HA D3s, Do They Usually Recruit Juniors Mid-Year?

In my (admittedly limited) experience no, it isn't really normal.  There may be some backstory there--an alumni kid or some other connection to the school.  (Pure speculation on my part--I have no idea.)  My son always heard from HA D3s that they needed to see 3 full years of grades, and that was how recruiting appeared to play out at those places.

These are abnormal times, so who knows?  My son was seen by some schools in August after junior year and subsequently offered slots; obviously the schools still had them available.  They were doing admissions pre-reads throughout the summer, but the action and sorting out gets heavy (in a normal year) in late August.  I guess if an admissions office gives a green light during junior year, it could happen, presumably the coach and kid were both sure of the choice.

No certainly not normal. As suggested, probably some very specific backstory here.  Babb does have more influence at JHU than most (if not all) D3 coaches.  When the field you currently play on is named after you, you've got pull.

Definitely not usual.  I wouldn't worry about it.  D3 recruits summer before Senior year.

I have two older kids who have gone and are going through this process right now, although not for baseball. But I'm 99% sure the process is the same for all sports at most HA D3s:

There is a certain "first date" at which an athletes credentials (3 years of grades, test scores, etc.) can be run through admissions. This is called a pre-read. As far as I know, the first date for any pre-read in HA schools is June 1st, for entrance starting the following August (14 months later). Some schools have pre-read dates in mid-June and July 1st.

Once the pre-read is done, the athlete is then notified if they are set, or if they need to do something else (higher test score, extra class, etc.) to qualify for admission. Once set, the athlete is then encouraged to apply ED (binding). ED notices usually come out in mid-December.

Pre-reads can happen anytime after the first date, up until the ED deadline, and earlier is usually better (more indication of interest).

But anything before the official ED notification is a verbal commitment only and is contingent upon making it through admissions.

Maybe the kid had a high SAT/ACT score and taken a bunch of AP with a ridiculously high GPA from a high rigor HS? My kid plays with a couple of Jr commits to Ivies. I assume the kid had the academic chops to satisfy JHU

@2022NYC posted:

Maybe the kid had a high SAT/ACT score and taken a bunch of AP with a ridiculously high GPA from a high rigor HS? My kid plays with a couple of Jr commits to Ivies. I assume the kid had the academic chops to satisfy JHU

Have honestly never heard of this in HA D3 situation.  Not completely uncommon to see Ivy's committing to Juniors, given D1

@2022NYC posted:

Maybe the kid had a high SAT/ACT score and taken a bunch of AP with a ridiculously high GPA from a high rigor HS? My kid plays with a couple of Jr commits to Ivies. I assume the kid had the academic chops to satisfy JHU

Pretty much every kid who gets into JHU and similarly selective schools has all the qualifications you mention--the usual path is still to wait until after they complete three years of HS.  The Ivies, being D1, recruit earlier. 

Something unusual happened in this case.  I wouldn't be concerned about it if I were the parent of a player who is 2022 or younger and aiming D3 HA. (But I know it's hard not to worry during the recruiting process, because it's all a black box.)  If Hopkins announces additional 2022 commits before June, then maybe there has been some major shift.  But I don't think that's the case.

And since there are no letters of intent in D1, it's correct that you don't officially have anything in hand until you get your acceptance letter.  Admissions and the coach will tell your son that he can expect to get in if he applies ED (and that is something a player can feel confident about, if a coach confirms he is using one of his 'tips' for him), but D3s won't give any guarantees.

My 2021 is committed to a HA D3.  Recruiting didn’t pick up at all until the summer before his Senior year.  Among the very first questions that coaches asked were about his GPA, ACT, and intended field of study.  The coaches needed to know if the kid was likely to pass through admissions before they invested much time in recruiting a player.

I suppose that a current Junior who has a 4.0+ GPA, 30+ ACT, tons of A’s in AP classes etc might be looked at as a reasonable lock to get through admissions (depending on the school, obviously some are much tougher to get into than others) and could get recruited early.

However, from what I’ve seen, it’s rare.

Commitment doesn’t mean you’re in at any level. At a HA D3 nothing is done until acceptance. Even then it isn’t a guarantee of being on the roster.

In actuality it comes down to acceptance and meeting NCAA standards at any level. One of my son’s travel teammates was told if he didn’t pass the next SAT test (spring his senior year- minimum requirement of 880) the offer was off the table. This was an ACC that otherwise has an average acceptance acceptance score around 1400. The kid started for two years and flunked out. He belonged at the school baseball-wise. He didn’t belong there academically.

A kid at our high school went to Vanderbilt for football on his 4.25. It was his forty time. He was dumber than a tree stump. He was ineligible for spring practice freshman year and went home.

@3and2Fastball posted:

I suppose that a current Junior who has a 4.0+ GPA, 30+ ACT, tons of A’s in AP classes etc might be looked at as a reasonable lock to get through admissions (depending on the school, obviously some are much tougher to get into than others) and could get recruited early.

Again, at JHU and comparable schools, everyone on the team has those academic credentials--and had them in second semester junior year, too.  I have to believe something else is going on.   But in any case, I don't know of any reason to think it's the harbinger of some new D3 HA trend.

Maybe this kid is a stud too?

@Chico Escuela posted:

Again, at JHU and comparable schools, everyone on the team has those academic credentials--and had them in second semester junior year, too.  I have to believe something else is going on.   But in any case, I don't know of any reason to think it's the harbinger of some new D3 HA trend.

One of the reasons it's probably not a trend is that for the most part schools like JHU have to wait to see who is left after the Ivies have selected their players, and players are who are holding out for an Ivy or other D1 wait until that window closes before getting serious about D3.

But in a particular case, if a kid is all that and knows that he'd rather go to JHU than an Ivy or anywhere else, then I guess it makes sense to seal the deal unofficially with a verbal commitment.

And maybe JHU baseball has acquired a bit of a D1 mindset, as it shares its campus with a D1 P5 conference LAX team.

When you say JHU announced its first commitment for 2022, do you mean the school announced it?  Or someone announced it on PG (where I see it)?  Schools don't announce things on PG, players do.  In theory, anyone could announce any commitment at any time, it's not binding to anyone.

The JHU baseball twitter account recently tweeted that they had their first 2022 commit.  The timing seemed odd to me, so I looked at PG and noticed the one 2022 listed there--no idea if that is the guy the tweet refers to.  The player listed at PG has a top 1,000 rank, which suggests he's a good 'get' for an HA D3.  But it's not unusual for JHU to get similarly ranked players.  (I see two top 1,000 players and a top 500 for 2020.)

(I'm not suggesting PG ranks are necessarily right, they are just some quick data points available to me.)

As others have said this is a rare case and I wouldn't put too much thought into it.  If your son is on that level he just needs to keep working on those grades and test scores.  My son was recruited by JHU and the Ivies.  Funny thing is, it was harder to get into JHU than the Ivies.  

My son was invited to some JR days at HA D3s, that was the first reach out in JR year. Clearly not happening now with Covid. Was very helpful to meet coaches, see facilities and campus. But every coach he talked to at D3 first focus was on grades and test scores, to see if they could even get him in ED/EA. I also have seen that HAs over recruit, especially when they find a kids that need no support to get in. It is a great avenue to get into some of the top schools in US and the level of play is high. Most of these kids could play D1, but did not want to go to a lower academic school, so instead take the HA route to get that great education. I have also seen a number of Ivy early commits not make it to the school. Not sure if it was purely academic or maybe an off the field/classroom issue. The pre-reads also happen and those can take easily 2 weeks to complete. Make sure you have all you academic data ready to go for when you get that ask.

Applying Early Decision, with the head coach’s support, and being accepted ED was indeed a big part of my 2021’s recruitment and decision process.

@SoCal OG posted:

Funny thing is, it was harder to get into JHU than the Ivies.  

I assume you are referring to coach support at JHU vs the Ivy.  General acceptance rate at all 8 Ivies is lower than JHU.

@9and7dad posted:

I assume you are referring to coach support at JHU vs the Ivy.  General acceptance rate at all 8 Ivies is lower than JHU.

No doubt, but individual kids, schools, and majors can make for different results. For example, a few years ago NYTimes tracked a group of HS seniors as they went through the application process. One kid, an engineering major, I think, got into Yale but not into his #1 school, which was Washington U.

@9and7dad posted:

I assume you are referring to coach support at JHU vs the Ivy.  General acceptance rate at all 8 Ivies is lower than JHU.

Ivies & D1's have much more leeway when it comes to academics than D3's have, especially at a school like Hopkins.  At D3's your grades/scores basically have to be the same as everyone else, even with Coach support.  There is an exception here or there but its all within reason.  In my sons case, he had 3 Ivy pre-reads & coach support and all looked good.  At Hopkins it was a no go unless he got a higher SAT score.  The incoming recruiting class that year had an average of 1470 on the SAT.  

@SoCal OG posted:

Ivies & D1's have much more leeway when it comes to academics than D3's have, especially at a school like Hopkins.  At D3's your grades/scores basically have to be the same as everyone else, even with Coach support.  There is an exception here or there but its all within reason.  In my sons case, he had 3 Ivy pre-reads & coach support and all looked good.  At Hopkins it was a no go unless he got a higher SAT score.  The incoming recruiting class that year had an average of 1470 on the SAT.  

This has been mentioned a few times over the years, in that it seems that it can often be MORE difficult to land in a top HA D3 than an Ivy, or just below level HA D1. This year, maybe moreso because so many potential D1 kids went the D3 route knowing the log jam w/ 5th year players at D1 would make either their recruitment chances or playing time more difficult.  Not sure that will be different for 2022's.

@Wechson posted:

This has been mentioned a few times over the years, in that it seems that it can often be MORE difficult to land in a top HA D3 than an Ivy, or just below level HA D1. This year, maybe moreso because so many potential D1 kids went the D3 route knowing the log jam w/ 5th year players at D1 would make either their recruitment chances or playing time more difficult.  Not sure that will be different for 2022's.

Very true...and dont forget about the D1 drop downs.  My sons D3 team has already picked up 2 D1 drop downs (Juniors).