The disbursement of athletic scholarships at Ohio State is a rigorous task for the head coach of any team.
The NCAA sets the number of scholarships allowed for the various men's and women's athletic teams, and from there the disbursement of funds is left up to the coaches.
"The NCAA puts limitations on the amount of scholarships given to the various sports," said Andy Geiger, athletic director at OSU.
The money for athletic scholarships is raised through repeat business, ticket sales and various other ways through the Athletic Department, Geiger said. The Athletic Department pays the university in cash for athletic scholarships and is self-supporting.
OSU must meet its scholarship obligations to Title IX, the legislation giving equity to men's and women's sports.
"What we do is offer a large number of sports to meet our Title IX obligation," Geiger said.
The distribution of athletic scholarships is therefore balanced between the various men's and women's sports. For instance, football gets 85 scholarships because it has the largest roster to fill, but as a result the other men's teams get less than their female counterparts. Baseball gets 11.7; basketball receives 13; golf collects 4.5; gymnastics secures 6.3; and wrestling gains 9.9.
For the women's team each receives more scholarships per sport because no one women's sport chews up as many scholarships as football does.
Softball procures 12, women's basketball gets 15; golf receives 6; gymnastics acquires 12; and crew is given 20.
In what are known as Olympic sports — which do not include football, baseball, and men's and women's basketball — a large part of the team consists of walk-ons, said Miles Avery, the men's gymnastics coach.
Most of the Olympic sports get fewer scholarships than spots they have to fill.
"In our sport we have 7.45 scholarships, but our travel team size in the Big 10 is 24," said Bill Wadley, coach of the men's swimming team for 14 years.
He said in order to have competition for spots on the team there must be more than 24 athletes, so the team's roster actually needs to be about 30.
The same situation is true for the men's gymnastics, which receives 6.3 scholarships but has to fill 15 to 18 spots.
The scholarships Olympic sports receive are broken down into smaller increments so that each athlete on the team receives some form of a scholarship.
"All the scholarships are divided up in a very small way," Wadley said. "What we do is divide them up a lot. We have kids that are on very small scholarships like books or $500. We try to divide them up between as many athletes as possible."
In some cases athletes in an Olympic sport do receive a full scholarship, but that is very rare, Avery said. If the athlete is exceptionally talented then it is possible to get a full scholarship, and some athletes receive higher dollar amounts for their scholarships.
There are other incentives that the coaches can sell to a prospective athlete. One is the Nike contract OSU has, Wadley said. The Nike Corporation provides uniforms and practice equipment.
"Because of our Nike agreement we're in a good position to provide support to the athletes in terms of athletic wear to make them feel special," Wadley said. "We dress them nicely and sharply in Buckeye outfits, which is exciting for the athlete, and great for the program."
Other incentives are the education, the top-rate athletic programs and facilities available at OSU, Avery said.
"What we have to offer is gymnastic success and academic success," Avery said. "That is what I sell to the young men I don't have scholarships for."
Avery said gymnastics is the only program to have an athlete in the last two Olympic Games — 1996 and 2000 — and is a U.S. National Program.
Once an athlete receives a scholarship it cannot be taken away unless the athlete gets in to some kind of trouble.
"I call it — when coaching the guys — a gentleman's agreement really between Big 10 schools and athletic directors. And what we try to do is treat kids with respect and dignity and really do the best we can for everybody," Wadley said.
Wadley said it is a privilege and an honor to be on any scholarship at OSU.
"Very few students have the opportunity to have someone say we think you're special; we're going to give you a scholarship," he said.
Some of the athletes at OSU also receive academic scholarship, Avery said.
Be the first to comment on this article!