Has anyone seen a student graduate early from a top boarding school to enroll at college in January for a spring practice season? I know it’s routine at some public and Catholic schools for football, and it’s spreading to soccer and volleyball. For example, my understanding is that Choate held Will Black to a June graduation before starting at Notre Dame despite his being a five-star recruit. I’m curious whether anyone knows of a case where a boarding school actually said yes, and what it took.
Not graduating early, necessarily, but I do know of 2 PG cases where the students (1 football, 1 soccer) did a fall semester only at prep schools (2 different schools, not Choate) and went to college that January.
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My understanding is that Choate requires seniors to complete a full year on campus, no? Buyer beware for potential high level athletic recruits when deciding on a boarding school and/or PG school.
I’m not sure what you consider a top boarding school, but IMG students regularly graduate in December of senior year and are on their college campus for spring semester.
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So the PGs had been accepted prior to starting their PG year at a boarding school? Did they actually enroll at the colleges? My understanding is that they would be able to do so without burning through a year of eligibility.
Could you give any more color on the colleges where the students matriculated?
Yes, it sounds like some schools might be less flexible in terms of early graduation. This was one of the drivers of my initial question.
It depends how old they are. The NCAA D1/2 clock starts ticking for 5 year eligibility on the earliest trigger: when the student enrolls full time in college (including two year) OR the start of the academic year following one’s 19th birthday. Some kids, more commonly boys IME, have been held back a year when starting kindergarten, so some of these students could turn 19 during their senior year of HS. Meaning, eligibility clock starts ticking that Fall after HS graduation.
Yep, and my point was this is typically knowable prior to enrollment. I did give an example of a school that allows early graduation.