Is it Panic Time for High School Senior Athletes?

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Twelve years of being a student, four of those years navigating through high school and one as a high school senior.

Ten thousand hours of classes, thousands of hours of homework, hundreds of hours of exams. Last, but certainly not least, countless hours of workouts, practices, and games.

For some high school athletes, senior year will be the most memorable year of their lives. Hopefully, they are receiving college scholarship offers, making verbal commitments, signing NLI’s, and graduating.

For most high school senior athletes senior year can be especially challenging. Some student-athletes will struggle if they aren’t having success in the recruiting process. It can be even more so if they don’t have any scholarship offers and are unsure when their careers will end.

Is it panic time yet?

It depends on the sport, the high school senior athlete’s abilities, the college program and the level of competition. According to scouting directors at National Scouting Report, panic time is different for every sport and every athlete.

Football

“If Division I football coaches are not in real conversations with you at this point, then you are probably not on their radar,” said Larry Perrin, National Director of Football for NSR. “Most D-Is have determined the athletes they are after by now and are just concentrating on making sure those relationships are solid. Many larger D-I schools already have their offers out and are waiting for commitments and National Signing Day.”

What about smaller schools?

“Many D-II schools are just now sending out game-day invitations and getting a feel for the athletes that are still available,” Perrin said. “D-III and NAIA schools will see what’s left after the commitments and Signing Day. Much of their recruiting happens later in the spring.”

Soccer

“Soccer is a little atypical when it comes to scholarship counts and availability,” said Gil Barkey, National Director of Soccer for NSR. “On the girls’ side, I am seeing more and more D-IIs letting me know they are done with this senior class.  It’s probably on par with what you see from volleyball. There are still some D-Is and D-IIs looking to fill a few spots, so there is opportunity.

“For boys, it differs from the girls in that, although there are more spots available right now, the men’s coaches spend more time tracking players over long periods of time. Getting on a [recruiting] board now for the first time as a senior [prospect] is difficult, but not impossible.”

What can high school senior athletes do?

“Seniors need to be very realistic with their ability,” Barkey said. “If they haven’t been hearing from their dream schools, then they need to look at other options and other tiers of play.

“On the boys’ side, there is still budgeted scholarship money available for certain positional needs of the recruiting class at D-I, D-II, and NAIA.  Some NAIAs will still have slots available with money into April or May.

“On the girls’ side, it varies from program to program and by level.  There isn’t going to be as much left at D-I and D-II. But the NAIAs will have some up to February/March. “

Lacrosse

“It’s kind of hard to exactly say how many spots are left, but there are some,” said Brendan Kennedy, National Director of Lacrosse for NSR. “D-Is have some walk-on opportunities where staffs are evaluating walk-on spots. There are some D-II and D-III schools still looking for senior [prospects], but just as many are all done.

“The thing for senior [prospects] to do is be as aggressive as possible in reaching out to coaches now. Most of these staffs have prospect camps going on now or in early October. This may be their last chance to be seen by most of these coaches.”

Is it too late?

Softball

“The proverbial ‘It’s never too late to be recruited’ does ring true to an extent, but it also comes down to several factors involved with the individual recruit,” said Robby Wilson, National Director of Softball for NSR. “When there are 1,600-plus college softball programs out there, it’s impossible for an athlete to know which ones do or don’t still have a need for senior [prospect] and whether their need matches this particular athlete.

“Every day counts right now if you’re a senior [prospect]. Now is the time to readjust your sights on a more realistic level of play.”

Wilson estimates that 33 percent of college softball programs are still looking for senior prospects. However, most of those are at the D-III or NAIA level.

“Understand that the bigger the college softball program, the less likely they are to need seniors,” Wilson said. “Your dreams of going to a top-10 SEC program are likely gone, but there are numerous great programs out there that still have a need that would love to have you.

“College ball is college ball, regardless of division or location. If you want to play bad enough, you’ll be thankful for the opportunity, period.”

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