Football Recruiting - Ivies, NESCAC, Patriot

[ChicagoMama]

Elliemom, I find it really bizarre that at 6'4" and 290 with a 4.9 40 your ds did not have interest from Ivies (?). To me it sounds like you have/had a dream Ivy lineman. Or maybe there is something I am missing. That is not slow and/or small in the least.

[JHS]

ChicagoMama -- I think if you read the Elliemom post carefully, you will see that her son had plenty of interest, and actually played for a D-IAA program. But he did not start consistently, he did not enjoy it, and ultimately he stopped playing before his eligibility expired.

[myluckydog]

There is some good advice here.

For more advice, check out College Admissions > Specialty Topics > Athletics Recruits. That's where most of the recruiting talk takes place.

New England Elite was a zoo ("If ya pahked ya cah on the grass, ya ganna gat towed.")

Good advice regarding making sure you'll have a highlight tape at the end of junior year. I suggest getting it together and emailing it to coaches in March or April. Right now they're focusing on their season, and December through February they'll be focusing on recruiting for the incoming class, so if you get your stuff to them before March or April it will likely go unnoticed.

If your team posts game tape to hudl.com, you can make a highlight tape and email it to coaches directly from the site.

Many if the Ivies and NESCACs specifically asked S to submit tape through gobigrecruiting.com, and that site just the other day permitted highlight videos to be uploaded directly from hudl.com.

Regarding camps for your Son next summer - make no mistake, the HY&P camps are D1 camps, so if your Son won't stand out among that level of talent, you may want to pass on those. This doesn't mean that your Son won't eventually get recruited by HY or P, just that during those camps the coaches tend to focus on "picking off" recruits that might be otherwise going to D1 schools. And just to be clear, verbal offers ARE made at these camps, some with conditions ("We want to offer you if you can get your SAT up to _____"), but many believe these offers are not real. I read an article somewhere about a head coach (non-Ivy) who shamelessly makes over 250 verbal offers to fill 30 slots.

Many of the NESCAC and D3 coaches go to the Ivy camps (but an Ivy coach will NEVER be at another Ivy's camp), so check which coaches from other schools will be at a camp and if you want to be seen by a particular Ivy you must go to their camp. You can attend many multi-day camps for a single day if you ask. IMO you don't need more than a day at a camp, better to leave them wanting to see more.

I don't think you'll get anything out of attending NE Elite next year, so I would focus on other camps.

And beware, many coaches will contact your S with the intention of showing interest FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF getting your son to attend their camp. Camps are revenue generators for the coaches. The more kids that show up, the more money they make. If your son is good enough, coaches will recruit him whether or not he goes to their camp. If your son is on the bubble and there's one spot left and it's between him and another recruit and your son went to their camp and the other recruit didn't, will going to the camp make the difference? WHO KNOWS? But that's why we all take our kids these camps!

[WAkid2013]

Yes, NE Elite was a zoo. We attended because S was looking at East Coast schools, especially NESCACs, and we live far away so it wasn't practical to attend each school's camp. However, S attended enough individual camps in late June or mid-July, that S was able to make contact with those coaches when they were at NE Elite and say, "Hey, I enjoyed your XX camp last week" or "Hey, I'll be attending your XX camp in a few weeks." That extra contact did seem to help. Also, several schools contacted S before NE Elite to ask him to consider tacking on a trip to visit their school right before or after NE Elite and we even made a last minute, 4 hour round trip drive in the morning of the first NE Elite day.

[WAkid2013]

I also agree with previous posters that it's a good idea to send out highlight tapes in February or early March, fill out the Recruit Questionnaire at each school, then send emails to coaches to let them know you'll be visiting during spring break [or whenever] and would like to meet with them. That worked really well for our S.

[cbreeze]

Better yet, have you son's coach contact the college coaches.

[JoBenny]

^^Do many people find HS coaches willing to help with the recruiting process? My son's coach, a really nice man and a very good coach just didn't seem open to making phone calls and doing outreach. Not that we asked much of him.....He was always willing to give his .02 about a particular school or program but that's about it.

[Lafalum84]

Important to note - Patriot League is Division 1, not D3, and most of the Patriot league schools DO offer a very limited number of athletic scholarships. So their rules are D1 rules, not D3. Also the Ivies are D1. They don't offer athletic scholarships, but they are not D3.

[rollingrock33]

As of last yr, Patriot League schools did not offer scholarships in football but do in some other sports.

[sherpa]

While you're getting good advice here, posting your question in the athletic recruiting subforum Athletic Recruits - College Confidential will yield a lot of specific advice from experienced parents. There you'll find everything you need to know about AIs, OVs, LLs, etc.

Good luck to your son.

[Lafalum84]

Some Patriot League teams do now offer football scholarships - this has changed since last year.

[NESCACgrad88]

Thanks, everyone for the helpful posts.

My son's junior football season ended; his team went to the public school state semi-finals in Virginia. He has made his highlight tape, and has distributed to the NESCACs, Patriot and Ivies. As of early January, some have responded with "when can we see you on campus for a visit?", others have replied "We'll get in touch once we deal with this year's high school senior classs", and others have responded not at all. About what we expected.

His coaches have been a good resource, and due to his school's football reputation, there tends to be a frequent pattern of coaches visiting the school in the spring.

One basis question: are Division III (NESCAC) coaches allowed to visit high schools, or are they limited to the individuakl camps (we've heard conflicting views)? I assume Ivies and Patriots can visit, but not NESCACs.

Thanks for your collective wisdom!

[Proudpatriot]

Division 3 coaches are permitted to visit high schools. The reality is that many D3 programs do not have a big budget to visit high schools all over the country. I think there may be some conferences that impose further restrictions on recruiting which may be why you hear conflicting reports.

[John1284]

As a parent, I went through this process with my S (at NESCAC colleges for a helmet sport) last summer. I would HIGHLY emphasize on having a broader reach/approach with all your NESCAC/IVY College coaches and recommend that you methodically go through this long process. Please don’t confuse NESCAC/IVY leagues with other finer schools that are equally and maybe even better academically. I am just using the NESCAC/IVY in this context as an example of two groups of great schools, and as all the readers know, there are many fine schools that play in other divisions. That said you need to cast a wide net and heavily market yourself, get to know the head coaches, assistant coaches, and most importantly the recruiting coaches responsible for your geographical area. As others pointed out, you need to stay focused on your academics and make sure that your ACT is north of 30-31 (although some LECs super score the ACT). You need mostly A’s in AP courses and should take at least 3 APs in your senior year (the general rule of thumb is to take as many AP courses that you can score A in them). You also need to take your ACT (or SAT) test in early spring of your senior year, in time to have the score ready for upcoming summer camps (see below).
You need to make highlight films of your junior and senior years (take a look at the Easy, affordable, powerful coaching software - Hudl site if your school coach has already signed up, it is the easiest way to produce your highlights). You should also fill out the “athletic recruit” form on every NESCAC/IVY college web site before you sign up for their on-day summer camp. This is one way for the NESCAC college coaching staff to build their recruit data base (they have access to other data bases as well). Once you send your information to the colleges, you will receive “form responses” and often get “updates” from the coaches. A typical NESCAC “helmet sport” recruit data base has as many as 1,500 names to start with, and they end up actively focusing on selected 60+ per “helmet sport”. They go from 60 to even a lesser number of “spots”, “supports”, and LL (in case of IVY only). It is a grueling and long process but you just need to stick with it if you are utterly determined to use LAX as your “hook”. At the end of the day the NESCAC/IVY coaches are looking for highly motivated and great students that can equally play well on the field! It is not the other way around for these very selective colleges.
Sign up for the NE, Harvard and individual LEC/IVY one-day sessions (as many as you can afford). This is your marketing opportunity but you need to be physically, skill-wise, academically, and mentally ready for these camps. It takes a lot of effort and coordination to hit these summer camps. As luck would have it, lots of enthused parents and student-athletes leverage the summer before senior year as an opportunity to visit colleges and these sports camps. These camps are sometimes oversubscribed but this is how you get noticed by the coaches. You need to prepare your “profile” (consists of resume with your picture on it, transcript with list of courses you will be taking in your senior year, ACT/SAT test score, and AP test scores if available). Once on a college campus, make sure you introduce yourself to the coaching staff, have a 15-20 seconds introductory speech ready (your “elevator speech”), hand out your “profile” and show energy, enthusiasm, and as much team work as you can during your short visit. Your parents also need to get to know these coaches and start a dialogue. As they say, “it takes a village”! Once the camp is over, send a “thank you note” to the coaching staff and identify with them how much you learned, and how you feel about their program. Now you are ready to send periodic “updates” in response to the emails that you will receive from college coaches (see above paragraph). Your periodic emails should include a line, or two about your most recent academic progress, a new highlight, some news about your football games, and how much you are looking forward to be part of the “College XYZ football program next year”. Make sure you have your thumb nail photo as part of your signature block. All these coaches are overwhelmed with emails and voice mails. A photo will jug their memory about who you are (every little thing counts).
You can also be invited for a “recruit day” before and/or after your one-day camps. Some colleges (like Middlebury) will go to different camps but they don’t have a camp of their own. Instead, they invite some student-athletes to attend their “recruit day” and this is when they put out a very nice “dog and pony” show to further their recruiting process. If they are interested in you, they may ask for your commitment and encourage you to apply ED. (Please read the next paragraph for details about how to qualify their interests).
Now the waiting game starts around late August (for football and Spring of Junior year for LAX). Coaching staff will start to contact student-athletes that fit their needs. Of course, by now you should have a good feel about the level of interest that you received during one-day camps, recruit days, or simply your visits. Be aware that if they are really interested they ask for your stats (GPA, ACT, SAT, AP scores, number of AP courses, and transcripts) for a pre-read at the Admissions office. Hopefully, you are within the academic range and very little support will be required. Otherwise, coaches have to get involved and start cashing in their “equity” (normally reserved for top notch athletes that are on the border line of academic range of acceptance at NESCAC colleges). Also be aware, that most good coaches keep their cards close to the vest and don’t volunteer too much information about where you stand on their priority list, unless you are on top of it. That said you need to understand when and under what circumstances they will send your academic information to the Admissions office for a pre-read. Again, most of the coached don’t commit to you unless they get thumbs up from the Admissions. They equally encourage you to do ED I because they have the most pull. However, you need to ask probing questions about the coaches’ track record and their past performance with the Admission office before you commit to any ED. Do some research, talk to other athletes and get a feel for the head coach’s batting average. Most good NESCAC coaches have 80%+ average. Last but not least, your head coach may ask a couple of probing questions from you to gage your “true” commitment. Questions such as: how do you feel about studying abroad for a semester, or two? Is your application ready? Has anyone reviewed your essays? Be careful about the first question because most coaches want their student-athletes’ on the campus in fall semester for football. If you get through the last set of hurdles and you commit, your head coach will equally make a commitment to get your application through the ED process. This is just verbal (at NESCAC colleges), don’t expect anything in writing, and this is how it is (welcome to the real world of uncertainty)! Also, make sure that you read the college web site information carefully. Some colleges “recommend” having an interview and that basically means that you SHOULD have an interview. Don’t take this lightly just because you are a student-athlete.
Now comes the ED deadline of mid-November and you are about to submit your application. Some student-athletes think that because there is a “favorable” pre-read and the coach really wants her/him that means that they are “in”. Well, the ultimate decision will be made by the Admissions office and the committee that reads your application materials. Remember that these are very selective colleges and there is no shortage of qualified applicants waiting at their door steps. Do yourself a favor and work on your essays as if you don’t have any athletic “hook”. You submit your application and you think you are done, but not exactly! Stay in touch with your NESCAC recruiting coach during this process. You need to be your own advocate and demonstrate independent thinking, continuous updates, follow through, energy, and most importantly enthusiasm for your next college of choice. Ask your recruiting coach to follow up with the Admissions office and find out if there is anything above and beyond what you submitted that may be helpful for them to properly evaluate you. Remember that you are driving this bus! As you may have read on the CC, there are a number of cases where a student-athlete thought s/he is “in” but the opposite happened. To hedge your bets, don’t burn bridges with other schools that have an interest in you but be honest with them because honesty will go a long way in this process.
The next waiting period starts after you submit your ED application to your number one college of choice but you still have some work ahead of you! If there is one (or more) school that was trying to recruit you (and they also did a favorable pre-read), let their coaches know about your decision and stay in touch with them. These coaches have been around the block a few times and know exactly what you are going through. That does not mean that they will keep a slot open for you indefinitely but the coaches are in the same position as you, and they are trying to get their recruits’ commitment at the same time. College coaches also lose good student-athletes to competing colleges (or Admissions office denies the coaches’ request for admission), so in a way it is like a game of “musical chair” (there are a finite number of high quality/high caliber/skillful student-athletes with limited football slots at NESCAC colleges – you can apply this logic to any sports and any college)!
Now comes the mid-December time and you will hear from your ED college of choice. Hopefully you are accepted. Although, you need to have a fall back plan with your application in a stand-by mode for other colleges in case your ED does not pan out (remember that every decent college has a “supplemental essay” on top of the usual “common application essays” and it takes time to get it right). As I mentioned above, get in touch with other coaches that may have an interest in you (there may be an opportunity to do EDII, or RD with other football colleges). If that is not the case, just don’t worry about it and execute your plan B by firing off your applications to other (non-football) colleges that you are interested in. There are only two weeks between 12/15 (when most ED acceptance/rejections/deferred news comes out) and when most RD, or EDII applications are due on 1/1. You are in charge of your destiny and can’t afford to miss the opportunity for RD elsewhere if your ED does not work out. That is, you can’t afford to be “down and angry”! This is not end of the world but rather a new beginning after the NESCAC recruiting process is over. Imagine you are playing football and you just lost one game. Dust yourself off and get ready for the next game. Good luck.