Let’s Talk Balance - College List Balance

It may not feel like it, but it’s already here. Seniors are finalizing their college lists, preparing application materials, and will be submitting college applications by Halloween! For full-time students, this process is stressful enough. For student-athletes, the impact of the recruiting process adds an extra layer that most would skip if they could.

As we get closer and closer to application deadlines, the conversation of a balanced list will get more and more important for all students, but I want to discuss a factor of a student-athlete list that is avoided more than others. School Division/Association.

For many student-athletes, there exists a hierarchy of priority when it comes to athletic divisions, and sometimes even athletic conferences. Kids grow up watching certain teams on TV, or are told by their family/friends that they “would make a great [INSERT LOCAL BIG SCHOOL HERE]”. When this happens, many student-athletes enter their summer before senior year with a list that may fit on the academic side, but isn’t allowing for quality opportunities on the athletic side.  When this happens, it is important to have an honest conversation about what kind of attention a student-athlete is getting, and what needs to be done to increase athletic opportunities if coaches aren’t actively recruiting them.

Many times, student-athletes believe they just need to attend one more camp, play one more game, or send one more video and that local DI is going to come find them. Many times, these schools have established their rosters well before the fall semester starts, and upcoming seniors need to get comfortable with the idea of expanding their athletic horizons.

For many, this can feel like a “step down” given our arbitrary feelings about Divisions and Associations, but that fact is that competing as a college athlete at ANY level is an incredible accomplishment. Now is the time to determine if a student-athlete wants to play college athletics, or “Power 5” athletics.

Many times, prospective athletes only like the idea of college sports if they’re done through the lens of what they see on TV, in which case this process becomes a lot easier. Either those small batch of schools are interested, or they’re not, and you can apply to schools accordingly. If a student-athlete wants to play college athletics, though, then it’s healthy to explore college options up and down the Division spectrum with little regard to what Roman numeral lives after the “D”.