<p>Hello everyone, noob to the site. what are the chances of getting any offers on just the one discipline?</p>
<p>I have heard conflicting statements from HS coaches and various arm chair pros.</p>
<p>I was hoping to hear from some current/former collegiate athletes and or coaches.
3.8-4.0 student. Junior year, has not taken SAT yet. Lettered as a Soph.</p>
<p>All answers are appreciated, thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Single event athletes ( PV, HJ, etc) tend to be less in demand as they can only score in one event. Distance kids do XC and track- sprinters and mid-dist can do relays, etc.
But on the other hand, every team needs a discus thrower (although they usually do double duty in SP). </p>
<p>So there is a demand, but you need to be very good to get much $. Couple that with the fact that there are 12.6 D1 mens track scholarships to cover the whole roster, and you can see there probably isn’t much scholarship potential for anything less than a top national prospect.</p>
<p>You do have good grades - any interest in a selective D3 or Ivy?</p>
<p>Thank you for the response varska. I am actually the father. He has a decent shot 47<code>and some change, but his disc is mid 160</code>s less than halfway through the season. We are a 5a , and he is leading the district currently. No reason to think 190`s + are not possible senior year…?</p>
<p>He was also a starting o-lineman on the varsity football team as a Junior. Do they give any consideration for dual sport athletes?</p>
<p>We are open to any school that provides his degree of interest. In state or out, we are just trying to get a feel of what to expect.</p>
<p>Tracknoob - My Ds is now a sophomore at a prestigious,smaller D1 school. He did very well in HS with the shot put. He also threw discus, but did not do as well with this. He was recruited by 3-4 schools for the shot alone. I also had him reach out to some of the coaches of schools that interested him. A few of the other throwers on his collegiate team were single event athletes in HS. Once he got to college, he really took off with the discus and started throwing both the hammer and weight. So, I believe you have a decent chance as a single event thrower.</p>
<p>tracknoob, this would actually be a good time to start emailing coaches, gauging interest and planning some visits. </p>
<p>For the most part, track recruiting is going to be based on his Jr. year season - things are usually all wrapped up by the time Sr. outdoor comes around.</p>
<p>Thank you all for taking the time to read and answer my questions.</p>
<p>Looks like we need to reach out to some schools,not wait for them to come to him.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That, my friend, is an absolute.</p>
<p>Yes, listen to Varska!!!</p>
<p>Having (I believe successfully) just completed the recruiting process for my S, similarly a one event track athlete; I will give you my 2 cents. Dialogue with schools that eventually gave some kind of scholarship (either academic, athletic or just admissions help) was initiated by us. He got a few generic questionnaires in the mail which we filled out, and a few unsolicited calls, but most of those schools were a bad fit for one reason or another. The coaches we wanted to talk to never “just called” without an e-mail from us first. While my S was a solid performer in his event (Milesplit, Dyestat, Athletic.net - Top 25 junior year) no one came looking for us. </p>
<p>Best advice I can reiterate, is cast a very wide net, in the end offers varied widely. Academic money that was received was as a result of applying early through the school’s normal process and most of the dollars offered were academic. We did not ever get the impression that the coaches had any influence one way or another on academic dollars (BTW- these were all D1 schools). Most told him to apply and call back if still interested in the school after the response from the scholarship department came through. Interest from the coaches on having him on the team depended on the situation for his event - how many already on the roster? Were key performers graduating? Did they just hire a new head coach who has a different focus for the team, etc.</p>
<p>tracknoob–schools will not come to you except possibly some local ones. It just doesn’t work that way unless they are ranked top 10 nationally in their sport. He can expect to do more than just discus in college. It’s a rare program where a track athlete will only do one event, especially if they offer a scholarship. They may be recurited because of their 400 time or whatever, but they will be expected to run relays, the 800, etc. Same with throwers. They may specialize in discus but will be expected to do shot or hammer too. Team depth is important and even if he doesn’t win both, a 5th place finish helps too.</p>
<p>Just realize that the money you may get is going to be minimal, but it’s better than nothing. Also, don’t rule out D3 schools. Many have more academic money to hand out then you would ever get for a track scholarship.</p>
<p>Wow. Thank you for all of the responses. He is very interested in throwing the jav and hammer as well.</p>
<p>What are thoughts on Junior days? He has recieved an invite for a D1 (FBS) university Junior day through his football participation. Is it true that only people they are interested in are asked to attend. I am under the impression they are invite only…?</p>
<p>It is about a 230 mile drive. Would this be worth doing?</p>
<p>Steve, from what I have gathered on the net, he is top 100 in national ranks as a Junior. I am new to all this, so I really appreciate any advice people have.</p>
<p>Not to burst your bubble but…</p>
<p>HS track season has not started for much of the country so any national ranking now is pretty meaningless. You should look at the distances for last year to get a better idea. For example, last year on milesplit the top 100 in discus would require a throw over 177 ft. 160s are not going to catch any college eyes so you will have to be very proactive in going after the schools and selling them on potential. For example, in Ohio you typically need 170 to just make it to state in Division 1 and mid-180s to Get on the medal stand. If he does start hitting 190s this Spring, then it is a different story.</p>
<p>Also, the junior day invite could be significant if it came after personal emails or telephone calls with a specific coach at the school. Otherwise, the invite probbably came from a mailing list merge function. If he has not had personalized contact with this school, I suggest reaching out to the coach by email before taking a long trip like that.</p>
<p>Since you are new to it and may not be aware, you should also note that the college implements are much bigger than those used in HS, so you can’t compare HS to college distances.</p>
<p>^bonard, you bring up a good point. But don’t forget when checking rankings on milesplit to filter for his recruiting class. So if you just look at Jr.s - outdoor 2012 - a 165’ throw would put him about 85 in the country for that recruiting class.</p>
<p>While that’s not going to make too many D1 coaches salivate - there is definitely room for that type of thrower in d3. (130’ scored points in NESCAC conference champs last spring -doing a rough conversion of -20’ for a 2.0kg vs a 1.6kg implement and tracknoob’s son would be a welcome addition if he has the grades)</p>
<p>If he has a breakout spring and gets into the low 180’s - now he could start seeing some love from Ivies and other D1 programs. Another thing that might help, if he’s a big kid with relatively little technical training, that could indicate a lot of upside to a coach</p>
<p>Thank you all very much for the input. The invitation to the Junior day came after sending the link to his HUDL hi-lites to the Head Coach and recruiting Coach. He was one of 4 people on his team to recieve one from that particular school.</p>
<p>Concerning T&F, I know the season is young,and many more results are going to be posted. I just really have a gut feeling that 170<code>s + are going to come from this kid, this year. While that may not be groundbreaking, keep in mind this is from a 6</code>3" 250# Junior who turned 17 in January. I really believe in the next year or two he could really develop into a monster. Most importantly he does his business in school, first and foremost.</p>
<p>I will take the advice that was given here and start reaching out to track coaches. Please anyone who has experienced the recruiting process, or know someone who has, feel free to chime in. I really do appreciate the advice.</p>
<p>I just checked Milesplit–it looks like those rankings are not complete either. I checked a couple kids that I know are 'ranked" nationally and they don’t even show up on the list–on girl in particular is top 5 nationally but is not on the list for her sport. She has committed to a top D1 school already and was considered one of the top recruits for her class. So, 100th on that list might not mean all that much. Not knocking your son, but just being realistic.</p>
<p>^ between milesplit and athletic.net you get a pretty accurate read on nat hs track rankings.</p>
<p>Went through all of this with my son a few years ago, and we had some great success and got him a scholarship to a D1 School. A few comments:</p>
<ol>
<li> As mentioned above, be aggressive and take the initiative. YOU drive the recruiting process and should build a target list of school to go after. Coaches love to get quality recruits come to them without doing any work 
If we just sat back, he would have only had a hand full of options, and he was in the top 20 in the country as a senior!!!</li>
<li> Coaches want contributors in multiple events. Unless your son is a phenom in one event, track coaches want point contributors. Especially in the throws, they want solid competitors in multiple disciplines. Focus on getting good at shot and disc.<br></li>
<li> Attend a top tier camp for exposure. For throwers, I highly recommend the Iron Wood Camp in Washington. Fantastic camp, and many of the top coaches in the country attend, so great exposure. You will also get fantastic coaching to help get distance in multiple events.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you have any questions, shoot me a PM.</p>