Starting the process of preparing to play and participate in college sports is crucial for the success of any athlete. The rules of different college leagues are strict and can be confusing, but everything depends on you. If you adhere to the rules in the years leading up to college, and carefully document everything in the league registration process, you’ll be all set.

1. The Right Person at the Right Time

We don’t usually talk about ourselves, but this time we’ll make an exception. The most important thing in the process of preparing for college is finding a reliable and experienced agent who can help you navigate the process both professionally and bureaucratically. A college sports agent has two main roles:

a. Submitting as many scholarship applications as possible from different universities for the athlete.

b. Personally guiding you through the process, with an emphasis on the bureaucratic procedure of NCAA registration, which ultimately determines your eligibility.

What should you be aware of regarding college sports agents?

a. First and foremost, make sure that the agent you’re working with is not also representing professional players. The NCAA does not allow any student-athlete to work with a licensed professional agent, so if you use one during the college application process, the league will find out and disqualify you immediately. Contact only agents or agencies that specialize in college sports.

b. How does the NCAA know who your agent is and how they work? During the registration process, you will need to answer a question about the person who assisted you. Additionally, there is an entire department within the league offices dedicated to researching and investigating (mainly on social media) players and their agents.

If your agent has a website featuring professional players, they will check it out.

If that agent posts about players they represent on social media, they will investigate it.

c. Experience in writing your professional resume and profile. When you register with the league, they thoroughly review all the rules that apply to you (we’ll touch on this later). If even one sentence is written incorrectly, the entire process could be thrown out.

2. Rules Are Rules

Let’s start with the bottom line: You can go to college after military service, even if you played in the top league.

Now, from the beginning.

The NCAA’s basic rule for the average American is simple: You must go to college no later than one year after finishing high school. If you wait more than a year, your eligibility years start to be forfeited, meaning you have a 0% chance of getting into college. Of course, you are not allowed to play professionally before attending college.

(What is considered professional? A professional league where you earn a significant amount of money.)

So what happens in Israel?

For us, or at least for most of us, there is a mandatory military service. The NCAA recognizes this, so military service is considered a continuation of high school with one difference.

In the case of high school, you have up to one year after graduation to go to college, but in the case of military service, the league does not give you the extra year. Your studies must begin at the first opportunity after being discharged from the military.

So what can you do career-wise during military service? In which league can you play?

You can play in any league, as long as you earn a salary that is no more than the standard soldier’s salary. As long as you didn’t earn more than 3,500-4,000 shekels, the NCAA considers it a reimbursement for expenses like travel, food, etc.

Of course, you are not allowed to sign with a professional sports agent, as this would lead to the situation we discussed in section 1.

It’s very important to keep all contracts and documents from your military service (enlistment and discharge dates) because the NCAA will ask to see these documents during their review process.

3. Good Student = Good Chance

Getting into college involves two parallel processes—professional and academic.

On the professional side, the prospective coach will watch your video, but the academic side is a bit more complicated.

To get into a university, you need two things: your high school diploma and the SAT. Both can be worth a lot of money for you.

Sometimes your grades will affect the size of the scholarship you receive, and the better your grades, the more you can save, potentially thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars per year. The SAT is similar to the Israeli psychometric test and is held in Israel on several dates throughout the year. Be aware that if your school grades aren’t good enough, some universities might not accept you academically, even if the coach really wants you, and all your professional efforts could go to waste. It’s crucial to maintain a reasonable GPA and get a good SAT score.

4. Timing Is Everything

The process leading up to starting college is long and requires a lot of time and patience. Let’s talk about professional timing for a moment:

Coaches in various sports are allowed to sign players up to 10 months before the start of the academic year.

Take basketball as an example.

For the 2021 season, where the academic year starts in August, coaches can start signing players as early as November 2020.

Usually, they analyze and scout players for several months, so you actually need to start contacting coaches nearly two years before starting your degree, especially in the case of major universities.

It’s important to note that every case is different, and sometimes everything can be settled within two or three months, but the ideal time to start the process is about a year to a year and a half before the start of the academic year.

We recommend not delaying because, with each passing month, more scholarships are taken, and your options narrow.

5. Ready, Set, Go!

Go play in college. Create a Plan B for your sports career by earning a bachelor's degree, learning a new language, and experiencing a new culture while continuing your career. Return to Israel at the age of 24-25 with a degree in hand and experience playing against some of the best young athletes in the world. For almost every athlete in Israel, participating in college sports will make them better—the facilities are top-notch, the treatment of athletes is of the highest level, with daily medical and physiotherapy care, and the competition is tough and high-quality.

Any athlete who goes to college will return improved in both skills and resume.