I am having trouble finding information about this particular situation…
If a student athlete is a walk on for an equivalency D1 sport (receives no athletic scholarship) but receives an academic merit award, does any of that merit award get “counted” against the coaches allotment of athletic scholarships for the sport? I would assume there are either GPA/SAT/ACT requirements for an athlete on a team roster that receives academic merit money to not have it count against the coaches athletic scholarship limit. For the example assume the student athlete earns a large NMF award and the sport is womens soccer. Thanks.
It shouldn’t be a problem because the student has earned the scholarship outside of athletic merit. If any part of the merit scholarship is because of sports -any sport, not just the one she’s playing - it might count against the team total. For example, if the scholarship is for having the highest gpa of any athlete at the high school, it needs to be examined by the college athletic department and most likely will count against the team.
Athletic and merit scholarships can be combined if the athlete meets certain academic levels. Some schools make the student pick merit or athletic and don’t allow stacking. That’s up to the school.
The standard is in NCAA Bylaw Section 15.5.3.2.2.1. Schools may be more restrictive, but for NCAA purposes, these are the minimum ACT, SAT, HS GPA or HS class standing (you only need one of the 4) that a student athlete has to have for automatic merit money not to be counted against the team’s limit. There are more complicated rules for awards that are not automatic.
thanks, I figured it was a benefit (to both sides) as the student wont need to draw from the limited athletic scholarships the coach has, but just wanted to be sure.
I am not an expert on this but from following D1 Basketball and Football recruiting for 30+ years I believe the rule is the student can’t have been recruited or promised a walk on spot.