138 The Sports Scholarships Insider’s Guide
reluctant to spend the money to go on a two-day college visit
with little hope of her son being accepted. I called the coach,
who of course knew that the prospect was on my service, and
shared with him the prospect’s mother’s reluctance and asked
him if he would “handle” the trip. He agreed to make it an
official visit. I never spoke to him again.
I prepared the mother for the visit in the same manner the
book prepares you for a college visit. We especially focused on
the out-of-state tuition. During the interview with the coach,
the mother expressed her inability to handle the costs of the
prospect’s education at that institution. The coach replied
by asking her not to make any decision until he had talked
with the people in admissions and financial aid. He explained
to them that he couldn’t accompany them to either office
because of recruiting rules, but he was confident that her son
would be offered a good package. When they were finished
being presented with the financial aid package, he told them
to ask the officer to call him and he would come to get them
to take them to lunch. To their astonishment, they found that
they were eligible for a full Pell Grant, a hefty academic award,
a Stafford Loan, a minority/diversity grant (the prospect was
Hispanic), a Leadership Award, and a waiver of the out-of-state
tuition. Their out-of-pocket expenses were $785 per semester,
which they could cover.
Even though my client struggled academically for the first
year, he not only snagged the roster position, he was a starter
after the second game of the season. He accepted the academic
challenge his sophomore year, became a small college football
hero, and graduated with honors.