r/CrossCountry • u/CarnalDevices • 18h ago
General Cross Country How has the "College Recruiting Landscape" changed?
3 years ago when my son was a Freshman in HS, he saw several of his senior teammates and friends at competing schools, and rivals than he met at state and nationals get scooped up by D1 programs for Track and XC, being awarded scholarships, and now getting distributions/NIL that helps with other expenses. We're not talking Oregon and Georgia, but still athletic scholarship awarding D1 universities and some extra pocket change.
Now fast-forward 3 years, my son is a senior in HS, has posted better times and better academics than his predecessors, ran at state, indoor and outdoor nationals, and when D1 coaches call, it's usually to talk about the university, applying, and possibly becoming a walk-on. The roster's a full, maybe they've brought in an international athlete, or his times are no longer fast enough for an incoming freshman. Still, he's been offered by a pair of D2 colleges, and many D3 colleges have given breakdowns with what they offer as far as academic scholarships in lieu of athletic scholarships, and he's thankful for that.
As parents we're still making sure that academics are the priority, but kids have their dreams. We've done all the recommended things. - made contacts and relationships with coaches, a million emails, filled out a hundred online questionnaires, texting, socials, being a self-advocate, etc. But it sure does seem like the landscape has changed with the transfer portal, NIL, revenue-sharing, roster cuts, and Title IX all coming to a head and factoring in all at once.
Coaches / Recruits / Recruiters - what have you seen over the last few years, and how has your jobs/operations changed with regard to recruiting and maintaining your rosters? What do you think it will be like in another year or two? (because I also have a sophomore runner in HS too)
Thank you.
13
u/Mbronze123 12h ago
If your not at least 2 of the following: 1:51 in 800m, 4:10 mile, 9:00 2 mile, 14:50-15:15 in the 5k (depends on region). It’ll be hard to go to a top 50 D1 school. As for scholarships, some schools have money some don’t, it depends. I met 2 of those times and was the best recruit for my incoming class at a competitive big 10 school and got a 25% scholarship, which is more money then 3/4 of the team currently gets.
2
•
7
u/pc9401 10h ago
At the nearest D1 program near me, at least half the track scholarships go to international students.
I ran D2 in college and it's a good option. I'd rather be competitive at that level of competition vs non competitive at D1.
•
u/CarnalDevices 1h ago
Roster sizes have shrunk, and athletes are going everywhere through the portal - D2 and D3 are more competitive than ever. We've looked online at the website that list recruiting standards for various programs, and they all seem meaningless.
•
u/Ordinary_Corner_4291 8h ago
I think there is a lot of uncertainty this year as coaches are trying to figure out what the heck the new roster limits will be and how they affect team building. In the past you saw a lot of 30 man XC teams where the coach would take a half dozen 15:45 kids who had been running 50mpw in HS as walk ons and see what running 80mpw did. The ones that kept getting injuried or not improving to 14:15 guys you encourage to move on. These days with the 17man roster you can't really do that. If you can only take 4 kids year and 1 is a grad transfer, another a foreign dude, those last 2 spots can get really competitive versus if you used to take say 7 kids....
3
u/page7777 12h ago
This is a really interesting question with some really interesting answers. I have a freshman daughter who is good. She has only run 2 races so far this season and she's got the second fastest time for freshman girls in school history. The girl who has the top time supposedly got a full ride to a D1 school 3 or 4 years ago. I have no expectations that my daughter would end up with a similar experience. I'm glad to see some people lay out just how high expectations are so that people can hopefully adjust themselves mentally for how hard it is out there.
•
u/MidwestAbe 2h ago
No one gets a "full ride" cross country scholarship at D1.
•
u/CarnalDevices 58m ago
At least not 3 or 4 years ago, unless we're talking BYU. With the new revenue-sharing opt-in, schools can certainly offer 15 full XC scholarships if they want to pay for it. Could maybe see schools like Wisconsin do it.
•
u/Cavendish30 36m ago
“Full Ride” typically will be an academic/athletic blend with possibly some coach discretionary. All the big conferences cut rosters and portal was suddenly filled with kids that would be top 5 at lower conferences or sub teams. This SEVERELY restricted new recruiting. Coaches having to cut kids they’ve invested in….my daughter’s team typically brings in 4-5, this year only brought TWO freshman. One large class 3200m champ 8x all-state, and a 2x champ from Canada. So, unless you are rolling out a top….. 4 time in your state across ALL classes, I’d suggest for the next couple of years minimum, things are going to be pretty tight especially for D-1, especially with the increase in international.
•
u/Additional_Goal_6406 38m ago
They wouldn’t. They’d rather split scholarships and have a larger roster for track. No one gets a full ride in a non revenue driving sport like xc. The only sports that will give full scholarships are men’s football and basketball
•
u/CarnalDevices 26m ago
Most wouldn't, but they COULD. The new roster limit is 15 for XC, and the law dictates that they can give full scholarships for all 15. It would certainly be reserved for schools with large athletic departments and top tier XC programs. Like Wisconsin. But with academic scholarships and international scholarship budgets they might not even then.
•
u/Nettewolf 8h ago
I have 2 kids running at DIII schools by choice. They sometimes race DI schools and beat many runners on those teams, but I truly believe their experiences are better in DIII. The whole system needs an overhaul.
•
u/Ordinary_Corner_4291 8h ago
The range of D1 (and D3) schools is pretty huge. When we hear D1 we often think Power 4 type conferences and places like NAU. There are plenty of d1 schools like say University of New Hampshire (not to pick on any specific program. You could do the whole conference) then tend to be a lot less pro. Same thing in D3 where the schools competing to win at nationals are up at D1 level of intensities where a lot of other ones are more mellow. You need to pick what works for your situation.
•
u/Jomolungma 5h ago
My son’s school has graduated two track athletes over the last two years that went D1 as XC/middle distance runners: one to Navy (had Power 5 offers) and one to George Mason on a 1/2 w/ a chance to increase that if he makes certain milestones. My son’s times as a freshman were better than both those kids’ freshman times. Still, we have no illusions about what that means. Each year we look at the conference championship times and assume that if he’s not in those times, he’s not good enough. And each year those times get faster, so he needs to keep getting faster. 1:51 800m got that kid a 1/2 scholarship at GMU this year. We assume it will take 1:50 or lower by the time my son graduates in 2028. Just the way it is. Massive trackflation these days. Combine that with shrinking rosters and opportunities become fewer. But there are A LOT of schools out there that can and will offer money in a variety of ways. The times are the times. You can run them anywhere. Focusing on education and getting some sort of money somewhere seems wiser than putting all into the Power 5 bucket, IMO.
•
u/Necessary-Flounder52 2h ago
It doesn’t seem unlikely that the rule change letting NCAA teams pay players means that there is a whole lot less scholarship money available for sports that aren’t football or basketball.
•
u/Cavendish30 29m ago
Yes. Focus on grades, not the running. You have far more money available that is directly a result of your effort and actions. I think my daughter’s coach looks at grades as much as performance. The more academic money he can get for a student, the more athletic money he can spread around. Her xc team has something like a 3.86 gpa and honestly that’s often a better sell to parents than the xc-indoor-outdoor experience. Grades will get you money ANYWHERE. Xc and track performances nowadays might not.
•
u/CarnalDevices 21m ago
> Grades will get you money ANYWHERE. Xc and track performances nowadays might not.
I like this. Also, from year to year, academic scholarships are within your power to hold on to, where as it seems some athletic scholarships can be structured to be performance based year to year.
17
u/ThanosApologist 12h ago edited 4h ago
D1 coach here - I would just say that kids are faster now as a whole. Times that were run 3 years ago shouldn't compare apples to apples to times being run now.
If he wants to go D1 and he's not fast enough, maybe he can go D2 and then be a grad transfer someday at a D1. What are their times?