I agree with Dfin that a phone call is in order. even if W&L were the young man’s first choice, that should not have affected the consideration that much. For athletic recruitment, to get an athletic preference, yes, first choice is essential, but this student should have gotten heavy consideration without the athletic card. Is he truly legacy by Bucknell definition? I see cases where people think that a given student has legacy, but it’s either not by definition (some schools only count legacy if the parent graduated from the exact school to which the student is applying; grad school or other branch doesn’t count) or it is a weaker form of legacy (sibling, non parent).
Without the legacy, however, it is not all that surprising for a denial. Yes, I’ve seen kids with those numbers denied from schools at Bucknell on a RD basis. Maybe things have gotten even tighter for RD. The kids I know who were accepted there were all ED this year and for the last few, from what I can remember. My one son was accepted to Bucknell years ago as a non ED,non legacy, not as well endowed academically, but as an athletic recruit who stated that Bucknell was first choice