He is currently in the top 25 of his event in the United States. I'm shocked how little interest college coaches have shown. He finished last year in the top 75 of his event in the United States. The school he really wants to attend has moved the goal post 3 times on what kind of time he needs to run to even make the team. They are currently telling him a time that would likely rank him in the top 2-3 runners in his event when all is said and done.
Even the local D2 has not bothered to reach out. He has received letters from other D2 and NAIA however.
My son is a Senior. He ended his 11th grade year at our state meet last year. At the time of that meet (last weekend in May), he was the #11 underclassman in the U.S. We had previous plans that precluded a summer racing schedule, so he ended the year a little further down the list.
The school is oriented toward the longer events, my son is more of a Mid-D guy. This still doesn't explain why no other D1 schools have even reached out.
Are his times FAT confirmed? As in, he isn't claiming to have run 1:49 during a "COVID time trial". If they are confirmed and published/run at a state meet then that's fishy...
Grades? Personality? If they're moving the goal post on him they either are running out of scholarships, have an uber talented incoming class, or don't like the attitude/vibe your son gives off
I have been coaching for 10 years and have seen the same thing over the past 2-3 years. I think coaches got lazy after having a year off with pay. I have a guy on my team right now who ran 4:12 as a junior and is not signed yet as a senior. 90% of coaches didn't even respond to him even though he would be one of the top guys on dozens of teams that he contacted. I expect that he will run 4:07 this year. He is leaning toward attending our state school while continuing to contact the coach after arriving. He may end up running on the club team which will be a sad situation. I have two juniors on the team who have run 1:55 this spring and they are starting aining the same process. I have gone through the process with dozens of athletes over the past 10 years but the first 5 years were great while the past 2 have been frustrating.
My son is a Senior. He ended his 11th grade year at our state meet last year. At the time of that meet (last weekend in May), he was the #11 underclassman in the U.S. We had previous plans that precluded a summer racing schedule, so he ended the year a little further down the list.
The school is oriented toward the longer events, my son is more of a Mid-D guy. This still doesn't explain why no other D1 schools have even reached out.
I went through the recruiting process in 2016, so not sure if its still the same, but coaches generally arent reaching out unprompted. Its not like other sports, you have to send emails yourself. I was probably ranked somewhere between 75th-100th for 1,600/3,200 and I must have sent emails to 50 D1 coaches. Ended up communicating with maybe 15-20 and then narrowed down to 5 to take visits to.
Just a simple email with times/grades and 1-2 personalized sentences for why you are interested. T&F is by far the easiest sport for recruitment, you either have the times/grades or you don't. Can't speak to your sons specific situation, but being proactive with the communication was key for me
Are they offering anything? If not, I would send some messages to other programs because this one Is not a good fit. Coaches are not smart and are not good at recruiting.
The kid is a senior and it is now April of his senior year. The colleges are out of money because the coaches have already committed their 2023/2024 funds and roster spots. He will need to walk on somewhere at this point.
Also understand that a lot of scholarship athletes were granted extra eligibility because of COVID. That and a red shirt year means that 2017 and 2018 grads are still active, the university is honoring their scholarship commitments within NCAA limits, and those athletes are working on second undergraduate degrees or have started grad school. Their "COVID Bonus" means that rosters are full and less money is available for kids graduating high school this year.
He is currently in the top 25 of his event in the United States. I'm shocked how little interest college coaches have shown. He finished last year in the top 75 of his event in the United States. The school he really wants to attend has moved the goal post 3 times on what kind of time he needs to run to even make the team. They are currently telling him a time that would likely rank him in the top 2-3 runners in his event when all is said and done.
Even the local D2 has not bothered to reach out. He has received letters from other D2 and NAIA however.
What am I missing?
Something seems off here...unless things have changed since my kids were being recruited.
1) First of all, if your kid is really one of the best 25 in the United States, the local D2 school probably thinks he's not interested in going there. If he wants to go there, he should contact the coach.
2) One of my kids was a top recruit as a Senior in high school (HS All American), but he was inundated with recruitment letters. Most of those were sent to his coach, so his coach then gave them to him. We had many come to the house also, but many of those got our address by first contacting the coach. So, is your kid's coach an A-hole or lazy? Any chance he's not forwarding recruitment letters on to your kid or not giving your home address to colleges that ask?
3) If #2 isn't the case or if things have just changed drastically since both of my kids were being recruited, then either your kid isn't as good as you say (maybe you just don't really know), or he has horrible grades or a known bad attitude or criminal charges or something. Only you know for sure (or maybe you don't...especially about how good he actually is).
4) Others have told you what to do, but I will confirm...he should contact the schools he's interested in attending. If he's as good as you say he is, they will get back to him, and quickly.
The kid is a senior and it is now April of his senior year. The colleges are out of money because the coaches have already committed their 2023/2024 funds and roster spots. He will need to walk on somewhere at this point.
Also understand that a lot of scholarship athletes were granted extra eligibility because of COVID. That and a red shirt year means that 2017 and 2018 grads are still active, the university is honoring their scholarship commitments within NCAA limits, and those athletes are working on second undergraduate degrees or have started grad school. Their "COVID Bonus" means that rosters are full and less money is available for kids graduating high school this year.
This is a really good point. It's disappointing, because we'd been placing all of our eggs in one basket.
Previous poster asked about grades. He's #2 in his senior class. He will be receiving a small scholarship from our state association.
I’ll throw in my two cents here as a former DI stopwatch holder. Recruiting is moving earlier and earlier on the calendar. The time to get in with colleges is early in the cycle preferably junior year to visit over the summer or in the fall. The longer you wait the smaller the chances become. His dream school may have filled their slots already.
The D2 schools are not going to swing at a kid ranked top 25 nationally, simple. Waste of time 99.9% of the time.
So many schools are falling under a tighter and tighter roster cap for men and women but especially men. Add the Covid year and it is a huge crush. When I was coaching I was told to sign no one after March 2020. And one person per gender in 2021 with no additional scholarship for the group in 2022. I know many coaches were under the same guidelines.
Lastly, no way this is true if your kid is top 25 nationally in the 400, 800, 1600. Now If he ran some off distance 600yds, 1k, non normal event maybe he was top 25.
We had a hammer thrower want a full one year because he was ranked top 20 for US high school. The answer was no, he was about a half football field away from making the NCAA 1st round.
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