<p>So, this year I am a High School Freshmen, and I've had my eyes set on Princeton. Some may say that I have a "sick" addiction to this school, and there would be nothing better than for me to be able someday to wear a Princeton jersey. So this is where my question comes in.</p>
<p>Is it ever to early to contact the coaches. I'm not a superstar or anything, but I am a fantastic student, with amazing grades, and I'm pretty good at my sport. I am a starter, and hopefully play varsity next year (as a Sophomore). Do you think it would be smart if I e-mailed the coach, or maybe called him, just to give him my name, and some tournaments I'm playing in?</p>
<p>Will it come off that I am too obsessed, or will the coach think that I'm just motivated to play for him? Any advice would be great.</p>
<p>My guess is the coach will mail you an info pack and tell you ‘hey, keep up the good work and stay in touch.’ but is probably too busy coaching his current team and recruiting for next year to pay very much attention.</p>
<p>This is a link to the NCAA Eligibilty Center Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete. All the information you need is in there. Quick answer is, at this point all the coach can do is send you camp info and a questionaire. Coach cannot call you or speak to you off campus. If the link doesn’t work, google it! There is info in there that will be valuble for you to know now. </p>
<p>E-mail him, tell him a little about yourself (school, gpa, other sports you may play) tell him about what interests you about his school and his team. Inquire about any camps he will be attending this summer</p>
<p>xAxBxC - 100% agree with pociuspower12’s advice above. Also, remember you are targeting an athletic coach. You need to bring something to that athletic “table”, or something that you can provide to his program. He is looking for the best athletes possible that can be admitted into Princeton. In addition to keeping excellent grades, and challenging yourself in the classroom, you need to further develop your athletic skills. You stated you are “pretty good” at your sport. I would challenge you to become excellent at your sport, because not too many roster spots become available on an Ivy team every year. Princeton recruits nationally and internationally, so that gives you an idea of their pool of athletic talent. Princeton wants the best of both worlds…D1 athletes, and very top-level students. </p>
<p>I admire your passion and drive. You are asking excellent questions. If you were my son, I would encourage you to look at other schools as well. At your age, you have a lot of time to figure out the best path. Good luck.</p>
<p>I want to reiterate something from the last post. If you are interested in playing basketball in college ANYWHERE (let alone at DI) at this point you should be focusing on becoming as good as you can be as a player, rather than the recruiting process. That means getting in the gym and drilling A LOT; that’s how you get better.</p>
<p>EMM1, I completely agree, especially because I’m not the best yet. I know that I I have yet to watch Princeton play, but I was wondering around what skill level you have to be at. For instance, do you have to be like all-american or all-state, or all-district, captain, MVP, most coachable, etc. Or, do you just have to have talent that the coaches can mold into their likings??? Thanks</p>
<p>“For instance, do you have to be like all-american or all-state, or all-district, captain, MVP, most coachable, etc. Or, do you just have to have talent that the coaches can mold into their likings??”</p>
<p>Basically, coaches are looking for players who can play. At the DI level, that would normally be someone who is at least all-league, but that depends on a number of variables, including the strength of the league generally and at your position. Also, the bigger the better. It’s a tough world out there for small guards.</p>
<p>I would suggest checking into whether Princeton itself has a summer camp for your sport. Many ivies (& others colleges too, I imagine) have week-long sports camps that are run by the coaches. That would benefit you in that the coach would see you for him/herself, you could get a feel for the coaches, and they could get an idea of what sort of potential you might possess - gage any initial interest level. Good luck - Princeton is an exceptional school in every way, obviously!</p>
<p>Check out the interest form on the website for ideas of what they want to know. Interest forms seem to automatically put you on a mailing list. But sometimes you need sat scores to send them.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound discouraging, OP, but you ARE a freshman, and you’ve got a couple more years before you can realistically know where you fit in the world of college athletics. I’ve read some of your earlier posts, and it sounds like you have a brother who is being recruited, so I’m sure that looks exciting and maybe promising for you. You also sound like you have some talent, but haven’t shot up to your eventual height yet. </p>
<p>Given all those unknowns, if I were your mom, I would encourage you to stop thinking about colleges for at least a year- and by that, I mean get far away from CC! </p>
<p>I know you’ve set yourself a rigorous high school class schedule, and that’s great. Keep playing basketball and see if you can go to some camps. But also continue with any other interests you might have. I worry that so much can happen between when you are a 14-15 year old, and your senior year, and if you narrow your focus too soon, you might miss out on some things. </p>
<p>Worrying about recruiting and picking a college takes a lot of energy and time. Put that on hold for a while and go have some fun!</p>
<p>Thanks riverrunner, I completely understand what your saying. Yes, I do have a brother being recruited by Georgetown, and I guess I’m getting so caught up in his success that I want to witness it first hand. Thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>Second that, riverrunner. I discouraged my daughter from pushing too hard on college recruiting her freshman year even though she was encouraged by her club coaches to do so. Even during sophomore year, I didn’t want her to heavily recruit. She simply sent some emails the first year. Second year, she sent her play schedules. Personally, I feel that too much pressure on athletes to perform while they are going through adolescence is not a healthy thing. Besides that, it’s all about grades in the end anyway.</p>