those rules differ from those of colleges that participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), such as AIB College of Business in Des Moines.

            The NAIA is the second-largest classification, behind Division III. It consists of more than 60,000 student-athletes participating at almost 300 colleges and universities. It offers 23 national championships for men and women in 12 sports and awards more than $500 million in scholarships each year. Championship games are broadcast on ESPN3. NAIA schools are generally small (most have fewer than 5,000 students), and their recruiting rules are much less strict.

            But a college search should encompass more than athletics, says Al Dorenkamp, director of athletics at AIB College of Business.

            “Making sure it’s a good academic fit is really important,” Dorenkamp says. “Going someplace where a student isn’t challenged as much as they could be or should be is a mistake.”

            Dorenkamp also cautions prospective student-athletes and parents not to make decisions based only on a college’s tuition price tag.

            “If the relationships you build at a college don’t help you grow as a person, then you’re missing something,” Dorenkamp says. “Parents, you want your child to grow not only academically and be able to get a job, but you want them to become better people in the process.”

            Prospective students and parents should understand that full athletic scholarships are rare at any college.

            “But at most colleges, there are also academic scholarships available,” says AIB Sports & Event Management Assistant Professor Amy J. Tagliareni. “If students can combine an athletic scholarship and an academic scholarship, they could put together a very impressive total scholarship package.”         

            Student-athletes who want to play at an NAIA institution must register with the NAIA Clearinghouse at www.playnaia.com, Tagliareni says. “There is a fee to register with PlayNAIA, but as part of the registration process, students can have their ‘resumes’ sent to the NAIA colleges of their choice. There is no additional cost to take advantage of this service through PlayNAIA.” 

            Parents can obtain more information on the college athletic recruiting process from numerous printed or online guides or from several available recruiting services.