Basketball Scholarships For International Students.
Finding basketball scholarships for international students can be a very stressful and confusing time, if you aren’t well connected! Throughout working with thousands of international athletes and assisting in their pursuit of a scholarship. Here at NextUpRecruitment we have identified a few key problems that athletes face, time and time again.
Follow our guide below and on how to secure your scholarship
When should I start contacting college coaches.
If you’re an international athlete trying to find a scholarship, it can be quite difficult for you to get in front of a college coach, meaning that you’re already behind in the race to find a scholarship. Exposure within college recruitment is everything when trying to be successful in finding a full scholarship, but outside of exposure, one of the biggest issues athletes encounter with their recruitment is their being no scholarship money available for them at all! So why does this happen? Lets dive into the details!
International athletes start their recruitment very late! Because they start so late, by the time they have eventually got in front of a college coach so they can make an assessment, the coach has already offered out their scholarship money, meaning you’re either at the back of the line hoping that athletes don’t sign to the program which will open up more funds for you, or you’re back to square one in your search to find a full scholarship.
Athletes within the United States begin looking for basketball scholarships around their sophomore season, meaning they’ve been working on their recruitment for around 3 years by the time it comes down to locking in their home to begin their college career! We’ve found that on average international athletes typically begin their recruitment with only 6.5 months left until school starts! This hurts your scholarship opportunities!
If you’re serious about playing at the college level we recommend beginning your recruitment process, two years prior to you being ready to depart for the States. With scholarships now being more limited than ever and competition for scholarships continuing to rise, the best way to set yourself up for success is by getting in front of college coaches who maybe interested in you, when they actually have money available to give to you!
How do college coaches make offers.
College coaches typically don’t offer players right out of the gate! Unless you’re in the top 5%, recruitment usually isn’t an overnight success story! The recruitment process can be a very long and stressful time for athletes. So how do college coaches make offers when interested in athletes?
A huge part of the recruitment process is relationship building. Coaches are making a huge investment into bringing you into their program, and the last thing they want is to have someone who brings toxicity to the locker room, so they need to make sure you’re a good fit. This can take a while! Once they’ve identified you’re a good fit in terms of their programs culture, typically the next step is a visit, go and see the campus, get a feel for where you could spend the next few years. At this stage the coach is still making his decision on you as a person and an athlete, if by the end of the visit they like what they see, now is usually when they would offer you an official scholarship offer.
But wait! This usually only applies to US based athletes. Most internationals don’t go through this exact process… Read below
How do college coaches make offers to international students.
The process of being an international athlete and receiving a scholarship offer can be very different to that of what an American student-athlete would go through. So how do college coaches make offers to internationals? This process can be very different. The recruitment process is slow regardless of your nationality but as an international, coaches can be often a little more hesitant to pull the trigger and make the investment in you. This happens for a few reasons.
- International athletes cost substantially more to recruit
- More often than not, visits are seen as ‘too risky’ for internationals to take, if an official offer isn’t already on the table, due to the costs of of flights etc
- Coaches usually have to judge international athletes based on highlight footage and game film, vs seeing them in person
- Relationship building is tougher through video calls vs in person
- Athletes start their recruitment very late leaving coaches no time to make an accurate assessment
Whilst all of this sounds very silly, it is the reality of college recruitment as an international athlete. Now whilst all of these factors do go ‘against you’ it doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for you at the college level. We’ve helped thousands of international athletes secure scholarships to play in college.
Because of the issues internationals face with exposure etc, we constantly express the important in beginning your recruitment process early enough to see long term success.
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What should I do to find a basketball scholarship.
Every single year thousands of talented athletes miss out on an opportunity to play at the college level simply because they began their recruitment too late and nobody had scholarships available to bring them on board. Here are some tips we’d like you to follow.
- Reach out to as many coaches as you can and don’t ignore any divisions. The more doors that you knock on the more opportunities that will be made available to you. We recommend reaching out via email first, but try to be unique in your email. Coaches receive thousands of emails a day, try to stand out from the generic email most recruits send.
- DO NOT ask about scholarship money. Yes we’re all aware that this is the end goal, but its important to develop a relationship with a college coach first. Once that relationship has been built, you’ll be able to ask where you stand in the schools recruitment plans and whether or not they have scholarship money available.
- Always provide coaches with your most up to date information. We recommend creating a recruitment profile and simply providing the coach with a link, this way the coach always has your most up to date information and hand and as you update your profile, the coaches information will do the same.
What Are The Academic Requirements For A Basketball Scholarship?
- Provide the NCAA with your up to date information from your entire education, high school upwards.
- Proof of graduation. These can be shown in the form of certificates, diplomas etc
- Take the SAT/ACT test and send those scores directly to the NCAA
- Work with your school in the US (if you have one locked in) directly to begin your VISA process. Your school will issue an I-20 which will allow you to begin your VISA process and go and get your F1 student VISA.
NOTICE: You must register with the NCAA Clearinghouse to play sports at the NCAA level.
Requirements are different for the NAIA level
- Register with the NAIA Eligibility Center, This MUST be done at least two months before classes start.
- Take the SAT/ACT test and send those scores directly to the NAIA using code 9876
- Send all education records to the NAIA, these include high school, college and University if you have those.
- Ensure that all records have been translated to English
Worried that you’re not eligible to play at the college level and want some support? Book a FREE scholarship assessment call.
