Helping HS athletes find good programs

[Mustangsfootball]

I am a former D3 football player who is in his first year coaching back home in Southern Arizona. I have been asked by several of my players about the recruiting process at the D3 level and if I could point out schools that would meet their interests. I have given them a list of small schools to ook at and I got a few more involved questions ranging from academic interests, to tuition, to where can I go if my acadeics aren't very strong but I want to earn a degree and play? Also many of my players have no idea of what is out there school wise as we are insulated into thinking about NAU, U of A, and ASU from birth and many arents are not comfortable about their kids leaving AZ unless it is to a D 1 institution.  Most importantly we have two outstanding players, a QB and OT that could go on and have great careers if they can get into a D2 or D3 school. here's a break down of the scenarios:

QB- Takes all AP courses, near perfect GPA, great athleticism and is looking for a school that has a great engineering program. I have already advised him to look at Carnegie Mellon, MIT, RPI, and UW-Platteville. While I believe he would get financial aide  anywhere due to his athletic and academic skill I was wondering if anyone could advise me on other good schools and ones that are not very expensive?

OT- A man child on the field, smart , good blocking angles, runs faser than a good number of our LBs  and some skill players. I've been advising him about the Southern California leagues, the WIAC, Monmouth, St, Norbert, St. Johns, and Sul Ross. Any other tips would be great.


LAstly, to any coaches that see this, recruit in the states of Arizona and New Mexico. there is a lot of talent that either goes unused because they are not icked up by the D 1 and FCS schools or it rots on the bench. any advice or contacts would be greatly appreciated.

[d3fan1]

Rose Hulman in Indiana is one of the best engineering schools in the nation. They had a 7-3 record last year and have a receiver,junior Reed Eason, who is picked as a 1st team all-american this year.

[ADL70]

Carnegie-Mellon runs the wing-T, not usually a QB oriented offense.

Case Western Reserve runs the spread and had its starting QB selected for the Gagliardi award as best player in D3 as a junior last year.  Head Coach Greg Debeljak was a coach of the year finalist and as a D3 assistant coached QBs who played in NFL Europe or got NFL tryouts .  They have won twenty-one consecutive regular season games and were in the playoofs the last two years.

Case is also a great engineering school, especially bioengineering, but it isn't cheap.

The Spartans have their first player in my memory from Arizona this year, Tyler Hugus, from Scottsdale Notre Dame Academy.

[Mustangsfootball]

Carnegie-Mellon runs the wing-T, not usually a QB oriented offense.

Case Western Reserve runs the spread and had its starting QB selected for the Gagliardi award as best player in D3 as a junior last year.  Head Coach Greg Debeljak was a coach of the year finalist and as a D3 assistant coached QBs who played in NFL Europe or got NFL tryouts .  They have won twenty-one consecutive regular season games and were in the playoofs the last two years.

Case is also a great engineering school, especially bioengineering, but it isn't cheap.

The Spartans have their first player in my memory from Arizona this year, Tyler Hugus, from Scottsdale Notre Dame Academy.

Yeah I looked at Case and was a little concerned about the expense, but with his academic caliber our QB should get a ton of financial aide. I was also intrigued by the Notre Dame Prep player as they played us last year in the playoffs. Than you for the information!

[Tennessee_papa]

QB- Takes all AP courses, near perfect GPA, great athleticism and is looking for a school that has a great engineering program. I have already advised him to look at Carnegie Mellon, MIT, RPI, and UW-Platteville. While I believe he would get financial aide  anywhere due to his athletic and academic skill I was wondering if anyone could advise me on other good schools and ones that are not very expensive?

Mustangs - for the QB have you looked at Colorado School of Mines?  It's D2, so he could get a full or partial athletic scholarship in addition to any academic aid he'd get, it's closer to home, and it's one of the best engineering schools in the country.

I'm an engineer who didn't attend Mines, but I've worked with several engineers who have and its academic reputation is superb.

[Gray Fox]

You all get +k for your helpful discussion.

[Knightstalker]

Mustang, you might also check out the various conference boards and ask questions there also.  There are several RPI, RIT, MIT posters in the east region boards for both football and the other sports.  They may have some good info for you also.  Just a thought, I have one a day, now my head hurts.   

[AUPepBand]

"Engineering" is a broad interest. If it's "Ceramic Engineering" that the QB is per chance interested in, there is arguably no better program in the world than the NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York...in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.

Alfred is a small college of about 2,000 students with graduate programs in glass science, materials science engineering, business, education, counseling, etc. While the majority of its students are from NY, AU has broad appeal and attracts students from the West Coast, New England and from across the sea...Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, China, etc.

Now "ceramic engineering" involves more than building better commodes. Ceramic materials have applications nearly ALL industries including aeronautics and space travel.

Alfred's ceramic engineering graduates are an employable bunch. And while undergrads, they often get involved in the AU Pep Band that plays at most all AU football games.

The Saxons have averaged 8 wins in each of the past five seasons, have a potent offensive attack and a stingy defense and are one of those teams "on the bubble"--always in the mix for the Empire 8 AQ.

Pep would be happy to discuss "ceramic engineering" and the Saxons further with anyone so interested.

On Saxon Warriors!

[snzuluz]

If you are talking about UW-Plattville, their academics are not strong and it is in the middle of no where WI...

Your athlete when he gets done looking at schools, need to answer this question -

If I were to have a season ending injury do I see myself completing my degree at this school? If he can answer yes, then he is choosing the school for all the right reasons - ACADEMICS FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He also can google top schools for engineering if he wants...most college kids change their major though around 5 times, so maybe looking for a school that has a GREAT internship in engineering and where their students are getting jobs in engineering is also an important factor in choosing a school...

You can play football but if the school has no real internships or their graduates in any major aren't getting jobs in their chosen field, then the football might be nice, but his academic degree won't mean much...football won't put bread on the table!

www.oscrecruiting.com is a nice site to look at for recruiting matters

[roocru]

If you are talking about UW-Plattville, their academics are not strong and it is in the middle of no where WI...

Your athlete when he gets done looking at schools, need to answer this question -

If I were to have a season ending injury do I see myself completing my degree at this school? If he can answer yes, then he is choosing the school for all the right reasons - ACADEMICS FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He also can google top schools for engineering if he wants...most college kids change their major though around 5 times, so maybe looking for a school that has a GREAT internship in engineering and where their students are getting jobs in engineering is also an important factor in choosing a school...

You can play football but if the school has no real internships or their graduates in any major aren't getting jobs in their chosen field, then the football might be nice, but his academic degree won't mean much...football won't put bread on the table!

www.oscrecruiting.com is a nice site to look at for recruiting matters

While the sentiments expressed are sound, this is also a troll for this posters product.  -1 k for non-disclosure!

[Mustangsfootball]

If you are talking about UW-Plattville, their academics are not strong and it is in the middle of no where WI...

Your athlete when he gets done looking at schools, need to answer this question -

If I were to have a season ending injury do I see myself completing my degree at this school? If he can answer yes, then he is choosing the school for all the right reasons - ACADEMICS FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He also can google top schools for engineering if he wants...most college kids change their major though around 5 times, so maybe looking for a school that has a GREAT internship in engineering and where their students are getting jobs in engineering is also an important factor in choosing a school...

You can play football but if the school has no real internships or their graduates in any major aren't getting jobs in their chosen field, then the football might be nice, but his academic degree won't mean much...football won't put bread on the table!

www.oscrecruiting.com is a nice site to look at for recruiting matters

As to you comment about Platteville, from everything I have heard they have a great engineering program. And as for your coment about being in the middle of nowhere most of the D3 schools are in smaller towns, so your comment is not of much use. I suggested looking at other schools as well the likes of Carnegie Melon, RPI, Rowan, Wabash, etc.

[fantastic50]

I'll second the nomination for Rose-Hulman.  Rose and Harvey Mudd are the Harvard and Yale of undergrad-oriented engineering schools.  If your QB really has the transcript and board scores, then MIT is certainly worth considering.  FYI - I have no connection to any of these schools.

If a particular college is very expensive, but also has a large endowment per student, then don't write it off the list.  Well-endowed institutions are in a position to give huge amounts of merit-based scholarship money, on top of meeting full financial need.  If a small college has an $100,000 of endowment money per student, that's a starting point; some of the elites have $1 million per student.

[Knightstalker]

I'll second the nomination for Rose-Hulman.  Rose and Harvey Mudd are the Harvard and Yale of undergrad-oriented engineering schools.  If your QB really has the transcript and board scores, then MIT is certainly worth considering.  FYI - I have no connection to any of these schools.

If a particular college is very expensive, but also has a large endowment per student, then don't write it off the list.  Well-endowed institutions are in a position to give huge amounts of merit-based scholarship money, on top of meeting full financial need.  If a small college has an $100,000 of endowment money per student, that's a starting point; some of the elites have $1 million per student.

I would recommend researching the Endowment figures of any college you are considering.  Many collegs endowments have taken a huge hit in the last couple of years due to the market.

[Wydown Blvd.]

But that (endowment) alone does not do a school justice. Then take a look at the % of students receving scholarships and the average $ given... That will be a quick snapshot of the financial situation from an incoming student perspective

[Fern72]

Chapman in California is a great school. They have a great math/civil engineering school. They are an independant so the schedule is wide open. Football program continues to imporve, an they will enjoy the atmosphere of Chapman (Orange County).