Advice on the transfer portal

You’re not alone - I know of many who are exactly in your shoes. We have 1 in our program who injured all 3!seasons, true freshman but not nationally relevant in HS. Every week I wonder will he enter the portal and I wouldn’t blame him.

Yes, you still have value. Coaches understand that talent doesn't go away. Starliper and Cook both transferred as often injured. Nevada Moreno, a huge hs talent, was injured all the time at Stanford and NC State, but the one xc race she ran to her potential happened to win NC State a national xc title. Talent doesn't go away.

That said you have to have a solid explanation of why you won't be injured for the new coach, ie. what will you now do differently?

Also I don't know how you get along with current coach. A kind coach will let you explore via the portal, perhaps deciding to stay. Most coaches view the portal, however, as the end meaning your scholarship ends this spring.

Good luck.

No wonder you’ve redshirted all 3 seasons of your Freshman year … YOU’RE INJURED. Did you compete too much in high school (very common)? Did you fail to train properly throughout high school (very common)?

Feel free to blame it on more intense training in the early days at your college program if you must. Have you talked to your coach about this? Isn’t your college coach trying to get you through this, which is understandably one of the more frustrating times of your life?

The transfer portal is there if you feel like that is the solution, but it seems to me what you really need is to develop healthy training and life habits and get healthy.

if you feel like the coach's training isn't working, is rash, or is causing your injuries, such that you need to transfer, why would you believe if you give it more years you get any meets or times out of those future years, either? won't you have the same problem next year to get there? that needs to go into the calculus.

re worrying your future, you should have every bit of your 4 years of eligibility left as either a medical hardship or normal redshirt. that should help your case if you do have good HS times and a decent current school, as you would be almost like a freshman for their purposes. ideally you would have good grades this year too. worst case you apply to some teams where TFRRS tells you that you should make the team, and contact them about joining. if nothing else a school where your history suggests you would make an impact should be eager for your walk on. to me as long as you can explain what happened and that you are healed, you're better situated than if you ran lousy times hurt and you look like an illusion. try selling that instead.

if you want to move you need to do the portal because if you don't you risk NCAA saying you have to take a year off in residence at school 2. the portal is an exception to the year off rule -- it gets you your free transfer without the cooling off period. last thing you want is a medical year off followed by a transfer rest.

look, i could understand assuming some JV HS runner or D3 bench player is just grousing unnecessarily, but high performing D1 or even D3 athletes have usually played for years, done well, experienced a variety of coaching, and can tell you when they are being asked to train excessively or foolishly, or were rushed or played hurt. this is not their first sports authority figure or trip to the orthopedist.

even for the HS JV kid it's more instilling they need to eat their vegetables and sometimes wouldn't even know if they were overcooked. even they could get overdone.

also, you know, if someone was healthy and successful HS, then goes to college and a switch flips and they can't stay healthy and get in a meet, occam's razor is not that the HS effort and coaching is what went wrong.

Everybody’s so harsh on this injured runner :(

we’re missing the point of her question: how will a potential coach/program view her situation? We’re only 5 years into the portal so not many coaches/programs probably have dealt with this. Since last year only 2 that I know of have entered the portal (see post#3).

Here's how a normal coach will deal with this... ready?

On an individual basis. Once she's in the portal, they will speak to her and evaluate things based on who she is, what her history is, and her potential going forward.

Essentially the same thing they did when she was being recruited out of HS. One year of injuries isn't going to eliminate her from all consideration.

I think so...recent star recruits have made lateral moves after a year or so at their first college.

Do you know where you want to go?

Within a week of entering the portal, at least 100 coaches will have reached out. You are also free to initiate conversations with coaches that haven't reached out, and they will all respond right away based on your high school times.

All of the coaches that you talked to in your initial recruiting process will know who you are and will be excited to hear from you.

The scholarship offers might be a little smaller this time around, but you should be willing to spend a little more money to get away from this coach that has no regard for your safety.

Depends on the inj.'s. All these comments aren't mentioning that a program doesn't want to get involved with a XF that has a tough time healing, esp. with a history of something like a stress fracture.

If you are now fit go someplace and run a road race. Interested coaches would be pleased that you proved your fitness. You have no college times but if you are mid-dis a competitive time would get people's attention. Also if you have a good stride, good leg turnover, reasonable weight mention that too.

Karma