<p>I am currently a sophomore at a top 10 public school in the Midwest and I really want to play basketball at an Ivy League school. I have a 3.9 GPA on a 4.0 scale and my school doesn't do class rankings. My high school team isn't that good but I am all-conference and all-area..I play all game long and I am on a very good AAU team as well. I haven't taken my SATs or ACTs yet but I am scoring around 2000 on my practice SATs. When should I start emailing coaches and filling out the online questionnaires? I was sent a few questionnaires from some ivies so should I consider going to a summer camp at one of the universities? What do you think my chances of getting in are? </p>
<p>Start this summer. Decide which schools you might be interested in, email the coaches with why you’re interested and pertinent stats, tell them what tournaments you’ll be going to. They are going to have to see you in person somewhere, sometime if they are going to recruit you. Also start prepping for ACT or SAT. Lots of kids want to play at Ivies, some have enough talent, but fewer have the talent and the academics to make it possible. The sooner you demonstrate that you have the academic ability the longer you stay on their list of recruitable candidates. If you’re marginal D1 basketball talent, you need to be great academically; if you’re a definite D1 basketball talent, your academic ability has to be good enough but you’ll be granted more leeway. These are the general rules of ivy recruiting, others will have more specific b-ball info.</p>
<p>I agree with everthing doubtful says except I would start reaching out to coaches now to get on their “must see” list. You want to make sure you are playing where the coaches are watching.</p>
<p>Five things will get you Ivy recruited: SATS, high school academic performance, athletic ability, the right exposure and luck. Good luck.</p>
<p>If you can go to a summer camp, DO. It does really help them get to know you. My daughter went to several D-1 camps and while she’s going to play D2, she made a lot of contacts.</p>
<p>Acting on sage advice from his older teammates, my son started the process in May of his sophomore year. In his fall sport, half of the verbal offers (an ivy school) were extended by January of junior year, and his entire recruiting class was finalized just a few months later (by April). </p>
<p>This is a clear indicator that you need to get your testing done early! My son took an ACT review class the summer before junior year and took his first ACT in September. His first actual test score was two points lower than his practice scores, but was good enough to signal to coaches that he was within range. By February, he had hit his target score. I suggest you prep very hard this summer and focus on getting an “acceptable” score by October, before the basketball season is underway. Hopefully, you can improve your score after basketball season. </p>
<p>If possible, try to visit these schools as they are all quite different, and coaches like to see a genuine interest in their school. For example, the frat culture and physical location of certain schools was a major determinant for my son. While he initially cast a wide net (25 schools), his visit to just one school, knocked off another 10 schools with similar characteristics. You could even visit schools closer to home to give you a better feel for urban/rural, size, school spirit, liberal arts/technical programs, competitive/collaborative, etc. </p>
<p>Two more important pieces of information…
- the coaches at different schools not only talk to one another, they are often good friends. Good manners will take you far.
- you should initiate communication with the coaches, not your parents. Your parents can review/help draft email correspondence, but the email should come from your account. For the first few phone calls, my husband and son would review goals/objectives for the conversation and then my husband would listen on mute while my son spoke with the coach. If he missed anything important, my husband could scribble it on a piece of paper. After three calls, my son was fine on his own. The coaches are experts at dealing with students and no worries if you sound nervous. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you! Your grades and scores look very promising!</p>