a high school athlete's journey

[Sunshine State Sue]

I am too excited to sleep, so I thought I would share a bit of our high school athlete's journey. Honestly, we are just at the beginning, but I hope that our experience will be of use to another athlete's family – I know there are a few here. If there is interest, I will update this thread from time to time.

 

Dh is a natural athlete. I am athletically challenged. :tongue_smilie: Ds inherited dh’s athletic gene and my math gene. Ds's passion in basketball. Ds excels in math, but has no passion for math.

 

Ds has played basketball since the age of 6. He's also played soccer, baseball, and flag football, but sometime during junior high dropped all the other sports. He's been the best player his age on most teams with a few exceptions. Around 9th grade, we started to think that he might be able to compete in college. He definitely wants to try. Being ignorant, we've done nothing more than have him play on competitive teams starting the spring of 8th grade. Perhaps we should have started earlier, but (a) ds wanted to play other sports as well, (b) ds wanted play time with friends, and © neither parent wanted to spend the time/money on it.

 

Ds is going to Atlanta next month for the USSSA National Tournament. He is a 10th grader playing on a 11th grade D2 team. The team does well, the coaches are great, but it's still a D2 team. (Ds dreams of playing D1 in college, though none of us are certain that he is D1 material.) The parents have been talking about getting registered with the NCAA so that college coaches can talk with them. I hadn't done it yet because it is my understanding that that is done the beginning of junior year. So...while my husband was investigating the NCAA site, he hit the NCSA button and filled out their questionnaire.

 

NCSA (National Collegiate Scouting Association) markets student athletes to colleges for a substantial fee ($800-$2500). After an initial conversation with dh, a conference call for the entire family was scheduled. NCSA provides a website for the athlete, creates a video of the athlete, provides an email address for the athlete, contacts every college in the nation on behalf of the athlete, etc. The person who conducts the conference call is definitely a bit of a salesman. At the end of the conference call, he wanted us to sign on the dotted line. We postponed him for a few days to discuss/research.

 

While researching, I came across NSR (National Scouting Report). The companies are similar. Both ds and I liked NSR better - it didn't feel quite so much like a sales job. The services they offer are similar, but seem more personal because the person who would work with ds lives in the area. He came to our house to give his "presentation". He even comes to the athlete's games. He offered me a reference of a local mom with a newly graduated baseball player. She absolutely raved about him. The cost of their services run $2500-$3300. Again, he wanted us to sign on the dotted line, but we postponed him in order to discuss/research.

 

We cannot see the athletes who are marketed by NCSA, but we can see the athletes who are marketed by NSR. We were able to search on the basketball athletes that they represent in 2012(32), 2013(25), and 2014(4). My husband was not impressed by the number of basketball players they represent and does not believe that those numbers would generate much interest from college coaches. I called a few of the 2012 athlete's HS and competitive team coaches. I spoke with 2 who gave me great advice. It was fascinating. They both are of the opinion (along with our HS coach) that the marketing services are a waste of money. They all say that you can market the athlete yourself and it is the HS coach’s job to market the athlete as well. BTW, our HS coach is overworked and underpaid.

 

So, we decided to market ds ourselves. Actually, talking with these 2 companies taught us a good bit about how to do that. Dh is in the process of putting together a very impressive brochure for ds to send to colleges. Dh is in the process of creating a very impressive website for ds. (Note: Dh is not a computer geek. He's in a very different line of work. He does sometimes update work's website.) Dh created a highlight video to put on youtube and the website. I worked on ds's transcript with a little help from 3 angels (:Angel_anim: Janice in NJ, :Angel_anim: Laura in CA, and :Angel_anim: Lori D). I (attempt to) research potential colleges. I’ll save my rant for another day.

 

I guess we are just homeschoolers to the core. Why turn over the responsibility to someone else when we can do it (and maybe do it better?) ourselves? Even though we have absolutely no idea how to do it. We research and teach ourselves.

 

It's exciting.

 

We have some regrets about not starting earlier. At the very least, it would have been beneficial to videotape each HS game ds's freshman and sophomore year. The HS coach can get the game video, but has loaned some out to athletes who have not returned them. That's one of the things I wanted to share with others.

 

It possibly would have been beneficial to follow the athletic recruits forum on college confidential that I just learned about a week or so ago.

 

I also want to offer to share the brochure and website that dh has created. If you are interested, PM me with your email address, and I will send you a brochure and the website address.

 

I hope I can get to sleep now.

[LunaLee]

Congratulations! It's all very exciting isn't it? :cheers2: Here's to your son realizing his dreams, and to you for helping him along the way.

[elegantlion]

So, we decided to market ds ourselves. Actually, talking with these 2 companies taught us a good bit about how to do that. Dh is in the process of putting together a very impressive brochure for ds to send to colleges. Dh is in the process of creating a very impressive website for ds. (Note: Dh is not a computer geek. He's in a very different line of work. He does sometimes update work's website.) Dh created a highlight video to put on youtube and the website. I worked on ds's transcript with a little help from 3 angels (:Angel_anim: Janice in NJ, :Angel_anim: Laura in CA, and :Angel_anim: Lori D). I (attempt to) research potential colleges. I’ll save my rant for another day.

 

I guess we are just homeschoolers to the core. Why turn over the responsibility to someone else when we can do it (and maybe do it better?) ourselves? Even though we have absolutely no idea how to do it. We research and teach ourselves.

 

 

I think it is brilliant!!!

 

I've had a few jobs, dh too, where people somehow assume there is a magic button for getting it done. What they fail to see is that it's usually just done with a lot of hard work, time consuming, draining (physically and/or emotionally) hard work. Congratulations on finding the right "magic button" to help your ds. :hurray:

[snowbeltmom]

I think it is brilliant!!!

 

I've had a few jobs, dh too, where people somehow assume there is a magic button for getting it done. What they fail to see is that it's usually just done with a lot of hard work, time consuming, draining (physically and/or emotionally) hard work. Congratulations on finding the right "magic button" to help your ds. :hurray:

 

:iagree:

 

This also applies to the actual work of improving one's skill set. Many parents around us are always searching for the coach that will magically turn their kids into superstars. Many players around us jump from coach to coach and spend thousands of dollars and many hours in the car travelling from club to club. I have taken this observation and used in our homeschooling: For us, there is no "magic curriculum", and I needed to stop constantly searching for it. There is no "magic button", just hard work.

 

Both of my boys are also on the athletic journey, but their sport is tennis. In tennis, one definitely does not need to use any outside recruiting services. There is a free website that is used by all of the college coaches that automatically ranks the players nationally. High school tennis results are not even considered when the college coaches are recruiting - it is all about the player's "star rating." A player's star rating is based solely on U.S.T.A. match results.

 

Each player has a profile page on the website. The profile page lists the player's ranking and tournament results for the past year. In addition,the player can list his top college choices on this page.

 

For a yearly fee of around $50, the player can see all of the college coaches that have visited the player's profile page. I just recently discovered this feature. My boys are enjoying seeing which college coaches are visiting their pages. My youngest is a rising 8th grader, and I was a little surprised to see how many coaches are following him. It does seem like athletics are different today than when I was in high school. Kids are specializing in a sport very early, and it is difficult to "keep up" if a child plays multiple sports.

 

Sue, good luck to your son with his basketball.

Edited June 24, 2012 by snowbeltmom

[Nan in Mass]

Grin - You are right! What a typical homeschooler story! "Hmm... Now exactly what am I paying you to do? And why can't I do this for myself? Because they don't know how? So there really isn't any reason I can't learn how?" And with a little help from friends, voila!

 

Go Sue and co.!!!

 

Nan (who is grateful that none of hers wanted to do gymnastics in college)

[4wildberrys]

Wow-sounds really exciting! :D

[Jane in NC]

Sue, you are brilliant!

[fourisenough]

My girls are competitive swimmers and the older two are showing some promise/interest in swimming at the college level.

 

They come by their athletic ability honestly: DH played Div 1 college soccer (on a 50% scholarship) and a couple of seasons for a (very, very poorly paying) 'professional' team after college. I, on the other hand, have two left feet, don't like to sweat, and consider walking the dog a workout!

 

Many of the best swimmers on my girls' club team are recruited to swim in college. Each spring, one of the graduating senior's parents offer a 'how to' clinic about the college recruiting process. This year was the first time we attended and it was wonderful. They are a wealth of knowledge and they share their wisdom for free. They recommended a couple of books and the blanket advice to start early, keep great records, and treat it like a part-time job throughout the high school years. They said the marketing firms are not necessary and expensive; sounds like you're on the right track, Sue. Keep us informed of the milestones and progress. We'll all benefit from your leg work and will hopefully pass it on...

[Kareni]

Thanks so much for sharing your story, Sue. Kudos to you, your husband and your son for your do-it-yourself approach. Best wishes to you all!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[plansrme]

Thanks so much for the specific details. We are gearing up for my rising 9th grade gymnast, and gymnasts can be recruited ridiculously early, so we are not as far behind you as it might seem. Please post updates when you have them.

 

I do have a question: what is the purpose of the brochure? Why are you going that route as opposed to an email with a link to the website? We will be doing a website (also on our own, rather than through a recruiting service, because the way they write their gymnasts' profiles drive me insane), but I had never thought of a brochure and am interested in how you decided to go that route.

 

Terri

[Sunshine State Sue]

Each spring, one of the graduating senior's parents offer a 'how to' clinic about the college recruiting process. This year was the first time we attended and it was wonderful. They are a wealth of knowledge and they share their wisdom for free. They recommended a couple of books and the blanket advice to start early, keep great records, and treat it like a part-time job throughout the high school years.

Gosh. That sounds wonderful. I see now that the part-time job attitude would be quite helpful.

 

I do have a question: what is the purpose of the brochure? Why are you going that route as opposed to an email with a link to the website? We will be doing a website (also on our own, rather than through a recruiting service, because the way they write their gymnasts' profiles drive me insane), but I had never thought of a brochure and am interested in how you decided to go that route.

NSR had a very professional 4 page (2 8x11 pages) brochure for each athlete. They send it out to 50 or 100 colleges once or twice a year. That's what gave us the idea. It's a condensed paper copy of the website. It's just another way (in addition to email) to generate interest. Our brochure is 8x11 two-sided tri-fold.

[Teachin'Mine]

Awesome!!! :D

[bugs]

Love your story Sue.

[Lori D.]

Sue, what a wonderful resource you are providing! I don't believe I've seen anyone else post so much wonderful, specific information on this topic! One thing I did was do a title search of all the WTM boards, with just the word "NCAA" in the title search box -- two full pages of past threads came up. Even a tag search with "NCAA" as the tag came up with a full page of threads! Many of the threads from both searches looked like they may be helpful to you, or may be information you could compile with your own journey to help others! :)

 

BEST of luck to you in your "new job" of promotor/administrator :D and to your son in his pursuit of sports into college! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[In The Great White North]

They recommended a couple of books

 

What books did they recommend?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If you haven't already read them, there are some good threads about NCAA, specifically regarding the need to submit a transcript and textbook list to NCAA to determine athlete eligibility. This is a requirement for many athletes at the Div 1 and Div 2 level if they want to practice/play freshman year.

 

(There are some exceptions, for example, I think men's crew isn't governed by NCAA but by a rowing specific organization.)

 

This is worth reading through since it's far easier to collect the info as you go than to try to recreate it at the end.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Sue,

 

Thanks so much for the info. Please do keep the updates going. (Maybe consulting homeschooled athletes is YOUR retirement niche?)

 

I was chatting with the mom of a swimmer I know who just finished his freshman college year. She said that he went on five college visit trips, arranged largely by the team coach. She also said that there was a weekly meeting between the high school seniors and a coach to ask them what schools they were considering, where they were on applications, essays, tests, etc. She thought this was very helpful.

[Sunshine State Sue]

(Maybe consulting homeschooled athletes is YOUR retirement niche?)

Um. I doubt it. Dh is the sports enthusiast. I can't believe how emotional parents get at the games. I look at it as social time. Am I supposed to pay attention?

 

Now something math related - I'm all over that. I've been tutoring at the CC and GED center this year. ;)

[Sunshine State Sue]

What books did they recommend?

Stephanie may have better recommendations, but our library has several "How to Win Athletic Scholarship" books. They are not for a particular sport, but I found them helpful.

[plansrme]

I came across this website a year or so ago. It is written by the dad of a high school football player and chronicles in sometimes excruciating detail the recruitment process. His son mostly focused on the Ivies which, of course, do not offer athletic scholarships, but there were some real nuggets that I cannot imagine are readily found anywhere else. Though much of it is Ivy-specific, it was still a worthwhile read. It is long, so get comfy before you dive in.

 

Terri

[Sunshine State Sue]

Spring 2013 Update:

 

After our initial decision to turn down the $couting $ervice, dh put together the website and brochure. He assured me that he would have ds write to 5 colleges per week. This would have been the benefit of using a service. They would have gotten ds's name out in front of college coaches. They would have coerced ds into filling out recruiting questionnaires. Dh didn't follow through. It's not in his nature. So, we get what we get. Athletics is not my passion, and I refuse to prod ds about it for the most part. Dh did get ds to fill out some recruiting questionnaires at several Florida schools over Christmas.

 

Ds is going to Atlanta next month for the USSSA National Tournament. He is a 10th grader playing on a 11th grade D2 team. The team does well, the coaches are great, but it's still a D2 team. (Ds dreams of playing D1 in college, though none of us are certain that he is D1 material)

 

 

In Atlanta last summer, they played in 2 tournaments:

USSSA SE Regional - they got runner up

Best of the South - Here they were down to 6 players and had just finished a 3 day tournament, so 6 tired players. The last game they played was 9am (our team is not a morning team) on Sunday against Florida Elite. Florida Elite flies around the country winning tournaments. "Mom, have you seen them? They're HUGE!". Our 6 white guys played their hearts out against Florida Elite. They didn't back down. They weren't intimidated. They just ran their plays and played their game. They lost by 4 points and were happy about about it. Dh was at home, and I took video. During half time, I zoomed in on the college coaches sitting on the side where we were not allowed to go. The college coaches were there to watch Florida Elite, but they got to see our team as well. We were able to recognize several.

 

The very next day, ds had a HS summer game at the local rec center. The HS coach told us that one of the Div 1 college coaches had called him that morning and asked him to send ds to his elite camp. Interest from a Div 1 coach was very exciting. After the camp, dh and ds asked for a campus tour and one of the assistant coaches showed them around. The head coach has come to some of the HS practices since then.

 

We sent ds to a number of "exposure" camps during the summer. These are generally run by people who market their lists to colleges. Not sure if it does any good or not.

 

The HS basketball season went well. They won the division championship, but lost in the regional finals. A local Div 2 school has been watching ds and sending him mail essentially marketing the school and the basketball program. In January, the HS coach told us that both the Div 1 and Div 2 school would invite ds to practice with the team in the fall. That's how they go about recruiting.

 

I had a heart-to-heart talk with the HS coach last week. He told me that the Div 2 school would be inviting ds to practice with the team after spring break. He could do worse. He could also do better (academically). I talked to the coach about the possibility of playing at a more academic school. He told me that ds could play at a small Div 1 school, but the academic Div 1 schools have athletes that can play at a higher level than ds, but choose the school for the academics. The (few) academic Div 2 schools are really far away. The coach also calmed my fears about ds going to a Div 1 or Div 2 school and eventually getting cut from the team for some reason. He says that generally only happens when a new head coach comes in and wants to bring in his own recruits and the ones who are let go can typically find a spot at another school because of their experience playing at the college level.

 

Ds has started receiving some interesting mail from an academic Div 3 school in the midwest.

 

Ds is playing on a new competitive team this spring/summer since his old team is all seniors. We'll see how it goes. Dh is working with the HS coach to get the HS team to several college camps this summer. We plan to send/take ds to Boston in July for an All-Academic Camp at Brandeis in hopes of gaining exposure at academic schools.

 

I did send out some brochures this week. And, I'm encouraging ds to fill out their recruiting questionnaires. Just a dozen or so.

 

It doesn't seem like much to report. But, it's a good time to report. I'll try to update again in the fall.

[lisabees]

Sue - I love hearing about your journey. So exciting!

 

I do have a serious baseball player, but I'm not sure we'll be going down the same path. I worry about him too much academically, so I don't think it would be wise for him to play baseball intensively in college. I think he would be happier finding a school with a competitive club team. But, as you are finding out, the path has lots of twists and turns.

 

I look forward to your updates!

[Sunshine State Sue]

Fall 2013 Update (schools started today):

 

The competitive AAU season is over.  I’m so glad…From the brochures I sent out in the spring, ds heard from about 8 schools.  Mostly:  thank you for your interest, please fill out our recruiting questionnaire.  A few contacted him again asking for his summer schedule.  He also heard from a few colleges that were not on my radar at all.  Dh had filled out a free recruiting profile at NCSA, and they found him that way.

 

We had a frustrating AAU experience this year.  Ds wanted to play on a team with 2 of his high school teammates.  The team started with a group of talented athletes but they were very disorganized and had few funds, so they did not play in many tournaments.  They did a few showcase events.   By the end of the season, his 2 teammates had dropped off the team.  He played a few tournaments with his old team (all of them now high school graduates) and enjoyed that.  In fact, by the end of the season, he would rant about how much he prefers an organized team with solid players who work together as a team to a disorganized team with superstars who don’t know what teamwork is.  Life lesson.

 

During the last 3 weeks of July, the NCAA has their “open†period where the college coaches can observe the athletes in person.  One of those weeks, we took ds to Boston for an “All Academic†basketball camp.  The athletes have to have higher GPAs and ACT/SAT scores to attend.  Mostly there were academic D3 coaches there.  He has been contacted by about 10 coaches since then.  Mostly email, one text, and three phone calls.  He did get to play in the AAU Nationals 18U with his old team where they won the Classic Division Championship (this is the loser’s bracket) and the AAU Nationals 17U with his new team(where they didn’t do so hot).

 

While we were at the All Academic camp, we met an alumni of the HS basketball program who plays now for the D3 school the camp was at.  It was fascinating (and somewhat horrifying) to listen to his recruiting experience.  He committed to a D1 school in ***JUNE*** of his senior year.  OH.MY.GOSH.  He left the D1 school after 2 years (the high school coach says he wasn’t getting much playing time).  He did talk about how the D1 coach over-promised and under-delivered.  When pressed, he admitted that our high school coach exaggerates a bit about how interested colleges are in the athletes.

 

At the same time, the high school team participated in a number of team camps around the state based on the schools the college-bound basketball hopeful senior s wanted to go.  The coaches at both of the D2 schools sat and talked with him about the possibility of playing for them.  They both told him what things he needed to work on and improve.  The D1 college coach told the HS coach that’d he’d sign him in a heartbeat if he were 2in taller.

 

One day, riding in on the golf cart from the overflow parking lot to ESPN Wide World of Sports for a game, a college coach sat next to me.  I told him that the recruiting services we had talked to told us that when the college coaches come to Nationals that they have a list of athletes that they are watching.  Was that true?  He told me not to waste my money – that the college coaches he knew paid no attention to recruiting services.  Some days, I do wish that we had spent that money.  Then I wouldn’t have to prod ds as much.

 

Ds has been invited to several “elite†camps.  He’s going to the ones within driving distance.  We’re not 100% certain how to interpret these invitations.  We mostly consider them as the way colleges get to see the athletes on the athlete’s nickel.  Most of the schools that have contacted ds are academic D3 schools.  D3 schools don’t offer athletic scholarships and ds, while a good student, is pretty much average at these expensive, private schools.  Keeps me up at night wondering how much we will be asked to pay for him to play basketball…

 

I think what happens now is we prod ds to respond to coaches that contact him, we prod ds to contact coaches of colleges he’s interested in, and we wait for ds to be invited on official visits.  He has decided against pursing the only D1 school that showed interest in him.  He says he’s heard too many stories of D1 athletes sitting on the bench.  And he suspects that if he makes D1, he’s be one of those athletes.  This was also the only public school that expressed an interest.  Yikes.  We did find a particular conference that was appealing based on the size of the schools, the academic level of the schools, and the locations of the schools.  5/8 of the schools had already contacted him.  We had him contact 2 of the others because they offer liberal arts and engineering majors.  Many of the colleges that have contacted him are small, liberal arts colleges which are not ideal for a student who has no idea what he wants to major in but whose strengths lie on the STEM side imo.

 

To date, 23 schools have contacted ds for more information.  I envy the parents/students who have applied and/or been accepted.  It may be a while for ds.  My husband and I laugh at ourselves on occasion.  We sometimes spend entirely too much time investigating colleges and basketball rosters and assessing the chances…

[Kareni]

Thanks for the very comprehensive report, Sue.  We have no athlete but it's an interesting tale nonetheless!

 

Best wishes to you and your son as you and he navigate this process.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Sunshine State Sue]

11/11/13

IT IS DONE!!!  Ds received his National Letter of Intent from Division 2 Colorado School of Mines today.  He will officially sign on National Signing Day 11/13/13.

 

:party: :party: :party:

 

Here are some notes I made since my last post:

 

9/10/13

To date, 30 schools have contacted ds.  It has been a challenge because he is undecided about a major and doesn’t have much of a concept of school size or location.  So many schools that contact him are small, liberal arts colleges in the middle of nowhere.  I keep telling him that it would be best to choose a school that has a college of engineering and a college of arts and sciences so that he does not shut the door on engineering before he walks through it.  He leans STEM.  So, I guide.  I lived in the middle of nowhere for 2 years in graduate school.  It was fine.  I had no money anyway.  I wouldn’t want to live in the middle of nowhere for 4 years.  So, I steer him towards larger schools in or near decent sized cities.

 

A few weeks ago, I sent ds’ brochure to the coach at Colorado School of Mines.  CSM is the best D2 engineering school in the country.  For some reason, ds was resistant to emailing the coach, so I decided to give it a shot.  The following week, the coach spent some time on ds' website, then called him.  Ds said the school shot to the top of his list (former #1 position Worcester Polytechnic Institute).  The next week, the CSM coach called ds' AAU coach, then called ds again and invited him for a visit.  They are paying his expenses.  Wahoo!  We are also in the process of setting up a visit to WPI at our expense.  WPI is D3.

 

10/5/13

Just returned from CSM.  The school is a terrific fit academically, athletically, socially, and financially.  When I asked ds what he thought of his potential future teammates, he said that they are all just.like.him. I am in love with both coaches.  They both seem forthright, honest, organized, and sincere.  Academics seem to be just as important as athletics.  According to ds, the players say the head coach is fair, and they all respect him.  The athletes room together, take classes together, hang out together and with a variety of other athletes.  They plan to offer ds a position in November by having him sign the National Letter of Intent.  They say ds will get a merit scholarship and a partial athletic scholarship.  With the scholarships, finances will be well within our budget.

 

10/25/13

We received official acceptance to Mines today.  I can’t believe our college search ended so early.  I had resigned myself to making a decision in March/April after financial aid awards were out.  It is my understanding that based on this year’s criteria, ds can expect a $12,000 merit scholarship.  Scholarship notifications are made starting in January.

 

 

[snowbeltmom]

Congratulations, Sue, to you and your son!!! :hurray:

[Sunshine State Sue]

Things we did right:

• Video tape as many games as possible sophomore and especially junior year.
• Make a highlight video after junior year season.
• Have a website and brochure put together by the end of junior year season with updated stats.
• Send out emails and snail mail after junior year season.
• Find a good AAU team for spring/summer junior year.
• Goal is exposure particularly in July after junior year.
• Let coaches know where they can see you in the spring and summer, particularly July after junior year.

 

With 20/20 hindsight:

• Make initial contact with head coach and assistant coach.
• Over spring break junior year, set up unofficial visits at schools of interest if known and possible.
• Ds went to a number of “exposure†camps.  They were not expensive.  At the same time, I don’t know that they were useful.  Perhaps in the sense that he had to go in cold, not knowing a soul, and compete with and against other elite athletes.  Takes some nerve.
• Official visits for Div 1 and Div 2 (even Div 3 though they don’t typically pay transportation costs) should be discussed/arranged as soon as classes start senior year, especially before high school basketball season starts because once the season starts, you cannot practice with the college team.
• The top athletes that the Div 1 and Div 2 schools want will be offered in November of senior year.

[bugs]

:hurray:  Mega awesome!  Congratulations to you all!

 

[Lori D.]

Congratulations Sue! And thanks so much for sharing the stages of your journey! Hugs and best wishes for the transition to COLLEGE! :)

[Nscribe]

Well earned for Mom and Son!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Congratulations. That is great news.

[JennW in SoCal]

Wonderful news!  Mines is a great school.  Congratulations too on the early decision -- you get to put your feet up and relax now! 

 

And welcome to the wonderful world of having your child more than half-way across the country!  Find your favorite airline and sign up for frequent flier miles NOW!!

[MysteryJen]

Thanks so much for sharing!

 

And congratulations again to you and your son!

[NCMom]

Congratulations to you both!   Big sigh of relief to be IN! :hurray:      Woot! :w00t:

 

Ironically, my dd just spent a few days at WPI. It is one of only two D III schools left on her list but it has moved way up after the weekend. Mines was in the top 5 but has since moved way down (just not getting good rapport with the coaches).

 

For others reading, in some sports not all of the full or partial scholarship spots at DI/DII schools are signed at the first signing, DD's top two DI picks have not signed nearly all of their team yet and will not until April.  Most of the top 20 teams sure, but there are a lot of DI/DII teams that are not top 20, lol.

 

Georgia

 

 

 

 

 

[Brenda in MA]

Congrats to you and your son, Sue! Way to go!

 

Brenda

P. S. I love the smiley on the beach blanket!

[Mom22ns]

:hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:

 

Congratulations Sue and ds!! The documentation of your journey has been so helpful to those of us following along behind trying to navigate the NCAA hoops. Thank you for sharing!

 

 

[teachermom2834]

Congratulations! Very happy for you!

[Kalypso]

Congratulations to your son and you!!   :party: 

 

(In the back of my mind, I am thinking about how all I have had to do was figure out the Common App. You and your son had so,so much more to prepare!)

[Sunshine State Sue]

And welcome to the wonderful world of having your child more than half-way across the country!  Find your favorite airline and sign up for frequent flier miles NOW!!

Yeah.  Done.  I tell dh that we need to buy a condo - I'll spend my summers there and he can spend basketball season there.  :unsure:

 

Ironically, my dd just spent a few days at WPI. It is one of only two D III schools left on her list but it has moved way up after the weekend. Mines was in the top 5 but has since moved way down (just not getting good rapport with the coaches).

Today was their Open House.  Dh and ds had plane/car reservations for yesterday-tomorrow but cancelled.  You didn't make it to the Open House?

 

The documentation of your journey has been so helpful to those of us following along behind trying to navigate the NCAA hoops.

That reminded me.  I just checked his NCAA status - still 'Decision not yet available'.  :toetap05:

[FloridaLisa]

Congratulations Sue and also to your son!  Way to go!

 

Lisa

[Sunshine State Sue]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and likes.

 

I appreciate being able to share here.  I have 1 friend IRL who understands the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into homeschooling through high school.  It's nice to be able to share with others who understand.

[Lilaclady]

Congratulations to you and your son

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I wonder if any of the homeschool magazines and emags would be interested in a piece that drew together your last couple years' journey. Sports is such terra incognito for homeschoolers. I feel like there is no building up of experience with regard to recruiting and NCAA.

[mumto2]

Congratulations! No athletes here but I loved reading all the information provided. Thank you for sharing.

[Blue Hen]

Exciting news!!  Congratulations!!  I am so very happy for you.

 

BTW, our NCAA status still says *Academic Decision not available*  They did say November didn't they?

 

Carole

 

 

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Oh wow!!! I totally missed this thread last year, so the whole thing comes as a surprise! 

And I just can't believe he's now accepted in college (not that he's accepted, but that he's of the right age to be accepted! I just remember the little boy who greeted us with a "Salve" at the door years ago!)

 

 

[NCMom]

Today was their Open House.  Dh and ds had plane/car reservations for yesterday-tomorrow but cancelled.  You didn't make it to the Open House?

 

If you mean WPI, yeah she flew up and spent Sunday at the Diversity thingy and then Monday at the open house.  She really, really liked it.  Very different from most of the other schools she has seen.  Will try to wring a college visit post out of her later this week.

 

Georgia

[Kareni]

Thanks for sharing your story, Sue.  And congratulations to both you and your son!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Sunshine State Sue]

BTW, our NCAA status still says *Academic Decision not available*  They did say November didn't they?

Yes, they said they would start working on them in November.  Maybe I can ask the coaches about it...

[Sunshine State Sue]

Good news!

 

I checked ds's NCAA account today and found that his Academic Status has changed from 'decision not yet available' to 'early academic qualifier'.  They have listed all the courses they considered.  Ds has taken many classes at CC and a few at PS, but I filled out 6 core course worksheets for those taken at home or through a private teacher.  Here they are:

English 9 (Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings at home)

English 10 (High School Composition through Laurel Tree Tutorials)

Geometry (Discovering Geometry by Michael Serra at home)

American History ( through History at our House with NO textbook)

Exercise Physiology & Sports Medicine (through Landry Academy) - ignored

Java (through Potter's School) - ignored

 

I did not create a separate transcript for the NCAA.  I sent the same one that I sent to colleges.  I did hand write the first day of 9th grade on the transcript because I thought I read somewhere that it had to be included, though I can't find that direction anywhere at the moment.

 

It's all falling into place.  :thumbup:

 

To those who are interested:  I called NCAA a few weeks ago to ask about when decisions would be made.  They told me that fall sports are evaluated first, then winter, then spring.  Athletes with NLIs are evaluated before those without NLIs.  Athletes on Institutional Request Lists are evaluated before those not on IRLs.