How does athletic recruiting work?

@twoinanddone. Lax is a sport of the privileged and so it drives early commitments - soccer which has 10 times more playing in HS and 5 times more playing in college has virtually the same number of early commitments as lax - why, because soccer is played by a wider mix of our country and most can’t commit before they know what financial help can be provided. Yes, I am member of the privileged, but don’t have an issue shining a flashlight on the inequities in life, and aid to agree that stopping the early commitment process in lax is one more step to a level playing field.

My rising senior seems highly likely to receive an offer from one D3 school that he’s only lukewarm on attending. He has another less likely possibility for a school that he is somewhat more enthusiastic about. He was in contention for a spot at a school he really liked, but that spot ultimately went to another kid. Lax recruitment is so competitive that it is really tough, in my opinion, to match the kid with the right fit academically, athletically, location-wise, etc. A lot of factors seem to come into play, including relationships between club/high school and college coaches, geography (kids in the NE and Mid-Atlantic have a huge advantage because they can be seen much more), timing, and luck. The offer my kid seems likely to get is largely the result of a coach seeing him in one well-played game combined with the fact that he knows one of my kid’s hs coaches very well. DH and I think the school is an outstanding academic opportunity, but kid has to like it and want to be there. If the offer comes, we will encourage an overnight visit before he decides. However, I am definitely feeling that the club route might be a better bet for him as he can apply wherever he wants to apply and make his decision in April when he will presumably be more prepared to decide.

One thing that has surprised me is this: S has very good grades and scores and in a way, this has worked against him. Some coaches who think it would be nice to have him on the team but don’t consider him a top choice are asking him to apply unsupported and walk on because they think he has a good chance of admission. Obviously with hard work and good practices he could get playing time, but he wants to go in as a recruit rather than starting out behind others who were preferred over him. He knows if they wanted him badly enough, they’d support his application. Bottom line: he just wasn’t good enough.

Lastly, there are plenty of D3 schools that would be happy to have our son, but they are not schools that he would attend. The academic experience and job prospects are key factors in the decision, and any school under consideration absolutely must be a winner in those categories, even if not in lacrosse.

@Lindagaf , if you want more detailed info on our process, feel free to PM me. All I can say is after having one kid who applied to college through the “normal” route, I have found this process far more time consuming, expensive, and stressful.

@LacrosseMama, when you talking D3 without any scholarship to consider like D1 or D2, I agree that it’s academics first and foremost, and then either geographic preference or the sport - in my mind that is frankly up to the kid as to what’s more important.

You are correct in not buying into the idea that your DS is too smart to be recruited as he will get in anyways and have a chance to walk-on so why waste a recruiting slot or tip. If the coach wants him bad enough they will use a slot, if it’s less so then it’s a tip, if a coach is silent on pre-read support then they don’t want him that bad - my xc/track DD just went through the process with a 35 ACT / 3.9/4.2 GPA and got pre-reads from plenty of elite D3 schools, but not all as not all coaches had the same desire to have her on the team.

There really is a lot of ‘being at the right place at the right time’ in the process. Luck. Knowing someone who knows someone. I was reading laxpower and saw that a school was adding women’s lax. I’d heard of the school only because it had a chapter of my sorority and because of an article I’d read in the WSJ about a dorm at that school. I told her sort of as an aside “Huh, that school is adding women’s lax.” That was in July before her senior year. She visited in Sept, and signed the NLI in Nov. It was just luck that the school was a good fit, team was a good fit, money was a great fit. We just hadn’t realized that this was a STEM kid, and a STEM school was right for her. What we had figured out after visiting a bunch of small LACs was that those weren’t right for her.

In 3 years, the coach has recruited 5 kids from the same club team. Once the connection was made, the college coach keeps returning to the same high school/club coach for recruits.

Fwiw, @LacrosseMama , I know 2 boys who had the same experience as your son. Both had good grades snd stats and at the coach’s request applied unsupported to D3 schools , got in, and both saw a fair amount of playing time freshman year. I don’t know if they are the two outliers or not, but with the size of many rosters, it does seem that kids the coach likes but who don’t need support have a shot. I also realize that if the school were not a top choice otherwise that this would be hugely risky. So while your read on the situation is probably right - he’s not a top pick - the conclusion that he won’t play might be wrong. The coach might be candid if you ask…

@gardenstategal are you comfortable naming the schools?