<p>Hello, I am new to the forum. At the beginning of his junior year in high school my son was all set to establish great timings in his track events and was projected to be eligible for athletic recruitment to the top universities, ivys included as his academic record was quite good as well. He was however disciplined for a pot related offense and this will of course remain on his record. My question is whether there is any chance of his now being recruited for sports, and do athletes overcome this kind of black mark on their records. Any advice also would be greatly appreciated. Thanks</p>
<p>Welcome to CC and the recruit corner!</p>
<p>Your son’s challenge will be getting over the hurdle of the admissions department. With all the qualified candidates, including great track runners, would they choose someone with a drug offense?</p>
<p>Much will depend on which schools he applies to, what caliber of an athlete he is (national ranking). My guess is that Ivies will be very difficult, as they stress character and have tens of thousands of applicants.</p>
<p>At recruitment, coaches will do a pre-read of the recruit’s academic stats to give an indication of their liklihood of acceptance. At this point the coach usually asks–“Are there any skeletons in the closet we should know about?”</p>
<p>The pot offense is a skeleton. </p>
<p>Best to inform the coach early of this situation and take his advice. If your son is a fabulous, highly-ranked runner with stellar academic stats, the coach might advocate for him, although admissions always has the last say. If your son is more of the state or regional-level athlete looking for a hook, he is in muddier waters.</p>
<p>mintang, is he a junior still, or was this last year? And how has he been since? You say he “had” good grades, did they continue after this happened?</p>
<p>Kids don’t realize how these decisions they make can affect their whole lives. I agree, lay it out on the line and explain that he has reformed, learned his lesson, etc. (hopefully, he has).</p>
<p>I have issues with things like this only because it’s not just that he was doing whatever he did, but that he got caught. So many do the same or worse but just don’t get caught. And the irony of it is how much of it goes on at the colleges as well. But unfortunately, that doesn’t make it legal (or a smart thing to do,) and they have to use common sense.</p>
<p>Thanks for both of your replies, and yes he still is a junior . Does anybody on this forum know of any actual kids with a pot offense on their record eventually recruited for athletics?</p>
<p>mintang, I do not, sorry. But I was curious and I looked at the NCAA website. Have you tried that? I do see that if a college athlete is caught with a banned substance, they’re ineligible for 365 days. In that respect, it’s a good thing this happened his junior year. Good luck with it.</p>
<p>Hi mintang,</p>
<p>This is such a tricky area, and involves questions about personal integrity. I’m not an attorney. The obvious questions to me, however, involve the legal obligation to reveal any of this. You say this happened at the beginning of junior year, and he’s currently a junior, so this must have just occurred. Have you talked with an attorney about this, and is it possible the records are/could be sealed, or expunged because of his age? This has the potential to impact much more than athletic recruitability.</p>
<p>The second (and more important) issue is what your son is taking away from all of this, and also what the GC at the school knows, and how he will charactarize these events. Your son has the opportunity to turn this around. I’ve had conversations with GCs on this subject, and they say if a student makes a mistake, has remorse, and a clean record following the event, this can result in a strong positive statement by the GC about the student’s character, and possible success in college, having confronted and rejected substance abuse and the consequences while still in high school. Colleges are aware of substance abuse in teenagers (!), and can be moved by applicants who’ve already made that mistake and reacted appropriately.</p>
<p>I don’t think this can “go away” completely from his record, particularly if the school was involved in the disciplinary action. The GC is legally bound to tell the truth about students, and the student is honor-bound to do so. However, this will not prevent your son from being a recruited athlete, as long as he makes an about-face in his actions and does everything in his power to show he has learned from this, and it is behind him.</p>
<p>If it’s of any comfort to you, yes, I do know a student/athlete who had REPEATED pot offenses in high school who was recruited by a number of programs and who is now competing in her sport at a well-known school (not Ivy). I’m certain the recruiting coaches and schools knew her history, but her undeniable talent must have caused them to turn a blind eye. She’s not a great example of a kid who learned a lesson, but more one who seemed to get away with quite a bit… I also know of more than one case where the student was recruited, signed a LOI, then busted for DUI or underage drinking during the senior spring party season, and subsequently lost the scholarship and opportunity to attend the school. </p>
<p>I think your son is in the reasonably good position of being able to show that he’s learned his lesson, a much better spot to be in than trying to explain illegal actions in spring of senior year.</p>
<p>Best wishes.</p>
<p>Thanks riverrunner for your informative and detailed reply.</p>
<p>In the book, The Gatekeepers, a true account of admissions…tells of s girl with this issue. It did not bode well for her. Riverrunner gives good advice here.
good luck.</p>