Playing Sports in College

Okay….you’re a student-athlete or parent/guardian and you (or your child) may want to play in college. There are multiple levels of Collegiate Athletics and each has specific rules and eligibility requirements in order to even be permitted to play. This page is meant to walk parents/guardians and students through the process if you are interested in playing.

CLICK HERE to Read this before proceeding down the page!

THE DIFFERENT COLLEGE LEVELS

There are MULTIPLE levels for collegiate Athletic participation. Each level has it’s own specific set of rules

CLICK ANY LEVEL BELOW that will LINK to that “level’s” official page

NCAA D1

NCAA D2

NCAA D3

NAIA

USCAA

Junior College

To be perfectly honest, only the most elite high school athletes reach the D1 level of participation. Most D2 programs are also really high quality. The opportunities increase as you go down to the smaller schools and lower levels. But lower levels in college are not the same as a lower level in high school. It doesn’t mean beginners. The lower levels still have similar to or tougher competition than most top divisions in high school sports. The difference is they play much faster and are typically stronger. Using Professional Baseball as an example, imagine D1 is the major league and D2 is like AAA. It’s really difficult to get to that level and your sport must be your passion where you pretty much live and breathe it. You may not play for a D1 or D2 school unless you meet NCAA Eligibility requirements through a central portal (see next section of this page). Both levels can offer athletic scholarships but again, it is really tough to get recruited by these schools in most sports.

D3 schools are plentiful and typically are smaller institutions. The rules to be able to play are similar to high school (where you meet school-based or conference-based eligibility criteria rather than from a central eligibility portal). There are a TON of D3 schools nationwide but they can not give Athletic Scholarships. Some institutions will favor athletes via merit scholarships, alumni grants, and housing/board assistance and generally speaking, most athletes tend to have high grades to begin with in most sports. NOTE: NCAA D3 (DIII) is the largest program in all of the college sports and thus, has the most opportunities

D3 Colleges do not offer athletic scholarships but do offer students who are really good at their sports but maybe not at the top D1/D2 tier, the opportunity to play in college. They can offer financial packages creatively to athletes on merit-based criteria or academic criteria.

NAIA is an alternative to the NCAA. In a direct comparison, the schools tend to be smaller and very similar to NCAA D3 schools with one bog exception…they do offer Athletic Scholarships. It’s actually been around since 1940 and held the first National Men’s Basketball Championship. NAIA also has another recent first: They are the first college organization or level to offer official, Varsity Women’s Flag Football with scholarships. NAIA does have a central eligibility portal like NCAA D1 and D2 schools.

USCAA schools are all small. Typically, they are less than 600 students (so smaller than Rush). Locally, Manor College and most of the satellite Campuses for Penn State (other than Abington) compete in this association. There is league-wide eligibility criteria but no central portal. You can view the requirements here. MANY schools that compete in USCAA also compete in NAIA or in some cases, NCAA D2. These schools are considered USCAA D1 schools and are permitted to grant scholarships but the other USCAA schools are not.

Some NAIA and USCAA schools offer athletic scholarships and some do not. There are other variables in pplay on if they are eligible to not to offer scholarships.

Junior Colleges or JUCO do have a central eligibility portal but are limited to schools that specialize in 2 year programs. In the grand scheme of things, and going back to the Baseball analogy where NCAA D1 was the Major Leagues and D2 was Triple A, JUCO schools are essentially Rookie Ball in Florida. Rookie Ball in Baseball are limited for really low draft picks OR men that just tryout for the pro teams as a way to develop their skills at a faster level with the hopes of getting looked at and promoted. In Collegiate Athletics, the JUCO students essentially get a 5th and 6th year of playing their sport at a slightly faster level than high school. Junior Colleges do not offer athletic scholarships they can offer financial packages creatively to athletes on merit-based criteria or academic criteria.

CREATE YOUR NCAA or NAIA PROFILES

CREATE AN OFFICIAL FREE NCAA PROFILE (D1, D2 and D3): (free of charge and all student-athletes interested in playing for college need to do it they may do it at any time but must do it by end of Junior year.)

OFFICIAL PAID NCAA eligibility account for D1 and D2 athletes (DIII does not need to register for the paid version)

OFFICIAL NAIA eligibility account

If you are trying to find information for one of the other Collegiate levels, click the links above in the section about those levels

ELIGIBILITY –

All of the links here are for NCAA procedures. If you are trying to find information for one of the other Collegiate levels, click the links above

OFFICIAL NCAA Eligibility Brochure

FREE NCAA Profile page.

*FREE ONLINE COURSE ON NCAA ELIGIBILITY created by the National Federation of High Schools**

NCAA Test Scores needed

NCAA Eligibility

NOTE: Division III schools are responsible for setting their own academic eligibility rules. If you are going to be competing for a DIII institution, or if you are unsure what division level you’ll be competing at, you can start with a free NCAA Profile page. If you do decide to pursue a DI or DII program, you can always transition to a Certification Account later.

NCAA ELIGIBILITY CHECKLIST

NCAA FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Recruitment steps for all 4 years:

These are general things all Student-Athletes who may be interested in playing thier sport in college should do. The top are general suggestions then, it’s broken down year by year

Nowadays, it is difficult to get recruited but it doesn’t have to be. You have to put yourself out there to say the least. Here are some recruitment ideas and “MUSTS” for all sports but also sports-specific ideas under this year by year list

Make a “professional” about me webpage. Imagine it like a resume for a job but it’s about you. Don’t include your personal information other than your name and age and never speak to anyone who somehow gets your contact information and reaches out to you personally. INCLUDE a profile picture in uniform (which can include multiple profile pics if you play multiple sports). COACHES from the Collegiate level should be going through your coaches at school, Coache from your club team or your parents until you are a junior in high school. Then, they can officially talk to you. Still, never meet with anyone unless it’s in school with your coaches or at home with your parents.

The “about me” page can be a simple single webpage made on Google Sites or another free platform and it should include:

a “professional” profile picture. Smiling but just a headshot. imagine it like a yearbook photo. You may include a photo for each sport you play rotating in a picture slideshow.
interests for a career and hobbies
GPA (at the end of each year) for each year and cumulative (weighted is better if you take AP courses)
courses/grades so far for the year and for school for each year
measurements (height, weight, body mass index, aerobic capacity with health related or skill related fitness test results that are relevant for your sport such as the mile time and Pacer Laps, 40-yard dash speed, Shuttle Run score, vertical jump, Push Up amounts and any other measurements relevant to your sport. (Corabi or Doyle can help you with this regardless of the sport you play)
your college type you may be interested in (urban vs rural, large/medium/small, Religious/Secular, etc)
interests or clubs for school (if any) away from the sport
Volunteering & service ….really talk this up a lot
Interested Majors in college. This can be generic if you are younger but specific if you are older.
Links to your Max Preps page in a sport that uses Max Preps. Note that many sports do not report individual statistics and statistics can be elevated based on the competition you are playing against
any articles in local papers OR links to game box scores where you did well,
Honors such as ALL-Public, All-Star, league MVP, etc for each sport and each season.
links to all other social media you have such as Instagram, Tik Tok, etc (and don’t ever post or follow anyone who posts something controversial or inappropriate) including youtube. Why? Colleges like to see the character of the person they are recruiting. See item 3
a short “hi” video for people seeking you out

2) A YouTube channel for highlights: This channel should only include

Intro “hi” video
Training Video (workout/ workouts and as many as possible in it’s own playlist)
Practice videos (as many as possible in it’s own playlist)
Any game film you take from your personal videos. Don’t just post the whole thing…”trim” and edit after each game to focus only on you.
A link in the YouTube information page to your “about me” page

3) ADVICE – BE CAREFUL with your social media You could literally be the best player in your sport in the city and if your social media posts contain aggressive, bullying, hateful, racist, sexist, homophobic comments or images of inappropriate behavior including but not limited to underage drinking, drug use or otherwise illegal activity, you will likely get denied acceptance and almost definitely will not get financial packages.

4) You (almost) MUST sign up for college id camps, select teams, showcase teams, tournament teams, regional AAU teams, etc. If you are not good enough to make these types of teams or your college id camps do not identify you as a potential college recruit, you may not be good enough to play at the college level. BUT, if you are good enough..you MUST get your name and skills out there to as many college coaches as is humanly possible. Further down on this page are sport-specific ideas powered by Next College athlete group. It is a paid service that offers many free resources and you all get access to many of its services from the Philadelphia Public League.

YEAR BY YEAR WHAT TO DO:

Freshman year: You can see how you do and start the process above. Create your About Me and YouTube pages. Keep your grades up and attendance good. You may want to sign up for the FREE resources and recruitment and you may want to create your FREE NCAA profile account at eligibilitycenter.org for information on NCAA initial-eligibility requirements.

You may also want to start generating a list of colleges you want to attend. You can use the NCAA Research’s interactive map to help locate NCAA schools you’re interested in attending.

The NAIA and USCAA also have lists of member schools for you to review.

Finally, make sure you are taking the right courses, and earn the best grades possible!

Sophomore year: Update your 9th-grade information, keep up with the course work and grades, and if you didn’t do it in 9th grade, register for the free NCAA profile and a free service such as Next College athlete OR Field Level In your profiles, you are being honest but really trying to make yourself stand out this year to catch the eye of people “following” you.

Search and find College ID Clinics in the area AND try out for tournament teams.

Finally, IF you are being actively recruited by a college (based on participating in college id camps, clinics, teams etc), transition your FREE NCAA Eligibility account to the paid certification account and at the end of the year, have your high school counselor upload your official transcript.

Junior year: Update your 9th and 10th-grade information, complete any tasks you haven’t done yet, and consider the future. If you didn’t sign up for any College ID clinic in 10th grade, you MUST do it this year. Then consider: Are you really and truly that good and plan on playing D1 or D2? If so, update your free NCAA profile to the official paid NCAA Eligibility certification platform. Looking at NAIA or other schools? Purchase their member profiles etc.

Are you good and want to play if the opportunity arises but aren’t sure about it yet? Don’t give up but don’t upgrade to the paid sites yet. Keep the free one and continue to read below

Ensure your sport history and affiliations are accurate in your profile page(s)

SEARCH AND REACH OUT to ANY college you are interested in possibly playing for.

They ALL have a student-athlete participation recruitment form. Sometimes, it’s really easy to navigate to, other times, you need to work at it. Generally, they are located on the specific sport page in their expand menu. SHARE your NCAA ID with these schools.

What else to do this year:

Create a talk show like “why I want to go to and play at college” with someone that’s not Mom or Dad interviewing you or your Coach. Imagine it’s like a news feature airing on a local news channel. Other students can certainly help you do this from the Media department OR the news club.

THEN, type and send via traditional mail a letter to the Head coach AND send the same letter to the position coaches you are interested in playing (example…if you want to play soccer and you are a goaltender, you send a letter to the head coach and the goaltending coach). Include the link to your “about me” page you made in 9th grade. EMAILS are quick and easy but real-life letters are personal and standout!

ALSO: TAKE THE SAT. Take the April or May test. Not the PSAT, the real thing. Many schools do not require the SAT anymore but for a student-athlete, your required GPA to be eligible to play as a 1st-year freshman is directly affected by your SAT score if playing at a D1, D2 or NAIA school.

Spring/Summer between Junior & Senior year: Visit colleges. Maybe you aren’t going to play or maybe you’re only going to play intramural. visit anyway!

Senior year: Update your 9th, 10th and 11th grade information and complete any tasks you haven’t done yet. You hopefully are up to date with all of your coursework. Retake the SAT in the fall before the college deadline. Usually, it’s in September or early October BUT CHECK!

If for some reason you didn’t do it already, REACH OUT TO COLLEGE COACHES. At this point, they can have official talks with you and if they really want you, you can have an official visit!

IF you know you are going to be playing in college, request your final amateurism certification beginning April 1 (fall enrollees) or Oct. 1

(winter/spring enrollees) in your Eligibility Center account at eligibilitycenter.org.

Apply and be accepted to the NCAA school you plan to attend (officially).

Complete your final NCAA-approved core courses as you prepare for graduation.

After you graduate, ask your high school counselor to upload your final official transcript with proof of graduation to your Eligibility Center account.

RECRUITMENT TOOLS

N ext College Student Athlete This organization has a TON of information and is now partnering with the Philadelphia Public League!

Field Level . Also a free recruitment site. Doesn’t hurt to use more than 1!

Sport Specific Recruitment –

FOR EVERY SPORT BELOW, “NEXT COLLEGE STUDENT-ATHLETE”, has a TON of free resources including area camps, ID clinics, helpful information and lists of schools that carry your sport at each level!

Basketball:

AAU is usually the name of the game in college recruitment but you do get coaches that travel around the city looking for that diamond in the rough. Basketball is the 2nd most difficult sport to get recruited for and the most difficult at the D1 level. Why? It is the most played High School sport in America and the colleges only need 2-5 recruits each year. If you are serious, you have to put yourself out there. Sadly, if you are a boy and shorter than 6 feet, you will barely get looked at unless you are a stud point guard or Allen Iversonesque-type player.

For the women’s teams, the recruiters still look at size but they also emphasize specific fundamental skills and speed.

For a guide to men’s college basketball, click here and for the woman’s guide, click here.

use this link to check out regional camps and clinics sponsored by Nike

Bowling: If you are a male that averages a 240 or better or a female averaging a 200 or better, you have a great chance of being recruited to play in college. You even have a better shot at being recruited if you can hook the ball. But you have to sign up for individual youth tournaments that have college scholarship money for your “smart account” in order to put your skills out there in person. Bowling was one of the few sports that allowed high school age athletes to earn money while keeping amateur status specifically for competition on their sports (aka prize money not NIL money). All money earned though must be placed ina 529 or other college fund and be used for college.

This page from USA Bowling, lists everything a serious high school athlete should know and consider while this page from

USA BOWLING, introduces the college bowling process

Baseball: To be recruited for Baseball, you can look up local tryouts for rookie Ball, sign up for the Philadelphia Phillies RBI program or attend regional ID camps. for a Baseball specific camp listing and college recruitment ideas, click hereand use this link to check out regional camps and clinics sponsored by Nike If you are a pitcher with great “stuff”, you can also send a tryout video to the Philadelphia Phillies Scout department. If you are a field player, you really need to go to the camps, and clinics or play on the academy programs.

Field Hockey: The easiest way to get recruited in Field Hockey is to find a regional club team affiliated with USA Field Hockey, play in their tournaments, then attend the regional ID camps. College recruiters RARELY look at inner-city Field Hockey programs for athletes so it is imperative to get your brand out there. Field Hockey is one of the 3 top scholarship sports in the NCAA due to the severe lack of programs when compared to most other sports. ‘

Check this page out for a ton of information and use this link for regional camps sponsored by NIKE

Soccer: Soccer is one of the biggest businesses when it comes to prepping students for college-level soccer. It easily has the most commitment from Team USA than any other team sport. But that is because it’s the number one played sport in the world and the U.S. is often lagging behind the men’s programming in other countries. Because so so so many students play and people in other countries play, to be serious about college recruitment, your top-level club team must be signing up for college showcase tournaments and you should have tried out for the regional ODP programs sponsored by EPYSA or local “academy” teams.

In addition, you can go to epysa.org to look for regional college id camps and Look for clinics such as this one sponsored by Nike that have multiple clinics within 60 minutes driving . ID SPORTS USA and there is also a national database for individual athletes to sign up for with their parent/guardian’s permission away from your club team called IDCAMP SOCCER

In addition, there is a guide to Woman’s Soccer College recruitment here and a free guide to Men’s Soccer here

Softball: Softball is interesting because on one hand, and this is sad, there are only about 600 colleges that still field teams outside of Florida, Texas, Arizona and California (warm weather states). THIS LIST tells you every college softball team in America. Luckily, there are 100 in Pennsylvania!

To be a college-level athlete, you not only need to excel at your position but you also need to excel at various positions.

You may be a Pitcher or Catcher in high school and end up playing a totally different position for college. That said, you really should be playing for tournament and club teams that will play at college showcase events, joining academy programs when available, looking into regional programs such as the Phillies RBI tryout program (not just the neighborhood club versions), and tryout for and make the carpenter cup team (and do well) as a 9th, 10th or 11th grader. Aside from that, Next Level College Athletes has a bunch of free resources that include camps and lists of schools. There are always regional college ID camps many of which can be found on theNext Level College Athletes page. You can also use this link to check out regional camps and clinics sponsored by Nike

Volleyball: The city of Philadelphia is typically not a hotbed of college recruitment for volleyball although there are a ton of schools with teams! In fact, Girls Volleyball is the 3rd most participated sport in Philadelphia behind Boys and Girls Basketball. Typically, the best players end up playing for high-level private schools but that doesn’t mean you won’t be recruited with a little work. The easiest way to do this is to attend Volleyball specific “ID” clinics or camps. Not only do they improve your skills but also allow for college coaches to see you in action. Check out this page with a bunch of free resources including camps, clinics, and colleges that offer your sport.

Within the city, one of the best Volleyball programs for students who want to reach that next level is “PHILADELPHIA STARLINGS” . It is one of the most complete Volleyball programs for training and competition around and their travel teams play at both recreational and tournament levels. It’s not cheap but if you have the time, money and transportation to get there, it is well worth it.

Check out these camps that are in most states, sponsored by Nike and typically have multiple clinics year-round within an hour driving.

Main Menu:

Search the site:

Arts Academy At Benjamin Rush

Playing Sports in College

CLICK HERE to Read this before proceeding down the page!

FEATURED ARTICLES

What students and parents should ask College Coaches if being recruited or interviewed?

CLICK HERE for UPDATED 2024-2025 Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete (NCAA)