College baseball Scholarships

June 02, 2008
The NCAA News
The Southeastern Conference presidents voted May 30 to sponsor NCAA legislation that would increase the number of permissible baseball scholarships in Division I from 11.7 to 14.7. Once entered into the 2008-09 legislative cycle, the proposal will first be considered by the new Legislative Council.

The earliest the proposal could be adopted by the Division I Board of Directors would be at the NCAA Convention in January 2009.

The proposal, sponsored by Mississippi State and LSU, gives voice to those who have long felt that the number of scholarships allowed for baseball student-athletes is too small, especially in the wake of recent changes in the sport.

In 2007, an NCAA working group recommended various changes in the sport as a way to improve academic success. Among those changes, approved as emergency legislation by the Board and implemented last year, was a requirement that individual financial aid packages for baseball student-athletes include at least 25 percent athletics aid and the elimination of the one-time transfer rule for student-athletes.
Supporters say the change would help create more parity among teams that have state assistance for scholarship programs and those that do not, but they acknowledged that the change might be a tough sell at the national level.

Larry Templeton, Mississippi State athletics director and a member of the baseball working group, told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that "we’ve got to do a lot of work" to get the Division I Board of Directors – which has final approval on the plan – to agree to it.

 

on another related issue

I know a negative expressed for the shorter season in Div 1 (later start date to make it better for northern schools) in '08 and beyond was that the same # of games had to be squeezed into less # of weeks. Question: Do schools have to play a certain minimum # of games? I know there's a maximum # of games to schedule. Could they just schedule less games total if too many mid-week games is an issue?

 

I do not see this ruling passing. They (The SEC) can support or back it..... but that and a dollar won't even get you a Coke anymore....
The problem is that a lot of schools that they have to get to vote in favor of this to pass do not even have 11.7 scholarships now. That is the dirty little secret of college baseball. Some schools like UNC, NC State, and All the SEC have the maximum amount of scholarships funded by their Schools. It is up to the schools how they want to fund baseball and a lot of schools do not give baseball 11.7 funded scholarships because it is not a priority sport. I do not see these schools voting in favor of a new proposal to make the schools with money get more of an advantage. It may pass but you will hear a lot of really upset people making a big mess about it if it does. I still don't see it happening.....

 

It probably won't pass. And who suffers? The kids do. From little league to college it seems that everything: politics, money, cities and towns, and of course mama and daddy comes before the kids.

It is supposed to be about the kids but so many times they come last. I know they try to make it even for the schools that can't afford to compete but that just means that there is a kid who deserves some money help and the money is there but he can't have it.

 

NCAA D1 Scholarship Limits

There are schools that do not even fully fund the 11.7. Moving to 14.7 @ a 25% minimum will only help the rich schools get richer. UNC-Wilmington, according to Edward G. Robinson III, Staff Writer for the Raleigh News and Observer, reported that "while the NCAA allows Division I programs to fund 11.7 scholarships per baseball team, the Seahawks are funded by the athletic department for only 9.3. Recruiting in-state allows coaches to offer players in-state tuition with their partial scholarships." I am certain that a lot of the smaller D1 schools do not fully fund 11.7 scholarships so moving to 14.7 will not help them. Couple this new idea with the 25% rule and small schools are disadvantaged.

"The intent of forcing the baseball programs to award at least a quarter scholarship to every player, limit rosters to 27 scholarship players, and 35 players overall may not not have been intended to keep student-athletes from playing the game they love but that is exactly the impact the rule is having." [Doug Jolley GamecockAnthem.com Posted May 24, 2008]

I will say to all MIDDLE SCHOOL kids who are interested in college baseball - your best avenue to the college baseball field is through the classroom!!!!! Take the college prep courses and be as diligent in the classes as you are on the baseball field.

I have spoken with several graduationg seniors who are very good baseball players but they cannot play D1 baseball not from lack of talent but from a lack of the GPA/SAT.


Read the full article at http://southcarolina.scout.com/2/757143.html

 

amen cbsconsult

My son was awarded the max in non need based scholarship money in academics and community service/citizenship the school would allow. His college coach told us he rec'd much more than baseball could ever have done for him, but he had a jersey waiting.