My son was recruited to a Div 3 basketball team. Is this a guarantee that he will be on the team at that school? What happens if there are more recruits than positions? Is this done? It would be truly unfortunate if he was not on the team after committing to the school. It is not the only school that was recruiting him.
From what I have gleaned on this board, it is not a guaranteed spot, and D3 teams vary all over the map on this. I suggest he contact the coach as well as current athletes on the team so he knows what to expect. If there are tryouts and cuts, then his best shot is to be physically and psychologically ready for that when he shows up.
Agreed, depends on the team and the coach. In soccer, various D3 coaches statements ranged from “you have a guaranteed roster spot for [1 or 2] years” to “you are not guaranteed a spot but we know you, we like you, and we want you to succeed.”
What did the coach say during recruiting conversations? Did your son apply ED? At least in soccer, we often heard that the roster spot was only guaranteed if the recruit went ED – that way, both coach and player were mutually bound and the coach knew who was coming in, for sure. With RD spots, again, at least in soccer, there seemed to be more of a “come to pre-season, be fit, be ready to compete, and we’ll see where it goes from there,” often with an expectation that it would work out, but nothing was promised.
Totally agree that this is between the coach and your son. One coach at a school where DS was accepted (RD, not recruited) told him that he would be very interested in having him on the team, but that he was unlikely to have spots freshman year because he’d guaranteed those spots to ED recruits. Told him that the team was senior-heavy and that he was unlikely to be given as many recruits as he’d need next year and that he was pretty sure, if DS kept up his skills, that he’d have a spot for him sophomore year. So in that case, clearly the ED recruits were being “protected”. We know of other kids in the same conference who were recruited, showed up for what they thought was practice, and found out it was a try-out. Not a happy situation.
The best way to address this is to have the conversation up-front. If there are expectations about what your son needs to do between now and then, he should know them. If he applied ED at the coach’s request, I personally feel that the coach has a greater obligation to him – your son gave up his options for this team, so the coach should give up his options for your son. (That said, it doesn’t always work that way.) If he applied RD and the coach won’t commit, you have a few days still to have conversations with the other coaches who were interested.
Guaranteed? Is anyone ever guaranteed? Even recruited and scholarship D1 and D2 athletes have no guarantees. My daughter is already worried about next year as her coach has recruited and signed 3 new players for her spot so D is afraid she’s going to lose her starting spot. And it is true, she might lose her starting spot.
I think a place on the roster for a freshman may be guaranteed, but nothing beyond the first year. Playing time or a starting position, that’s a different thing. From a practical point of view, everything from team chemistry to fitness (including injuries ) can change that in a heartbeat. I know plenty of kids who got very little playing time their first year. Some chose not to continue after that.
I wholeheartedly agree with all of the responses. These message boards are full of folks who found out the hard way that recruits can get cut. You may feel that being a recruit entitles your son to a roster spot, but the coach may see it differently. He is charged with winning. If he feels a walk-on is much better and will help more with the winning, he may well go that route. I strongly suspect that no coach would promise of starting or playing time to a freshman recruit, and if that occurs, as a recruit I wouldn’t rely on it. In numerous discussions with D3 coaches about this, and heard responses from “the best 17 trying out make the team,” to “recruits get a free pass the first year,” to “I don’t see your son getting cut.”
The question about tryouts and cuts for recruits is definitely a subject that should be addressed during the recruiting process. Your son probably should ask now, if only to get himself emotionally and physically ready. I would be careful how I broached the question at this point, however. Perhaps something like, “do you have open tryouts? How does that work?” He should make sure that he is in great shape and attends all of the captains practices in the fall, which is a good idea even if the coach doesn’t cut recruits.
A very hard truth about college athletics is that the day after you sign to play for a coach, he is out trying to recruit your replacement.
Similar to @Ohiodad51, I have always told my son who is a D1 college athlete that his coach basically has two jobs - 1) Win Games. 2) Go recruit somebody better than you.
One other thing to consider is that coaches leave. Sometimes without warning. Two of the schools my daughter looked at have had coaches leave, one before D would have started. Any promises would have left with those coaches.
It takes some trust on both sides and some evaluation of the team.
@Ohiodad51, That’s a fact, and a good thing to remember when they enter the workforce after graduation.
I’m kind of with @twoinanddone, “Guarantee” and “college athletics” are seldom heard in the same sentence.
“A very hard truth about college athletics is that the day after you sign to play for a coach, he is out trying to recruit your replacement.”
This should be posted in every High School Gym!
Your responses have all been very helpful, thank you. My son is, and has been texting and talking with the coach weekly for a number of months. They have a very good relationship. The coach has seen my son in camps at the college over the years. While he texted that he was looking forward to having my son as part of the “family”, he never presented my son’s recruiting as an invitation to try out for the team once he was accepted to the college.
I accept the fact that we should have had a better understanding of the recruiting process, and it’s guarantees…the whole process of choosing, applying to, and being recruited to colleges is a daunting task for those going through it for the first time.
Fortunately, the school is a good fit for my son. He is in their honors program and has received an academic scholarship. My son has stepped up his weight training and conditioning and assures me that he will play on the team. I have no reason to doubt him.
My son was a recruited runner and even met with the UT-Austin coach. He spent a lot of time with us. He explained that it’s really a crap shoot with high school athletes - some of them do wonderfully in high school, then fizzle out. Others are only so-so in high school, then take off once they get to college. There’s no way a coach can guarantee that anyone will make the team for sure.
My son was just guaranteed a roster spot (not playing time) but specifically told nothing after freshman year is guaranteed, “you need to earn it”. He only contacted coaches at schools that made sense academically for him, so there is no downside. Coach more or less indicated that for his spring sport, he has to select kids who are almost 2 years away from their first college varsity game. So unless your kid already plays at the college varsity level as a junior in HS, the coach is guessing what they would become. They guess wrong often.
In Lacrosse Magazine this month, there is a story about the ‘first four’ to commit 4 years ago. Yes, they committed as high school freshmen without ever having played as high school kids. Those coaches are betting a lot on a bunch of 14 year olds. Some of it is knowing their family members who have played, their club and high school coaches, and some just pure luck. They weren’t getting guaranteed playing time, but one did say that he was ‘guaranteed’ by the coach that he’d still get the scholarship if he got hurt or had a few bad games in high school.
My D is at a D3 school where her coach does not cut recruited athletes freshman year. An athlete can be cut sophomore year. On the other hand, I know a baseball player who was heavily recruited by a d3 school, and ended up not making the team, which was very sad. I was not aware that recruitment is no guarantee.
my kid’s experience is similar to @VMT – he was told by his coach, and other coaches at other programs recruiting him – that a recruit is guaranteed a 1 year roster spot, after that, it’s up to him to keep it. That was a detail which most coaches volunteered, though we learned to ask specifically when a coach did not specify in initial meetings.