Spartan seniors are making arrangements for life after high school; some having taken on the impressive feat of continuing their athletic careers during their post-secondary education.
Unique challenges have presented themselves to the class of 2025, primarily the highly competitive environment that surrounds the college application process. In 2007 the United States surpassed previous records (baby boom in 1957) of births per-year, at 4.3 million.
Due to the overwhelming number of athletes looking for offers and scholarships, high school athletes are expected to start their college journey early by building relationships and seeking opportunities to get the attention of college recruiters and coaches.
Senior Liam Kelley committed to the Dordt University Men’s Volleyball program, and shares his advice for underclassmen. “Put yourself out there and take the rejection that might come your way, as a chance to grow yourself and your game,” Kelley shared.
The choice to continue athletics is an important one to Kelley, “I have always wanted to compete at the college level and follow in my parents footsteps,” he shared. Both of Kelley’s parents played college sports and encouraged him to play volleyball after high school.
Some athletes seek the attention of college teams through playing on club teams outside of high school athletics. Basketball players rely on the networking opportunities that club tournaments provide, where recruiters and coaches travel to watch different athletes.
Senior Quinn Vice, a Drake University Women’s Basketball commit, explained her positive experience as a recruited athlete. “During live periods you are evaluated by college coaches, and they will reach out and call you” she said. “I was fortunate enough to talk to many coaches and build lots of relationships. Ultimately, once they offer you a scholarship, you decide where you want to go.”
The recruitment process for female NCAA Division I athletes is regarded as highly competitive, with the probability of a high school student committing to a basketball program being 1.4%.
When some athletes get multiple scholarship offers for their sport, they must make the difficult decision of where to commit. Vice faced this decision. “The most challenging part was telling schools no,” she said. Her recruitment process lasted multiple years, leading to her educated and well-thought-out decision in 2023. “After I had built a relationship with certain coaches that I connected with and they wanted me, I decided on Drake!” Vice said.
Vice shared that a part of her decision was trusting her gut and having faith that the right opportunity would come to her. “I’m excited to do what I love and make all different kinds of relationships with people,” she continued. “Drake is a very good academic school and will give me lots of opportunities for my future career, but I also think being a part of a sport at Drake as well will give me other opportunities as an athlete.”
As the recruiting process grows, high school athletes grow with it, taking advantage of all resources provided, opportunities to network and improve as athletes so that when the time comes, they can rely on their training.
