In my opinion the fault still lies with the parents and player. As an example: if the parents knew their YNT daughter's GPA was hovering around a 2.25 GPA (doesn't take AP or honors classes) at the conclusion of her sophomore year of HS. Did they really believed their DD could raise her GPA to a 3.50 in 3 semsters and also hit the correlating required SAT/ACT score. If they did, well that family is delusional to begin with. It's no different than a AYSO rec. player with a 4.60 GPA admitted to Stanford thinking she will play on the Stanford womens soccer team.
2016 Recruiting Classes (per TDS by players rankings; 5 stars is max): 1) UCLA 3 x 5-star 3 x 4-star 2) UVA 1 x 5-star 6 x 4-star 1 x 3-star 2 x 0-star 3) UNC 1 x 5-star 4 x 4-star 2 x 3-star 4) Duke 2 x 5-star 4 x 4-star 1 x 0-star 6) Stnfd 1 x 5-star 5 x 4-star 1 x 3-star 1 x 0-star
I see your point but it's the coach that has all the information. Even the admissions office will only give you quartiles and averages from last year. The coach knows the real minimums and knows what influence they have in the admissions process. Quite often no one knows other than the coach, the AD, and the VP who signs off. I do not know how Stanford operates and every school is a bit different but it's very common that coaches get to use an admissions waiver or exception now and then. The coach may decide to use one and get one marginal applicant admitted but not another and no one really knows this. I know one school for example, that has X number of "special admits" for their Athletic Dept per year so the coaches basically bargain with the AD who gets to use them any particular year. I also know that sometimes at some schools the Admissions Office will contact the AD and say something like, "we need 20 more freshman with at least a 3.2, do your coaches have any late kids they want in". Even more insidious is that these marginal applicants aren't getting any academic aid and so are more likely "full pays". This is a business folks and none of us know all the kinds of things that are really happening in this process. Remember when schools like Bucknell and George Washington got caught fudging their admissions stats?? Those stats mean everything. Athletes still need initial eligibility but GW (and many other schools) have gone to a test-optional admissions policy so they don't even need to collect or report some SAT scores.
Stanford is VERY clear on their admissions standards with prospective student athletes. Radcliffe is a UCLA guy and doesn't lead anyone astray. The special admits at Stanford are used for revenue sports. He told a top 2017 player that absolutely every school would want that based upon her grades they couldn't recruit her. D1 Bound is right. It is the player and their family that deludes themselves into thinking that they would get in. My take is that to them and their circle it was all about appearances. They could have easily committed to UCSB, UCI or SDSU and been the crown jewel of the recruiting class.
IMHO TDS players rankings are completely useless. Too many people use TDS as a reference and this can be very misleading.
They are still trying to recruit at least 1 YNT GK even though she is committed elsewhere despite being stacked at the position. Also, re 14 scholarships for Stanford... Zero Parent Contribution for Parents with Income Below $65,000 For parents with total annual income below $65,000 and typical assets for this income range, Stanford will not expect a parent contribution toward educational costs. Students will still be expected to contribute toward their own expenses from their summer income, part-time work during the school year, and their own savings. Tuition Charges Covered for Parents with Income Below $125,000 For parents with total annual income below $125,000 and typical assets for this income range, the expected parent contribution will be low enough to ensure that all tuition charges are covered with need-based scholarship, federal and state grants, and/or outside scholarship funds. Families with incomes at higher levels (typically up to $225,000) may also qualify for assistance, especially if more than one family member is enrolled in college. We encourage any family concerned about the ability to pay for a Stanford education to complete the application process. If we are not able to offer need-based scholarship funds we will recommend available loan programs.
I won't argue that, but unless someone else can provide another source or do their own analysis, these will have to do for now for discussion purposes.
And you realize how hard it is to find a player with families that makes less than that, and meets their academic requirement and have playing ability to play at that level? Again, I see what you're trying to do, but when they have one of the smallest rosters in the country, it's not a very good argument to make. I have no idea whether they are actively recruiting a kid who's already committed or not, but probably neither do you or most of us here
Ha! Ok, Peternorth, glad you're psychic and you know what I know. What am I having for lunch today? ;-) I'll leave it at this... Clearly Stanford has its well-deserved supporters and fields an amazing team, well-coached. And its one of the top Academic Institutions in the country, no doubt. But most D1 coaches I know are in contact with their commits and if the school is tough to get into, they are asking about how their grades are all along the way. So you can either blame the student as many have on this thread, OR maybe some of the folks at Stanford are not as wonderful and saintly and above board as some would have you believe. I'm sure they would never game the scholarship system or recruiting process. They are above reproach!
I've just come up for air with regard to doing any serious research for the 2016 recruiting classes. For the past week my wife and I have been immersed in supporting our son and daughter in law as we all have struggled through a parent's/grandparents nightmare regarding our quite healthy and happy 21-month old grandson. He aspirated a mouthful of masticated food a week ago and choked. They called 911 and the EMT arrived and rushed him to the children's hospital in Indianapolis. After the (first) broncoscopy, we got the word that after a night of observation he should be good to go. Then it began to unravel over the next 3 days until it devolved to him being on a ventilator with several kinds of complications including a punctured lung, an allergic reaction, tachycardia, pneumonia, (and more) so it has been nip and tuck. On the 7th day he finally is breathing on his own and should be taken off the sedation tomorrow. Whew! We'll be driving up to Indy over the weekend to help with the after care for a week or so. So I'll try to get a top 20 out soon, and follow it up with my usual top 50. (But I still have a job.......) Thanks for your patience.
I'm really sorry to hear that. I pray all goes well. Don't worry about the ratings. Take your time to make sure your family is healthy.
So scary. So glad he's doing better and hopefully headed to a full recovery. That has to be the worst thing ever. Prayers for you and your family.
So sorry to hear about your grandson. These little ones are very resilient and can just spring back like nothing ever happened. Went through a similar situation when my seemingly healthy dd had emergency heart surgery at 2 months of age but is now playing top D-1 soccer!! Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Keep positive thoughts!
Thanks to all of you for your kind concern. We're off tomorrow to drive to Indy. Oliver is now out of the ICU but will be in the hospital for another four days or so. Being on the ventilator for 5 days means serious physical therapy getting his muscle strength back, working to open up more areola to help get him off oxygen and able to breath ambient air and get his blood 02 levels into the 90s. So the real scary touch-and-go parts are apparently over, but we'll be there for the rehab part. Our son reports that Oliver is quite tentative and fearful since he's been awake, so work will need to be done in that area to restore his natural confidence. (This is my wife's forte.) Thanks again for all of your concern.
Well, I've been able to catch up a little this week. Before I get into the 2016 class rankings, I want to again thank those of you who offered kind words of support. The report is that little Oliver is doing at home now and gaining strength. His emotional progress has gone from looking like a deer in the headlights with mistrust and fear, to talking and getting back to playing with his little toy wooden trains and road vehicles. There is, of course, no guarantee that a parent (or grandparent) can ever protect children from experiencing damaging traumas of life and so we all carry various hidden wounds that may or may not give us problems as we go forward through life. Oliver is learning to trust again, but there will be the residual fear of medical procedures (benign or otherwise) for some decades, I am sure. Thanks again for the support.... Onward.
My cut at the 2016 recruiting class rankings are posted below. When I had finished crunching all of the numbers from which I derive my rankings there were some surprises. (And some expected results...UCLA by a mile!) Central Florida easily made my top 20 on the strength of some viable internationals and solid domestic talent. And even though some long time verbal commits did not appear in the Stanford announcement, the Card signed an Aussie youth national team player to end up in the #2 spot after all. TAMU is MIA -but they're all set to rebound next year. This year Maryland was not a surprise, and the numbers really emphasized the exodus from this class (which was all set to be a top 10 class) and from upper class players too in the wake of firing an apparently well-liked coach. (This MD class is now a total bust.) Penn state has a really down recruiting year, down to 26 from their usual top 3 position. However, this is entirely explainable as the Nittany Lions have simply run the scholarship till dry with long and strong top classes in 2014 and 2015 and (so far) the #2 and #3 class for 2017 and 2018. (Walsh is doing just fine, thank you.) And even NC State has a decent class this year! (A couple of German imports helps a lot.) And Navy!?! As always, I have tried to rigorously stick with my system so as to get a consistent product -especially when ranking individual player strengths. I would be happy to discuss any ranking if you think that I have made a mistake. (And in the past I have made a few bloopers that sharp eyed readers have caught.) Seattle might strike some as mis-placed, but their ranking is due to several transfers -in particular All PAC-12 second team Bri Hooks coming in from Colorado. This one gave me pause since Bri will be a senior. But I sweated this issue out and openly discussed it on these pages a few years ago and the decision was to count transfers in as part of a class. Again some notes: The exact numerical rankings should not be taken too literally. Classes can not be assumed to significantly different unless the scores are at least 0.50 different. (And even then one could argue...) These rankings may change yet. Many programs have not yet officially announced their classes and there may be changes (that is, in addition to waiting to see what international studs appear on the FSU roster in August....). Thanks once again to Brian for his great work on the recruiting spreadsheet! Have fun! 2016 Recruiting Class Rankings Tier I 1. 10.37 UCLA Tier II 2. 9.56 Stanford 3. 9.21 Duke 4. 9.10 Virginia 5. 9.03 UNC 6. 8.83 USC Tier III 7. 8.07 Boston College 8. 7.92 South Carolina 9. 7.77 Notre Dame 10. 7.67 Rutgers & Tennessee 12. 7.65 Florida State 13. 7.61 California 14. 7.50 Kentucky 15. 7.49 Central Florida 16. 7.48 Oklahoma State 17. 7.43 Colorado 18. 7.37 Wisconsin Tier IV 19. 7.25 North Carolina State 20. 7.20 Santa Clara 21. 7.12 Texas Tech 22. 7.11 Texas 23. 7.10 Clemson 24. 7.01 Indiana 25. 6.83 Portland 26. 6.82 Penn State 27. 6.81 Miami 28. 6.77 Iowa 29. 6.70 Syracuse Tier V 30. 6.52 Florida 31. 6.50 Georgetown 32. 6.46 Utah & Seattle 34. 6.43 Mississippi 35. 6.39 Washington 36. 6.37 Pittsburgh 37. 6.36 Louisville & TCU 39. 6.35 UC Davis 40. 6.34 Oregon 41. 6.33 Navy & West Virginia 43. 6.32 Washington State 44. 6.30 Alabama 45. 6.17 Vanderbilt 46. 6.12 Michigan State 47. 6.10 Auburn & Marquette 49. 6.00 Rhode Island 50. 5.77 Michigan
Do you know where I can find the list of incoming players for 2017 and 2018? Thank you.[/QUOTE] Go to this link https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits/ then at the bottom click on "by College". Then scroll down to Penn State.
The progenitor of this spreadsheet is the Brian that I so appreciate and take care to thank every time I post rankings. His labor of love is an incredible gift to all of us women's soccer fans. My understanding is that he has a full time job and squeezes this service to us in around the edges. If you understand all of the research and features that go into this spread sheet, it obviously is a serious time commitment. Further if you compare his work with that of, let's say Top Drawer Soccer, you will find a lot less errors. I do know that he vets each commitment by making sure that he has gotten the story straight from a parent or a coach, etc. (One of the problems with TDS is that their screening is not that rigorous, and they not infrequently have listed players as committed and then have to back them out at a later date.) No, I do not believe that Brian is an "active" member of this forum but I gather that he lurks from time to time to keep up with things. I personally am anxious that BG will someday find that he, for some good reason, has to lay this service down. When that day comes, many of us will go through a painful withdrawal and be challenged as to how to get along without without his postings. (I hope that day is long in coming!)
That's too bad, I really appreciate good records - statistics and college commitment lists. I would have like to send him a big thank you for his work. It really is pretty comprehensive and I cannot imagine the amount of time it takes to maintain. Thanks for your work as well, it's also very much appreciated.