@collegeshopping As to #6, taking that a step further, I can’t imagine the fortitude to take the leap to join a team that won’t even be playing for a season as it could play out.
@Mwfan1921 Yes at the D1 level, although I doubt that is happening much at D3.
A senior on my son’s club team has already decided to take a year off before applying. He’ll still be age eligible for the club team next year. That could mean Class of 22 players across the country could be competing for spots with bigger, older Class of 21 players. The next two years will be very unpredictable.
Agreed. I know a number of 2021’s who have ‘re-classed’.
The unpredictability of athletes taking their five years is also an issue and will be for 4 years. Coaches just don’t know which kids, or how many, will ultimately choose this option. That is happening at all levels.
You would have thought, but I guess it really depends on the school and the team. All 7 seniors on Amherst’s men’s soccer team are returning next year (unclear if they are taking a gap year). So many incoming '20 recruits at Williams (all sports) opted to defer a year that Williams admissions halted all recruiting for a period this summer. Vassar men’s soccer also has a bunch of players deferring. Etc. etc. etc.
So the waters are pretty murky!
I know CMC and Pomona (D3) coaches “encouraged” Gap for some current players on both girl’s Lacrosse and Volleyball from freshman to juniors - not sure how it will impact recruiting for the Class of 2021 ???
So what is going on with all the tournament teams out there that make a living getting these kids recruited? What are they telling their athletes? Will it have a domino effect, whereby the following year student athletes defer again? Coaches could wind up being able to be that much more choosy as multiple year athletes try to get recruited at the same time.
One of the high school QBs had a ‘signing ceremony’ on the news the other night. He is ranked among the top 15 recruits in the country. As of right now, football is one of the sports that has moved to the spring (the athletic governors and the real governor are talking, but get real, it’s almost Oct) so there was no reason to wait. He had offers from 20+ schools and is going to Wisconsin.
I think people are just going ahead with their recruiting and sending the film and stats that they have. My daughter (post college) tried out for a national team and she just sent them an electronic application with game clips and some new film that they’d asked her to record (shooting on a goalie, wall ball).
Hi cinnamon1212, I’m curious about your statement “I have heard that at some schools because of athletes deferring there are fewer roster spots for 2021s. Vassar is a school that comes to mind (at least for men’s soccer).” Would you mind sharing what you know about the situation at Vassar?
Hi @nwsoccerdad and welcome!
I don’t know much more than what I wrote; some of the current players are taking a year off and coming back next year. I don’t know how many. However because of this (and because of injuries last year)the coach successfully lobbied the Athletic Director to raise their roster cap from 30 to 35. It looks like they have one 2021 commit announced (on topdrawersoccer.com). And that is pretty much everything I know!
Thank you cinnamon1212! Very interesting info re increase in roster size. I wonder if other D3s are doing the same. My DS21 is currently going through the process and this info is very helpful.
Interesting to hear that coach was able to lobby and raise the max number of recruits for 2021, that is awesome. At my daughter’s Ivy, if one or more of the 2020 recruits take a year off, there will be that many less slot for the 2021 recruits. Given that all the slots were promised already, if the deferral were to happen late the coach need to de-commit one of the recruits. This scenario does not happen on a typical year since late deferrals are not accepted.
What if a 2021 recruit is better than a current team member deferring, are coaches going to let the better athlete go?
You can say whatever lofty things you want to about coaches having loyalty to current players and about how important academics are in D3 and the Ivies. The reality is that coaches climb the career ladder or see careers end based on W’s and L’s. If you can help the team get more W’s, you will get the nod 95% of the time.
Here are a few of my observations:
The Ivy League announced late last summer that they would give an extra season to players who don’t have a championship season. So essentially they get a redshirt year if there isn’t a championship season. I won’t be surprised if most Ivy sports are not given a season at all this year. It is up to the individual school if they will allow the student to stay and take an extra year to complete his/her undergrad degree, or if they will instead still have to graduate in the typical 4 years but still have a year of eligibility left. My hunch is that impact players will be allowed to stay, but the average joe will have to move on and ply his talents as a grad student elsewhere.
That isn’t really an observation I guess, but a fact that should be considered by anyone pursuing the Ivy athlete route.
At least in wrestling, athletes are making very liberal use of the Olympic redshirt. Last year some guys who were eligible didn’t take it. This year most guys seem to be planning on taking it if they are eligible. I’m not sure how many other sports that affects.
It also appears that most of the top athletes who have a redshirt available are planning on taking it this year, because they are afraid that the NCAA will do the same thing as last season, let them compete during the regular season and use a year of eligibility but cancel the post-season. I follow the NCAA wrestling scene pretty closely, and most people with more inside info than me are planning on lots of guys sliding down a year. I would assume that is happening across all sports. So that will make recruiting more difficult, because you may have to displace a guy who still has a year left when normally he would be graduated.
I am guessing that there are an abnormally large number of medical redshirts in all sports this year at all levels of competition, for that same reason. No one wants to blow one of their 4 years on a partial season. As I was told once in law school “some types of lower back pain are very difficult to disprove”. I am guessing there is a rash of “injuries” during the pre-season practices in all sports this year. Less cynically, if you are not 100%, it’s a great year to sit out and recover. And really, what athlete competing at the college level doesn’t have some nagging injuries that could use a year to clear up?
All of the above factors point to a tougher climate than usual, because there will be athletes either not graduating when they should, or if they graduate still hanging around for an extra year as a grad student. So “recruitable” is probably a slightly higher level this year.
OTOH, I personally know 2 guys who got good D1 offers who probably wouldn’t have gotten them in a normal year based on their current resume. But there haven’t been really many opportunities for many athletes to prove themselves. Coaches are having to make offers more on untapped potential than usual. Like everything else in this COVID world, that will make winners and losers. I think those 2 guys probably came out ahead. But that means that they ultimately took a spot from someone else.
Good luck, I have a senior this year but she isn’t a recruitable athlete so it’s a different set of issues that are unknowns. My athlete is already in college.
Also FWIW, he’s not planning on doing anything cute to gain an extra year. He’s at an Ivy, so maybe it happens due to factors not under his control. If they have a deeply abreviated season, which is probably the best case scenario, then he will make due and have a shortened and travel restricted season. We talked about sitting out a year, but for him it didn’t really make sense.
If he was a HS senior this year, I would seriously be looking at taking a PG year at boarding school.
S22’s team is getting underway this weekend. He has out of state games every weekend until late October. There have been D3 coaches at scrimmages already and several D1/D2 coaches have access to live streams of their games.
I don’t know what our club coaches are telling 2021 players, but they’re telling the 22’s to communicate often with all coaches, get SAT/ACT test scores in the system, and compile any and all video possible.
For the next 12 months I’m essentially a cameraman.
Enjoy the ride @gkunion!
The NCAA D1 Council has extended the recruiting dead period through the end of the year.
@GKUnion - not unexpected, but just added to my anxiety around my daughter’s recruiting. I wonder if more and more D1 will move to RD…which will also add to my gray hair 
I’m going gray too. I think there will be a number of d3’s with more athletes going RD too. Some teams are just behind in recruiting. One NESCAC team said ‘as the NESCAC recruiting ban ends Oct 15, we are having prospect camps Oct and Nov and will fill our class from those’. So, a kid has no chance to get a slot if they don’t show for one of those.
I’m helping several uncommitted senior football players who live in a state that postponed football season until late winter. Don’t really know how it’s going to work out for these student athletes…generally not tippy top academics, coupled with low SES equals massive uncertainty for them.
I guess more will be clear by spring, but sheesh.
I can’t imagine the difficulty of getting recruited during all this. The process is difficult enough as it is. D missed her season last year and will probably have the season cancelled again this year. All those years of recruitment and she’ll be two years in with never having played a game. And yet, I feel like she is lucky compared to what is going on for these kids trying to get recruited now.