Anon What to know about a Walk-on spot? NIL eligible?

[Anonymous (a75f)]

My daughter has been in talks with a few coaches at D1 schools, and some have filled their scholarship spots and are talking about "walk-on" spots.
While they say walk-ons are treated exactly the same as any other athlete, they just don't get their schooling paid for. My question is do these athletes still get NIL money? If the athlete is from out of state is it viable to ask if they can get in-state tuition? Any and all info is much appreciated! Thank you

 

[Anonymous (99f0)]

Walk-on spots will be eliminated in 2025 when the settlement goes into effect. Roster limits go into effect, up to 20 spots are available. My understanding is that all roster spots now need to be scholarships. It is up to the school to decide how many scholarships they want to fund. Now there are athletes that are filing objections to this because of the eliminations of walk-ons (article) for example I know Georgia gymnasts have been told that 4 of them will be cut next year because they have 24 on the team right now, but as of now, during our process with D1 SEC schools we were told there were no more walk-ons. But of course this stuff is changing fast, so who knows.

In regards to NIL, depends on the school. Again at the SEC schools we were in discussions with, NIL is more an office that was available to all athletes regardless of scholarship or not. None of the schools flat out offered "if you come here you will get X amount," it was all general DIY "if you want, we have had athletes take advantage of the NIL office and make up to Y amount". A few did say, it was a sliding scale of sorts, if you are a star all-arounder, you are going to get plenty of offers, if not, maybe not as much.

I would concur that under current environment walkons are treated just like scholarship spots, many receive the same student COLA stipend amounts which can essentially cover tuition.

 

[Anonymous (a75f)]

Walk-on spots will be eliminated in 2025 when the settlement goes into effect. Roster limits go into effect, up to 20 spots are available. My understanding is that all roster spots now need to be scholarships. It is up to the school to decide how many scholarships they want to fund. Now there are athletes that are filing objections to this because of the eliminations of walk-ons (article) for example I know Georgia gymnasts have been told that 4 of them will be cut next year because they have 24 on the team right now, but as of now, during our process with D1 SEC schools we were told there were no more walk-ons. But of course this stuff is changing fast, so who knows.

In regards to NIL, depends on the school. Again at the SEC schools we were in discussions with, NIL is more an office that was available to all athletes regardless of scholarship or not. None of the schools flat out offered "if you come here you will get X amount," it was all general DIY "if you want, we have had athletes take advantage of the NIL office and make up to Y amount". A few did say, it was a sliding scale of sorts, if you are a star all-arounder, you are going to get plenty of offers, if not, maybe not as much.

I would concur that under current environment walkons are treated just like scholarship spots, many receive the same student COLA stipend amounts which can essentially cover tuition.

There have been multiple coaches talking about Walk-on spot, so a bit confused about no more walk -ons? That is the verbiage they have used. I didn't read it to mean that all 20 spots would need to be scholarship spots, rather the school can now choose how to use their budget or allowance not just capped at 12. We are trying to dot all the i's and cross our t's before deciding if a walk on is the way to go.
What is COLA?
Is it okay to ask if an out of state walk-on can get in state tuition?
just trying to come up with questions so we are clear on everything?

 

[JBS]

What is COLA?

COLA = Cost Of Living Adjustment... or it could be something like Coke or Pepsi.

Is it okay to ask if an out of state walk-on can get in state tuition?

Sure... it's OK to ask almost anything.

There have been multiple coaches talking about Walk-on spot, so a bit confused about no more walk -ons? That is the verbiage they have used. I didn't read it to mean that all 20 spots would need to be scholarship spots, rather the school can now choose how to use their budget or allowance not just capped at 12. We are trying to dot all the i's and cross our t's before deciding if a walk on is the way to go.

I didn't understand that all 20 would be scholarships either... in fact... I have had at least 2 college coaches state to me that they probably wouldn't have 20 scholarships. Don't quote me on that though... no one really seems to understand what is going on at this point.

 

[Anonymous (99f0)]

Yes, its still very much in flux because technically the settlement hasnt been approved and the exact $$ amounts that universities are going to have to cover and spread through the program havent been decided. The roster limit of 20 spots has though, so that is for sure a hard limit on the number of athletes that can be on a team. I agree, there seems to be a grey area or unknown about schools that may only have funding for 12 scholarships, can they still add athletes or "walk-ons"? I am only relaying what I understand and was told during our recruitment process. I am sure I am not 100%. All the schools that we actively talked with told us that walk-ons were being eliminated and that they had the option to go up to 20 scholarships (fortunately these were well funded big programs). They said they actively lobbied against going up to the 20 limit and were pushing for 16-18 because many programs would not be able to fund that many scholarships. One of the reasons that the lawsuit was brought was that athletes like walk-ons were not being compensated when they should have, so part of the settlement/solution was to prevent this type of liability of happening in the future. Again, lots of questions still and even though the roster limit is going into effect in 2025, specifics probably wont be worked out as far as costs and such for another year.

COLA - cost of living or cost of attendance. I know girls that have been walk-ons still received this stipend which seems to be anywhere between 1-2k a month as long as you are enrolled. They also had access to athlete meal plans and all the other amenities (therapy, gym, tutors, etc). So if a walk-on stayed on campus and used the athlete meal plan, that cost of attendance stipend would go directly into their pocket and could be used to pay tuition. I dont know if all schools do this though.

As JBS said you can ask anything, although my bet would be that in-state tuition would be outside of their ability since it falls in the University academic domain. They might have methods to make your daughter eligible for instate so always worth asking!

The other unknown in the settlement is the revenue-sharing that is supposed to go into effect. This is outside of NIL $22 million is supposed to be paid annually to student athletes. It is unknown how that will be allocated, most folks believe most if not all will go to football and basketball but it is unkown about Title IX womens sports getting some of that. At least one program told us that they expected that their team would see some money from revenue sharing.

If you can swing it, meaning cost-wise, and its a great fit for her, it will work out.

 

[Anonymous (a75f)]

Yes, its still very much in flux because technically the settlement hasnt been approved and the exact $$ amounts that universities are going to have to cover and spread through the program havent been decided. The roster limit of 20 spots has though, so that is for sure a hard limit on the number of athletes that can be on a team. I agree, there seems to be a grey area or unknown about schools that may only have funding for 12 scholarships, can they still add athletes or "walk-ons"? I am only relaying what I understand and was told during our recruitment process. I am sure I am not 100%. All the schools that we actively talked with told us that walk-ons were being eliminated and that they had the option to go up to 20 scholarships (fortunately these were well funded big programs). They said they actively lobbied against going up to the 20 limit and were pushing for 16-18 because many programs would not be able to fund that many scholarships. One of the reasons that the lawsuit was brought was that athletes like walk-ons were not being compensated when they should have, so part of the settlement/solution was to prevent this type of liability of happening in the future. Again, lots of questions still and even though the roster limit is going into effect in 2025, specifics probably wont be worked out as far as costs and such for another year.

COLA - cost of living or cost of attendance. I know girls that have been walk-ons still received this stipend which seems to be anywhere between 1-2k a month as long as you are enrolled. They also had access to athlete meal plans and all the other amenities (therapy, gym, tutors, etc). So if a walk-on stayed on campus and used the athlete meal plan, that cost of attendance stipend would go directly into their pocket and could be used to pay tuition. I dont know if all schools do this though.

As JBS said you can ask anything, although my bet would be that in-state tuition would be outside of their ability since it falls in the University academic domain. They might have methods to make your daughter eligible for instate so always worth asking!

The other unknown in the settlement is the revenue-sharing that is supposed to go into effect. This is outside of NIL $22 million is supposed to be paid annually to student athletes. It is unknown how that will be allocated, most folks believe most if not all will go to football and basketball but it is unkown about Title IX womens sports getting some of that. At least one program told us that they expected that their team would see some money from revenue sharing.

If you can swing it, meaning cost-wise, and its a great fit for her, it will work out.

You say that the 20 roster limit is finalized? I didn't realize any of it were finalized until March or whenever the judge is supposed to rule. I knew it was on the table along with many other things but not ruled on. I appreciate that you took the time to explain everything to me, as it gives some great talking points with the coaches. There is so much info out there yet so much misinformation as well.

 

[Anonymous (a75f)]

COLA = Cost Of Living Adjustment... or it could be something like Coke or Pepsi.

Good one! Although we know Coke is always the winner

 

[Anonymous (a75f)]

COLA = Cost Of Living Adjustment... or it could be something like Coke or Pepsi.



Sure... it's OK to ask almost anything.



I didn't understand that all 20 would be scholarships either... in fact... I have had at least 2 college coaches state to me that they probably wouldn't have 20 scholarships. Don't quote me on that though... no one really seems to understand what is going on at this point.

Right, I guess we will all have to wait for clarity. Seems unrealistic for a school to HAVE to give out 20 scholarships if they choose to have 20 on their roster. That is why i think* they will have the discretion to give up to 20 if they have the funding, yet still have the ability to have 20 on their roster.