Part IV: Committing to a School in Visual Studio .NET

Creator Code 128 Code Set A in Visual Studio .NET Part IV: Committing to a School

What if you sign a letter of intent with a junior college or an NAIA school Only NCAA Division I and II schools are members of the NLI program, so you can sign an NLI with a Division I or Division II school even you previously signed a letter of intent with a junior college or NAIA institution There is not a national letter of intent program for the NAIA; each school determines its requirements if it chooses to have a letter of intent The NJCAA does have a letter of intent program and its requirements and penalties are similar to the NLI program You can find a sample NJCAA letter of intent and scholarship agreement form at the following Web site: wwwnjcaaorg/njcaaforms/050823_4_Letter ofIntent%20Compressedpdf If you do sign a letter of intent with either an NAIA school or a junior college, make sure you understand the differences between these letters and the NLI program before you sign more than one letter

In most sports, when a verbal commitment has been made by the prospect, coaches from other schools may no longer recruit the prospect this is very common in volleyball and soccer Highprofile sports such as football and men s and women s basketball, however, usually have a slightly different philosophy When a prospect makes a verbal commitment in those sports, other schools increase their recruiting efforts and try to persuade the athlete to change his mind You are not permitted to sign a second NLI if you decide to transfer from one four-year school to another You are permitted to sign only one NLI during your athletic career, and if you decide to transfer to another school, you would be permitted to sign only a financial-aid agreement with the second institution

The NLI is a legally binding document, and as soon as you sign one, other schools are not permitted to recruit you For many athletes, signing an NLI is a relief it means no more phone calls, letters, or heavy recruiting from other universities And no more agonizing over which college to attend the decision is made You are signing the NLI with an institution, not a specific coach or athletics program If the coach leaves, you are not released from your obligation Many times, a student-athlete who is excited about training and playing under a specific coach learns only after he or

she has signed an NLI that the coach will be leaving the institution for greener pastures (or fields) The document is binding, and you will be expected to attend that school for at least one year, regardless of the coaching staff Failure to meet your obligation to the NLI could result in severe eligibility penalties if you want to transfer to another NLI school See the nearby sidebar A deal is a deal for a real-life example Where do you turn if you have questions about the NLI The answer is the Southeastern Conference (SEC) The SEC handles the daily administrative duties of the National Letter of Intent program on behalf of the Collegiate Commissioners Association The phone number at the SEC is 205-458-3000, but the NLI Web site (wwwnational-letterorg) is the best place to start

In November 2002, four highly recruited prospects all signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at the University of Kansas starting in the fall of 2003 In April 2003, however, the longtime, successful head coach at Kansas decided to leave the school and become the head coach at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina All four of the recruits were shocked by the coach s departure, and three readily admitted that their main reason for choosing to sign with Kansas was the opportunity to play for the now-departed coach Because the four had signed NLIs, they were obligated to attend Kansas for one full year Their other options were to attend a junior college and then transfer to another Division I school or request a mutual release agreement from Kansas Three of the four were named to at least one high school All-American team, and all four were star players who could have chosen to attend a number of schools, so Kansas was reluctant to grant any relief from the NLIs that they signed All four eventually attended Kansas for the 2003 2004 academic year, and all played on the basketball team After the 2003 2004 year, one transferred to the University of Louisville, while another transferred to the University of California at Berkeley Both were required to sit out during the 2004 2005 season according to NCAA transfer rules and are eligible to play in 2005 2006 The remaining two stayed at Kansas during the 2004 2005 season, but only one is left now the other recently transferred to the University of New Mexico and will have to sit out until the 2006 2007 season What would have happened if those basketball players decided not to attend Kansas and wanted to go to another school that participates in the NLI program

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