How much does athlete recruitment "actually" help?

GoPrincetonTiger
Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:51:33 +0000

ok, we get it, it’s competitive. the well, my friend, it is dry. the horse you are beating - dead!

the guy started by asking how much it helps, and then claiming defensively that he doesn’t need much help. Fine. Bully for you. Hope you get in, send my regards to your mother, etc. Let’s not hound the man.



I never said that I wouldn’t need any help getting in, just that being a straight A student, I wouldn’t need as much help as a C student wth an 1100 SAT. I hope you can see why.

Even my coach said that he would like his “spots” to comprise kids with relatively lower stats who would otherwise have an as-good-as-nil chance at getting admitted.

Well sure, I need help in getting in, but a coach would rather support a C student more than a straight A one. Because it’s obvious, isn’t it? A C, 1100 SAT kid needs more help than a straight A kid at getting admitted.

And this, in NO way suggests that a straight A, 1300+ SAT kid does not need ANY help. I need help too, its just that another athlete needs it more.



EVERY top recruit – 1100 SAT or 1500 SAT – needs all the help he can get. It’s an extremely competitive process. A coach would use his “spots” for a superstar athlete with a 4.0/1500 because there’s not even close to a guarantee that the person will otherwise get in. You’re diminishing how this works.



If an athlete is recruited, it’s because he’s already Division I material. But getting into “spots” is relative. Sure, I need help too, but the coach prefers to take weaker kids in his “spots” because he thinks they need more help.

I don’t know if either of you have been/are recruited athletes, but a coach fills his spots primarily to get a weak student & strong athlete in through the backdoor.

I have been recruited at several Division I schools and coaches have invariably told me that they would take an academically weak athlete into one of their spots rather than a “superstar” 4/1500 kid. Recruitment and admissions are so competitive that that a coach has to assure that a 4/1500 athlete has a better chance. He has to assume that the 4/1500 kid will make it without much help.