Student Athlete Recruiting :: Recruitment Sports Essays

Student Athlete Recruiting Lamarr Monterio, a sophomore wide receiver at Northeastern University, propelled his high school football team, Oliver Ames, into a winning team. â€Å"I was the first player to be recruited for a Division I school in years,† Monterio said. He broke numerous state records and received a lot of publicity as a corner back at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Massachusetts. He said that he started to receive letters from recruiting schools right before he started his junior year. â€Å"I probably got 12 shoe boxes full of letters. Senior year is especially hectic because coaches call and visit a lot,† said Monterio. The NCAA has a set of rules, which universities follow for recruiting, and it states that a Division I college recruiting a high school player can start sending printed materials on September 1st of an athlete’s junior year. This can include official academic, admissions and student information, any publications or videotapes published by the college, and any general correspondence. The general rules by the NCAA state that the activities by coaches or boosters that cause a player to become a recruited prospective student athlete are: †¢ Providing an official visit †¢ Placing more than one telephone call to the recruit or other members of the family; or †¢ Visiting the recruit or any other member of the family anywhere other than the college campus. The universities that sought interest in Monterio were the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Northeastern University, University of Rhode Island, University of Connecticut, and the University of Maine. They sent him many letters and videotapes during his junior and senior year at Oliver Ames. The coaches from these universities also visited Oliver Ames to watch him play. Recruits are allowed five visits, official and unofficial, to colleges. The college covers the expenses on an official visit. The recruits have to provide their own transportation on an unofficial visit. Monterio chose two universities for an official visit, which were Umass-Amherst and the University of Maine. â€Å"During the day I spent time with the coaches, administrators, and advisors, and from then on I spent time with my host,† said Monteiro. Prospective Student Athletes (PSA) are often given a host, usually someone who has something in common with the PSA, to show them the school’s campus and other places in the area where the school is located. Monterio said after discussing his visits with his family and comparing Umass-Amherst to the University of Maine, he decided to go to Umass-Amherst.