From: Colorado Springs Gazetteby Kate Crandall
Mark Hatch, Colorado College’s director of admissions and financial aid, described Division I hockey recruiting as an arms race.
While Hatch said he’s confident CC can keep pace, recruits seeking scholarship offers at age 16 or younger are receiving them from some schools in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association — but not CC.
Before coach Scott Owens can extend a scholarship offer, he must have Hatch’s approval, and the academic record of a ninth- or 10th-grade recruit is too scant to satisfy CC’s standards.
“We’re not in the business of committing to 10th-graders,” Hatch said. “The earliest we’ve really gone is beginning of their junior year.”
There is a pre-approval process in which, Hatch said, the transcript and test scores are reviewed.
“Usually you get as much high school work as they’ve done — let’s say five semesters,” Owens said. “Then you look at what they’re scheduled to take. Then you look at test scores or PSAT. Nothing’s ever finalized academically until the whole application is completed, but you’re basing the decision on a fact of what they’ve done and expecting that they’ll continue to do that.”
Hatch recalled one recruit whose up-and-down report card was a red flag.
“The kid showed a pattern of potential but not a consistent pattern of success,” Hatch said. “(Owens) got on a plane the next day and flew to this kid’s high school. He interviewed guidance counselors and teachers and gave me names of people I could call to get progress reports on the kid. He was that serious about the kid. He wanted to make sure that this was a kid who he thought was going to pass the ‘Sunday Night Test.’”
The “Sunday Night Test” is whether a player will complete a paper that is due Monday after returning Sunday from a five-day trip to play at Alaska-Anchorage or Michigan Tech.
As far as CC admissions is concerned, nothing is binding until the student applies and signs a letter of intent.
“We better be darn well sure that the kid has lived up to his end of the bargain before the letter of intent,” Hatch said. “There are kids I get a progress report on every six months before the kid submits full application. But we wouldn’t be as successful as we are if we didn’t honor verbal commitments.”
Before CC can honor verbal commitments, it has to receive them. Recruiting in the WCHA is competitive, and CC’s block plan can be a tough sell. The format requires students to take one three-hour class — with eight to 15 students — five days a week for 3½ weeks.
“You can’t hide,” Hatch said. “Every class is small. You can’t take a day off.”
The other WCHA schools offer large lecture courses — where absences can go unnoticed — or classes with fewer demands. Minnesota’s Kyle Okposo is enrolled in an “ice hockey coaching class” while teammate Erik Johnson takes “mastering college study skills” and a “one-day online class about ‘cash or credit,’” according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Owens said the block format is conducive to the season.
“It’s a good system for our guys,” Owens said. “For a Division I athlete that travels, he has just one professor to deal with and one batch of makeup work to do.”
But the school’s liberal arts emphasis can be a turnoff for recruits, said Owens, who graduated from CC in 1979.
“There’s the ongoing challenge of talking about a liberal arts education and the benefits of it,” Owens said. “It can be a little bit of a challenge to get blue-collar people to understand what a liberal arts education is and what it teaches you.”
Nate Dewhurst, a 16-yearold who recently chose Denver over CC, said the business program at DU played a role in his decision. While many CC players major in economics, the school offers only a pre-business program.
From Hatch’s perspective, the movement toward committing to younger players has its benefits. With younger recruits, Hatch has a chance to influence their transcripts.
“On one hand, it is nice to get mature students who are 20-year-old freshmen,” Hatch said. “They have more life experience and are physically and emotionally more mature. But they’re done and I’m looking at a transcript that’s a year and a half old. There’s no opportunity for me to dictate what they do. . . . With 10th- or 11th-graders, I have lots of leeway to say, ‘This is what they have to take.’ In some ways it’s better.”
For most recruits, unless they’ve earned straight A’s and high test scores, Owens and Hatch will set academic guidelines. Freshmen Nate Prosser and Brian Connelly, who both played junior hockey after high school, were expected to take courses at nearby community colleges to earn credits.
“If they’re a 3.5 student, you let them know on paper or let them know the range of things that they have to do en route to being accepted,” Owens said.
Many recruits who play junior hockey in high school end up attending several schools, adding another variable.
“It’s a hard process in which the kid is bounced from school to school and has 60 games in a hockey season, more games than they’ll play in college,” Hatch said. “Often times they don’t take as rigorous of a course load. But if they want to play at CC, they can’t drop courses. They’re not going to get by with a minimum amount of units. They’re going to need to build a strong academic foundation.”
While Hatch said he’s confident CC can keep pace, recruits seeking scholarship offers at age 16 or younger are receiving them from some schools in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association — but not CC.
Before coach Scott Owens can extend a scholarship offer, he must have Hatch’s approval, and the academic record of a ninth- or 10th-grade recruit is too scant to satisfy CC’s standards.
“We’re not in the business of committing to 10th-graders,” Hatch said. “The earliest we’ve really gone is beginning of their junior year.”
There is a pre-approval process in which, Hatch said, the transcript and test scores are reviewed.
“Usually you get as much high school work as they’ve done — let’s say five semesters,” Owens said. “Then you look at what they’re scheduled to take. Then you look at test scores or PSAT. Nothing’s ever finalized academically until the whole application is completed, but you’re basing the decision on a fact of what they’ve done and expecting that they’ll continue to do that.”
Hatch recalled one recruit whose up-and-down report card was a red flag.
“The kid showed a pattern of potential but not a consistent pattern of success,” Hatch said. “(Owens) got on a plane the next day and flew to this kid’s high school. He interviewed guidance counselors and teachers and gave me names of people I could call to get progress reports on the kid. He was that serious about the kid. He wanted to make sure that this was a kid who he thought was going to pass the ‘Sunday Night Test.’”
The “Sunday Night Test” is whether a player will complete a paper that is due Monday after returning Sunday from a five-day trip to play at Alaska-Anchorage or Michigan Tech.
As far as CC admissions is concerned, nothing is binding until the student applies and signs a letter of intent.
“We better be darn well sure that the kid has lived up to his end of the bargain before the letter of intent,” Hatch said. “There are kids I get a progress report on every six months before the kid submits full application. But we wouldn’t be as successful as we are if we didn’t honor verbal commitments.”
Before CC can honor verbal commitments, it has to receive them. Recruiting in the WCHA is competitive, and CC’s block plan can be a tough sell. The format requires students to take one three-hour class — with eight to 15 students — five days a week for 3½ weeks.
“You can’t hide,” Hatch said. “Every class is small. You can’t take a day off.”
The other WCHA schools offer large lecture courses — where absences can go unnoticed — or classes with fewer demands. Minnesota’s Kyle Okposo is enrolled in an “ice hockey coaching class” while teammate Erik Johnson takes “mastering college study skills” and a “one-day online class about ‘cash or credit,’” according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Owens said the block format is conducive to the season.
“It’s a good system for our guys,” Owens said. “For a Division I athlete that travels, he has just one professor to deal with and one batch of makeup work to do.”
But the school’s liberal arts emphasis can be a turnoff for recruits, said Owens, who graduated from CC in 1979.
“There’s the ongoing challenge of talking about a liberal arts education and the benefits of it,” Owens said. “It can be a little bit of a challenge to get blue-collar people to understand what a liberal arts education is and what it teaches you.”
Nate Dewhurst, a 16-yearold who recently chose Denver over CC, said the business program at DU played a role in his decision. While many CC players major in economics, the school offers only a pre-business program.
From Hatch’s perspective, the movement toward committing to younger players has its benefits. With younger recruits, Hatch has a chance to influence their transcripts.
“On one hand, it is nice to get mature students who are 20-year-old freshmen,” Hatch said. “They have more life experience and are physically and emotionally more mature. But they’re done and I’m looking at a transcript that’s a year and a half old. There’s no opportunity for me to dictate what they do. . . . With 10th- or 11th-graders, I have lots of leeway to say, ‘This is what they have to take.’ In some ways it’s better.”
For most recruits, unless they’ve earned straight A’s and high test scores, Owens and Hatch will set academic guidelines. Freshmen Nate Prosser and Brian Connelly, who both played junior hockey after high school, were expected to take courses at nearby community colleges to earn credits.
“If they’re a 3.5 student, you let them know on paper or let them know the range of things that they have to do en route to being accepted,” Owens said.
Many recruits who play junior hockey in high school end up attending several schools, adding another variable.
“It’s a hard process in which the kid is bounced from school to school and has 60 games in a hockey season, more games than they’ll play in college,” Hatch said. “Often times they don’t take as rigorous of a course load. But if they want to play at CC, they can’t drop courses. They’re not going to get by with a minimum amount of units. They’re going to need to build a strong academic foundation.”
1 comment:
bad title... should be... CC has hard time recruiting pre-teens, slackers, and office hack wannabes, focuses on mature student athletes with graduate school goals.
AspenLake
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