Spring Break
Coach Dunne gives insight into basketball recruiting
Kurt Ritzman
Issue date: 6/2/06 Section: Sports
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Every year, thousands of high school athletes are recruited to play college sports in exchange for a scholarship. How does a coaching staff get an athlete to choose their program? Melissa Dunne, an assistant coach for Drexel women's basketball, explained the process.
An important thing to note in recruiting is that strict adherence to NCAA guidelines is necessary. These rules dictate what level of contact is allowed between a coaching staff and a prospective recruit, depending on the age of the athlete. Every year, coaches must pass a test on their knowledge of the guidelines, which often change.
Failure to follow NCAA guidelines can have harsh consequences on a program. Games can be retroactively forfeited, championship or Final Four banners can be taken away, scholarships can be lost and depending on the severity of the violations, a specific program at a university can be cancelled indefinitely.
For Drexel's recruiting purposes, the country is divided into geographic regions and each section is assigned to an assistant coach. Dunne's recruiting area is New Jersey, Delaware and New York. She is originally from Brigantine, N.J., and her familiarity with the area helps in the recruiting process.
NCAA Division I basketball teams have 15 scholarships available. The Drexel women's team is currently using all of them, but Dunne said that they try to keep it around 13.
It depends on what a team needs for each season and what players are available for how many scholarships are offered each season. For example, Drexel has five rising juniors on scholarship, but is likely to only offer one scholarship to a freshman coming in for the 2007-'08 season. The number of scholarships offered can vary between classes.
"It's all up to the head coach's discretion," Dunne said. That doesn't mean the staff isn't ready. While only one scholarship will probably be offered for the '07-'08 season, there are 10-12 girls on the list. It's beneficial to have a larger pool and then narrow it down, so a team can find the one player that will help the program the most.
An important thing to note in recruiting is that strict adherence to NCAA guidelines is necessary. These rules dictate what level of contact is allowed between a coaching staff and a prospective recruit, depending on the age of the athlete. Every year, coaches must pass a test on their knowledge of the guidelines, which often change.
Failure to follow NCAA guidelines can have harsh consequences on a program. Games can be retroactively forfeited, championship or Final Four banners can be taken away, scholarships can be lost and depending on the severity of the violations, a specific program at a university can be cancelled indefinitely.
For Drexel's recruiting purposes, the country is divided into geographic regions and each section is assigned to an assistant coach. Dunne's recruiting area is New Jersey, Delaware and New York. She is originally from Brigantine, N.J., and her familiarity with the area helps in the recruiting process.
NCAA Division I basketball teams have 15 scholarships available. The Drexel women's team is currently using all of them, but Dunne said that they try to keep it around 13.
It depends on what a team needs for each season and what players are available for how many scholarships are offered each season. For example, Drexel has five rising juniors on scholarship, but is likely to only offer one scholarship to a freshman coming in for the 2007-'08 season. The number of scholarships offered can vary between classes.
"It's all up to the head coach's discretion," Dunne said. That doesn't mean the staff isn't ready. While only one scholarship will probably be offered for the '07-'08 season, there are 10-12 girls on the list. It's beneficial to have a larger pool and then narrow it down, so a team can find the one player that will help the program the most.
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