What's a preferred walk-on?
- Jason
- Dec 7, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2022
I have this conversation and answer this question all the time. This is a term that gets used a lot and mostly in football circles. But really the term doesn't exist. There is nothing in NCAA terminology to classify an athlete as a "preferred" walk-on.
This is a term created by football coaches to encourage athletes to walk-on to their program. It is used to differentiate between athletes they actually want on the team and those students that show up on the first day of school and say they want to play football. There are certainly outlier stories where athletes show up on the first day of school and make a college football roster, but those stories are few and far between. A similar term that is used often is a "recruited walk-on." If football wants to use those terms, we should let them.
This term has spilled over into volleyball unfortunately. Even though it isn't a real thing it is still used widely by families and college coaches.
In volleyball we should only be talking about being "on scholarship" or "walking on". Those are the only two classifications that exist and the only two that are necessary. Those are your two options when it comes to college volleyball.
If you are a scholarship athlete that means you are on some level of athletic scholarship from the program. Full-ride, partial, or if you are just getting your books paid for = being a scholarship athlete. If you are NOT on scholarship then you are "walking on" or a "walk-on." Can you still receive academic aid from the school and still be a "walk-on"? Yes. The only difference is where the money comes from. If you are receiving scholarship money from the athletic department you can ALSO be getting academic aid. We refer to this as "stacking" and it does not change your scholarship status.
If you are NOT "on scholarship" (athletic aid) then you are "walking on". We should be clear about at least one thing:
Every single athlete on a competitive college volleyball roster was RECRUITED by those coaches. I know of 0 (zero) coaches at any level that have athletes (or want athletes) on their roster that they did NOT recruit. Walk-ons and scholarship athletes are both being recruited. Using the term "preferred" or "recruited" in front of the walk-on classification is redundant at best.
College volleyball coaches need to stop using this term.
The only reason I can understand a college coach using the term "preferred" walk-on is just to make the athlete feel better about walking-on to their program. The term "walk-on" for whatever reason can have some negative feelings attached to it, but it really shouldn't. That word at the beginning is supposed to make them feel more wanted and valued. But if you were to ask college coaches the question, "Who on the roster do you NOT want to be on the team?" or maybe "Which of the other walk-ons aren't 'preferred?'" I think that might make for an interesting conversation. With that, college coaches are doing a disservice to the athletes they are recruiting. First, there is a certain level of dishonesty in using a term like this. Second, it's creating a separation that doesn't exist. If another school is recruiting an athlete as a "walk-on" then that athlete might feel like their "preferred" status from another school means that school wants them more. In reality, the school using the correct term probably wants them more and they are just being honest about how recruiting works. If a college program is treating their athletes differently, especially their walk-ons, that should raise some red flags.
I am constantly fighting against recruiting myths on my end. Some of those come from a basic misunderstanding about how recruiting works or they are transferred notions from other sports; football and volleyball recruiting are not the same. Those are just part of it and I can understand that. But when college coaches are openly misinforming athletes about how the process works, I have an issue with that.
The other part about this that I have a problem with is when coaches use these terms and then communicate that an athlete "could" get scholarship down the road they are creating a false narrative for athletes and families. My stance and communication has been the same for the last 15 years - if you are walking-on to a program and there is not SPECIFIC discussion about receiving scholarship later on, then you need to plan on walking-on for all 4 years.
Understanding terminology and concepts like a "quiet period" and how many scholarships schools have at each level, are really important foundational pieces for athletes and families to understand. Let's do all we can to help foster a recruiting environment where we are honest about the process and what's going on within our programs. It will make recruiting for both sides SO much better.
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