STOUDT'S RECRUITIPEDIA
Stoudt's Recruitipedia[SUP]TM[/SUP] (all rights reserved :wink2
is a lexicon of terms used in discussing Recruiting and Rosters. If you notice any mistakes, omissions or have any questions, please post them. Stoudt's Recruitipedia is meant to be a living document that will evolve over time with the input of AllBuffs members.
5-Year Eligibility Clock: According to NCAA Bylaw 14.2.1, a student athlete shall complete his seasons of participation within five calendar years from the beginning of the semester or quarter in which the student athlete first registered for a minimum full-time program of studies in a collegiate institution, with time spent in the armed services, on official church missions or with recognized foreign aid services of the U.S. government being excepted. The Clock applies equally to Scholarship and Non-Scholarship student athletes.
Academic Progress Rate (APR): Instituted in 2005, APR is a metric established by the NCAA to measure the success or failure of collegiate athletic teams in moving student-athletes towards graduation. Collegiate sports teams that fail to achieve an APR score of 925 - equivalent to a 50% graduation rate - may be penalized with the loss of scholarships. The number of scholarships penalized will usually equal the number of athletes who left the program while ineligible during the period used to calculate the APR and be no more than 10% of the Scholarship Limit for the sport. A perfect score is 1000. The scores are calculated as follows:
The APR is calculated by allocating points for eligibility and retention -- the two factors that research identifies as the best indicators of graduation. Each player on a given roster earns a maximum of two points per term, one for being academically eligible and one for staying with the institution. A team's APR is the total points of a team's roster at a given time divided by the total points possible. Since this results in a decimal number, the CAP decided to multiply it by 1,000 for ease of reference. Thus, a raw APR score of .925 translates into the 925 that will become the standard terminology. The current year’s APR score is calculated as the average of the previous 4 academic years. For example, the APR released in the spring of 2010 represents the APR average score for 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09. Non-scholarship players are not counted in the calculation.
Blue Chip: An elite player at his position coming out of high school.
Committable / Non-Committable Offer: A verbal or written offer to a recruit may be Committable or Non-Committable. A Committable Offer means that the college will accept a verbal commitment and reserve a scholarship for the athlete. A Non-Committable Offer is usually a contingent offer that tells the prospect that the college is very interested, but that the prospect is a backup plan in case one or more primary recruiting targets commit elsewhere.
Contact: A contact occurs any time a coach has any face-to-face contact with a prospect or his parents off the college's campus and says more than hello. A contact also occurs if a coach has any contact with a prospect or his parents at his high school or any location where he is competing or practicing.
Contact Period: During this time, a college coach may have in-person contact with a prospect and/or his parents on or off the college's campus. The coach may also watch him play or visit his high school. The prospect and his parents may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone him during this period.
Dead Period: The college coach may not have any in-person contact with a prospect or his parents at any time in the Dead Period. The coach may write and telephone a prospect or his parents during this time.
Early Enrollment: A player who graduates from high school a semester early and enrolls at the college for the spring semester. This is encouraged to get the player ready for playing time that upcoming season. It allows the player to participate in spring practices and get a jumpstart on college coursework prior to the start of his true freshman year.
Early Signing Period: In basketball, the Early Signing Period starts on the 2nd Wednesday in November and goes through the 3rd Wednesday in November. All prospects, including high school juniors, are eligible to sign a Letter of Intent during this period.
Eligibility (Progress Toward Degree): Student-athletes must be enrolled in a minimum full-time program of studies, be in good academic standing as defined by their college or university, and make satisfactory progress toward a bachelor's degree. Full-time is generally defined as 12 hours per semester for Undergraduate students and 9 hours per semester for Graduate students.
24 hours must be earned before the student enters the 2nd year of enrollment. Up to 6 credit hours per academic year may be earned during the summer. The student athlete must declare a major leading to a degree by the beginning of his third year in school. From that point, the 40%/60%/80% rule applies. In order to remain eligible for competition, student-athletes must satisfactory complete a certain percentage of course requirements in the specific degree program based on the student's year in residence:
- By the start of 3rd year - 40%
- By the start of 4th year - 60%
- By the start of 5th year - 80%
ESPN (Scouts Inc.) Grade: The following is the basketball grading scale.
90-100: High-major plus prospect (5 stars)
Player demonstrates rare abilities. He should have an immediate impact at a national program with the potential for early entry into the NBA.
85-89: High-major prospect (4 stars)
Player is the centerpiece to a high-major program who starts three to four years.
80-84: High-major minus prospect (4 stars)
Player has the potential to significantly contribute to a high-major program over four years.
70-79: Mid-major plus prospect (3 stars)
Player is a fringe high-major recruit who contributes or a standout mid-level recruit.
65-69: Mid-major prospect (2 stars)
Player is a multi-year starter at the mid-major level.
60-64: Mid-major minus prospect (2 stars)
Player is a role player at the mid-major level.
50-59: Low-major prospect (1 star)
Player is a low-major Division I prospect.
NR: Pending Prospect
Player evaluation is pending film.
Evaluation: An evaluation is an activity by a coach to evaluate a proapect’s academic or athletics ability. This would include visiting his high school or watching him practice or compete.
Evaluation Period: The college coach may watch the prospect play or visit his high school, but cannot have any in-person conversations with the prospect or his parents off the college's campus. The prospect and his parents can visit a college campus during this period. A coach may write and telephone the prospect or his parents during this time.
Full Qualifier: A recruit that meets both the core GPA and test score Initial Eligibility Requirements from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Grayshirt (GS): Refers to a recruited player who will either be unable or chooses not to enroll in time for the fall semester and will instead enroll in the following semester or year. If voluntary, the reason may be that the college has signed more players for that season than permissible under NCAA rules. The recruit can then count against the following year's allocation. It may also be that the player is young for his age or a bit of a late bloomer and needs the extra time to physically develop. If involuntary, the reason is usually that the player failed to achieve a qualifying test score on the ACT/SAT or qualifying core GPA prior to the fall semester and needed to re-take coursework or achieve a higher test score during the fall semester.
Junior College Prospect (JC or JUCO): A Junior College Prospect, or JUCO, generally falls into one of two categories. Either he was a Non Qualifier out of high school or he was lightly recruited out of high school and decided to go the JUCO route in order to develop as a player. JUCO athletes who were Full Qualifiers out of high school may transfer to a 4-year college from a JUCO at any time and be immediately eligible to play, assuming the student athlete has enough credits to show the required progress toward his degree. Other JUCOs were Non Qualifiers and need to finish their 2-year degree before they are able to transfer to a 4-year college. JUCO graduates may be December graduates (can enroll in January and participate in spring practices) or spring graduates (can enroll for summer courses).
Late Qualifier (LQ): A Late Qualifier is a prospect that does not look like he will achieve the necessary grades or test score to be a Full Qualifier, is expected to attend a Post Graduate school or Junior College, and then manages to become a Full Qualifier in time to receive a scholarship to a four-year college for his freshman year. Sometimes a LQ will end up Grayshirting as he takes care of qualification issues during what would have been the first semester of his freshman year.
Letter of Intent (LOI): May only be signed by prospective student-athletes who will be entering a four-year institution for the first time in the academic year after they sign the LOI. Recruits who have signed LOIs must attend the schools they have signed with in order to receive financial aid, and NCAA rules forbid other coaches from recruiting them further. These restrictions aim to add certainty to the recruiting process for both players (who are certain to receive aid) and coaches (who are certain that a recruit will attend their school) alike. In some cases, such as a coaching change or a personal tragedy in the player’s life, the college may agree to release the player from a LOI so that the player may re-open his recruitment and sign elsewhere (or re-sign with the same college after evaluating other options).
Medical Redshirt (aka Medical Hardship Waiver): The NCAA may grant a petition from an athlete to extend the 5-Year Eligibility Clock to a 6th year if the athlete is able to document that a season was lost due to medical reasons. The requirements for a Medical Hardship Waiver are that the athlete cannot have appeared in 3 games or 30% of the team’s regular season games (whichever is greater), has not appeared in any games after the mid-point in the season, and the reason for the athlete’s season ending prematurely is a medically documented injury or illness.
NCAA Clearinghouse: The NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse is the organization that determines whether prospective college athletes are eligible to play sports at NCAA Division I or Division II institutions. It does this by reviewing the student athlete's academic record, SAT or ACT scores, and amateur status to ensure conformity with NCAA rules. Division I has a sliding scale for test score and grade-point average as follows:
16 Core Courses:
4 years of English.
3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher).
2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered by high school).
1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science.
2 years of social science. 4 years of additional courses (from any area above, foreign language or nondoctrinal religion/philosophy).
The overall GPA is calculated from the 16 core courses. A minimum 2.0 GPA is required. The higher the GPA, the lower the SAT or ACT score required. For example, a recruit with a 2.0 core GPA would need a 1010 SAT score (combined verbal & math) or an 86 ACT score. However, a recruit with a core GPA or 3.55 or above would only need a 400 combined SAT score or a 37 ACT score.
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Non Qualifier / Partial Qualifier: A recruit that fails to meet either the minimum core GPA and/or test score Initial Eligibility Requirements from the NCAA Clearinghouse, is considered a Non Qualifier or Partial Qualifier. The NCAA does not preclude colleges from admitting Non Qualifiers or Partial Qualifiers, but the athlete would not be eligible to compete or practice until he has shown minimum progress toward his degree. Further, the athlete may only receive need-based financial aid during his first year on campus.
Usually, the individual athletic conferences set policies for the granting of scholarships to Non Qualifiers and Partial Qualifiers by conference members. For example, under the Big 12 rules, only two male and two female partial qualifiers are allowed to enroll each year, with no more than one athlete in each sport. However, the Pac 10 bylaws are more strict, stating that “Member institutions shall not provide athletically related financial aid to any student who is not a qualifier”.
Official Visit: Any visit to a college campus by a prospect and his parents paid for by the college. The college may pay the following expenses: Transportation to and from the college;
Room and meals (three per day) while the prospect is visiting the college; and,
Reasonable entertainment expenses, including three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest.
A prospect may not take more than five official visits and each visit may not last longer than 48 hours. Official visits may not be taken by a prospect until after the first day of classes of his senior year. There is a limit to the number of Official Visits that a college may host (12 for basketball).
