<p>Basketball has always been my thing. I have loved playing it for my whole life and have always dreamed of playing in college. I have been playing steadily for a long time and have shown much commitment to the sport with AAU, lettering and everything, but now at the dawn of my senior year I am getting burned out. It is just not fun anymore. Sure, I could play another year and maybe my interest would be revived by the thrill of competition and team spirit, but I think the passion is gone. If I quit I will pour my soul into my other sport; running, and try to distinguish myself there.</p>
<p>I know this is a shallow question, but my ECs are already slim so I have to know...</p>
<p>How detrimental to my application would it be if I quit my senior season after all these years?</p>
<p>well if you have a chance of being a recruited athlete, pretty detrimental.</p>
<p>But you’ve played for a long time and you had a dream you wanted fulfilled. I say keep trying for another year, hopefully the spirit will be imbued back into you.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t do stuff just for college. If you don’t like it, do something else. If you are thinking about college in this, maybe you could turn this into a good essay.</p>
<p>You sound just like my S a few years ago. Played bball all his life. Summer leagues, spring and fall AAU, even did some personal training with a bball trainer. He was on varsity as a soph (and started several games). The thing that was burning him out was not the bball itself, but the atmosphere and personalities around the team. He was seriously thinking about not playing his senior year. I, too, was worried what effect it would have on his applications as he didn’t have any other meaningful ECs. Fortunately, he did play because it was the best season the HS team had had in over 10 years and he enjoyed playing again. The guys were a close, tight knit group for that year. </p>
<p>He decided not to play for the varsity team in college, but is playing intramurals at college and a summer league at home and is having a great time just playing for fun. He has toyed with the idea of trying out for the college team (he will be a junior), but knows the work and commitment that would go into it and is not ready to do that.</p>
<p>I have seen my S’s passion for bball revived and it is wonderful to see. I knew he truly loved it and there were other forces affecting it.</p>
<p>My advice would be to try to play and see how it goes. Every year is a bit different because of teammates who have graduated are gone and new underclass teammates move up. (Or in our case, we had 3 seniors who had been on varsity since soph. year, but 2 fellow seniors got their first varsity experience and they all blended very well). You can certainly incorporate your running into your bball, no? I know our coach would have loved that! I know my S would have been very sorry if he had not played for his senior year, but of course, hindsight is 20/20.</p>
<p>While I agree that you shouldn’t do stuff for college, you can’t simply ignore the truth that it does impact the application. As for quitting, I agree that you should give it another shot senior year – both to see how it turns out and to show commitment in your EC’s. </p>
<p>I know this is probably my paranoia speaking, but I would be afraid to quit something I had done for so long – especially since I’m wary of the image I give off to colleges. I don’t want to look like the guy who just decides to quit something he’s devoted so much time to. Maybe the adcoms will think it, maybe not. I just personally wouldn’t take the risk.</p>
<p>I would quit. Why would you keep doing something you don’t like? Adcoms can see straight through people who pad their applications with things they’re not passionate about.</p>
<p>It might not hurt to take some time off, as bball all year is a grind. When was the last time you didn’t play for a week or more? I remember playing almost every day for years and I almost burnt out a couple of times. Then I got cut and it was one of the worst feelings in the world. </p>
<p>I think adcoms will have made their decision before knowing if you played senior year or not. Not playing might mean no athletic scholarships, but it doesn’t matter if you’re burnt out and don’t want to do it in college. Plus hs sports>college sports in terms of fun and atmosphere-some d3 schools average 500 fans/game, less than my high school does.</p>
<p>I don’t play basketball anymore, but I also am starting to run this fall for cross country. Good prep for basketball. Forget about basketball during xc and see if you miss it. That’s a pretty good test IMO.</p>
<p>Stick with basketball. I was in the same situation as you, AAU, All-League, etc., but I just stopped loving the game–it was becoming too much like a business, a chore. But I stuck with it and realized I made a grey decision. You’re never going to play in front of people who actually care ever again. The thrill of the crowd is something you’ll never did anywhere else but high school sports. Trust me. Stick with it for one more year.</p>
<p>I’ve decided I’m going to stick with it. I love the feeling when it is a close game down to the wire and you come around a screen with 400 people watching and hit the shot from the elbow, you know? </p>