FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Some of the guys listed as "committed" or "signed" in February no doubt applied via Early Decision.  But I'm sure many are applying RD to various NESCAC schools, as well.  These commitments are always contingent on an assumption that they will be accepted via admissions.  But the reality is, the coaches always check with admissions to make sure guys they promise slots to WILL be admitted.   The guys who are not admissible are weeded out early in the process, and are told not to bother applying.  That's why you see folks "committing" to all sorts of NESCAC schools, for all sorts of sports, as early as August/September.  If you are a TIP, and a coach tells you are in, believe me, barring some sort of total disaster academically or in terms of behavior during your last semester in high school, you will be admitted.  In years of following NESCAC sports I can think of only one guy who was "committed" and ended up not getting accepted, and that was due to a serious behavioral issue that surfaced only after his commitment.  All of these guys who are committed but not yet admitted, believe me, they will be showing up on NESCAC campuses in the fall.

Now, if a coach is just offering you some support in admissions but not a virtually-guaranteed slot, then you have to wait on admissions.  But these guys, unless they truly are ED recruits, aren't going to "commit" to any particular institution because they know they have to keep their options open. 

[NewtoNescac]

NESCAC1, I agree with you regarding the likelihood of ED's being accepted when given a coach's support.

But that has nothing to do with "signing" on or after national signing day. They DO NOT sign anything during that period. What they sign is an ED commitment.

No further explanation is necessary. I full understand how it works, and it is not a "signing period. So, I don't know why people/schools are posting pictures of signing ceremonies. They don't exist. Just show them acknowledging where they're committed to go to school and play football.

Heck, in the NESCAC and the Ivies, they don't get scholarships, and they're don't have to play once admitted.

[Nescacparent]

@nescac1 - There is a difference between a TIP and a SLOT. The terms are not interchangeable in the NESCAC. You need to be bringing something additional to the table if you are a TIP. The 14 SLOTS by themselves come with a virtual lock down on admission.

[madzillagd]

Sigh.

What is the gain in excluding D3 athletes from signing day activities?  Woohoo! Our high school is technically correct in how we handle D3 athletes!  Kudos to us for not celebrating D3 kids!!!

Seriously.  It doesn't matter.  Those of us that understand what the process is know what the fake signing day papers are and what they aren't.  It doesn't matter.  The day is an opportunity to celebrate high school kids and their accomplishments, and acknowledge that they are going to further their athletic careers at the college level.  It's great PR for the schools to show what type of student-athletes they produce.  As far as we know they may be signing a contract that indicates they will never ever go onto the D3 message boards and give out incorrect information about how D3 acceptance works.  As for how it's covered, the media is not going to waste their time detailing the D3 process to their readers and viewers.  They call it signing day and use terms like LOI because it's a concept that everybody understands, even if it isn't technically correct for all athletes in attendance. 

It's ironic because only one event a year puts D3 sports on the same stage as D1 sports and that's signing day; and every year D3 folks start complaining that they shouldn't be there. 

[nescac1]

+1 to madzillagd

[Nescacparent]

The Boston Herald (Dan Ventura) always does a nice job including DI and DIII schools when noting where area seniors are headed:
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/high_school_insider/2015/02/national_letter_of_intent_day_where_the_student

[PolarCat]

Madzillagd nailed it.

Both my kids were NESCAC recruited athletes that applied and were accepted ED1.  One of them had multiple DI scholarship offers, but made the admirable decision to go DIII and focus on education, rather than on athletics.  Neither was feted at their high school's NLI signing day, and that was a darn shame.

Something is not right when a kid who's carrying a C average gets written up for signing a letter of intent to Blue Mountain State, but the kid who worked hard and had the grades to get into a NESCAC does not.  I say let 'em sign something and get their photo in the paper.  (Karma is funny.  My kid had a great season, but his classmate that went DI didn't even make the team.  Oops).

[PolarCat]

I just clicked on the link Nescacparent provided, and watched the YouTube video of Xaverian's NLI Signing Day.  It's a perfect example of what I was talking about.

Xaverian posted a video of the 3 kids who signed letters of intent with DI schools (1 with Northeastern, 2 with UMass).  Get this: one of the kids got a "preferred walk-on slot", whatever that is.  Yet the Xavarian player who committed to NESCAC (Noah Sorrento, who's going to Williams) was nowhere to be seen.

That's not right.

[nescac1]

PolarCat, to be fair to Xavierian in this instance, I read that Sorrento was unable to attend the signing day ceremony. 

[fulbakdad]

Polarcat,

The Preferred Walk On slot shouldn't have had the signing day either.  There was no scholarship (which is the NLI)....

As one coach I talked to named that, "they prefer not to give you a scholarship".......

[PolarCat]

The problem with ED1 is a lot of them are after signing day and the school doesn't want the student-athlete to share his information before ED1 is made public. 

I'll split hairs with you on this one.  ED1 acceptances went out on December 20th for Bates, and "Mid-December" for Bowdoin.  Not sure about other NESCAC's, but I assume they are very similar.  If you get turned down for EDI, you can then apply for ED2 at a different school by January 1 (or convert an existing Regular Decision application to ED2, as late as February 1).  ED2 notifications go out February 15th, but the ED1 kids know they're in long before signing day.

PolarCat, to be fair to Xavierian in this instance, I read that Sorrento was unable to attend the signing day ceremony.

Good info.  Thanks.

[NewtoNescac]

Transfer deadlines are approaching for some NESCAC schools. It should be interesting to see where the pieces fall into place.

JB Wells is at somewhat of a disadvantage due to his recent hiring. Not much time to work the transfer recruiting scene, as Bowdoin has a March 1st transfer app deadline.

Williams' transfer app deadline is April 1st, so Kelton may still pull a rabbit out of his hat.

Hamilton's is April 15th, so they have time to find a desperately needed QB, if they want to turn things around.

It should be interesting to see where the pieces fall into place.

[lumbercat]

Newtonescac-

I may be naive but I don't believe any Nescac coaches "work the transfer recruiting scene".
I can't remember a Bowdoin Football transfer though I could be mistaken.
I know of only 1 at Bates in the last 10 years- there was big TE 7 or 8 years ago.
Colby did have a very prominent transfer last year in QB Ecke who transferred from UConn where he was 4th on UConn depth chart at prior spring practice. I don't know of any beyond that at CBB schools.

The NCAA at all levels has pretty clear restrictions on this and these restrictions are taken to an even higher level in the NESCAC. I realize there are ways around this but don't believe NESCAC coaches view this as another recruiting venue.

There have been a number of transfers into the league at other NESCAC schools in recent years so I
maybe out  to lunch on this. I'd be interested to see where others on the board may weigh on this who have more direct knowledge than I.

As a sidebar to this, in the past couple of years the Nescac transfer scene appears to have been busier in the outbound lane. A few years back Wes lost 3 kids to D1--UCLA, Miami (FL) and Delaware.
Last year Colby and Bates lost their top QBs- Ciero to Fordham and Laspada to Merrimack. Even in these cases I assume that the athletes were not approached or solicited though I have no specific knowledge of how these changes take place other than a kid who wants out reaches out to coaches at other schools.

As I said, I have limited knowledge on this and would be interested to hear what other perspectives exist out there on the board.

[NewtoNescac]

I hope I didn't imply that any NESCAC coaches were soliciting kids from other colleges. That was not my intention. My assumption is that the kids come to them.

Arguably the best QB in Middlebury history (Foote) was a transfer, wasn't he? That's the type of difference I'm talking about. That kid probably sought out Middlebury.

[NewtoNescac]

I saw many of the Hamilton games in person the last two seasons. He cannot make all of the throws. Do not ask him to throw an out pass. But as you point out, he's a terrific runner. So why not put him in a position to run, or catch and run. Maximizing his abilities. Instead they are trying to force him to do things he's not capable of. It just does not make sense to me.