Thanks

NCAA - Scholarship Requirements:

Not sure what you already know, but you have a lot of reading to do. It is a real labyrinth and very difficult to decipher and understand.

I will caution that if you or your child is NOT a good enough basketball player to go to college, then you could be headed for disappointment, so be prepared for that. Just remember it is not the end of the world?

Unfortunately if you haven't played for your state in the Australian Junior Championships (preferably U18 & U20) , then a Div I scholarship is probably unrealistic and even a Div II scholarship won’t be easy to get. But, as always, there are exceptions to that general rule.

Kyle Adnam who plays for Melbourne United in the NBL, never made a State Junior team. Love of the game and persistence is the key.

GENERAL
In general, Division I colleges have the biggest budgets to spend on student athletes and in general have the best athletics facilities.

But, unless you think you can make the NBA, then there are very good academic Division II & Division III colleges. One good Div III college is Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the top universities in the world, but I don't think they offer Athletic Scholarships.

A good starting point is : http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/international-student-athletes

ACADEMICS
Firstly, let me point out there is Division I, Division II, Division III and broadly Junior Colleges (JC's).

All have different academic entrance requirements. Division I has the highest academic entrance requirements. The academic entrance requirements for Div I & II can be found at :

https://www.ncaapublications.com/searchadv.aspx?IsSubmit=true&SearchTerm=international%20standards

There are strict requirements surrounding academic qualification. Basically you have to average B's & C's (roughly half you subjects need to be B's & 1/2 C's) for English, Maths, Science, from Year 9 to Year 12.

There is a manual available where you can convert your Australian grades to a USA equivalent Grade Point Average (GPA). It is called International Standards 2015-2016 - Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility - UPDATED October 2015, there is probably a 2016 version and can be found here :

http://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4416-international-standards-2015-2016-guide-to-international-academic-standards-for-athletics-eligibility-updated-october-2015.aspx

If you don’t have the grades or have not studied the correct subjects, depending on what year you are in, you MAY still be able to rectify this by taking more subjects in the core subjects.

If, however, you haven’t studied the right subjects from Y9 or will not receive the required equivalent GPA score for Div I or II, then unfortunately it is all over to enter as a freshman (Year 1) and your only alternative is to enter Junior college. A lot, if not most Junior Colleges do not offer scholarships, so you will need to check with the individual college/s.

SAT / ACT
Assuming you will meet the NCAA Academic entrance requirements you will have to sit at least one Scholastic Aptitude/Assessment Test (SAT) or ACT, most people will sit several of these and the most common is the SAT. They are conducted at various locations in Australia about 5 or 6 times a year. From memory, the ACT is not held as frequent as the SAT's. Book early as they can book out quickly. There are many parts to the SAT which goes for about 4 or 5 hours, but for basketball only the Critical Reading and Maths scores count. Not the Writing section.

NCAA
Assuming your academics are in order, you will have to register with the NCAA eligibility centre.

Here are some good links :

http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/eligibility-center

http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/international-student-athletes
http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/play-division-i-sports

https://au.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/81/2017/01/EdUSAncaa.pdf

ATHLETICS
Once you know you will qualify academically you can now put your energies into trying to secure a scholarship.

It is easier for Australian girls to get Div I or Div II scholarships - why? Australian girls do very well in the FIBA International under age competitions, so Australian girls are held in higher regard than the boys.

Email as many colleges as you can, put together highlight packages and put them on youtube with links to the youtube clips in your email. Put your best highlights first. They may only look at the first 30 seconds.

There are also goups, and even associations, that take teams on tours to the USA in December & June/July.

I believe the June/July tours are the better ones to go on as this is the summer holidays and the main recruiting period in the USA, so all the coaches and their assistants are out scouring the country for the next wave of talent. I believe this helped Kieran Hayward get a Div I scholarship to LSU.

Good Luck.

Sorry there are so many posts. I wrote it in a Word Document and it wouldn't let me post it. There are 7 posts in all.

Interesting read

^All Div1 colleges fir basketball both men and women are what they call full ride, that means all expenses associated with academics, accommodation and meals are covered , plus anything at all to do with basketball.
Depending on the level of Div1.... and the sponsor they attract as in Addidas, Nike, etc, also reflects what else the athletes get.
Some of the top 20 colleges have huge budgets which can give althketes access to other financial "perks" to help whilst at college because they are not permitted to work at all when on full rides. But to get into those colleges you usually have to be in the elite here in Australia and have good academics, though some manage to skirt around the academics by goung early and doing summer school. Their is also no limits on how many times you can sit the SATs, you can keep going till you get the scores you need ( taking the best from any test and adding them together) till you get the pass score to meet requirements. If a college wants you they will help get you through.

Div11 and below have partial scholarships, which means the program has an allotted budget, the coach can determine who on the team can get a full scholarship and who gets a partial. But even the full scholarships don't cover everything in many cases in these level colleges. The student however can work on campus to earn costs( they do tbactually get paid money) for books or frequently it's the accomodation that is not fully covered and athletes are billeted out to college families, the students work and what they would be paid is given to the families for accomodation.( you cannot work and earn in the USA without a green card)

Few if any juco colleges give scholarships.

Fascinating.
Really good information from all posters. My daughter is already setting her sights on College (at 13 years old) After reading this, i would only be interested if she showed signs of receiving a DIV 1 scholarship. If not, i would be focusing on her learning and devloping at home.

Australian basketball coach Michael Clarke, with experience coaching in the US, provides his advice for kids wanting to head to US College in this great article:

Preparing Aussie kids for US college basketball

Talk to some of the more active coaches in your club. I imagine there'd be a few in SA clubs with decent knowledge.

My advice is never to pay any money to anyone who says they can get your kid into college (unless you're happy to do that to get them into a lower level). If your kid is an elite player on the recognised pathway they have a chance to get there without any "assistance". If they're not elite here they have practically zero chance of attending a higher level school no matter how much you pay

I suspect Duke Fan is right. I asked my brother about this a few months back to check my thinking. He said that if an upcoming player wants help with this, to try contacting an NBL coach or assistant or ABL-level alternative. The NBL head coaches might be too busy, but someone in those programs would be able to help you with the pathway, with assessing the reality, etc. These guys have jobs already, so they generally don't have an incentive to sell you on some expensive program.

I imagine you want to have some ability so you're not wasting time.

Anon^ is opening up another topic with comparisons between Aussie kids or overseas kids and those based in the USA.

Essentially, yes kids based in the USA have one advantage, that is they are seen or known about more readily, although this is less of an advantage these days it is still there.

The kids that can barely read or write are hardly going to qualify for a D1 college, their pathway is more often through a Junior college and if they can get decent grades studying some easy subjects their skill set could get them a transfer.

USA coaches love Aussie kids that show a great work ethic, are easy to coach and prepared to work hard for their team and the coach, so if you can play and can qualify academically you have just as much chance as those USA based kids.

Remember this also, not all kids who go over to the USA get drafted to the most suitable college, they may set their sights higher than their actual skill set can cope with, or even worse their character!

"I imagine you want to have some ability so you're not wasting time."

100% correct Isaac. In the past 12 years I've been associated on a coaching level with 7 kids who got Div1 scholarships and 2 Div 2. All bar 1 of those kids travelled the recognised pathway here. NITP. U16/18 Nationals. Australian junior development squads and teams, COE. Not all did all but all at least played 18 Nationals. Once you have that playing resume at the elite level here, if your academics are decent, you're going to get noticed and it's not too far to finding yourself in the US. Really all I had to do for any of them was write a reference or answer an email. Aussies have a solid rep over there and really if you're playing at that level all most prospective programmes want to know are the character things. Work ethic, coachability, family background etc
The 1 kid who didn't travel that pathway was an interesting story. Didn't play anything higher then Div 1 reps his whole junior career. At around 16 had a major growth spurt to 6'10. Happened to meet a US High School coach who was visiting Australia and ended up being invited to go and do the last 2 semesters at a US High School after he finished year 12 and graduated over there. Now his parents had to pay airfares/expenses for that and he didn't go with the aim of going to college, just for the experience (and his folks could afford it). The rest is a freakin Disney Movie. While he was there he hit a purple patch of form and his team won the State Championship. One night the coach of the local Div 1 college (not a powerhouse, but still a Div 1 school) came to scout. Kid has a triple double (points/rebounds/blocks), next thing you know after a few emails back and forth the kid has a full ride at a Div 1 school. He's just finished his senior year and is about to graduate. Now that's a million to one shot for all those things to come together, but a nice outcome for the family.

Lot of misinformation here some good stuff but it is very quite simple and complicated at the same time and is too in depth to be written here. However hot tip make sure your eligible checkout NCAA clearinghouse you need to take the right classes all the way through year 12 that means 4 years of your core subjects and then take the ACT or SAT doesn't matter which but your GPA does affect the score you need to get.

Academics and a good basketball resume are foundation and then to make it all happen you need to get in touch with coaches over there. I do agree that being part of an elite program is important but this can be almost anything ie at an association level not necessarily the state or national level. The way it is going, even NITP will soon become elitist, not from the point of ability but affordability as apparently now BV started charging for it. Imagine how many kids will miss out now. It used to be free and yet some kids were not able to attend. Even playing for the State has become privilege of those who can afford it and some really good kids missed out in the past, yet they found a way to end up in the US.

Playing for a State or on a national team will raise profile but means very little to the coaches if they did not watch these players in action. There are 360 odd D1 colleges and only a handful will turn up for these tournaments. So start promoting your kid - probably the first discussion should be with your association if they can help out. I bet Duke fan has left a really nice impression with the coaches considering a number of recommendations he has written, so someone like him would be a good starting point. Coaches in the US are all well connected so creating a link with one may mean getting in touch with many more. From what I have seen recently Dandenong and Frankston have been doing a really good job promoting their kids and creating pathways to the States.

Using paid assistance is optional - AUSA organizes tours and participation in tournaments where many D1 coaches show up. Personally I don't think that an aggressive promotion would help in this case - if a player does not perform during these 2-3 games, no outside promotion (paid or not) would help.

Also ask your kid what he/she wants to do - what is that they want to get out of all this? A degree or a potential to get better and eventually end up in an elite league? It is not for everyone as we have seen by some recent examples - kids going to really good programs to come back after a very brief stint. For me, going overseas even for a short period of time is really good, enhances life experience.

Also remember colleges/universities do not look for short term answers they expect you to be there for 4 years it is an investment they own you for those years. If you do go for a short period of time you are ruining it for everyone else and many coaches may feel burned by the last guy they recruited from the country. I agree with poster above it is not for everyone and in Australia you are under prepared for the meticulous detail and hard work that goes into everyday. If your mentally prepared and ready for the challenge of 4 years of a program that will tear you down to build you up to what their needs are then by all means this is the way to go. If you just want to go for a year and hang out and some exp then it is not the best option.

knowitall :) I agree with most what you said but not with 'ruining it for everyone else'. If kids decide to go there to get a degree, then they should stick with it. But if they are going there to play basketball and then end up sitting on the bench or even worse mistreated in any way, hell yeah they should advise everyone else not go into that program.

Coaches do understand that kids move on for various reasons and nobody has a crystal ball to see what will happen. And I don't think that any of these kids goes there with intent to stay for a year - they all have dreams, sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. And in reality it cost these colleges basically nothing to bring kids from all over the world so it is all part of their recruiting.

The reality is you are not going to play your first year most likely you will probably not play alot your 2nd year if you are good enough you will play your Junior and Senior years that is the way it works unless you are an all-american or all-world top 50 kid. You have to earn it and everyone on a Division 1 team was the best player on their H.S team so you better come ready to practice and play like you never before cause the best player will play and the rest will be apart of it and there is nothing wrong with that because the reps you get in practice and the training you get from coaches is second to none.

Sorry but your actual knowledge is way off. US kids compete at a higher level basically from 5th grade up kids are playing. Only 1% of all H.S basketball players play D-1 basketball. It is uber competitive. Playing against older pro's is a crap shoot especially at the state level as they are not in the best of shape and practice 2-3 nights a week. In H.S in the states you are practicing every day sometimes doubling up with your "Traveling team" (Club team if you will). The biggest adjustment is the constant competitive nature it takes to produce at such a young age. As for academics you are way off again. You can take as many classes as you want that you can fit in your schedule many programs do advise to take 12-15 credits 4-5 classes a semester due to time constraints however you can take night classes and load up your schedule if you want and take 15-21 credits if you would like. There is ton of choice in the classes you can take and I wouldn't liken it to YR 10 please. Yes you have to take a number of generals which are your core subjects but it is setup where you have a choice of English class choice of Math class choice of Social Studies class choice of Science as well as adding in your classes from your major. Please be better informed before advising anyone cause you are way off. As for free time there is always time to find some if you want to that is a fact. It is not a lonely time as your teammates are in the bunker with you and those are lifetime friendships that never go away.

State teams are a joke they should be playing way more tournaments they train but it is not everyday and some of these kids train with SBL teams but don't play in the games. It is mere semantics point is there is nothing to prepare you for the intensity and competition level a D1 school offers none at all.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/tracking-transfer-division-i-men-s-basketball

Interesting read - "That said, about 40% of all MBB (Men's Basketball) players who enter Division I directly out of high school depart their initial school by the end of their sophomore year."

For what it's worth - I had a son who went to a top 100 Academic Div 1 college & a high major conference, so I think that entitles me to comment.

I have been through the recruiting process, college visits and the whole 'process' to get to college.

The USA High School education system, in general, is lower than what it is here in Australia, period!

My son only just scraped through to qualify academically. However, managed to get A's in college?

As for the training, it was no more intense and according to him probably less so than what he had been used to here with domestic club, Rep Association, NITP, State, etc.

I know many of his friends through basketball (20+) who have gone over there and when I've discussed their experiences with them, their experience is overwhelmingly similar to my son's.

I would say all the kids I know through my son went mainly for the basketball - "If it wasn't for basketball they wouldn't be going there to study", is what they all say.

Having said that, it is a good life experience for those that are that way inclined and fortunate enough to get a scholarship.

It also my observation that of those that go,they rarely come back and play in the NBL, most are State, QBL or SEABL level players.

Not saying knowitall is off the mark, but some of his/her views are not consistent my my first hand knowledge through my own son and his friends.

Cheers

http://www.aussiehoopla.com/college-basketball-scholarships-2/

A Guide to Obtaining College Basketball Scholarships
By Dan Leeworthy — September 15, 2012

I am just speaking on exp. and actually going through the process not every kid that is good enough to play D-1 is going to be in the elite programs here or in the AIS kids slip through the cracks and there isn't enough spots for talented kids here. As for intensity there is nothing more intense than a D-1 basketball game not the NBA nothing that is why people love watching it so much cause of the amount of effort you have to put in every possession. That being said I have no doubt that the elite of the elite in Australia put the work in but not everyone is in that category. I believe if the original poster was in that category he would not be messaging us "know it alls" ;) if you catch my drift.