ED / D3 question

Athletic Recruits
1

<p>Son is applying ED to a D3 school, a great academic match and he likes the coach. He's had much more interest at a few other schools, but he felt this school was the best match for him.</p>

<p>Coach has not seen him enough apparently, as he invited him to another prospect day. But on the last prospect day this summer, clearly he was focused on incoming freshman and walk-ons. So now perhaps as an ED applicant, he'll spend more time on evaluating him?</p>

<p>Question is, how should my son proceed? Although he thinks he has a great chance without any support, should he talk to the coach about both "how he would he fit on the team?" and also "I applied ED, could you put a good word for me into admissions?"? Or should he go back to "do you think I would make your team if I am accepted?" and not assume that when the coach was highly interested before without any kind of definite offer or details, things would change since he applied ED?</p>

<p>I feel like at least he should ask about his chances of playing if he is admitted, and force a conversation (within reason LOL).</p>

<p>Another question - he has another sport in HS that he enjoys, so should he also contact the coach for his secondary sport now that he is ED? Or would that somehow be stepping on the first coach's toes, and better to hash out later if appropriate?</p>

<p>He would be happier doing his second sport instead of nothing, and would consider doing both if the coaches agreed to it.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>There are exceptions, but in general, college coaches are not known to be shrinking violets. The chances of a coach who really wants a kid, and has seen him at a hosted prospect camp, but has not said anything, are slim.</p>

<p>The ED deadline is today? The application is in? If you ask the coach to put in a good word, even if he says yes, the effect would be minimal because a slot was not offered.</p>

<p>If the coach was evaluating this year’s recruits and walk-ons in late summer, that gives an indication of how he determines roster spots. I don’t think he would give a definitive answer about next year’s walk-ons now.</p>

3

<p>What sport is your son hoping to compete in? Generally, coaches (especially football coaches) can have somewhat of a say in whether or not prospective athletes are admitted. Your son seems like he doesn’t need much help getting into the school, which is good considering it’s a D3 school and the admissions office ultimately has the final say in everything. </p>

<p>Whenever a person applies ED, he or she should always be 100% certain that the school is their top choice and they would want to go there over anything else. </p>

<p>I’ll provide a little background on a similar situation I had. I’m a shot and discus thrower at my high school and I would really like to continue competing in college. I love the sport to death. I’m now at the point where I’m beginning to get D1 exposure, but (not to brag) I have a pretty good number of D2 and D3 schools who are trying to recruit me. A coach from a D3 school I was particularly interested in, which had a great academic reputation, really wanted me to apply ED because they could help me through the admissions process and get me on the team. Unfortunately, the coach failed to check his email for numerous messages I had sent him about coming down for a visit. From the start, I knew I needed to visit the campus and meet the coaches to see if it was the best fit. The more I learn about the school now with new information I’m finding, the less I want to go there, and the more happy I am I didn’t apply early. </p>

<p>I’m not saying this is the same as your son’s situation, I just want to caution you on the things that can come up after the ED application is submitted. Generally at the D3 level coaches take hard workers, and unless it’s a top D3 program, I find it unlikely that your son will be cut as long as he works hard. </p>

<p>Personally, I think applying ED with your son’s statistics runs the risk of actually turning the coach off him at least until the admissions process is over-with completely. Disclaimer, I absolutely may be wrong, but if the coach knows he’s got your son locked into the school, more effort will be put into getting those who applied regular decision and got accepted to actually come to the school and compete. I would definitely ask the coach what your son’s chances of being a contributor to the team are. Believe me, I’m caught up in a similar situation, being a relatively good but not outstanding thrower.</p>

<p>Contacting the coach from the other sport is absolutely the right move. Unless the sports conflict with their seasons, it’s unlikely the first coach will care if your son’s looking at other sports within the school. There are a surprising number of D3 athletes that compete in multiple sports.</p>

<p>Hope this helped, I wish you and your son well through this process!</p>

4

<p>Academics won over soccer, and like you said, the guy either doesn’t like him or doesn’t settle on players until the July prospect day (as he pretty much indicated this past July).</p>

<p>Both the soccer and track teams have many freshmen, and both have club levels too.</p>

<p>Interesting to see how it pans out - if he gets into the school :slight_smile: The soccer team is losing 9 seniors, and most freshmen have little playing time.</p>

<p>I’d like him to reach out to the track coach, it seems like it would not hurt him. He has one more sport that is only at club level there, and he might reach out to them too. He’ll be playing something :)</p>

5

<p>Thank you @ThrowerMatt, that’s the info I was looking for. It’s soccer, and it looks like between club and varsity soccer, there are over 60 spots total and more than 15 available per year on average therefore. Plus intramural. Plus varsity and club track. Plus other club sports, hockey, ultimate, etc. </p>

<p>He applied ED for the academics moreso, but it would be comforting to know, yes, if you are accepted, you’ll be on the team. I guess I don’t envy the coach who won’t know until April who is accepted RD, so doesn’t know what pool he is selecting from.</p>

<p>I agree about maybe <em>not</em> telling him about ED - would the coach actually not care about recruiting therefore, and if he wants him drop him an email for the first practice in August LOL? I’m thinking per your experience, my son should just send the coach a note that he is going to the prospect day (not sure who handles the forms, didn’t get sent to the coach directly but the invite was from the coach) and he really looks forward to showing him more of his style of play and ability.</p>

<p>Saying “hey, I’m applying ED to your school!” might equal “hey, don’t spend any time on me, I’m either in for sure or rejected!”… At least via email, obviously he wouldn’t flat out lie when he sees him, that would not be a good idea. It is possible, since there is a place for it, and obviously soccer is an activity on his CA, that admissions might tell the coach he is ED.</p>

<p>(note that ED = worries over earlier possibly in our minds, as long as it is his top choice academically, and he applied EA to a few places, and <em>then</em> he could focus on their teams if he gets accepted and his ED falls through)</p>

6

<p>Typically an ED application is quid pro quo for an athlete and coach that have committed to each other. Your son applied ED for academic reasons and I don’t get the overwhelming sense the Coach cares one way or another as your son made this decision on his own. I’m curious why the coach didn’t get involved more in your son’s recruitment. </p>

<p>I don’t mean to sound harsh but there was no verbal commitment on your son part or the Coaches part so the coach is still trying to find the best soccer players he can find. If your son can convince the coach on his own that he deserves a spot at tryouts (in summer/fall) then your son may be given that opportunity. But, I don’t think you can expect the coaches help with Admission as there was no agreement or any guarantee for a roster spot.</p>

<p>I would absolutely reach out to the coach after your son is accepted. If I’m an open minded Coach, I’m going to see if there is some talent on my campus that I can use in my program. I’m going to give them a chance to prove to it. But at the same time, your son needs to understand this is not going to be easy, and this is a different level of talent and committment. College rosters are full of all-district and all-state players for every sport. It is a real battle getting playing time at just about any college at any level.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>If son is accepted and son (not parent) reaches out to coach after that, I can expect coach will say son is welcomed to tryouts next summer. And not much more.</p>

8

<p>Rhandco,</p>

<p>The more an athlete communicates with a coach the greater the chance that that athlete will be recruited. I am a little surprised that the coach does not already know that your son is applying ED. I would have your son call the coach and tell him that he has applied ED and ask if there is any way the coach can help with admissions. The worst that can happen is the coach will not actually help him with admissions. This conversation may also give your son a good idea about what his chances are for a roster spot next year. </p>

9

<p>Rhandco- my son was kind of in the same position 2 years ago with his D2 school. While he actually had some firm D1 and D3 schools, academically he kept going back to the same D2 school where he was not sure he would play soccer and only 4 seniors were graduating from the team, none in his position. Like your son, he also decided he would go for either Varsity or club soccer and go for that school as he loved everything about it. He ended up red-shirting his first year but did not try out for club, as it counts toward a year of eligibility. The coach was encouraging for this year so he did what he could to stay involved with the team: filmed games, set up and cleaned up at practices, etc. During the spring off season he was able to play tournaments with the team. It all paid off and he not only made the team this year but became a starter 3 games into the season. He chose that school knowing his dreams for varsity soccer may not work out but we were so happy he went for the academics. It all came together this year and he couldn’t be happier.</p>

<p>It sounds like this coach makes up his roster late in the game so I don’t see anything wrong with your son keeping up a conversation with him- “hey coach, I’ve applied ED to your school and would love to be considered for the team. Is there any way you would be able to support my application for ED? I’d like to get your input for anything I can be doing to better my chances as well as how you feel I might fit in with the team”, or something like that. I’m crossing my fingers for your son-sounds like he made the right choice. Let us know how it all turns out! </p>

10

<p>Thank you for all of your responses (and crossed fingers!). Here is a quote from the recruiting letter (FYI - and also if anyone has feedback/interpretation):</p>

<p>“If you are a senior, this is a great chance to find out how you would fit with our team.”</p>

<p>which backs up that he is picking people now (they have a playoff game this week and next week would be finals).</p>

<p>Yes, I hope he made the right choice. His main fear is that if he doesn’t get support, something weird will happen and he doesn’t get in. But that might open his soccer options up, the two EA schools have shown interest in him but he was difficult to convince to look at more than four schools for recruiting.</p>

11

<p>Hi rhandco, sorry I have not been around a lot since our recruiting year was last year and my next player isn’t up into the recruiting years yet. I think I echo a lot of what others have said above. You definitely have been around this forum enough years to have as much knowledge as anyone, and yet it is still also true - when it comes down to interpreting the tea leaves during the last steps, there is only so much you can guess, particularly with D3, which is as not as transparent as D1.</p>

<p>Last time I remember your son was getting a lot of interest from the Penn coach, your alma mater, making him also a legacy there. Was there a specific reason that did not pan out as a viable ED option? Just asking because in the end we went through the same thing, but the specific reasons the D1 program didn’t recruit our son in the end were the exact reasons that led us to the schools where he was a better fit. Sometimes you can also get information about where your player stands from the schools that did not turn out to be a good fit.</p>

<p>Anyway, good luck to you and your son. You’ve certainly worked hard enough to get him here. Hoping for the best for him, and a little rest for you once the job gets done.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the luck - he may find out something good this week, or have to regroup based on a prospect day last week.</p>

<p>Sadly, his first quarter grades were sub-par even with a legacy, and honestly the coaching change there may have hurt him (an assistant with a high opinion of my son left). He would have gone there and played club soccer though, and tried to walk on to varsity. I’m probably going to post on my paranoia about his first quarter grades elsewhere on CC, but in just over a month, we’ll find out if they were the nail in the coffin for his top choice. Would not be if he had support, I expect.</p>

<p>I’ve posted on CC about how dumb his HS’s GPA system is, and how it hurts the best students and helps the average students. Students who get Bs in AP classes get 0.3 points less than a student who gets an A in a regular or remedial class.</p>

<p>He has a lower D1 and a D3 school for EA, and is waiting to hear from his ED school’s coach. The lower D1 coach saw him previously, if he gets in to there and not to his ED choice, he will reconnect.</p>

<p>FWIW, the coach apparently told players that he is not allowed to talk about recruiting on campus at a prospect camp, so he will be emailing players today or tomorrow. Yet this guy was bombarded by parents at the last prospect day. And the coach has said things indicating he would take many freshman, but not cluing anyone in on “oh, I’ve got ten recruits already lined up from other sources…”</p>

<p>The good news is that he does know and did talk to an assistant at the prospect camp the other day, so perhaps that will help. He did very well at a camp this past summer which the assistant attended, so that should help.</p>

<p>He is trying to focus on schoolwork again, and figuring out how best to deal with teachers regarding his 504 plan.</p>