Our daughter recently tore her ACL playing basketball, as senior year was beginning. She had growing interest from D1, D2 and D3 colleges, does not have offers, but wants to play. She has a good academic record. She will apply to college broadly and may attend school this fall and not play. Is anyone experienced with this scenario and, if she does not receive viable offers, whether the idea of attending junior college to complete recovery, build her basketball resume further and attempt to earn offers to play in college has merit?
I’m not an athlete’s parent but at least in the money sports, this isn’t uncommon. You can probably look at rosters. Many kids may be at JCs for academic reasons or non recruiting reasons.
What does her coach suggest ?
Good luck to her in her recovery.
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I’m sorry to hear about her injury. What are her docs saying about her recuperation timeline? I assume at least nine months?
She might consider a PG year, depending on her age that might not eat a year of her DI/2 five year NCAA eligibility, which community college will.
Has she spoken with any coaches who were recruiting her? If yes, what have they said? If not she should talk with them ASAP. It’s unlikely they would use a full coach support slot for her, but soft support could be on the table. Of course there are teams she might be able to join even if not recruited, provided she gets accepted to the college.
Here are the new NCAA DI/D2 5 for 5 rules:
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My GS tore his ACL on his junior year of high school. He came back and played as a senior and was All New England, but the knee continued to bother him and he missed a couple of games in mid season when fluid was drained from his knee. Afraid of further injury, he decided not to play in his freshman year of college. He decided to play club as a sophomore, but before the season began, he tore the ACL in the other knee in practice. The injury, followed by another surgery and rehab interfered with his studies and his grades.
His story is not unique. The daughter of a friend of the family tore her ACL in soccer as a high school sophomore. She came back, played at a very high level as a junior, and was recruited by an Ivy League school where she committed. Later in her senior year, she tore the ACL in the other knee. Studies have shown that after an athlete has experienced an ACL tear, it is statistically more likely that s/he will tear the other ACL. This is a tough injury to recover from.
As a gym rat myself, I have to say anyway that there is more to life than sports. My advice would be to focus on academics and choose the school where her academic needs will best be met.
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Thank you! We are fortunate to have varied advice from her coaches which we are weighing
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Thank you! Yes, several coaches have stayed in contact and express continued interest. She is currently continuing contact and outreach to all coaches that have reached out and/or where she is interested in their program and school. The coaches that are still in contact are of course encouraging her to make comeback
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Yes, we are factoring the 5-for-5 rules into decisions. Thank you
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Thank you - your advice is very well taken. Thank you
I’m sorry for your situation.
What is your D’s overall goal? Is it going to a highly selective college? Is it being on a very competitive basketball team? Or just playing at the college level? Is the interest in basketball accompanied by financial need/scholarship-NIL hopes?
Wherever she lands next, she’ll need playing time there if that’s going to be a temporary stop, so a PG year, juco, or any 4-year school with a less competitive team could make sense.
It could be worthwhile to consider what happens if she can’t get coach interest. If she’s a good student and has to redirect her basketball energy to academics (or a club sport or one like crew with lots of walk-ons), which place would set her up best, either to move on from (pg, juco) or stay?
The path you’re considering is viable if she heals, rehabs, and does well on the court, but it’s not the only path and also carries some downside.
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Critically important option that is currently very delicate, painful and challenging
thank you - agreed, we would looking to understand how and implement outreach, etc to get coaches interest while on the JC or PG circuit, should she go that route
general momentum of spirit she has will be challenged by these routes as well - in addition to the getting seen challenge - do you have other downsides in-mind?
her goal has always been combination high academic school + high competitive/IQ/character basketball
She might consider looking at high academic D3 schools from the outset. Many of those teams see attrition over the 4 years. She might not get coach support this year, butbmight be able to try out for sophomore year. Coaches could let you know whether that’s a realistic possibility.
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Thank you, yes, we are hopeful for that type of opportunity
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