ncbixby posted:I wasnt there but my wife said they did try to get him to apply while they were there. We didnt apply though.
The key is being asked to apply ED. My kids didn't play D3 so I'm not an expert on this. Since there aren't LOI's and athletic scholarships there are two ways to be sure of the coaches commitment. ED commits the kid to the school. A coach isn't going to make this request unless he really wants the kid. At academic D3's coaches often have some leeway with admission with five or six recruits. A coach asking for all the paperwork so he can push it through is anoer form of commitment.
Otherwise a kid could be one of fifty players invited to make the roster in the fall. In fact, all fifty might end up rostered. But what good is it to be player #30? My instincts tell me to be suspicious when none of the coaches have seen the player on the field and they don't have any skin/athletic money in the game.
There have been some conversations here on D3 coaches using recruiting to get applications into admissions for the college's benefit. The kid gets rostered for a year. Then he walks away from the team when he realizes he doesn't have a shot in hell of getting on the field.
A friend's son had his ED application walked through admission by the coach. When fall ball came around there were six freshmen in the same position recruiting wise. There were thirty-two other freshman bragging they were preferred walk ons until they realized how many there were. Three of those thirty-two made the team.