[Mr.Kimball]

I had the opportunity to play NAIA basketball at a couple schools, but the "scholarship" offers were more dependent on what I could earn in terms of academic scholarships more than anything. Had I attended either of the two schools I would have been paying between 1500-3000 dollars a year because I didn't qualify for any other type of financial aid. Typically a NAIA "athletic scholarship" means how much money you qualify for through financial aid and, coupled with assistance to obtain academic scholarships, and the university providing ammenities such as books or a meal plan. Meanwhile, I had a full academic scholarship to EKU as long as I maintained a 3.0 GPA, that coupled with the money I got from KEES (sp?), covered my tuition and my housing roughly every year.

I loved playing basketball, but it was pretty obvious NAIA would be the end of the road in terms of my playing career. So it came down to paying a little bit of money, attend a small school, have most of my free time occupied by basketball. Or, attend a larger university with alot of my friends, have school basically payed for save books and food, and have my free time for whatever I wanted. The choice was easy for me.

I was fortunate to have the option of a scholarship to EKU.. for people who need the help financially NAIA is a great option and provides athletes a chance to get a phenominal education at a discounted price. There is alot of misinformation, especially on the side of parents and athletes, as to what an athletic scholarship entails. Once you get away from Division 1, true "Full rides" are basically non-existent... and even at the D-1 level they are not as prevalant as people think. UK Baseball is one of the better programs in the country but only a moderate fraction of their players are truly on "full rides".

That is a point that should be brought out to any person thinking about playing college sports at any level. If you do in fact choose to play, you have a very limited amount of free time. For the next 4 years, you are basicly enslaved to the sport. However, honestly I can personally only give baseball as an example. For 12 months a year, 52 weeks a year, 7 days a week, 24hours a day, it is your life. At least it has been for mine.

If your not willing to make that sacrifice, then I suggest that it not be considered.