NCAA Division 1 Experiences

[DJ TT 2002]

After a boatload of very hard work, my eldest son has committed to play collegiate sports at the D1 level.

Not a humble brag here.
I would like to know the experiences of other TRF members and their families.

What have you got, folks??

[CFR]

Congrats to your son and you!

Coaching style and team culture, which are inextricably intertwined, play a huge role in shaping the learning, growth, and development of student-athletes. Hopefully his coach and the assistant coach(es) care about the whole student-athlete more than they care about their perception of what it takes to win. If you're injured, concussed, etc., how eager is the coach to get you back out there instead of prioritizing your health and ameliorating the risk of long-term injury? Some teams are composed almost entirely of miserable student-athletes who feel stuck/trapped (and who may have lifelong sequelae from certain injuries, not to mention those who had to leave their teams due to career-ending injuries). In contrast, other teams are filled with student-athletes who love what they do and who'll want to continue to compete athletically in one way or another even after college. Much of that is determined by the coach's priorities. And how a coach behaves in public (around parents, etc.) may be very different from what they say behind closed doors and in locker rooms (obvious -- I know).

The other thing that strikes/interests me is the tendency for certain teams to cultivate sheep -- teams where it seems like nearly every student-athlete is incapable of independent thought. One rough measure to assess this is to see what everyone on the team is majoring in -- if a huge number of them are all studying the same thing (and something not especially rigorous) relative to what non-student-athletes are studying at that same school. I was literally just having this conversation the other day with an incoming freshman who is on such a team, urging him to get to know the small number of his older teammates who took the road less traveled -- who pushed their academic comfort zones a bit -- and decided to study different things that both challenge them and bring them joy.

I could say more, but these are what come to mind after having worked with a good number of D1 student-athletes, captains, teams, and coaches in just about every interdependent and independent collegiate sport.

Again, good luck and congrats to your son and you. Hopefully he'll have a fantastic experience!

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by CFR

Congrats to your son and you!

Coaching style and team culture, which are inextricably intertwined, play a huge role in shaping the learning, growth, and development of student-athletes. Hopefully his coach and the assistant coach(es) care about the whole student-athlete more than they care about their perception of what it takes to win. If you're injured, concussed, etc., how eager is the coach to get you back out there instead of prioritizing your health and ameliorating the risk of long-term injury? Some teams are composed almost entirely of miserable student-athletes who feel stuck/trapped (and who may have lifelong sequelae from certain injuries, not to mention those who had to leave their teams due to career-ending injuries). In contrast, other teams are filled with student-athletes who love what they do and who'll want to continue to compete athletically in one way or another even after college. Much of that is determined by the coach's priorities. And how a coach behaves in public (around parents, etc.) may be very different from what they say behind closed doors and in locker rooms (obvious -- I know).

The other thing that strikes/interests me is the tendency for certain teams to cultivate sheep -- teams where it seems like nearly every student-athlete is incapable of independent thought. One rough measure to assess this is to see what everyone on the team is majoring in -- if a huge number of them are all studying the same thing (and something not especially rigorous) relative to what non-student-athletes are studying at that same school. I was literally just having this conversation the other day with an incoming freshman who is on such a team, urging him to get to know the small number of his older teammates who took the road less traveled -- who pushed their academic comfort zones a bit -- and decided to study different things that both challenge them and bring them joy.

I could say more, but these are what come to mind after having worked with a good number of D1 student-athletes, captains, teams, and coaches in just about every interdependent and independent collegiate sport.

Again, good luck and congrats to your son and you. Hopefully he'll have a fantastic experience!

This is very helpful!
Thank you.

My son is level headed but this is new territory for us.
It will be best for him to take everything with a grain of salt.

[walds11]

Mozel tov to you and your son! Which school and sport?

No D1 experience here, but I played club ice hockey in college. It was equivalent to D3 in terms of competition, etc. imo.

[HHIslander]

Congrats. That’s an impressive, money saving accomplishment.

Played D1 baseball. It really depends on the school, sport and conference. Lacrosse at Duke will be quite different from football at Auburn. What’s he doing? Collegiate sports have changed a lot since we were kids, mostly for the better. More emphasis on academics and personal development.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

After a boatload of very hard work, my eldest son has committed to play collegiate sports at the D1 level.

Not a humble brag here.
I would like to know the experiences of other TRF members and their families.

What have you got, folks??

Congratulations to you and your son. That’s awesome. My son-in-law played D1 hockey in Minnesota. He played pro in Finland and Norway for a couple of years then spent eight years as a D1 assistant men’s coach at St. Cloud State and the University of Minnesota, going to the Frozen Four and coaching three Olympians on his last team. He’s now head coach at Augustana, starting a new D1 program from an idea to a full 34 game season starting in October. They play Wisconsin in their first-ever game.

He was just named assistant coach of Team USA for the World Juniors tournament in Sweden in 2024. D1 hockey gave him a college degree and a career and supports his family.

[TheVTCGuy]

First and foremost, congrats to you and your son. I played at that level, this was my best game against USC. I was the fastest guy on the team (and also the shortest!). I can tell you it is a tremendous experience, the lessons learned are unparalleled, and it will be good for both of you. Congrats again!

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Congratulations to you and your son. That’s awesome. My son-in-law played D1 hockey in Minnesota. He played pro in Finland and Norway for a couple of years then spent eight years as a D1 assistant men’s coach at St. Cloud State and the University of Minnesota, going to the Frozen Four and coaching three Olympians on his last team. He’s now head coach at Augustana, starting a new D1 program from an idea to a full 34 game season starting in October. They play Wisconsin in their first-ever game.

He was just named assistant coach of Team USA for the World Juniors tournament in Sweden in 2024. D1 hockey gave him a college degree and a career and supports his family.

Wow!
That is fantastic.
What an accomplished gentleman.
You all must be proud as can be

[DJ TT 2002]

Thank you to all.
I can only take credit for being the bank for all the tournaments and travel

My son is a great and talented kid who was well coached and who put in the sweat equity.
My wife is the saint who took him everywhere he needed to be.


He is going to be playing baseball at the type of school in the Northeast where the kids are doing their physics homework in the dugout

His best shot at being a professional will be on
Wall Street

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

Wow!
That is fantastic.
What an accomplished gentleman.
You all must be proud as can be

We are very proud. A huge benefit of sports these days is being able to graduate with a lower student debt or none at all. His college coach Bob Motzko always stressed academics, teamwork and personal integrity, all traits which carry on into later life.

[jnelson3097]

I would recommend taking the least number of classes as a freshman to help ease into the transition. Being a student athlete is a huge time commitment, basically a full-time job. The last thing you want him to do is overextend himself with a huge class load his first year while he's adjusting to the life of a student athlete. I only played baseball at the D2 level but the amount of travel in the spring was draining at times.

[White Collar Boy]

Congratulations to you and your son, T. It must be a very exciting time for him. Baseball is my favourite sport. What position does your son play?

[SSGMT1]

Much will depend on team/coach goals and the culture those goals create. I played D2 tennis on a team that was in the running for the National Title every season so my experience was different than a team that wasn’t at that level. Sort of like how football at Cal is way different than football at Alabama. Both are D1 and part of major conferences (well, maybe not Cal anymore) but the experience of the players will be way different. Having a coach that understands how to properly motivate and relate to your son and the team is vey important as that can make or break his whole team experience. Good luck to him and congratulations.

[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

He is going to be playing baseball at the type of school in the Northeast where the kids are doing their physics homework in the dugout.

His best shot at being a professional will be on Wall Street.

I'm sure it's difficult to part with the dream but the life a minor league ballplayer is not a great one. Wall Street sounds vastly preferable

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by White Collar Boy

Congratulations to you and your son, T. It must be a very exciting time for him. Baseball is my favourite sport. What position does your son play?

Thanks, Matt.
Very kind of you to comment. It is an exciting time.

While my son has a strong bat and is very solid at 1B, he was recruited as a pitcher.
His fastball bumped up to the low 90s consistently this summer and that opened the door to the offers.
On the mound his body type reminds me of a younger, slightly shorter Roger Clemens ( without that MLB quality, of course)
He’s still growing and so who knows what is to come?

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

I'm sure it's difficult to part with the dream but the life a minor league ballplayer is not a great one. Wall Street sounds vastly preferable

:

I’m with you, Paul !
Pro sports can be brutal on young men and women.
Can chew you up and spit you out in an instant.

If you want 3 letters in your life, skip NFL/MLB/NHL.
Go for MBA

[SDGT3]

Congratulations to your son. It's a long road with travel ball etc. to get to where he is now. I didn't read if he had a scholarship, either athletic or academic or a combination of both, but navigating this area is of vital importance as a parent for their children. Although we are past this stage now as my daughter has graduated from college, we learned a lot along the way including before and during her time playing D1 soccer.

If your child is good enough to play at the D1 level, coaches will try to get them to play for the school as cheaply as possible as it relates to scholarships. It's a business negotiation that the child has no experience with and the parent must be there to guide them through this exercise. However, even if there is no scholarship or partial scholarship in their first year, if the student athlete is of value to the team, then opportunities will open themselves up. We made sure our daughter had a 5 year full ride scholarship in the even she had to red shirt one year in the event of a serious injury and needed it all in writing. Sure things may happen such as the coach being fired and things changing, but it's a position of strength in negotiations to have it in writing. As stated earlier, the student athlete's value to the team in subsequent years will be a factor as well.

My daughter's university insisted that incoming freshmen come in early during the summer to get a couple college classes under their belt whist working out and getting ready for the fall season. It was difficult as my daughter did not have a break from high school to college, but it was a great idea to get them accustomed to college life.

During the season, it was incredibly difficult in terms of time management. Keeping up with a full class load, traveling to and from road games, working out, playing games, recovery, ice baths, early morning runs, media commitments, university charity commitments, study halls etc. Although my daughter made the Dean's list her first semester, which happened to be her in season sport schedule, it was taxing. The spring semester was much more calm as they didn't have an overloaded scheduled with travel and games. My daughter was a business major and was able to adjust after a year to the intense schedule, but she said that there were a few nursing school student athletes and they had incredibly busy schedules with labs and other requirements for their major.

The best way she described it was that it was like having 2 full time jobs simultaneously.

[austinp]

Congrats to your son! Looks like he has a very bright future. It sounds like he is a good student so he will likely have no problems in college. D1 baseball has an incredible time commitment. Just stress to him that school is much more important. He will miss a lot of class and will need to really develop a relationship with his teachers to keep up. Make sure he takes advantage of the tutors that are provided for him. He will likely take a heavier load in the fall to allow for a lighter schedule during the spring season. Also take at least 1 summer class preferably 2 to keep up. I was a middle of the road baseball player at SDSU. It was a lot of fun and hard work but worth it. Best of luck to him.


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[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

:

I’m with you, Paul !
Pro sports can be brutal on young men and women.
Can chew you up and spit you out in an instant.

If you want 3 letters in your life, skip NFL/MLB/NHL.
Go for MBA

My niece just completed hers a couple of weeks ago.
She's already been very well employed for the last couple of years, and now, job and education-wise, she's pretty much set for life.
When I was 26, didn't have the ducks lined up quite so well

[espanol]

Congrats. I played D1 college tennis at Clemson. Always had a ton of respect for the baseball guys. Great program and despite how baseball may appear, they worked their butts off.

Tennis was especially difficult (IMO) because unlike most sports, we had a packed fall AND spring schedule. September to November were college tournaments, and spring matches ran from Feb to May. Plus non-sanctioned tournaments in the summer. It was a commitment.

Has he decided what he’s like to study? Is he aiming to go pro? Experiences will vary, but my advice for him would be to really get to know his teammates. Over time, he’ll develop some of his best friends out of college sports. It’s a bond akin to a military brotherhood.

And for you, enjoy every second of it. You should be incredibly proud of him. Congrats again.

[DJ TT 2002]

He’s a top of the class student who can also play sports.
To satisfy both those requirements, he is going to one of those schools that doesn’t give athletic scholarships or merit based academic scholarships.
That’s ok by me and the school is incredibly generous to those students who are in need of assistance.

His interests are in the computer field and that should serve him well.


I truly appreciate the insights and commentary.
They are going to help us figure this all out

All the best,
T

[hambone1983]

College baseball in the northeast is a tough grind. A good part of the season will be heading to warm weather every Thursday, playing 2 doubleheaders & returning Sunday night. Often play 25 road games to start the season. The guys I knew that did it absolutely loved it, I think it takes a special breed to handle that kind of schedule.

[onehotchili]

I ski raced D1 in college... great memories. I have lots of life long friends that I competed with and against, which actually served me very well in my post-college and post-athletic professional career.

While my own daughters did not pursue D1 athletics, one was recruited to play soccer at Wellesley (D3) where she is majoring in Physics and Math. She has a year left and already thinking about a Masters in Engineering.

Anyhow, I am sure your son will do great and more importantly have awesome experiences to learn and grow in many ways.

[SSGMT1]

One of the guys from my college tennis team was an engineering major and academic All American. He told me when he his first jobs after college 90% or more of his academic work was the most important thing. However, as he advanced in his career and climbed the corporate ladder so to speak, he relied more and more on what he learned competing and playing on the tennis team. Knowing how team dynamics work and how different people respond to different situations is something a person who is just a student typically isn’t exposed to. As my college coach always told us “guys with a 4.0 are a dime a dozen. Guys with a good GPA AND who succeeded at a sport are more rare.”

[White Collar Boy]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

Thanks, Matt.
Very kind of you to comment. It is an exciting time.

While my son has a strong bat and is very solid at 1B, he was recruited as a pitcher.
His fastball bumped up to the low 90s consistently this summer and that opened the door to the offers.
On the mound his body type reminds me of a younger, slightly shorter Roger Clemens ( without that MLB quality, of course)
He’s still growing and so who knows what is to come?

That is very cool! Of course you’d be aware he is throwing harder than some of the big guys, like Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu (though of course velocity isn’t all of what makes those guys great, Ryu’s command is usually (but not lately) insane, but still!). I hope he has the time of his life playing baseball, and enjoys his studies too.

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by White Collar Boy

That is very cool! Of course you’d be aware he is throwing harder than some of the big guys, like Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu (though of course velocity isn’t all of what makes those guys great, Ryu’s command is usually (but not lately) insane, but still!). I hope he has the time of his life playing baseball, and enjoys his studies too.

Well, I can say that one of the college coaches who scouted him aggressively this year might have suggested that going pro could be an option…..
I can’t even fathom that and my son is too academically oriented to pass up a terrific educational opportunity

But we can dream, HaHaHa!!!

[Nice marmot]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

Thank you to all.
I can only take credit for being the bank for all the tournaments and travel

My son is a great and talented kid who was well coached and who put in the sweat equity.
My wife is the saint who took him everywhere he needed to be.


He is going to be playing baseball at the type of school in the Northeast where the kids are doing their physics homework in the dugout

His best shot at being a professional will be on
Wall Street

In that case I would tell him to seek out as much NIL money as he can. If allot of his time in college is going to be devoted to playing baseball he might as well get paid as much as possible.

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by Nice marmot

In that case I would tell him to seek out as much NIL money as he can. If allot of his time in college is going to be devoted to playing baseball he might as well get paid as much as possible.

Again,I must thank all the members who are posting here !!

NIL monies didn’t even occur to me.
The kids do deserve it though.
They put in the work that keeps those programs running and those stadiums filled

[Rico_Brasole]

D1 soccer at Maryland.

It’s very tough. It’s a great networking opportunity.

Sounds like he’s going to an Ivy League school. He’ll build life long bonds with teammates and alumni


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