Men's Tennis Recruiting

[valpotx]

This sounds like the best class of men's tennis players we have ever gotten.  Admittedly, I don't know much about our men's tennis history, but these players sound like real 'gets' for us:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mtennis/news/2012-13/12211/crusader-mens-tennis-signs-trio-of-highly-ranked-recruits/

[Enrico Palazzo]

Seeing as I'll be covering tennis as well, I want to give it some attention too.  I talked with the coaching staff throughout much of the recruiting process.  There were a lot of anxious nights waiting to hear back from these three signees.  They recruited them hard.  And to hear some of the schools these guys turned down in favor of Valpo is, well, awfully impressive. 

Tennis is obviously much more of an individual sport than football or baseball.  Schorsch, Dunn, and Bacalia will all be able to make an immediate impact on the team next year. 

You've gotta hand it to Daugherty and Woodson.  Landing three 4-star recruits isn't easy.

[vu72]

Seeing as I'll be covering tennis as well, I want to give it some attention too.  I talked with the coaching staff throughout much of the recruiting process.  There were a lot of anxious nights waiting to hear back from these three signees.  They recruited them hard.  And to hear some of the schools these guys turned down in favor of Valpo is, well, awfully impressive. 

Tennis is obviously much more of an individual sport than football or baseball.  Schorsch, Dunn, and Bacalia will all be able to make an immediate impact on the team next year. 

You've gotta hand it to Daugherty and Woodson.  Landing three 4-star recruits isn't easy.

Let's face, it.  Tennis has been a pretty big mess for a long time with neither men's or women's teams having done anything on the conference level.  So now, the same coaches get these guys? What happened? Dumb luck or what??

[VULB#62]

Let's face, it.  Tennis has been a pretty big mess for a long time with neither men's or women's teams having done anything on the conference level.  So now, the same coaches get these guys? What happened? Dumb luck or what??

Could be that $$$ are being thrown into the recruiting cycle (visits to recruits and paid campus visits) that weren't in the budget in the past.

[Enrico Palazzo]

I'll be honest: I'm not well-read on the history of men's tennis at Valpo.  Looking back at just the W-L record of the previous five seasons, yeah, it appeared as though the Crusaders were mediocre. 


What I do know is this is Michael Woodson's first season as assistant coach.  One of the main responsibilities of assistants - in every sport - is recruiting.  That's not taking anything away from Daugherty.  He's still the linchpin in the process.  But MW was very aggressive and instrumental in the recruitment of this class.  No dumb luck there.


Furthermore, the staff did their homework and came up with a convincing proposal for administration to add 1.5 scholarships to the team.  Last year, the team operated with 1 scholarship; moving forward they will have 2.5.  The team is close to being fully funded.  The program is seeing the benefits of its hard work.

[valpotx]

I would imagine that fully funding both tennis teams would not add much cost.  An easier way for us to improve in the conference cup challenge, since those two programs had been holding us back.  How many scholarships are allowed in M & W tennis?  The only success in tennis that I remember is either 2003 or 2004 when our women went to the NCAAs after winning conference.

How many scholarships are allowed in T&F, swimming & diving, golf, and CC?  If we improved in those areas, it would be great for our standing as a solid athletic program

[sliman]

Based on the cost of tuition and room/board at Valpo, I think we can presume that each new scholarship will cost the athletics department about $40,000 per year.  One scholarship may not add much cost in the big picture, but clearly adding scholarships on a broader scale will have an impact on the budget.  In addition, Title IX regulations probably required that when we added scholarship funds to men's tennis we needed to do the same for the women.  I think this all points out the importance of ML2's position since these scholarships are operating costs supported by funds that must be secured annually.

[Enrico Palazzo]

Men: T&F/CC (considered one) - 12.6, swimming & diving - 9.9,  golf - 4.5, tennis - 4.5

Women: T&F/CC - 18, swimming & diving - 14, golf - 6, tennis - 8


Now, this is the NCAA limit not necessarily what Valpo distributes.  Where the others are outside tennis re: Valpo, I don't know.  Don't forget - financial aid plays a key role, too. 

[sliman]

When student-athletes receive financial aid that is not based on athletic ability (e.g. need or high academic performance) does the university supply those funds out of its general operating budget or is that cost also covered by the athletics department?  In either case, of course, if we need to focus recruiting only on student-athletes that qualify for aid other than athletic scholarships we're significantly limiting our pool of prospects.  My sense is that this would be especially true in sports such as cross country, swimming and tennis.  As stated, Valpo clearly is not awarding the full compliment of scholarships allowed by the NCAA.  ML may not want to open a public debate about which sports most need additional scholarships, but it might be revealing if he were willing to state the projected additional funds needed for Valpo to offer the full allowance of scholarships in all sports -- probably a staggering amount.

[vu72]

The addition of a scholarship makes sense as to why the sudden success in tennis recruiting.  In general, track, cc, tennis and swimming have been after thoughts with our school records finishing 10th in the conference championships.  This of course is an overall results which has had great performances from individuals like Laura Rolf or Julian Smith.

As an example of the level of our swim teams, this was posted on Valpo's athletic site:
Freshmen Gonzalo Castro Diaz (Mexico City, Mexico) and Frederick Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) have both already set new program records at this weekend's meet.  Castro Diaz set a new mark in the 200 butterfly with a time of 4:08.74 in the 400 individual medley, good for a fourth-place finish.  Meanwhile, Jenny posted a new record of 57.23 seconds in prelims to qualify for the finals in the 100 breaststroke, where he eventually finished in sixth place.

So we set two new program records but those results were good for a fourth and a sixth against the competition which included Grand Valley State, Northern Michigan and other D2 and D3 programs.  None were Horizon League level squads. 

Here again facilities are a big issue as our pool was built in the early 60's and is only 25 meters long.

[Enrico Palazzo]

When student-athletes receive financial aid that is not based on athletic ability (e.g. need or high academic performance) does the university supply those funds out of its general operating budget or is that cost also covered by the athletics department?

Any academic money not related to sports comes from the school's general scholarship fund.  Each team's scholarship budget covers any money above and beyond that.  For the equivalency sports (baseball, tennis, etc.) it's common for a team to offer a half or quarter scholarship coupled with academic $$ to get as close to covering 100% of a student's tuition. 

It's a lesson that can't be reinforced enough with high school student-athletes.  Equivalency sports rarely, if ever, offer 100% full rides based on athletics alone.  High school athletes are told to get good grades, but without even a fundamental understanding of the economics of college athletics, it can be white noise. 

[valporun]

Enrico, I have to agree. I've mentioned this same aspect about college scholarship money to many parents of baseball players, as I work concessions for a lot of summer baseball tourneys, and the parents always disagree with me because they get the "runaround" about scholarship money. Honestly though, most of those AAU/travel parents get jaded about college scholarship money because of the amount of money they are paying out for their kid to be on a certain AAU or travel team. This is true of any sport though, not just baseball. I'm sure we even see some partial scholarships handed out in basketball, as some coaches want a certain player, but can't guarantee the full money right away.

Track and Cross Country scholarships are some of the most difficult to achieve, as coaches can only go by the results they see due to the meet schedules not meshing very well with recruiting, or many schools not allowing for more than one assistant coach, if any assistants. I know Valpo was only offering 1 scholarship in track and cross country altogether for the men, and 1 for the women. It really hamstrung how recruiting a top high school runner in the Indiana/Illinois/Michigan area could be done. Not having a track has been our Achilies' tendon, because that is the one thing coaches in track and cross country love to show off, as one goes into the other for cross country athletes.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

This is true of any sport though, not just baseball. I'm sure we even see some partial scholarships handed out in basketball, as some coaches want a certain player, but can't guarantee the full money right away.

I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure you can't do that.  Otherwise people would be giving out half-scholarships all over and giving half-grant aid for the other half...you could have 26 on your B-Ball roster that way!

In non-revenue sports, I think it's a less fine line, but still.  Football first; then basketball, etc.  E.g. a football player on the basketball team cannot have a basketball scholarship--he has to count against the 85 for football.

[valpotx]

I believe we were around 7-8 scholarships in baseball when I was playing, out of an allotment of the NCAA max of 11 (I think it is 11).  Many people had quarter or half scholarships

[Valposter]

I believe we were around 7-8 scholarships in baseball when I was playing, out of an allotment of the NCAA max of 11 (I think it is 11).  Many people had quarter or half scholarships

Brad, or Valpotx, or anyone that knows:  Is Valpo Baseball a fully-funded program now?  Fully-funded for NCAA D1 baseball is 11.7 scholarships.  I think it is but I'm not 100% sure.

[valpotx]

I remember someone saying a few short years ago that we were at 10 scholarships for baseball now, so up by 2 from my last year of 2003-2004.  It has allowed us to recruit a little bit better

[Valposter]

I remember someone saying a few short years ago that we were at 10 scholarships for baseball now, so up by 2 from my last year of 2003-2004.  It has allowed us to recruit a little bit better

Thanks Valpotx!

[Valposter]

I'll be honest: I'm not well-read on the history of men's tennis at Valpo. Looking back at just the W-L record of the previous five seasons, yeah, it appeared as though the Crusaders were mediocre. What I do know is this is Michael Woodson's first season as assistant coach. One of the main responsibilities of assistants - in every sport - is recruiting. That's not taking anything away from Daugherty. He's still the linchpin in the process. But MW was very aggressive and instrumental in the recruitment of this class. No dumb luck there. Furthermore, the staff did their homework and came up with a convincing proposal for administration to add 1.5 scholarships to the team. Last year, the team operated with 1 scholarship; moving forward they will have 2.5. The team is close to being fully funded. The program is seeing the benefits of its hard work.

Pretty cool that Tracy Woodson's son, Michael, is now an Assistant Coach for the Tennis program.  I knew he played Tennis at Valpo, but I didn't know that he had transitioned to coaching.  Sounds like he has learned how to recruit like his dad!  That is a great accomplishment for Valpo Tennis to get 3 recruits of that caliber!  Best of luck to Assistant Coach Michael Woodson as he begins his coaching career!

[valpotx]

If we can get recruits like these in tennis, maybe there is hope for S&D, T&F/CC as well!  Even adding 1-2 scholarships to each seems to make such a big difference in our non-revenue sports. 

[valporun]

valpotx, I sure hope so, but I think for swimming & diving and track/cross country to get some more scholarship attention, FACILITIES  needed/renovated would have to happen first. Once the fieldhouse is built, it should help swimming, as the pool will not be undersized, and once the track finally gets around the football field, then track and cross country will get some relevant recruiting structure. I know track and cross country right now are just going with a "if you want to run, GREAT" philosophy, but I think Coach Moore and Coach Straubel really want the track to show off to prospective athletes that the program is on an upswing.

[Enrico Palazzo]

You're correct on the 11.7 for baseball.  Valpo isn't quite there but is very close.  Fortunately for VU athletics and student-athletes, the school is very generous in distributing academic money.  And that's for all students, not just athletes.  Because of that, 1/2 scholarships coupled with money bequeathed by the school often cover a significant portion of costs.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

You're correct on the 11.7 for baseball.  Valpo isn't quite there but is very close.  Fortunately for VU athletics and student-athletes, the school is very generous in distributing financial aid.  And that's for all students, not just athletes.  Because of that, 1/2 scholarships coupled with money bequeathed by the school often cover a significant portion of costs.

Sigñore Palazzo, hopefully you are more familiar with the NCAA arcana than I:  but what keeps a school--not just VU, but any--from doing an end-around limits by telling a player for whom they have no athletic aid, "you qualify for a ton of grants!  what a coincidence!"

Because it seems things could get shady really quickly that way.

[Enrico Palazzo]

For students receiving a good amount of grant money, academic performance will normally dictate whether or not that money will continue to trickle in.  Compliance departments monitor this sort of stuff, too.  With football and basketball both being headcount sports - meaning full ride or nothing - there's not the need for those creative accounting practices. 

You see more of those hijinks in D-III sports.  Those student-athletes aren't allowed to receive any athletic scholarship money, but it's funny how a really talented athlete can all of a sudden become eligible for things like the Enrico Palazzo Grant, for example. 

I say that as a former D-III baseball player.  I wasn't the beneficiary of any financial aid shenanigans, but there were some football players whom seemed to get a little extra help.  And they weren't exactly model students. 

Ultimately, it's up to the school to keep itself clean.  There are checks and balances.  But no system is perfect.  From what I've seen and heard, Valparaiso does a very good job of keeping proper perspective in this department.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Thank you!  I had thought that "revenue sports" did not have that kind of exception.  Good to know that compliance keeps track of any future Senator Blutarskys getting a merit scholarship.

[Valposter]

Thanks Brad......great insights into how the scholarship process works!