WARNING to prospective athletes

_rentof2
Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:47:30 +0000

ShesOnHerWay, you are correct about ED and RD with regard to athletes, but I think Abstract17 makes an important point for other students to hear. Not just for Amherst, but for any college. Students need to be very, very savvy about the athletic recruiting process from D1 all the way down to NAIA. It’s a complicated dance of students trying to keep their own options open and coaches trying to pull in a strong class of freshman players. The coaches are competing with other coaches from other colleges, the admissions office has final say anyway, and the students (outside of ED) are trying to hedge their bets. No one is at fault, but it’s an unstable process for all of that.

I believe Abstract was misled, from what I’ve read of his story over the last few months, although probably not in a way that is atypical for students athletes. It comes with the territory, but it’s so important for student athletes to know the nature of the process. So, I think it’s good for them to hear stories like his that don’t have a happy outcome, because stories like that happen all the time.