By Scott Stocker
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
For the past 25 years Dave Hall has been blowing the whistle on the nation’s college basketball courts. And, he has been quite successful making the calls in 19-consecutive NCAA Division I national tournaments and a pair of Final Fours.
Hall, who also officiated high school for several seasons, holds annual national camps for young men and women who are interested in becoming basketball officials. He also has become the National Director for College Bound Student Athletes, which helps athletes gain exposure to college coaches across the country and create real opportunities to play their sport at the collegiate-level.
CBSA is a national college recruiting organization designed to help talented high school student-athletes find opportunities to participate in collegiate level athletics. The organization is in its 15th year, has a 93 percent success-rate, and has placed over 25,000 athletes in college and universities across the country.
“CBSA came to me and wanted to know if I would be interested in working with them," said Hall, a graduate of Denver South High School and former baseball player at the University of Colorado under Irv Brown. "I've known the struggles kids have getting noticed or getting the word out they want to participate at the college level. I was willing to help as long as it included all levels, Division I on down through the junior colleges.
“There are a lot of athletes who will not be successful at the Division I level,” said Hall, who became the CBSA national director in Jan. 2004. “And, a lot of kids want to concentrate on their academics as well as have a college athletic experience. The one thing we stress in our program is that academics are paramount. We all know only a few will ever go into the professional ranks.”
Hall said the CBSA staff, along with input from the athlete's coaches, evaluates the talent-level of each athlete. CBSA creates an in-depth profile for every student enrolled in its program. They collect and verify the appropriate information then submit it to every college and university that matches the students academic and athletic abilities.
Often families wait until their student-athlete is in their senior year to start the recruiting process.
“We certainly help a lot of student-athletes in this scenario,” Hall said. “But it is better when families start earlier in the process, as soon as they know the student-athlete has the desire and is showing the potential to succeed at the collegiate-level.
“There is little doubt DI schools will find out about the ‘Big Time’ athletes in football and basketball,” Hall said. “And, we certainly can help here, too. But we feel we can especially help the athletes who want to get exposure in other sports and those that are not in the nation's top-100 recruits for their recruiting class.”
The CBSA also helps athletes who are or have already played at the junior college level. As long as a student has two years of college athletic eligibility remaining, they are welcome to use the program.
Hall pointed out the program provides college coaches with an efficient and cost-effective method for finding and recruiting student-athletes who meet their specific needs.
Hall has many letters from athletes and parents who have been pleased with the CBSA. And, he is willing to let other parents and students read the testimonials.
Once a student athlete is enrolled in the program, CBSA staff will guide and educate the family throughout the entire recruiting process.
Hall and the CBSA Regional Manager, Marla Oldfield, can be contacted at their Lakewood office. Phone 303-804-0155, fax 303-804-0315 or on the web at www.cbsa.com.