My son is a high school junior, who has spent the majority of this year on the sidelines, due to injury. After a breakout, sophomore year, several D1 schools reached out to him, but because he has not played much this year, interest seems to be drying up. I’ve been told that D1 offers are usually off the table by the start of an athletes senior year. Repeating his junior year doesn’t seem to be an option here in Kentucky, so I’m looking for advice on whether or not I should enroll him in a prep school, after high school. Has anyone had experience with that?
It would be helpful to know the sport, still I don’t believe that timeline is strictly true. It also comes down to level, with the very best teams recruiting earlier but plenty recruiting through the summer, even next fall. It is important to be polite but persistent with communication as well as casting as wide net.
Having said that, being “older” can be very beneficial in many sports. If two years in prep school is an option for your family, its not a bad option. Most importantly, you could pursue both options in parallel, at least for a while (keep in mind prep school application deadlines are not too far away. If recruiting catches momentum but ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere, there is always the option to kick the ball down the line and look into a PG year instead.
Agree with @TonyGrace. Knowing the sport would be helpful, and PG is an option for some that missed out due to an injury, or have a goal to get recruited at a higher level and need another season to develop or show what they can do, or in some cases increase their academics.
Thanks to you both for your input. My son plays football. (Safety/WR)
He’s dealing with his first real injury ( nagging groin) and he’s finally getting back on the field this weekend. (second round of playoffs.)
The timeline for recruiting comes from his coaches who are all power 5/former NFL players. They’ve all said spring/summer camps are great opportunities, but the window starts to close after that.
We’re hoping for the best, a good end to the season, and as many camps as possible. I guess we’ll cross the prep school bridge, if we have to.
It’s a shame high school athletic associations don’t offer a red shirt year, like for college athletes.
Good luck to him! It sounds like he is recovering. PG is pretty common amongst football players (our school gets a few of them each year) so I’d probably just go that route. It’s a good option if things don’t shake out the way you hope.
I agree with the other posters. Focus on getting healthy. Then attend camps in the spring/summer. Will he play on a 7 v 7 team next summer? That would provide some more opportunity to be seen as well.
Recruiting absolutely goes into senior year and the senior football season. High school football recruiting has become quite challenging since the transfer portal changes that don’t require a redshirt year post transfer…many coaches prefer to get a player with one or two years of college under their belt, rather than bring in a freshman. Keep that in mind when creating a list of football schools, and make sure to cast a wide net.
A PG year can be helpful, but isn’t without its downsides. There are no guarantees that your S would be recruited, he could be injured in his first game of his PG year, and a PG year can be expensive…up to $70K or so.