The people in the huffpost article are using data from 1989 that they published in 2003. Classes have grown and athletic spots have been cut.
Also, not all “recruiting” is created equal. It’s unclear to me from the article whether “recruit” is synonymous with “virtually guaranteed admission” because there simply aren’t enough dedicated spots for athletes at Brown to be 20% of the admits.Was I “recruited” because my coach had my name on a list of athletes he wanted? The list is at least 10x longer than the number of slots he gets and he makes it clear to applicants that he does this and that if you’re not in the top 10%, he’s not promising you anything.