JUCO

Niner's Parent:

You probably know all of this but it bears repeating for others who are being recruited. NJCAA scholarships are based on headcount, not equivalencies. The max (and not all schools fund them) number of players you can have on some sort of Scholy is 24.

At some schools, that can be 24 players receiving books. At others 24 players receiving full rides. The administration will set the budget for the coach. He'll probably be planning on bringing in 12 scholy guys per year. The offer will depend more on how highly the program is funded, if they want a particular player ...

Ask the right questions and keep an open mind.

Niner, Your son should treat this visit just like he would a visit to a NCAA or NAIA school. Questions about what kind of academic support is available, what size roster do they carry, depth of position, where kid's move on to and what the coach does to assist in that process, what majors are available (they'll probably have you meet with admissions people), what housing is available (many JUCOs don't have housing), and do they put athletes together, etc. If an offer is made, you would need to clarify exactly what that covers. Some states are allowed to include room/board in a JUCO offer. Have they said if they want your son to work out with the team? If so, this provides a wonderful opportunity for him to meet players, ask questions, see how they respond to the coach, what their relationships with one another are like. I personally do not think it's a good idea to accept offers on the spot. I didn't let my son do it, although I knew exactly where he was going to end up going when we visited that particular school. It's good to come home and think of everything in a less emotional moment.

Lafmom,

We did most of that on the first visit. Tour, admission, worked out with the team.
AT the end of the visit they asked him to come back again soon. Then they called every week thereafter.

Also during the first visit we were told at the end that when and if we come back for the second visit we would talk scholarship money.

Niner, That's a different scenario than we ever had. Offers were always made at the initial visit or on the phone shortly afterwards. We did a second visit to the school he signed with, but it was so my son could actually commit in person (just something he wanted to do) and watch the team play. I'm assuming this must be a school close to your home. I guess I would say that I still feel it's important to consider offers for a short time before committing. However, a second visit might give you all a chance to look things over again, have any remaining questions answered face to face. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Niner... My son had a similar situation, some coaches offer a schlorship during the initial phone call, some offered during the initial visit. One coach has called every week even though he has been told that son has already made a verbal, he never offered anything. several full rides, 1 everything but the meal card, 1 no offer but very persistant. I guess it is true, it depends on the school. By the way he took the full ride as it turned out it was the only school that had his degree plan. The only negative is that he will be 6 hours from home.

I hope that helped

Tx it did. I will let ya know. We go this Sat. it is about 4 hrs from home. I will post Sunday on it.