How does being a recruited athlete affect admission

There are no National Letters of Intent at the Service Academies. All incoming cadets accept the same appointment regardless if they are an athlete. Your son could accept his appointment today and tell his coach tomorrow that he no longer wants to be part of the team and nothing would happen. They can also stop playing the sport at anytime and will still be a member of the corps of cadets.
 
Mid9395 said:
ThePatternisFull said:
Mid9395 said:
It’s not about playing football. It’s about a lot more. Yes serving his Country the education and the opportunity after. Football is just a vessel to help him. He’s had a lot of other offers that he turned down.
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Just my two cents.
  1. "I’m upset because I feel they the coaches dropped the ball on this." Please do not get on the coaches, this is detrimental to your son. Will you blame his superiors if there is a problem in the future? He needs to take responsibility for this situation and talk with the coaches.
  2. "verbally committed" and "Signing" At the service acadmies there is no signing and athletes from all over the country verbally commit the decide no that is not where I want to go and change their mind. At the service academies there are no scholarships.
  3. "Low scores and NAPS" If you son has low test scores and is a direct report he may struggle academically. Remember in addition to the academics he will be a varsity athlete. Naps is always an option and may be a good option for your son.
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1. My son is 17 yrs old and yes it is up to the coaches to do their jobs.

2. Yes there is a signing. On February 7th athletes from all over the country will sign. Their national letter of intent.That includes those that intend on playing for the Academy.

3. Isn’t that the reason they have naps. Not everyone goes direct. My oldest is at USNA and had high test scores and he’s still struggling .

Thank you
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I do hope your conversations moving forward with the coaches are positive.

You have every right to be upset and frustrated, but you also need to accept some responsibility. A lot of your frustration comes from not understanding the process. National Letters of Intent are NOT binding at service academies. Do some research on NCAA website. Your son is 17 and needs someone to help guide him through the process. That would be your job, not the USNA coach. If you need help, ask his high school coach, club coach, school college counselor, etc. Make a list of questions and get some answers. Being angry is not going to help the situation at this point.

If your son was as interested as you say, he would have known himself his scores were low based on his own research and application process. He would have asked the coach if he should retake the test.

You appear to be more interested in being right than being productive, and that is unfortunate.
 
Having worked with a number of recruited athletes over the years, there is a lot of . . . let's say "uncertainty" on the part of candidates and their families regarding the athlete commitment process. More than one has told me that he/she has "verbally committed" to USNA and so it's a done deal. I had one a couple of years ago who applied to NO other schools. When I said that was unwise given that the candidate had no noms and had a medical issue, the candidate essentially shrugged me off. The candidate was eventually sent to NAPS/Foundation.

I agree that candidates need to take responsibility. But unless you've had the conversation with the coach, you don't know what's being communicated and also whether candidates/parents are hearing what's actually said or what they want to hear. I certainly don't. But there's no question that, if you're a heavily recruited athlete (blue-chip), there are all sorts of conversations going on. And, I'm not sure that the coaches and Admissions folks are always on the same page at the same time, which can contribute to the confusion.

HYPOTHETICAL: Candidate is blue-chip athlete for soccer. Does OK in school. Scores are quite low. Coach says, "Don't worry about your scores; you can go to NAPS/Foundation." Kid/family hears: "Your low scores aren't a problem b/c we want you and we'll send you to a prep school." Coach is actually saying: "IF we decide we want you and your scores are low, there is the option of NAPS/Foundation assuming we can get one of the slots from Admissions." Obviously, the former make the candidate/family think all is good . . . when it may not be.
 
usna1985 said:
Having worked with a number of recruited athletes over the years, there is a lot of . . . let's say "uncertainty" on the part of candidates and their families regarding the athlete commitment process. More than one has told me that he/she has "verbally committed" to USNA and so it's a done deal. I had one a couple of years ago who applied to NO other schools. When I said that was unwise given that the candidate had no noms and had a medical issue, the candidate essentially shrugged me off. The candidate was eventually sent to NAPS/Foundation.

I agree that candidates need to take responsibility. But unless you've had the conversation with the coach, you don't know what's being communicated and also whether candidates/parents are hearing what's actually said or what they want to hear. I certainly don't. But there's no question that, if you're a heavily recruited athlete (blue-chip), there are all sorts of conversations going on. And, I'm not sure that the coaches and Admissions folks are always on the same page at the same time, which can contribute to the confusion.

HYPOTHETICAL: Candidate is blue-chip athlete for soccer. Does OK in school. Scores are quite low. Coach says, "Don't worry about your scores; you can go to NAPS/Foundation." Kid/family hears: "Your low scores aren't a problem b/c we want you and we'll send you to a prep school." Coach is actually saying: "IF we decide we want you and your scores are low, there is the option of NAPS/Foundation assuming we can get one of the slots from Admissions." Obviously, the former make the candidate/family think all is good . . . when it may not be.
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I agree 100%. I went through the recruiting process with DD. Even if you are blessed with an appointment, it isn't a done deal until the oath is taken on I-day.

I feel that the application/waiting process is just a toe in the pool to prepare us for the deep plunge of what is to come!
 
NavyHoops said:
There are lots of previous threads on this. The answer is it depends. There are different levels of being recruited. ‘Blue chips’ tend to be the most highly sought after. A coach showing some interest and giving an endorsement could mean many things. Blue chip label is the highest and the lowest would be a coach saying they are interested but not pushing for you at admissions. An endorsement could help, but it’s hard to say.
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what is a blue chip athlete- one with an loa and recruited for a sport?
 
Determined Eagle said:
NavyHoops said:
There are lots of previous threads on this. The answer is it depends. There are different levels of being recruited. ‘Blue chips’ tend to be the most highly sought after. A coach showing some interest and giving an endorsement could mean many things. Blue chip label is the highest and the lowest would be a coach saying they are interested but not pushing for you at admissions. An endorsement could help, but it’s hard to say.
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what is a blue chip athlete- one with an loa and recruited for a sport?
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Basically, yes. He is given an LOA and also can be given a Superintendent nomination as well. There is really no way to know.
 
There is really no way to know if the LOA is associated with a blue chip or if the candidate has strong file, it could be that. A blue chip is someone the coaches are highly recruiting and realllu want. There are very few of them and most candidates will never know this. They found even one minute be one and not the next. Recruiting is a crazy and complicated world.
 
Just curious but it seems NAPS is being mentioned quite a bit. I was under the impression that you are offered a spot at NAPS it isn't something you apply to. Is that correct?
 
Correct. You cannot apply to the prep school. USNA admissions makes that determination.
 
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