The ‘lock in’ can’t happen any earlier than it does today. No recruit can sign an NLI until mid-Nov in any sport. The visits can happen, the verbal commitments can happen, but nothing is permanent until that NLI is signed. DIII have always been able to ‘steal’ the commits, even after they sign.
I don’t think the changes in recruiting schedules have changed anything.
I see juniors giving verbals and then changing their minds, but I think they can also sign NLI as a junior. Doesn’t that lock them in? Good point about the “trickle down” though . It seems the hardest part about the recruiting may be to get my D to think realistically about college options. My D19 has always known what she is looking for, but with higher stats and faster times, D21 has more options and is all over the map. She is only 15, and has so much maturing to do. The new NCAA timeline is just putting more pressure on her that she doesn’t know what to do with. However, I can see how it benefits the schools.
No, they can’t. http://www.nationalletter.org/signingDates/
If they are going D1 or D2, they can’t fully commit (sign) until Nov of senior year. Even then, they can ‘de-commit’ and go to another school with permission/release, or can go to a D3, or can go to another D1 program and not compete for a year. I think the new rules are to allow students to start looking a little earlier. The D3s have no moral issue with trying to steal players. My daughter got a ton of calls after she’d signed and the D3s all said “But you can come here even if you signed, and play right away.”
In lacrosse the rule change went the other way and now no students can take OVs or discuss recruitment with the coach until Junior year. In the past, students were committing in 8th and 9th grade, talking about recruiting before they even had an SAT score. Honestly, the new rules don’t seem to have changed anything. The top recruits are still noticed at freshmen and sophomore camps and showcases, the college coaches can talk to club and hs coaches, and come Sept 1 of junior year the formal commitments are cocked and loaded. They still can’t sign until senior year, and there is still a lot of switching.
Don’t think the verbal commitment is binding on the school either. Coaches change, ADs change, programs are closed or underfunded. Right now there are a lot of D1 football recruits finding out that they won’t be signing on Dec 19 as their coaches have been fired.
In regards to the earlier commitments. it’s important to remember there are the same number of roster spots as there were before the rule change. If faster swimmers are trickling down because of earlier commitments that means elite programs are signing slower swimmers. They won’t be elite for long doing that.
Kids are swimming faster in general and there are a lot of fast kids that are choosing academics over program quality.
Hi all - OP here! I just wanted to thank all of you for your very valuable advice and assistance. My daughter was admitted EA to her top choice school over the weekend, and we could not have done this without the honest and encouraging advice from this forum - much of it on this specific post. It’s been a long year but we’ve got the desired result in the end. She is thrilled, we are thrilled for her that her swimming career will continue into college at a school she is excited to be attending.
I was explaining to someone (while sitting at a swim meet of course), that this process sucks until the moment that it doesn’t. And the challenge is that we just don’t know when that moment will be - when a school and a team will say “yes” to your kid and they say yes back. Having the advice of those that came before us made this roller coaster much easier for this queasy mama to tolerate.
I hope many of you get similar results as you work through the process!
@jmtabb congratulations on your DD’s EA acceptance! So excited for her.
Congratulations @jmtabb to your daughter!
@jmtabb How exciting for your D to be able to keep on swimming AND be at a TOP university! MIT is lucky to have her and take my word for it as the parent of a first year at a select school you are so lucky to have the process of finding the right fit for them DONE!! (My D didn’t make her decision until the final hour at the very end of April!) Now you can just enjoy the rest of her senior year and just live in every last moment! Congratulations!!
Congratulations!
Congrats!
What a great ending @jmtabb! Congrats to your daughter.
Great journey! Thanks for sharing.
@RW1 what are her times in the 50fr and 100fr. I get that coaches want height it sucks. But there are some times they need in the free or it is a no go. Also I believe you can always find a freestyler sprinter. Other strokes are tougher to find.
24.7, 53.6 both at 5000 feet. No worries now just applying with academics and will plan to walk on.
@RW1 Those are great times and if you D is only 5’0 then that is impressive. I wish my D19 would have been able to achieve those times. I was around swimming for many years. I saw many kids go off to college from the club my D swam with. Those times are a bit outside of D1. They could be times for some D1 schools but then you are also trying to match the academic side with swim.
Sadly once a coach sees her height they won’t be interested. I have seen some 5’10 girls get the benefit of the doubt.
Swimming is such a cutthroat sport as you know.
I have only seen 1 or 2 girls go off to college and improve while there. And the improvement was small. It has to be brutal to try to swim and go to college at the same time.
Good luck to your D and you just never know what can happen.
Size matters. My daughter was in the same swimming age group as Missy Franklin. Missy was about 9 months older but a million times bigger. Wing span, flippers for feet…size matters.
On Saturday we were at a restaurant and a number of the women’s varsity lax team came in after practice. My mother couldn’t believe how big they were. My daughter played D2 and I can confirm that the D1 players are much bigger. Daughter had some tall girls on her team (and some shorties) but they just aren’t as big as these D1 players. And after the freshman have a season of lifting and conditioning, they are even more solid.
I think it all depends on how much dryland and weight work your daughter has “enjoyed” during high school. Plus, the grind of multiple doubles per week. Some coaches will see potential in the swimmer who has not been tapped out and has more potential, even if 5 feet.
Very little dryland and weights, too many academic pursuits. I’m sure your right that there are some coaches out there that would look past 5’0, D just wasn’t lucky enough to talk to any of them. I also believe here academic pursuits limited her choices. Only great academic schools believed she would actually come, so my advice for what its worth; use the academics for financial purposes… Its much easier.
@RW1 Great swim schools are usually great academic schools. My D had mid level academics but swimming might have gotten her into higher academic schools. We needed merit, so we did not pursue the higher academic schools. So we did TONS of research and found a great fit for her. If you are high academic, but mid level athletic, your choices are more limited, but there are options - you just have to look really hard for them and probably compromise on something else like location, size, choice of major etc.