Steerage toward best D2 D3 school to develop a Decathlete…

…to add a bit of background.

It’s my son.

He has a 4.3 gpa and a solid ACT.

We (he, his club coach, and I) did some back of the envelope math and could see him scoring in the RMAC as a (college) freshman.

We are looking at programs that might give him some help with tuition, but also to develop him in the decathlon. The decathlon is his choice.

By far the obvious choice is Chico. They basically are the only D2 school with a real dec program. Not the beat coaching, but it's decent. They end up slaughtering the competition mostly due to sheer number of athletes, they have like 20 guys doing the dec.

Otherwise, there is a D3 Santa Barbara area school that has some post collegiates competing with them. I forget the name. West something.

Naia has Bryan Clay's old school.

Why D2? A lot of D1 schools have pretty weak deathless, just because the field is so small.

ChimpLimp wrote:

…to add a bit of background.

It’s my son.

He has a 4.3 gpa and a solid ACT.

We (he, his club coach, and I) did some back of the envelope math and could see him scoring in the RMAC as a (college) freshman.

We are looking at programs that might give him some help with tuition, but also to develop him in the decathlon. The decathlon is his choice.

Angelo State or Central Missouri (Kip Janvrin) would be very solid choices.

Pitt State is also a great choice

holterskolter2 wrote:

By far the obvious choice is Chico. They basically are the only D2 school with a real dec program. Not the beat coaching, but it's decent. They end up slaughtering the competition mostly due to sheer number of athletes, they have like 20 guys doing the dec.

Otherwise, there is a D3 Santa Barbara area school that has some post collegiates competing with them. I forget the name. West something.

Naia has Bryan Clay's old school.

Why D2? A lot of D1 schools have pretty weak deathless, just because the field is so small.

Re: Chico: Their depth is impressive, but I had the same impression/input around the coaching.

Re: Santa Barbara D3: I will need to dig out which school. Nothing comes to mind.

Re: Bryan Clay: I think he went to Azusa State? D2, I think.

Why D2 vs. D1: I don’t know if the boy can get numbers together this year for D1 interest; we need the help with tuition. D2 and D3 have some great programs, and if he’d dev as expected, he could transfer at some point. When we realized that he could be scoring in the RMAC as a freshman, that’s a story that we could be taking “broader” to chase an education.

This is great input, holterskolter2. Thank you.

Bearer,

Thank you for the reply.

Angelo State was one of the farms I’d landed on and am trying to chase down info on the coaching (or are they like Chico with numbers).

Mr. Janvrin is a hero and CMU is on the list.

To the latter, I am looking at a couple of the Iowa D3 that have built some folks.

hishdhjdj wrote:

Pitt State is also a great choice

hishdhjdj,

Thank you for that. I will dig in.

Do you realize how expensive some schools are? Why not attend a state school if you have some? And if not goods enough for D1, probably not getting and money D2. If he is smart, D2 schools are not good.

not a name wrote:

Do you realize how expensive some schools are? Why not attend a state school if you have some? And if not goods enough for D1, probably not getting and money D2. If he is smart, D2 schools are not good.

Do I realize…: Yes :-)

State schools: We do and some are in consideration.

Your last statements are at the core of my asking about development. Further up the thread someone had mentioned how thin many D1s were in the decathlon. It’s true that there are a number of conferences where an athlete can be scoring while under 7k points.

He is looking at programs that he feels can help him develop, but has concerns about being late to the D1 consideration for multi’s as this year (jr hs) is a recovery year and he won’t be taking on some of the more technical events until the summer.

What is a recovery year? It seems that your son wants to be a D1 guy but you want to save money. Your state schools are the only real option if you don't want to spend $200k. And if you are talking about scoring 7000 points, he isn't going to get much interest. A school that develops Multi guys is Iowa. Their 3rd best guy last year scored 7300 points. So it seems that your son isn't at that level. I recommend that you find an inexpensive school that has an average track team where he can enjoy being part of the team. Every team has coaches in each event. If he is good enough in several events, he doesn't need an actual multi coach.

not a name wrote:

What is a recovery year? It seems that your son wants to be a D1 guy but you want to save money. Your state schools are the only real option if you don't want to spend $200k. And if you are talking about scoring 7000 points, he isn't going to get much interest. A school that develops Multi guys is Iowa. Their 3rd best guy last year scored 7300 points. So it seems that your son isn't at that level. I recommend that you find an inexpensive school that has an average track team where he can enjoy being part of the team. Every team has coaches in each event. If he is good enough in several events, he doesn't need an actual multi coach.

Not a name,

Thanks for the clarifying.

This is a recovery year, as he’d had a surgery and missed last year’s track season and is taking this basketball season off to focus on track, and build himself back through indoors this winter.

He doesn’t particularly want to be a D1 guy, he’s looking for a great fit from a school/experience perspective, sees that he can conservatively be scoring >6.5k as an incoming freshman and wants to see how far he can take the decathlon. That score has him contributing at the conf meet at a number of D2 and D1 venues.

My asking about D2 and D3 schools is around not expecting D1 interest, at the outset. I do want to save money. We are looking for help with tuition.

Your point that every team has a coach in each event is true and valid. I expect that there is “some” specificity in how you approach the two day event, and teams that have success in that event have other dudes to work with. I don’t think everyone NEEDS a multi coach, but if you are trying to develop and learn while competing, that coaching has value.

D3 can give no scholarships. You will have to figure out the cost through the admissions process and you usually won't know specifics until January of senior year. Sounds like your son isn't at a level to get any athletic scholarship and D2 schools are not good academically anyway. I really think you need to explore your D1 state schools to see if he can walkon. Remember that a coach can leave tomorrow so you don't want to put too much effort into finding the best fit when you are a non scholarship athlete. Find a school that has a long list of majors where he can compete at a reasonable price. Can you tell us the state? You haven't given any info that would divulge his identity.

not a name wrote:

D3 can give no scholarships. You will have to figure out the cost through the admissions process and you usually won't know specifics until January of senior year. Sounds like your son isn't at a level to get any athletic scholarship and D2 schools are not good academically anyway. I really think you need to explore your D1 state schools to see if he can walkon. Remember that a coach can leave tomorrow so you don't want to put too much effort into finding the best fit when you are a non scholarship athlete. Find a school that has a long list of majors where he can compete at a reasonable price. Can you tell us the state? You haven't given any info that would divulge his identity.

D3 no scholarships: yes, but…. He has a solid GPA, excellent class rank and a solid ACT. In my experience, they will/could cobble some things based on merit and other leadership-ish elements.

Walk-on D1: we will be looking at that, but as a fallback

State: Colorado

Bryan Clay's COACH Kevin Reid is at University of La Verne in Southern California, D3. One of the top Multi coaches in the country

ChimpLimp wrote:

Re: Santa Barbara D3: I will need to dig out which school. Nothing comes to mind.

Re: Bryan Clay: I think he went to Azusa State? D2, I think.

.

I remembered the name of the school was westmont. They're NAIA. Their team isn't necessarily impressive, but they have some good post collegiate decs who work out with the team. At least they used to, I assume they still do. So they might be a good group to train and develop with for an internally motivated athlete.

interested party wrote:

Bryan Clay's COACH Kevin Reid is at University of La Verne in Southern California, D3. One of the top Multi coaches in the country

Can't go too wrong with that.

Also at the D3 level, I was impressed with the jog George Fox University did developing a pretty raw kid who came out of our high school.

not a name wrote:

What is a recovery year? It seems that your son wants to be a D1 guy but you want to save money. Your state schools are the only real option if you don't want to spend $200k. And if you are talking about scoring 7000 points, he isn't going to get much interest. A school that develops Multi guys is Iowa. Their 3rd best guy last year scored 7300 points. So it seems that your son isn't at that level. I recommend that you find an inexpensive school that has an average track team where he can enjoy being part of the team. Every team has coaches in each event. If he is good enough in several events, he doesn't need an actual multi coach.

This is pretty accurate. Iowa's 3rd guy was injured a lot as well. But thats a program on the rise in recent years with Coach Woody, his staff and an incredible indoor facility for winter months training.

Janvrin at Central Missouri would be a good choice. I would check his status as far as how much longer he will be there. Pitt State is in the same conference so there will be competition.

Usually, the dec athletes take time to develop so getting in with a good overall program even if the dec isnt as much of priority is key. Ask, do they have a consistent record of successful jumps, hurdles and throws?

If he is good enough to transfer to a D1 later, Arkansas with Goephert and Iowa with Woody. Those two with Janvrin all come from the same stock...Iowa boys that know how to win at a high level and how important it is to leave no holes in the conference lineup. If they can get you to nationals, they will.

One of the top U of Iowa multis started at Central.

Eau Claire is very strong in the multis and dirt cheap too.

On the private side, George Fox, St. Olaf, Johns Hopkins, Whitworth, and Wartburg are all in the top ten for Event Squad rankings.

ChimpLimp wrote:

Curious as to what schools would be best/better choices for an athlete aspiring to grow as a decathlete.

The athlete is currently a Jr in High School. He is decent in the jumps and running, will be working on the throws this pre-season.

You're better off teaching him to hurdle and vault then they don't need as much time to learn once they hit college. High Jump, Pole Vault, and Hurdles are the biggest factors.