Recruited Athletes

hambam

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Jun 22, 2019
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Hi all,

Just wondering if USAFA recruited athletes are "guaranteed" Congressional nominations. I noticed there is a known recruited athlete signed up for an interview in the same MOC pool as me. Only asking because it's a bit worrisome that if an athlete is given the 1st rank for nominations then it leaves the rest of us without a fair chance.

Though out of my control, just wondering what peoples' thoughts and experiences are?
 
My son’s experience - he interviewed with MOC. He was told by MOC staff that they were looking at a recruited football player in MOC district that coach wanted.

My son got nom and appointment. We don’t know if the football player made it or not. We don’t know who my son was charged to.
 
Hi all,

Just wondering if USAFA recruited athletes are "guaranteed" Congressional nominations. I noticed there is a known recruited athlete signed up for an interview in the same MOC pool as me. Only asking because it's a bit worrisome that if an athlete is given the 1st rank for nominations then it leaves the rest of us without a fair chance.

Though out of my control, just wondering what peoples' thoughts and experiences are?

Never assume that because someone else on a same slate as you receives an appointment, that means there is a direct affect on you appointment possibilities. Admissions ultimately puts together a great big puzzle. They can charge nominations to different places (within allowable methods of course) to get the class they are wanting. An athlete (or anyone) for example could be charged to a superintendent slot (for example) after also receiving an MOC nomination. But you wouldn’t know this.

It really is a complicated thing! ‘Ya just never know!! You also have no idea the level of that recruitment for the athlete. So it may be more “fair” than you are assuming. That athlete may have better credentials than you regardless of their recruitment. That athlete may interview better than you unrelated to their sport. Never assume anything.

Good luck!!
 
You are confusing getting a nomination and winning the slate. A recruited athlete usually just needs a nomination and they will get charged as an Additional Appointee if they do not win the MOC slate.
 
Being a recruited athlete is no guarantee of a NOM or an appointment. Each MOC can nominate 10 applicants for each opening they have, so I wouldn't worry about who else is applying since you have no control over that. You also have no idea which college others may attend and perhaps some might be given offers to more then one.
 
I have been thinking a lot about the recruited athlete aspect. My son met 3 athletes committed to USMA last weekend at his local MOC interview. One of them was from the local powerhouse athletic factory and wealthiest high school in central TX, and he reported there were two students more committed to USMA from the same high school in the Class of 2020 who were not in the interview room at the time. This means there are between 3-5 committed athletes in my son's congressional district, that we know of so far, presumably headed to WP. They could get disqualified, they could drop out, who knows, but suffice it to say there are a lot of folks in the mix with my son who happen to be in this special category of recruited athlete (my son is not). I think this is why USMA promised "definitely" to pursue a waiver for my LOE-holding son and then dropped it suddenly, saying they would not pursue a waiver at this time. I think there is too much competition in his district. It doesn't look promising to me.
 
Again, we seem to be confusing nomination slates, recruited athletes and where an appointment may be charged.

Congressional offices can handle the nominations in any manner as they chose but if they understand the process, they would not select a recruited athlete as a principal nominee as it has the potential to lose a spot for a constituent. Your MOC can only have one appointment charged to him but can theoretically have dozens of appointments from the district. (Technically it is 5 at one time so there will be years where they have more than one opening)

Being committed to USMA means much less in the admissions process than at other normal schools. . It will increase the WCS in certain categories but by itself, it will not make a marginally qualified applicant move to the top of the slate.

Once the slate is submitted, admissions will rank all of the applicants and the highest ranked candidate gets the offer and that individual will be charged to the MOC.

Other candidates may get offers of appointments and could be charged to all the other places. There was a Houston District that had 12 offers last year.

@williamsdr3 Admissions tracks candidates by district from the initial application. From what you are reporting, it seems more like a stronger candidate has risen to the top of the slate and has a much better chance of winning that slate. LOEs are issued to strong candidates but the competition changes daily. Please do not think that a lesser qualified recruited athlete will automatically jump to the top of the list on your slate.

It is true that there is a special pool at the end of the process for recruited athletes, diversity candidates, etc that your son will probably not compete in.
 
Congressional offices can handle the nominations in any manner as they chose but if they understand the process, they would not select a recruited athlete as a principal nominee as it has the potential to lose a spot for a constituent.
However, there are occasions where this can and does occur. It happened in my case and the MOC was fully aware of the implications.
 
I sat on a MOC board last weekend. We had a young man who stated he had verbally committed to one of the 3 D1 SAs for football. The MOC coordinator noticed in their system he was not listed as a recruit in their database. So even though this young man at some point had verbally committed, it’s tells me that SA coach does not have him very high on their recruit list as they are not willing to spend any blue chip currency to ‘get him in.’ At one point he could of been the top recruit for that position, but things change quickly in the recruiting world. The fact he did not have an LOA also spoke volumes to me. So just because someone says they have verbally committed, do not give up. There are so many factors involved in this whole process. The only thing you can control is you during this process. Focus on that.
 
It's like throwing a handful of snow in the air and trying to predict where a certain snowflake will land...there is absolutely NO WAY to predict ANY outcome of anyone. Period. Look at what NavyHoops posted: that kid was a 'verbal commit'. But look how much that really meant to the MOC. Not a lot. BUT to bystanders, that 'verbally committed recruited athlete' looks like a shoo-in.

The gist of it, as already stated...do all YOU can for YOUR application. That is ALL you can do. And if they want you in, they will find a way. Have faith, relax, and enjoy the rest of your senior year, or the senior year of your child. IMO that's the focus now...don't let wondering/pondering/worrying about things you have absolutely no control over rob you/your child of celebrating their fantastic last year of K-12 schooling! That is my BIGGEST takeaway of going through this process two other times, now on my 3rd. Be present, only about a semester left!!

Adding: @NavyHoops, did that athlete get in?
 
Not sure yet. We just interviewed him a week or so ago. His stats are about average overall. He goes to a very good high school where I live and is doing well there. He was middle of the pack overall.
 
I have looked up articles from the past 5 years of athletes in my area that have 'committed' to SAs. There were 7 published commitments. 3 of them actually attended that SA. Not scientific at all, of course, but it shows that not all SA athlete 'commitments' end up there.
 
Shot in the dark...but DD has three competitive USMA nom’s, recruited athlete, high GPA, high SAT, well above average on CFA and medically cleared...any speculation as to her acceptance chances?
 
Shot in the dark...but DD has three competitive USMA nom’s, recruited athlete, high GPA, high SAT, well above average on CFA and medically cleared...any speculation as to her acceptance chances?
Likely good chances if she's medically cleared. Many recruited athletes receive LOAs. Did your DD receive one?
 
She has not, but she just completed her CFA today with her recruiting officer and the recruited athlete notification was recent...not sure that matters though. Thanks for the response!
 
She has not, but she just completed her CFA today with her recruiting officer and the recruited athlete notification was recent...not sure that matters though. Thanks for the response!


It’s hard to speculate because none of us know her full stats or her level of recruitment. Don’t need them here. If you have done any searching on this forum you know there are many levels of being recruited just like at any other college. And that can quite honestly change by the day depending on what is happening with other recruits. No LOA seems to point that maybe she isn’t the top recruit, but that is pure speculation. Did they pay for a NCAA sanctioned visit? Not sure how it works at other SAs, but at USNA there are a few ways to be tagged a recruit. One is much more serious than the other. The coaches probably won’t give a lot of these details in the end. Good luck to your DD.
 
Yep agree....we have had a high level recruit (who had his appointment in hand this time of year, but actually didn’t know he was higher lever), and a low level recruit. Neither with any promises from Coach, and both were told to compete on their own. Do your best, SA recruiting and commitments is a whole different ball game than regular college!! Good luck!
 
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