Took a gap year from going to college/playing football.

Athletic Recruits
1

Hello, my name is Adam.This post has probably been made by thousands of other athletes with similar backgrounds and physical attributes.Fair warning a decent chunk of this may sound arrogent but bear with me please. Anyway here’s my slice of the giant pie. Played football and ran/threw in track from 8th grade through 12th in secondary school. Awards don’t matter but received plenty for both. Started my high-school sports career at about 6’1 or 6’2 180lb hung up the cleats at 6’5 250 running a 4.9 40. The school I attended certainly wasn’t known for sports and each year my football team was numbered between 25-35.Teamates didn’t care if we won or lost, besides me and a very select couple of others. I was the biggest guy on my team from 10th through 12th grade also was on the line 9th through 10th but always want to be a reciever of some type so I grinded and once 11th grade rolled around I was able to play as a TE. Well second game of the season last offensive play of the game our halfways decent qb shattered his wrist and we really had no backup. So halfway through the season as a running team we had no run game due to the line and when we did pass it consisted of our filler qb running for his life and whipping the ball in the general direction of the reciever. At the end of the year this man’s td to int ratio was 2-11. Any who after our 4th game and our qb throwing 5 int I told my coach to put me back at right tackle for the rest of the season. I also played defense obviously. My 11th grade offensive stats were 2 receptions for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns each reception in different games. 12th grade rolls around the summer before the season I attended 1 camp and received 1 offer, (i grew up rough and my school rightfully had me listed as homeless, so fafsa was going to pay a very large amount) this offer was from the d2 school that I attended the camp at and it payed whatever fafsa wouldn’t on the bill.I was the first person in my school’s history to recieve an athletic scholarship to play at the college level.
So going into my 12th grade season I still wanted to show out but that lack of being “hungry for a scholarship” and also lack of experience with the ball really showed. Our team was finally set up enough to be dangerous. average line great defense average offense in general. We started good 3 and 1 but that turned and we finished 5 and 5 with 1 playoff win. Half way through the season my hamstring popped real bad before facing the team I was supposed to be the main recieving target offensively for I couldnt run affter that ,the decision was made to try and save me for playoffs and I was sat the next two games. Made my return in the first round of the playoffs and my stat line for that game was 4 receptions 70 yards and 1 touchdown. Stat line for senior season 17 receptions 350 yards and 3 touchdowns. I have film for 11th and 12th grade up.

While I was in high school i had no real training regimen just stuff I put together for myself but done consistently. And there was no positional practice really during football practice.

That sums up my football career. My grades were average at best finishing with either a 2.5 or 2.35 GPA with a 20 act score. I had signed my national letter of intent for that d2 college on national signing day and decommited a few months later due to some depression and dislike for that school in general. I decided to take a “year” off after that. I am approaching 6’6 still 250 with less body fat percentage, have been working carpentry/working out staying in great shape.

My goal is to be picked up by either a highly competitive d2 program or basically any average or better d1 program A or AA. Competitive d2 might be a stratch but I’m hungry again and would like to shoot a little higher.

My question now that I’ve taken a “year” off what do I do from here? Am I still able to be picked up and play at any point or is my window closed? And if I’m missing other questions I should be asking what are they? Graduated class of 2018

Final note I’ve been putting thought into this for the last couple weeks it’s something I believe I want to do, it is currently 1 am and I had a long day of work prior to tonight with the added affect of this being typed oUT on a small tablet… soooo formating is basically nonexistent.

2

You have to contact coaches, gauge their interest and go from there. Cast a wide net to have a greater chance of being recruited again, but you are late for the 2019-2020 recruiting cycle. Has your depression resolved/are you managing it? How will you pay for college/how much can you pay per year?

3

Hello and thanks for the reply. I don’t intend to be in that recruiting class, also let’s forget I said anything about “depression” I am certain I used the wrong term and apologize for that. Ill just say whatever it was was brought on from extremely unhealthy sleeping habits, graduation, and fear of whats next, the feeling was comparable to drowning and not being able to get my head above the water at any point during those months. Ok here’s a question I have not asked does fafsa allow for refiling even after not using it when I filed the first time…?

4

I would say that your chances of being recruited for a football scholarship are slim to none at this point. That doesn’t mean you can’t play football. Some junior colleges have football programs. That would allow you to keep playing. Private junior colleges might offer need-based aid to help cover room & board. Spend a semester or two over there. With the right grades you can get admitted to a D1 school in your state and try out as a walk-on player.

5

You need to edit a great video showing your skills in 11-12th but also sample plays from right now. (Friends can help you. )
You need to invest time into test prep to raise that ACT, or try the sat. Khan academy has free prep - use the public library’s computers.
2.3-2.5 is D2/community college ONLY if you can increase that score (stricter rules have come into play even for D2, and check that you have the right classes).
Are you still homeless or are you able to pay for a warm, safe room?

6

Thank you both for the responses on this. Ok from what I’m understanding here, sharpen up the film I have, work on getting my act score up, and aim for junior college/community college to get my classroom things straightened out. How and where can I start getting developed as a player? Im talented with what I know now but have never had anyone to actually guide me. Is that in the personal trainer category or?

7

If you start taking classes as a community college, your NCAA timeline starts running so don’t start if you want to maintain all years of eligibility. An ACT of 20 should be high enough, with a 2.5, for a D2 school or junior college. and is enough for a D1, but the school can of course set higher requirements.

Where do you want to go to school? If you don’t like the school you originally committed to, do you still like that type of school? Same size, location, course offerings? Do you want a program where you can get a lot of playing time or is it more important to be at a certain school for a major or a team that wins a lot but where you might not play a lot?