2:01 HSer Sammy Watson turns down "money that would surprise most people" - signs with Texas A&M

all the best to her! hope she has a great career.

Honestly, I can understand both decisions here. She is obviously talented enough to go pro right now and barring injury or serious setback shed have a great career. But Texas A&M pumps out serious sprinters and short distance talent constantly and she'll be training with amazing runners every day under a great coach and will have 4 good chances to be a team national champion. I respect the hell out of this move.

how much money do 'most people' thing she was offered?

tell me about ' most people' wrote:

how much money do 'most people' thing she was offered?

I was thinking along the same lines as what I bring home. On a good year, that's a whole turkey, but when I don't take first in my AG it's either a cream or fruit pie.

Great move tbh idk what's the reason of teens going pro without experiencing the NCAA. It's an experience they will find anywhere else. The team atmosphere in particular and getting an education too. Like the Lyles brothers could've formed a 4x4 with Grant to compete against the Kerley bros. Also, Drew idk who would give up the opportunity to train with the KING

Noah needed to go pro, Josephus, on the other hand, should have been at Florida this year.

Drew and his family knew what they were doing. He was in phenomenal shape last year and would have had an outside shot at making the team had he run the 3:54 to 3:55 mile he was capable of. Even last year, he was just shy of professionals like Ben Blankenship and Kyle Merber, more along the lines of someone like Johnny Gregorok.

..train with the king..lol.

Outside shot of making the team? Did he even make the trials?

Sammy is a rarity. Seems to have it all together, good supports, good high school coaching, good student, etc. And she just made a very wise decision. Spend a year or two conquering the NCAA, and then if it all falls right, go pro around the Olympic year. She's very easy to root for.

Mojo Jerkin wrote:

Sammy is a rarity. Seems to have it all together, good supports, good high school coaching, good student, etc. And she just made a very wise decision. Spend a year or two conquering the NCAA, and then if it all falls right, go pro around the Olympic year. She's very easy to root for.

That's sort of what I was thinking too - she sounds like everything is going well for her, and that a few years in college will help her either get faster and go pro and/or get her a really good degree. Either way I think she's going to do very well at the sport and at life.

Mojo Jerkin wrote:

Sammy is a rarity. Seems to have it all together, good supports, good high school coaching, good student, etc. And she just made a very wise decision. Spend a year or two conquering the NCAA, and then if it all falls right, go pro around the Olympic year. She's very easy to root for.

I disagree entirely, in that I think this is not the best decision for her. You are assuming that she suffers no serious injury and continues to improve in the American university system, and there's every chance that neither of those will come to pass. At present, she could guarantee herself over $1M and then attend whatever university might take her, and obligate her kit maker to finance her education outside of her earnings. In my estimation, this path offers very little upside and brings substantial risk, as far as future earnings are concerned.

Excellent move. A&M is also known for good academics. Hope she avails herself of the opportunity and chooses a program in the sciences or engineering. Olympic athlete and a scientist/engineer, wouldn't that be sweet! [quote]LetsRun.com wrote:

I guess I didn't consider that. That being said I still think he would have run under 3:38 in that race. That would have been good enough for 6th, potentially 5th.

Note every decision has to be about money.

Beyond money, how often does going pro out of high school work out in terms of athletics? How often do the young pros actually end up getting a degree?

Yeah, she is probably taking a financial risk, but if she were my daughter I'd be proud of the decision she made, and she is going to be successful beyond running in whatever she chooses to do.

Drew Hunter had an outside shot of making the team? Oh my god you are stupid

LetsRun.com wrote:

But the Rush-Henrietta standout and her family also know this: That money isn't going anywhere.

Unless she gets injured, sick, doesn't improve, etc. etc. In sports you take the money when it's available. Your assets likely aren't appreciating, if you know what I mean.

truefactmaniac wrote:

Drew Hunter had an outside shot of making the team? Oh my god you are stupid

Thanks for the criticism, now where is the critique?

I've shared my piece already, Hunter's fitness was well ahead of his performances.

Although 3rd place may have been a stretch, I am adamant he could have gotten 5th.

In a perfect race I wouldn't have been surprised to see him coming off the last turn right behind Blankenship and Manzano.

How can we be surprised how much money she turned down if no one says how much money she turned down?

Was it a $1M/year, $500K/year, $100K/year....?

Ineligible wrote:

truefactmaniac wrote:

Drew Hunter had an outside shot of making the team? Oh my god you are stupid

Thanks for the criticism, now where is the critique?

I've shared my piece already, Hunter's fitness was well ahead of his performances.

Although 3rd place may have been a stretch, I am adamant he could have gotten 5th.

In a perfect race I wouldn't have been surprised to see him coming off the last turn right behind Blankenship and Manzano.

He probably didn't want to waste his time with a critique. It is an absurd statement. Whether he was capable of running quicker or not isn't really an issue. He didn't and even if he had, you are discussing the idea of what he could potentially run in a 1500, then just throwing it into the USOT final. That's pretty ridiculous. That's similar to taking last place Jmac and saying because he's run 3:34.0 that he could have won the race if he was at peak fitness.

Except it's "easier" for you to say this because Hunter wasn't in the race.

You are discrediting those that qualified, and those that made the final and placed well by saying something so dumb.

Heck, even Engels is a 1:46 guy.

Being adamant about something so unlikely comes off very silly.