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It seems to me in talking to many people and listening that "full rides" are being offered to a lot of baseball players. It seems fishy to me. When my son was in the recruiting process we were told less than 3% of baseball players in the country are on full rides. Has something changed? Are people afraid they will be looked down on for saying they got a half ride? Egos? I was under the understanding that 50% for a position player was pretty good, and it seems like every good baseball player is getting 100% these days....ANY THOUGHTS???
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i definintely agree with you baseball fanatic. i'm a senior in high school this year and have talked to many players going through the recruiting process with me. none of them have told me they're getting a full ride, but when they see their friends or they don't know who's listening, they'll go and say they're getting a full ride. it is an ego thing but i played with a pitcher who should have been all state last year and he's getting a partial. they're aren't enough scholarships in baseball to account for everyone saying they are getting full rides. people should tell the truth about it or not say anything at all
In general most people look at 65% or better from athletics as a full ride. The rational for this is that they can generally receive some other monies which help out and so, that 65% is minimum. Of course this is a generalization. I've coached one player that received 100%. That was a combination of athletics and academics. He was Valedictorian, scored incrediably high on the ACT ... Saying someone got 50% is still tremendous. I'd hope that people don't look at that in a negative light. Think about it, that 50% is still an incrediable amount of money. JMHO!
I was at a recruiting seminar with a dozen coaches from D1 NCAA D11 NCAA. The coach who led the discussion was a 35 year veteran coach who said he knew of no full rides over his 35 years as a recruiter. All the others agreed. He described a full ride as all costs to attend a college paid for by the school.
I do know kids in other sports who got full rides and have heard their parents say it still cost 4-5000 to attend. I am not sure if they in fact had all cost covered or just tuition.
I would think 50% of all costs for a position guy is a good scholarship.
Coach B hit it right on the head.
Players and parents need to understand how important the academics play into the recruiting equation. If the school is given roughly 11 scholarships and carrie 30 players, math doesnt work for 30 full rides. If a coach can give a player 30% academic and 50% athletic, it saves the coach athletic money to get a guy who may not have the top level grades, thus saving the athletic money and possibly bringing in two quality players instead of one.

One thing to the young incoming Freshman, get off to a good start in HS, too many times I have seen a student come in and get behind with the GPA and rank and by the time they figure out whats happening it is to late to recover. Its all four years , not your varsity years.
CoachB
At one point last Summer I had 3 of my positional guys playing with ACT's of 33, 32 and 34, I remember thinking to myself, we might have some trouble getting out of this inning but these guys are setting themselves up for life after all the innings end. Heck,they most likely someday will be fixing my broken down bones....
I know high draft picks that did not get full rides.Two had offers from Oklahoma State but chose to sign contracts.

http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/index.asp

This was posted by another poster and it shows how little is given to BB players. Each sport has to report revenues and expenses for each sport. It dosen't take a genius to figure out how little money is availabls in BB.
This shows all the sports and over 2000 schools.
Baseball fan---

I haven't heard anyone on this board say that they or their son received a full ride. I agree that 50% is a huge ride. I don't think anyone would disagree. I'm not sure who you are talking about when you say "every good baseball player is getting 100% these days".

Congrats to all the players that are going off to college to play baseball. Money or no money that's a great accomplishment.
Does it matter if a youngman gets 50% for baseball, and another 40-50% in academics? As long as it pans out to the bottom line(not having to pay for your education),what difference does it make? That is why hitting the books are so important. There are all kinds of academics scholarships when coupled with your atheletic money, a kid can save his parents $$$$$$.
duecedoc, I've coached two teams with players as smart as you mentioned. In both cases, I'd go to a conference on the mound and say, "I know everyone here is smarter than I am but I'm the big dog and I have the biggest bite!" LOL! Coaching kids like that is such a pleasure!

College monies come from their athletic budgets, academic scholarships and then also grants. Don't forget that boosters set up funds for schools that use those funds in recruiting. There are always partial grants/scholarships and always have some minimum requirement to maintain. Really, sometimes one needs a calculator to figure out exactly where all of the money does come from. I attended on an academic scholarship. Hard to believe I know. My coach viewed me as a "free player." He often mentioned that. I received my monies from two different sources. I did have to maintain a certain GPA, did have to do a "community project," and did have to jump through certain other hoops in order to continue receiving those monies.
I don't know if it's true, but I also heard that for every dollar of non-athletic money given a player, a dollar is taken away from the 11.7 scholorships that program has to offer. In that way the NCAA prevents programs fluffing up there rosters with "academic scholorships". I think this is only D1 though. I'm not sure if I have it exactly correct, I'm sure somebody will clarify.
Sox I have hear a couple guys say they have but later the truth came out.
I know one guy who got a 440 signing bonus and was rated by PG at 9.5. A top student and everyone was going a round saying he got a full ride. He addmitted to me he didn't . He just let the dreamers talk.
A 35 year recruiter at a large D1 says he hasn't seen one in his 35 years I tend to believe him.
Bobble, we may be splitting hairs....

3% or less get the "full ride" out of HS. Of these your looking at a top draft choice that wants to go to school. Your 35 year recruiting vet, imo, doesn't recruit in the ACC/SEC/PAC10 or Big 12. Those schools dominate the select few signees in this category.

5% or so are probably reaching the full ride...at some point (soph/junior year) during their college career based on outstanding performance, usually on the bump.

Since it's really none of our business and only the select few get this ultimate reward, the best advice to all you Mom's and Dad's out there is to get your kid's to apply themselves academically.

Interestingly enough, one of our top 2005 Illinois players got 94% (athletic and academic combined) to attend a Missouri Valley Conference school.

One other 2005, now in pro ball, received several "full ride" offers from big time D1 schools which btw, were well deserved.
Whenever you’re talking baseball a “full ride” is an athletic term and signifies the student athlete is receiving a fully paid athletic scholarship. “Full ride”, “books only”, 50%, or walk-on are scholarship amounts but in reality they are labels that equate to the athletic “value” of the athlete. It is misleading to include academic monies when using these labels because an academic scholarship in no way equates to athletic ability. A player could be receiving a fully paid academic scholarship and still be a walk-on or not even make the roster. Why parents want to mislead you to believe their son is a great baseball player instead of a great student is beyond me. Is it more acceptable to be a dumb jock than a smart individual? I guess it is if you’re talking baseball. Big Grin
Fungo
Fungo,

To some extent, I disagree. What most universities are doing now is looking at those recruits with the idea of splitting that athletic money and making up the difference with those academic monies. It gets them more bang for the buck as well as allowing them to diversify via outside revenue. Therefore, many parents when they represent that their child is getting some type of scholarship, typically they are referencing monies that have become available through the coaching staffs efforts to seek out those available funds. To illustrate this point, I'll reference myself. The coaching staff where I played (OK so I was terrible!) were luke warm on me. When they saw my GPA, ACT score and class rank and then took into account the financial plight of my family, they found all types of monies for me. I was "free." They could and did use and abuse me for nothing and I loved every minute of it. LOL! Example, I qualified as an "Illinois Scholar," was awarded a Pell Grant, was an "Presidential Scholar," received money through Manpower and C.E.T.A. (Two other government programs which demanded community service), and a "Harris Grant." (This was an endowment left to fund Underprivilege students.)
None of this would have happened without Coach Lee and his coaching staff's efforts. I owe them a lot. I remember Coach Lee coming to me once and telling me he didn't have any plans for me but wanted me to sit in on meeting because he thought I had the makings of a catcher. I thought to myself, if you asked me to jump off the roof of this place I'd do it. If you knew the environment I grew up in and what he did for me, you'd understand.
I don't know if I can help clear up any confusion, but a coach looks at a 100% scholarship as a full ride, all athletic money. A coach looks at a 50% sholarship to be just that, a 50% baseball scholarship.....anything in addition to that is outside of baseball.

Let's use this example. A kid gets a 50% baseball scholarship. He also receives an academic scholarship and let's say a full Pell Grant, and those add up to 100%. The kid tells people he's getting a full ride, and if you don't ask (or he doesn't tell) you assume it is a full 100% baseball scholarship. When somebody asks the coach about what they have heard, he knows that he has given the kid 50% (he may or may not choose to correct the person)........if that person is somebody relevant for the discussion, the coach may or may not say, "No, we did not give him a full scholarship". Whether he says so or not, the kid is getting a 50% baseball scholarship, and that is the only money the coach has any control over.
Kenny.....

Supposedly so. That's why he didn't go to Missouri. Didn't offer him enough. But, did he really get the "full ride"? Probably.

It's also intersting to point out that the player, David Cales from Mt Carmel, who did accept some sort of aid from Missouri we Brewer didn't, and played there as a freshman, is no longer at Mizzou.
Rare but true, Paul Duncan just signed one last night. There is no question that this is virtually unheard of! In all the years I have been coaching pitchers the largest scholarship one of my pitchers ever received at a division 1 school was 85%. A very small percentage 15% or less came from academic monies in Paul's case. Bottom line is the commitment the EKU made.
Last edited by TT41
I agree with many things that have been said here. It has always been my understanding that "Full Ride" meant a 100% athletic scholarship. There just isn't enough baseball money to go around to be giving out full rides, on the other hand to some it's all about reducing the cost of college expenses, so any combination of scholarships, grants, etc. are welcomed by most. I'm for whatever it takes to keep the game alive at all levels. My son and I experienced the joy of him signing a NLI on Nov 9th last year, it was an educational process as well as being a day he will never forget. Isn't that what it's all about, to be rewarded for all your hard work and sacrifices so you can continue to play the "best game on earth".
Last edited by HighBalls
The Term Full Ride refers to BB money. To me it shows BB prowess. Axademic money show academic prowess. The end result amy be all or most of your education is paid for and that is the goal.
I can just see 25 out of 35 players walking around saying they got a full ride. The money just isn't available. Most coaches try to load you up with academic money as far as they can and then dip into the BB vault.

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