Obviously d1 gets first pick of the true blue chippers. What level of a recruit can the lesser division coaches recruit? Do they go for the fastest recruits also or is there an unwritten rule that you're just embarrassing yourself trying to recruit anyone faster than 2:00/4:20/9:30?
Interested Parent wrote:
Obviously d1 gets first pick of the true blue chippers. What level of a recruit can the lesser division coaches recruit? Do they go for the fastest recruits also or is there an unwritten rule that you're just embarrassing yourself trying to recruit anyone faster than 2:00/4:20/9:30?
First off, the vast majority of high school boys running 1:59 or 1:58 would find themselves highly uncompetitive in D1, so no, lower division would not have a cutoff of 2 flat. There are obviously exceptions where a barely sub 2 guy improved a lot in college, but that is usually somebody who was really undertrained in high school.
Anyway, to directly answer your question, the lower division schools wont ignore fast kids in their recruiting. They probably will just send form letters to kids that are more likely to get d1 money and save their main focus for kids they think they have a better chance with.
But your cutoffs are absurd. Remember, the best kids (for the most part) get the D1 money. The next tier has a choice of either no money at a D1 program, or might be able to get some serious money in D2 or NAIA, even sometimes a full ride.
Many D2 programs wouldnt consider any substantial money unless a boy hits times of maybe 1:55, 4:14, 9:15. That same boy could instead go to a D1 for no money and hope to improve, but he will be unlikely to ever get money unless he makes serious progress.
The times you listed wouldnt even be allowed to try out at most D1 schools, only the lower level schools would allow him as a walk on.
Sdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:
The times you listed wouldnt even be allowed to try out at most D1 schools, only the lower level schools would allow him as a walk on.
First of all, 4:20 is a way better time than either of the other two listed.
There is no way that a D2 coach is going to turn up his nose at that kid. Shoot, most D1 programs would give that kid a shot to at least try out. For example, 87 kids in CA ran under 4:20 last year. About 50 were seniors. Figure that some of them won't run in college, so now you've got 40 guys. Some of those guys go out of state, now you've got 30 guys left.
15 of those seniors broke 4:15 So in CA now, say Stanford, Cal, UCLA pull those guys. USC might get a couple. That leaves programs like CSUN, LBSU, Davis, SDSU to divide up the remaining 15 guys between 4:15 and 4:20.
350 guys in CA broke 2:00, but I assure you there are plenty of d2 programs that would welcome even the guy at 1:59.99. I live across the street from one of them.
Oh, shoot, forgot Cal Poly SLO and UCSB. No love for the Central Coast. Plus, in CA some real studs are going to choose Chico over a second tier D1, so that reduces the pool of sub 4:20 guys even further.
I recruit all over and California is no exception. You would be surprised at how many of those 4:12-4:15 types DO NOT end up at the major California D1 schools. Actually, most don't. Sub 4:10 would get you somewhere, but not low 4:10s. There are 12.6 scholarships on the men's side and major D1 schools won't offer as much money as you think for a guy like that if they want to try and win their conference meet/have an impact on the NCAA scene. I know it sounds crazy, but they usually wind up at the mid-majors and occupy close to a full scholarship (rarely ever full) or end up going to a major school for next to nothing.
In my opinion, if you find a 4:12 kid from a lesser state, that is worth a 4:05 California kid. Most of the southern section kids are 60-70mpw anyways and basically do scaled down collegiate training programs. You see this a lot at other major D1 schools too. Their All-Americans wouldn't have been top 10 in Cali.
Former Sub 14:00 wrote:
I recruit all over and California is no exception. You would be surprised at how many of those 4:12-4:15 types DO NOT end up at the major California D1 schools. Actually, most don't. Sub 4:10 would get you somewhere, but not low 4:10s. There are 12.6 scholarships on the men's side and major D1 schools won't offer as much money as you think for a guy like that if they want to try and win their conference meet/have an impact on the NCAA scene. I know it sounds crazy, but they usually wind up at the mid-majors and occupy close to a full scholarship (rarely ever full) or end up going to a major school for next to nothing.
In my opinion, if you find a 4:12 kid from a lesser state, that is worth a 4:05 California kid. Most of the southern section kids are 60-70mpw anyways and basically do scaled down collegiate training programs. You see this a lot at other major D1 schools too. Their All-Americans wouldn't have been top 10 in Cali.
Right.
Also there were 3,212 kids that ran under 2 minutes for 800 meters this past spring in America. That does not include indoor times or teams that did not report any of there times. (I am not doubling anyone up, and you should consider that many kids ran 2:00.01 or so and I am not counting them at all! I'm betting there were 100s more that ran 2:00 flat also.)
Parents usually overvalue there kids. Please realize that you must recruit the school, they probably will not find you. It's like trying to find a needle a needle in a haystack.
Your kid is just not that special even if he ran 1:55/4:15/9:20. I do think that someone who ran a lot slower than that has a chance as a walk-on. Coaches want motivated kids. As a parent you have to find a coach who is wise enough to know he should hold the kid back a little bit until he has a base and is mature. Those coaches are rare.
Coaches will recruit the best kid they think they can get. Period. D was getting recrutied by a few top D1s and alot of middle to lower tier D1s, that didn't stop many D2, D3, NAIA and Juco coaches from trying to recruit her.
Sometimes these schools find a niche or have something to offer that is unique to their school that gets the kid's attention. A school night be in a town they previously lived in, or where their grandparents live. It might offer a hard to find major that the kids is interested in. Some kids might want to be a D3 National Champion. Who knows what motivates them? Every recruit is different.
So yes, any coach will try to recruit kids that might appear out of their reach. They never know when they might get lucky and sign one.
I'm an alum of a strong D3 distance program and we have regularly brought in times so far beyond what you listed it's honestly disappointing to hear your ignorance and the undertone of arrogance to your statement. There are sub 4:15 and sub 9:00 runners entering D3 every year.
I'm intrigued to hear what you think a "blue chipper" is when you think 1:58/4:40 are elite level times coming out of high school.