Will Trickle-Down Recruiting Affect the Ivies?

Swarthmore had its recruiting camp in Delaware a few weeks ago.  Coach has told team to expect a larger roster than usual in Spring of 22, implying current players are taking some time off.  This coming season has already been cancelled.

Amherst senior players are preparing for the reality of another lost season.  Many of them have jobs lined up in the real world and will simply graduate.

Another coach I've talked to has seen a lot of movement toward grad schools and has lost five (!) players to programs that have more liberal on campus policies for practice and socialization.  He feels gutted.

Believe what's happening at Amherst is what will happen at most HA D3 schools. Swarthmore is interesting.  We went to a camp late Summer, and went back and forth with the younger RC who I didn't feel was as buttoned up as others my son interacted with. Conversely I think Midkiff is a terrific coach and they won the Centennial 2 years ago so they've leveraged that in recruiting.  Plus they have pretty nice home field set up.  But like a lot of these smaller schools, it's a specific place and culture.  

Wechson: But like a lot of these smaller schools, it's a specific place and culture.  

Ain't that the truth.

@OskiSD posted:

I've not heard of Ivy '21s reclassifying but here's a vignette that might be interesting. My daughter is a vb player (the athlete in the family!) so we follow that sport as closely as baseball. One of the best setters in SoCal committed to Yale in the '21 class but then announced she would reclassify as a '22 and take a gap year. She's an elite get for Yale so perhaps they accommodated her (she's got very solid academics as well). Just one data point in a different sport but it bears watching for baseball IMO.

If I had to guess it is more the case of kids taking gap years that are already in school. I think a year completely off of baseball is a bad idea (especially as a hitter and compared to other sports) and lots of training can be done during a Covid gap year.  Hopefully one has spring/summer opportunities to stay relatively sharp.

I specifically know of several women IVY hockey players that have taken a gap/Covid semester right now and will react with what they year about the remainder of this year. Zero reason to go back if you are gapping as a NESCAC player as they started out the fall as a "we will see about a January start" and now are done for the year. The Ivies are different. The Ivies do have hockey players (men and women) on campus training to some degree at various schools.  

Baseball is still a wait and see for 21 and beyond but would be a pretty big gamble imo to take a gap year unless there is specific baseball training involved in the gap. Easier to gap when you have a fall sport (am guessing that there were a decent amount of Football/soccer gaps in Ivies and NESCAC schools).

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Do kids going to an Ivy take a gap year?

I don't see that for baseball much. Lacrosse and hockey.

@NotMadeOf$$ posted:

I would simply assume that the HA D3 athletes would be less likely to stick around for a 5th year, even if granted eligibility, simply because of the cost... especially if they have grad school or employment waiting.

Regardless, all of your comments have been both helpful and reassuring.  Thank you.

To reboot the conversation on a related topic, how about this?

Given the current circumstances (ongoing D1 Dead Period, some D3 coaches not allowed by colleges to travel and recruit at all, budgets perhaps being slashed, showcases being cancelled or moved because of state-to-state restrictions, no real end in sight, etc.), for which of the following colleges and/or conferences do you think that recruiting might look the most "normal" (close to business as usual) for the next few years?

- Johns Hopkins

- Rest of Centennial Conference

- Ivies

- NESCAC

- Washington & Lee

- Rest of ODAC

In other words, for which of the above do you think that recruiting is probably the most predictable right now, based on the viability of past experience in the current climate?

I think the Ivies will be more competitive. Some HA players who may be looking at Higher baseball programs (Stanford, Vandy) may look to Ivies more, due to the bottleneck existing in P5's. I don't see the recruiting classes in Ivies changing much- unless the school calls for program cuts.

Welcome to the site, @NotMadeOf$$