How essential are the summer football camps for Ivy League Football recruitment? I’m a high school junior currently
My concern is that my 40 is slow. I’m a linebacker, and I’ve been effective. I have a lot sacks and have won significant honors. However, I’m not fast or big. I’m concerned that the main take away from the camps is the 40 and some of the other speed drills. My concern is that if I get a slow 40, there’s no recovering from that. Plus, they’re expensive, and I’m on budget
My current ACT and GPA puts me around Band 2/Band 3, roughly smack in between. Ivy League coaches have been taking some interest, I’m guessing because of that and because of my highlights/stats. Not so much interest that they’ve made me an offer but a light amount that they respond and I’ve had email conversations with a few.
If it doesn’t work out with an Ivy League school, my plan is for top D3 like NESCAC or comparable ones academically like Carnegie Mellon. Are the camps essential for D3s? My sense is less so, and that D3 coaches often attend the D1 camps.
Coaches have been showing some interest based on my academics and highlights.
Depends on the camps but essentially all the Ivy schools have gone to 1 day camps. Yes…it’s more like a track meet in the respect that in so little time they need to get scores and grades on the 40…standing jump…vertical leap…cone drills etc…Almost all Division 3 schools do not have their own camps and do attend the D1 camps. There is no way around it…they are looking for size speed etc…other than submitting film they will not be able to evaluate you at a 1 day camp since you will be in shorts, maybe pads and a helmet.
@moscott Yes, I meant the 1-day camps at the particular college. Basically, you’re saying that there’s no way to get an Ivy offer other than by having a great 40, etc … ?
Not “no way” but honestly it’s more of a track meet where they are timing your speeds on drills…they will first measure your height and weight then go from there. They are looking for kids to stand out and that comes from size and speed tbh.
In my opinion Ivy League recruiting is very dependent on their individual school camps. Does that mean that you can’t get an offer from an Ivy school if you don’t camp there? No. But you will be at a disadvantage. The way it was explained to me when my son was in your position was that because the Ivy schools draw recruits nationally and often from smaller, more academically focused schools it is very hard for coaches to judge potential recruits off tape. They frequently just don’t know the level of competition the kid sees and the level of the program he comes from. In that sense the camps (and the testing done there) are used as levelers.
Another important point is that schools are going to want to know that if you list yourself at 6’1" 210, you are in actuality at least close. This brings up another point to consider. I was told by one coach that he looks at measurables as rule in numbers rather than rule out numbers. By that I mean he is looking for kids to meet certain thresholds, not necessarily who is the fastest/strongest/biggest. He wants to know if you have the minimum size/strength/athleticism necessary to be a successful player at that level. That made a lot of sense to me, and I would bet it is how most coaches are looking at the numbers. You need to realize that at the end of the day there are no secrets on the beach. If the coaches are not convinced of your size or speed from your tape, those questions are not going away if you don’t go to camp.
I think you have to understand and acknowledge that going from high school ball to D1 ball is a huge step up. About 2-3% of seniors playing in high school make that jump every year. Take a look at the rosters of some of the schools showing interest in you. Unlike high school rosters, college rosters report relatively accurate heights and weights. Check the freshmen and sophomore linebackers. Are you within range of the heights and weights listed there? If you are off by more than an inch and maybe 15 pounds you might struggle convincing coaches that you can handle the size necessary to play at that level. Also, google some of the kids. Many will have SPARQ results listed on their ESPN or other recruiting site profiles. Yes, the forty times may be a bit padded, but if they are on ESPN, they came from SPARQ. 247 tends to be pretty accurate as well. Also, if stats show up in green (I think) on HUDL they came either from SPARQ or another recruiting camp. Those times are going to be relatively accurate. How close is your actual 40 time to the times listed? A tenth or two slower? Probably not a big deal. Half a second slower? Maybe a bigger problem.
The best thing I believe you can do for yourself right now is be honest. Are you athletically in range with the guys playing in the Ivy? Look at the data out there on the web, and look at the relative athleticism of kids you have played with or against who are playing in the Ivy or the lower FBS/higher FCS level. If you are in athletic range, then I would strongly urge you to camp at the schools which have shown actual interest (school visits, phone call, junior day invite, personal e mails) and that you are interested in. Obviously finances are going to limit where you go, but figure out your budget and then pick your best fits. Go in in two a day shape and compete hard. See what happens.
If on the other hand you are not a great athletic fit in the Ivy but maybe more of a fit in the NESCAC, I might look at the individual school’s camps. If I remember most of the NESCAC ran an individual camp (as does Case, JHU and I think UChicago) that are significantly cheaper than the Ivy camps. The downside there is that you will only see the one school’s coaches where as at the Penn camp for example you might see coaches from four or five NESCACs, although be aware that just because a NESCAC coach is at a particular Ivy camp, that doesn’t mean that your presumptive position coach will be there.
Best of luck, and don’t be afraid to ask more questions.
As always Ohiodad is spot on. Here are a couple of additional observations.
You need to decide what colleges are the right fit for you academically, athletically and financially. You also need to pursue two tracks simultaneously-- the track with the athletic hook and the traditional track without the athletic hook. As a junior, it would be great to get an honest assessment from an experienced coach as to whether you project as a D1 prospect, a D3 prospect or a tweener. This will aid you greatly in your selection of camps.
You are ultimately responsible for getting yourself recruited, although it greatly helps to follow a well-trod path in pursing this uncertain process. That means filling out the recruitment forms online to colleges of interest, including your highlight tape. It means sending out emails. It means getting your coaches to reach out to their college contacts etc. It also means spending time in the weight room, getting involved in speed training and hoping that, due to genetics, you continue to grow and develop prior to the summer camps.
My S went to a D1 camps as well as D3 camps at top academic LACs. Word to the wise, if you do not dominate a solid D3 camp, it is unlikely you will show well at a D1 camp where the quality of athletes is exponentially better as a general rule.
Thanks for your post and for telling me about your son @zenator
Was it your sense that the D3 camps helped his recruitment status at any program?
I have some former teammates who got NESCAC offers without going to any of their camps. They went to some D1 camps, but I don’t think any NESCACs were in attendance. However, I’m not sure. From what they told me, it seemed they got the offer based on their junior and senior-year highlights, being pro-active with the coaches, and being willing to apply Early Decision. They definitely received the coach’s support because none of them had strong enough academics for a NESCAC to get in on their own (nor would I).
I don’t know if that’s just that these guys had good luck or it was these particular colleges.
There’s 1 NESCAC I’m particularly interested in that’s having a camp, so I was thinking about going to it.
Otherwise, I will pass on the other D3 camps, unless there’s any that place a high value on them in the recruitment.
Is there any D3 that comes to mind as being particularly interested in camp attendance?
@Ohiodad51 If I’m understanding your advice correctly. Are you saying the next step is to gauge if an Ivy coach seems interested, and if so, then I should plan to go to their camp?
May I ask how valuable you felt the junior days were? I think I read another post of your’s in which you said you went to the Princeton one but didn’t particularly like it.
Thank you so much for your feedback.
That was a good suggestion to look at the rosters. My height-weight are in the range of what I’m seeing, but at the very low end. By that, I mean I see exactly 1-2 guys around me on each team, but mostly everybody else is 1-3 inches taller and 10-20 pounds heavier.
I did not think the junior days in the Ivy were valuable at all. Too many kids, very little exposure to the coaches or players. I did think that unofficial visits were valuable. In fact, after the first two junior days my son attended, he contacted his recruiting coaches at the other schools interested in him and asked if it would be ok if he passed on the junior day and come up for an unofficial visit instead. All of them were happy to accommodate that, because it showed that he was actually interested in their program, and gave them a chance to evaluate him/sell him a bit more individually as well. That might be an option for you, although I know junior days are winding up.
And yes, you are understanding my advice correctly. The trick is to decipher which coaches are really interested, and which just want your camp fee.
My S, who was a good but not great student, attended several NESCAC and 1 IVY camp as a rising junior and 1 Patriot and several top D3 camps as a rising senior coming off an injury. He ultimately went to a Patriot, which he visited but did not attend its camp. That school did a pre-read in the spring of his junior year, spoke to his coaches, encouraged him to visit and, if possible, attend a summer camp and then recruited him heavily early in the fall once he laid down about 3 games of senior film. My S then committed early after attending a game and doing an overnight.
My own view is that D3 recruiting is very college dependent with some coaches having real juice and others not. In the NESCAC, for example, EJ Mills is the “man” at Amherst. Others, in the NESCAC, blow a lot of smoke.
It seems that you are a very good HS player in your conference in an unidentified state playing at an unknown level. However, I am concerned about your statement that you play LB but run a slow 40, which raises the question of where you realistically project to play at the D1 level.
Since it is now spring football in your junior year, what Ivies (if that is what you want) are presently showing interest in you? What Ivies are in contact with your coach requesting film and academic information etc.
Ohiodad is really the man with respect to Ivies with a S playing football for Princeton so I encourage you to pay close heed to his advice.
Does anyone know what colleges are attending Columbia’s and Cornell’s camps, if any (besides Columbia and Cornell!)? I’m having trouble finding this information. Thanks.