In 2004, William Bowen (the former president of Princeton) and two other researchers persuaded 19 elite colleges - including Harvard, Middlebury and Virginia - to let them analyze their admissions records. They found, holding SAT scores equal, that a recruited athlete was 30 percentage points more likely to be admitted than a non-athlete.
Likewise, according to The New Yorker, "Recruited athletes have a distinct advantage in the admissions process," and "athletes have an acceptance rate to the Ivies at well over twice the rate of other students."
This distinct advantage applies to the vast majority of schools for the purposes of being a recruited lacrosse player. Talk about leverage!
Although this study was published close to seven years ago, the findings still hold true. What has changed, however, is the explosive growth of the number of athletes playing lacrosse. Seven years later, this advantage is much harder to realize for the vast majority of lacrosse players because of the ever-increasing pool of qualified student-athletes.
The most dramatic shift in the recruiting pool is not just the explosive growth. One trend that appears to be unstoppable is the type of athletes now entering the pool.
No one person is better suited to comment on this change than Jake Reed. For the last 10 years he has run what is considered to be the most selective invitational showcase for high school lacrosse players: Jake Reed's Nike Blue Chip Camp.
I recently spoke with Jake in an effort to gauge his observations about the type of athlete that now attends his camp. He said that he now has kids from over 40 states attending his camp in addition to players from Canada and Australia. But the one word he used to describe the most noticeable change is that the kids are now "thicker." He simply meant that they are bigger, more developed and more muscular than 6-7 years ago. Bigger, faster, stronger.
With the introduction of his 3D Lacrosse selection process, partnering with Jamie Munro's growing Denver-based company, Jake expects to draw even more superior athletes from a greater geographic pool. Many of the new kids earning an invite to his summer and fall venue will be bigger, faster and stronger than the previous years' talent pool.
The most dramatic shift in the recruiting pool is not just the explosive growth. One trend that appears to be unstoppable is the type of athletes now entering the pool.
No one person is better suited to comment on this change than Jake Reed. For the last 10 years he has run what is considered to be the most selective invitational showcase for high school lacrosse players: Jake Reed's Nike Blue Chip Camp.
I recently spoke with Jake in an effort to gauge his observations about the type of athlete that now attends his camp. He said that he now has kids from over 40 states attending his camp in addition to players from Canada and Australia. But the one word he used to describe the most noticeable change is that the kids are now "thicker." He simply meant that they are bigger, more developed and more muscular than 6-7 years ago. Bigger, faster, stronger.
With the introduction of his 3D Lacrosse selection process, partnering with Jamie Munro's growing Denver-based company, Jake expects to draw even more superior athletes from a greater geographic pool. Many of the new kids earning an invite to his summer and fall venue will be bigger, faster and stronger than the previous years' talent pool.
This is the natural progression of any sport as it grows and attracts a larger contingent of athletes.
This trend has had a dramatic impact at both the DI and DIII levels. Many of today's DIII rosters contain players who possess similar athletic skills as their DI counterparts. The distinction is that there are fewer of those elite athletes on the DIII roster in comparison to DI. The effect at the DIII level will, over time, result in a similar trend at the DI level: bigger, superior athletes seeking roster spots.
A great equalizer in both divisions is speed. But the greatest equalizer is in fact performance in the
More so now than ever, it becomes increasingly important to gain the edge in the classroom. A superior academic résumé is one of the few advantages that you can still control. And it just might get you that preferred slot over the better lacrosse player who you're competing against. You may lack superior speed and height, but you can certainly work at establishing a superior transcript. This, unlike the physical components of your counterparts, is something that is under your direct control.Coaches have varying degrees of leeway when submitting their 8-10 recruits to the admissions liaison.
Within each recruiting class, there needs to be an upper-tier student or two who balances out the superior lacrosse player who has grades on the lower end of the admissions continuum. Strive to be that player who is offered a slot because of excellent work in the classroom, and a history of A.P., and/or honors classes.
Remember, this whole process is about using lacrosse to get into a school where you would not otherwise be a candidate for admission. Why not dedicate extra attention to that one variable that you can control: your success in the classroom. That is in fact the real athlete's advantage.
Remember, this whole process is about using lacrosse to get into a school where you would not otherwise be a candidate for admission. Why not dedicate extra attention to that one variable that you can control: your success in the classroom. That is in fact the real athlete's advantage.
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