Accessibility in NCAA recruitment: Using sport as an equalizer in college admissions

We're working on getting a paper published; we will link it when it is ready. In the meantime, check out some of the data that put together this program. 

College sports in the United States are portrayed as a setting where anyone with talent and dedication can succeed. Even the NCAA claims its recruitment practice is a pathway of opportunity (to college and beyond) for "underrepresented" populations- but this is not true. 

Most athletes in the NCAA are white, and this number increases at private elite institutions, such as those in the NESCAC (Middlebury, Williams, Amherst, etc.). Even more athletes in the NCAA, regardless of race, are from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. 

A good example of this is Coastal-U, a university in the D1 power-5 conference that is tier-1 athletic and tier-1 academic (with an acceptance rate of 17%). It is also a majority-minority campus, meaning that more than half of its students are people of color. 

Looking at these numbers, it is clear that the demographics of the athletic student body at Coastal-U is not representative of their general campus. The most telling number, what our program focuses on, is socioeconomic status (SES). While over one-fourth of Coastal-U's students come from a lower SES background, less than half of one percent of their athletes are from a similar background. This is because the NCAA was built to exclude athletes based on race, gender, and socioeconomic status, and the rules and regulations still in place today are reinforcing this lack of access. 

Who Was the NCAA Built For? 

Colleges have historically played a role in exclusion by race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Current Regulations Are Restricting Accessibility

• No regulation on how coaches assess merit:
  

Currently, the NCAA does not have specific rules regulating how coaches select athletes for recruitment. Athletic departments do not need a uniform or transparent way of assessing skill, which means that coaches can choose whoever they want, however they want, without providing any reasoning. 

While this rule has seen some changes at the D1 level, the results remain the same- the more times an athlete is able to visit campus, the more likely they are to be offered a position on the team. With an official visit, schools are permitted to provide financial assistance. The prospective athlete will typically shadow team members, stay in a dorm, eat at the dining halls, and attend classes, practices, and team events. Some schools even cover travel to and from the school for this visit. Generally, athletes are permitted only one official visit to each school, but they are allowed an unlimited number of unofficial visits, provided they cover their own travel, lodging, and food expenses. This means that athletes who can afford to visit the campus more often will be seen by the coaching staff more often and are viewed more favorably. 

At the D1 level in most sports, coaches can not have direct contact, unless in person, with a prospective athlete until the summer before their junior year, but can talk with "recruiting agents" like parents and club coaches. Coaches often provide verbal recruitment offers, solidifying their rosters, before they are even allowed to speak directly to the athlete through email or over the phone. At the D3 level, this is easier, as college coaches can speak directly with prospective athletes during the summer going into their freshman year of high school. 

• Lack of financial assistance: 

Athletic departments and coaches are not permitted to put on low or no-cost events or provide financial assistance for athletes playing in their tournaments or camps, which is where most of the recruiting process happens. This means that athletes who can afford more of the tournament, camp, and clinic fees will be seen playing more times, and will be more likely to get recruited. 

How Do Colleges Recruit?

1. Being a "good fit" - A general finding in research on why coaches recruit the athletes they do is an idea of "fit," and coaches say that the more times they are able to meet with, talk to, and see an athlete play, the more likely theya re to think they are a good fit for the team, regardless of their talent.
2. Camps, tournaments, and events - Most coaches recruit through camps, tournaments, and events because they can see many athletes at once; however, these can be expensive for the prospective athletes.
3. Visits - The more visits an athlete makes, the more likely they are to be recruited, regardless of their talent. 
4. Film - Coaches want to see quality film, which is actually pretty easy to do, but only if you know what coaches are looking for. 
5. Recommendations and reputations of club coaches - Coaches value recommendations from other coaches, especially those with a good reputation or whom they know personally. They want to know the athlete is a good teammate, easily coachable, and a hard worker. 

Overall, it comes down to exposure and information, regardless of talent.

Why Do We Care?

College is not accessible; The way that colleges assess merit is not equal. For example, students who can afford to take SAT prep courses and tutoring will get a better score on their standardized tests. However, there is a process through athletics called special admissions that takes away these factors. 

Special admissions lowers the acceptance standards from the average to the minimum for athletes being recruited through athletics. This process is most effective at elite private institutions (that are typically harder for lower SES students and students of color to get into, and typically provide better aid than State schools. 

An example of special admissions at a D3 elite private institution: Each applicant is ranked on a 10-point scale. If the prospective student needs a lot of financial aid, they must get a 1 or a 2 to get admitted. If the applicant doesn't require a lot of aid, they can receive up to a 4. However, if they are a recruited athlete, they can receive up to an 8, regardless of their need for aid. For most schools, this means lowering the SAT, GPA, and other ranking requirements to the minimums for recruited athletes, making it much easier for them to gain admission. 

Lower socioeconomic status athletes have a better chance at gaining special admissions through DIII or tier-2 DI and DII spots at schools that provide good aid, because if they get good aid from the school, they won't take a scholarship spot from another recruit. 

This is where our program comes in. If we can provide the exposure and information high school athletes need without needing to go through expensive club programs and recruiting agents, it will make the college admissions process more accessible overall. 

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