Prospective Student-Athletes

Who is a "Prospective Student-Athlete"?

A prospective student-athlete is a student who has started classes for the ninth grade. In addition, a student who has not started classes for the ninth grade becomes a prospective student-athlete if the institution provides such an individual (or the individual's relatives or friends) any financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally.

An individual remains a prospective student-athlete until one of the following occurs (whichever is earlier):

The individual registers and enrolls in a minimum full-time program of studies and attends classes in any term of four-year institution's regular academic year (excluding summer); or
The individual participates in a regular squad practice or competition at a four-year institution that occurs before the beginning of any term; or
The individual officially registers and enrolls and attends classes during the summer prior to initial enrollment and receives athletics financial aid.

One a prospective student-athlete signs either:

a National Letter of Intent;
a written offer of Admission; or
a Written offer of Financial Aid

they are no longer subject to the recruiting restrictions of contacts & evaluations. However, that prospective student-athlete is still subject to other NCAA rules involving recruiting.

In basketball, a student who has started classes for the seventh grade is considered a prospective student-athlete.

What is "amateurism" and how does it relate to intercollegiate athletics?
Only an amateur student-athlete is eligible for intercollegiate athletics participation in a particular sport. Because of this, all freshmen and transfer student-athletes initially enrolling at a Division I institution are required to complete the amateurism certification process with the NCAA Eligibility Center. This process ensures that NCAA amateurism regulations are applied uniformly for all incoming student-athletes.

The NCAA Eligibility Center may review the following high school athletics activities in determining a college-bound student-athlete's amateurism status:

Contracts with a professional team.
Salary for participating in athletics.
Prize money.
Play with professionals.
Tryouts, practice or competition with a professional team.
Benefits from an agent or prospective agent.
Agreement to be represented by an agent.
Delayed initial full-time collegiate enrollment to participate in organized competition.

In order for the NCAA to gather information regarding these activities, each prospect is asked to answer questions regarding his or her sports participation history when he or she registers with the Eligibility Center. By answering these questions, each prospect helps the NCAA capture a picture of their amateur status and to identify any potential issues that might conflict with NCAA rules. If the agreed-upon facts of the prospect's history indicate that a violation occurred, an eligibility penalty will be imposed based on the severity of the violations. Penalties include repayment of money, sitting out a specified number of games or, in rare cases, permanent ineligibility.

What if I want to transfer to Wagner and participate in Intercollegiate Athletics?
Student-athletes who attend a four-year institution (NCAA or NAIA) and are interested in transferring to Wagner College must first obtain written permission to contact Wagner College from their current or previous institution's athletics compliance office or director of athletics, prior to communicating (e.g., email or telephone calls) with Wagner coaches or athletics department personnel.

A prospective student-athlete who is enrolled in the first year of a two-year college who was not certified as a Qualifier with the Eligibility Center (see the tab on the top of this page for more information) may not be contacted in-person on or off of Wagner's campus for recruiting purposes. However, such prospects are still allowed to make or receive calls and electronic correspondence with coaching staff.

More information about the rules (including academic requirements) that prospects who intend to transfer to an NCAA institution need to know can be found in the Transfer 101: Basic information you need to know about transferring to an NCAA college (PDF).

What if I am a current Wagner student and want to join a team?
If you are interested in joining one of Wagner's Athletic programs, please contact the staff of the individual sport in which you are interested in. Each team's walk-on policies are different, and the coaching staff can answer any questions you might have regarding that team's walk-on procedures.

NLI (National Letter of Intent)

The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution. With the agreement, a prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters) and the institution agrees to provide athletic-related financial aid for at least one academic year (two semesters). If a student-athlete does not fulfill the NLI agreement, he or she has to serve one year in residence (full-time, two semesters) at the next NLI member institution and lose one season of competition in all sports. For more information regarding the National Letter of Intent Program, visit the NLI website.

Prospects Who May Sign a NLI:

In order to sign a NLI, a prospective student-athlete must first register with the NCAA Eligibility Center and complete the amateurism certification questionnaire.

The following prospective student-athletes may sign a NLI:

Prospective student-athletes who will be attending a four-year institution in the fall for the first time as full-time students (including high school, preparatory school, or two-year college).
4-2-4 transfer student-athletes who will be graduating from a two-year college.

Eligibility

What is the Eligibility Center?

The NCAA Eligibility Center maintains and processes all initial-eligibility and amateurism certifications, both of which are required in order to practice, compete, and receive athletics-related financial aid. Click here to access the Eligibility Center website.
Who must register?
All high school prospective student-athletes who want to compete in athletics at the collegiate level as well as all two-year college student-athletes who are entering a Division I or II institution for the first time, and current students who intend to participate must also register with the Eligibility Center.
When should I register?
You are able to register with the Eligibility Center at any time. However, it is recommended that high school students register at the beginning of their junior year. Students must be registered with the Eligibility Center prior to making an official visit to any NCAA institution (during their senior year of high school) and prior to signing a National Letter of Intent. Two-year college transfer students must register prior to signing a National Letter of Intent.
How do I become eligible?
College-bound prospects who want to practice, compete and receive athletically related financial aid during their initial year of enrollment need to meet the following requirements:

Graduate from high school.
Complete a minimum of 16 core courses. (4 years of English, 3 years of Math, 2 years of Natural/Physical Science, 1 additional year of English/Math/Science, 2 years of Social Studies, and 4 years of other core courses)
Earn a minimum required grade-point average in core classes.
Earn a qualifying test score on either the ACT or SAT.
Request final amateurism certification from the NCAA Eligibility Center.

For Division I prospects who are looking to enroll on or after August 1, 2016, the requirements to compete in the first year of college will change. In addition to the above standards, prospects must:

Earn at least a 2.3 grade-point average in core courses.
Meet an increased sliding-scale standard (for example a 820 SAT score or a 68 Sum ACT score will require a 2.50 Core GPA).
Successfully complete 10 of the 16 total required core courses before the start of the seventh semester in high school. Seven (7) of the 10 courses must be successfully completed in English, Math and Natural/Physical Science.

Prospects who earn a 2.0 Core GPA and meet the current sliding scale standard (for example, an SAT score of 820 or Sum ACT score of 68), but do not meet the 2.3 Core GPA requirement will be eligible for practice in the first term and receive athletically related financial aid the entire year, but will not be allowed to compete. Freshman who are academically successful in the first term will earn the ability to continue to practice for the remainder of the year.

Important NCAA Links and Resources: