Very smart student but only three star athlete

[kumar157]

Hello Parents, Coaches and Experienced players,
My 15 year old son(sophomore) is a smart student but only a three star athlete with national ranking hovering around 330. He loves tennis and looking forward to play for a lower div 1 school.
Currently I am forcing him to focus more on academics and that leaves him with only 7 hours of play and 2 hours of fitness per week.
With all AP courses he makes A and B's. If I let him play for more hours his grades may drop but his national ranking may go up.
He loves the game and competition and he will be more than happy if I add more hours to his tennis. But I don't want his grades to drop. It's like I want to eat the cake and have it too!.
I am pretty sure there will be a ton of parents who went through this phase and this topic may have been discussed before. But as a concerned parent I would like to hear the experiences of parents who have navigated this phase of life and did well. Please share your experiences and advice.

Thanks in advance.

[Clemson_tennis]

7 hours isn't very much if he wants to get a lower D1 scholarship. Can you evaluate his talent? If he were to practice more would it benefit him in a significant way or has he already reached his talent potential and practicing would help only marginally?

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by Clemson_tennis

7 hours isn't very much if he wants to get a lower D1 scholarship. Can you evaluate his talent? If he were to practice more would it benefit him in a significant way or has he already reached his talent potential and practicing would help only marginally?

Hi Clemson_tennis,
He was 290 nationally (6 months back) but was doing 12 hours play and 3 hours of fitness per week. I cut it down to focus more on academics and he dropped in ranking. So I guess if I can add hours he may do better in the tournaments. But I am scared that his grades may drop. I want him to be a good student athlete and accomplish his dream to play for d1 (low d1 like UCONN or SLU). Is that a realistic goal?.

Thanks.

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Hi Clemson_tennis,
He was 290 nationally (6 months back) but was doing 12 hours play and 3 hours of fitness per week. I cut it down to focus more on academics and he dropped in ranking. So I guess if I can add hours he may do better in the tournaments. But I am scared that his grades may drop. I want him to be a good student athlete and accomplish his dream to play for d1 (low d1 like UCONN or SLU). Is that a realistic goal?.

Thanks.

If you want him to accomplish his dream to play for a d1 such as UConn or St Louis................I cannot understand what the two of you are fighting about every day.

Seems to me the two of you are in agreement

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by Misterbill

If you want him to accomplish his dream to play for a d1 such as UConn or St Louis................I cannot understand what the two of you are fighting about every day.

Seems to me the two of you are in agreement

I think we are in agreement as far as the goal is concerned (be a good student athlete at a low d1).
He wants to go back to playing 15 hours a week and I am not OK with that(fearing his grades may fall). He thinks he has a good GPA and I want him either to maintain it or improve it further.

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by kumar157

I think we are in agreement as far as the goal is concerned (be a good student athlete at a low d1).
He wants to go back to playing 15 hours a week and I am not OK with that(fearing his grades may fall). He thinks he has a good GPA and I want him either to maintain it or improve it further.

If the goal is low D1, you have little to worry about. It is ok to chill.

He has been taking all AP courses since freshman year and getting A's and B's. That means he will be able to graduate as a junior. I do not know of any high schools that offer courses more advanced than AP, and I am not aware of any AP courses that have more than a two-year progression in high school. So by end of sophomore year he will have exhausted his high school curriculum.

Don't know how he will do on SAT/ACT, but his transcript has to be in the top .01% of the country! He should skate into UCONN or St Louis

[JLyon]

Why not focus on academics, get a high ACT/SAT score and get a full ride Academic at a major DIII school, where he can play high level and get a great education? That is more realistic than seeking a 10-20% scholarship at a D1 school.

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by JLyon

Why not focus on academics, get a high ACT/SAT score and get a full ride Academic at a major DIII school, where he can play high level and get a great education? That is more realistic than seeking a 10-20% scholarship at a D1 school.

I agree with that.

But if the dream....for whatever reason.....is to play low D1 tennis, then who are non-family members to argue?

I'd say taking all AP courses as a sophomore is an unusual and special academic accomplishment. So I would conclude that there is room "to give" a little on the academic side without compromising college entrance possibilities to schools such as UConn and SLU (St. Louis?)

[Clemson_tennis]

Originally Posted by JLyon

Why not focus on academics, get a high ACT/SAT score and get a full ride Academic at a major DIII school, where he can play high level and get a great education? That is more realistic than seeking a 10-20% scholarship at a D1 school.

Not really a high level. UC Santa Cruz(#8 D3) just got worked by Santa Clara.

D1 is the way to go if you can. I looked at some tennisrecruiting classes and many lower conference d1 schools go for 3 star players.

who is SLU?

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by JLyon

Why not focus on academics, get a high ACT/SAT score and get a full ride Academic at a major DIII school, where he can play high level and get a great education? That is more realistic than seeking a 10-20% scholarship at a D1 school.

Thanks JLyon.
Your advice is perfect for me. But my son does not want to go to DIII school. Not sure what's makes him think that way. May be he will agree with us in two more years...

[SoCal10s]

D1 tennis is a tougher gig to get these days.. even those Ivy league schools are recruiting 4 and 5 stars and some blue chip guys.. I think your son would be a nice fit in a strong academic D3 school say like MIT.. if his grades and SAT's are good enough ..

[Clemson_tennis]

D1 is far better for an athletic experience. Plus it's not like d1 is bad academically. At a D1 school you will get a lot more tennis gear including clothes, shoes, rackets and stringing. Not to mention access to an athletic trainer and academic tutors if needed.

I know someone who played D2 tennis and he said it really wasn't very fun. They had to take awful buses and string there own rackets. Had to buy their owns shoes,rackets and clothes.

[kme5150]

Keep his grades up and there will be tons of opportunities for him. Even more if he isn't picky about where he plays. He could easily play in one of the weaker DI conferences and definitely in every DII and DIII conference. Many DI teams do not offer much, if any, in regards to scholarships but he can get a top notch education. Perfect example, Georgetown & Villanova do not offer atheltic scholarships for men's tennis but those players are getting a top notch education and both teams have 3 star players in their starting line-up. If you are looking for a scholarship, there are still plenty of them out there. What parents/players don't understand is that the higher a player's GPA and test scores are, the more opportunities they have. Ask any tennis coach in the country, grades are always a factor when dealing with admissions. The less work the AD has to do in regards of entrance the better it is for the coach.

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by kme5150

Keep his grades up and there will be tons of opportunities for him. Even more if he isn't picky about where he plays. He could easily play in one of the weaker DI conferences and definitely in every DII and DIII conference. Many DI teams do not offer much, if any, in regards to scholarships but he can get a top notch education. Perfect example, Georgetown & Villanova do not offer atheltic scholarships for men's tennis but those players are getting a top notch education and both teams have 3 star players in their starting line-up. If you are looking for a scholarship, there are still plenty of them out there. What parents/players don't understand is that the higher a player's GPA and test scores are, the more opportunities they have. Ask any tennis coach in the country, grades are always a factor when dealing with admissions. The less work the AD has to do in regards of entrance the better it is for the coach.

Thanks for the great advice. I will keep the pressure on his grades . He has just grown out of his hormones and is more coach-able and probably that should help some with his sport.

[dominikk1985]

Originally Posted by Clemson_tennis

D1 is far better for an athletic experience. Plus it's not like d1 is bad academically. At a D1 school you will get a lot more tennis gear including clothes, shoes, rackets and stringing. Not to mention access to an athletic trainer and academic tutors if needed.

I know someone who played D2 tennis and he said it really wasn't very fun. They had to take awful buses and string there own rackets. Had to buy their owns shoes,rackets and clothes.

yes but only if he is good enough to make it there...

Can you post a vid for Evaluation? maybe we can help you out with assessing his Talent.

[JLyon]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Thanks JLyon.
Your advice is perfect for me. But my son does not want to go to DIII school. Not sure what's makes him think that way. May be he will agree with us in two more years...

Good enough, but have your son keep his eyes open to opportunities. As a 3* he can play at several smaller schools, but even then scholarship money, if even needed, will be low.
I know a 4* almost 5* who went to a CUSA school and only got 10%

[2ManyAces]

Originally Posted by JLyon

Why not focus on academics, get a high ACT/SAT score and get a full ride Academic at a major DIII school, where he can play high level and get a great education? That is more realistic than seeking a 10-20% scholarship at a D1 school.

wow I should do that

[jonkras]

My S is a 3 star, a straight A student and is a senior. We are almost through the same process you are thinking about. He will probably make his final decision in April when the admissions decisions are mailed out. He will most probably wind up at a ranked D3 school. We have spent countless houses analyzing and thinking about this.

In be end, as someone pointed out earlier, there are many factors to consider:

Academics
Tuition cost
School location
School size
School social life
tennis coach
Team vibe/other kids on the team
Will you be in the starting lineup?

I think the most important thing to do is to drop all your preconceived notions about colleges and tennis programs and D1/D3. Just convince your kid to have an open mind and look at all his options. After a while, the best school for your son will sort itself out.

If you want to contact me, pls pm me. I have probably looked at all the schools you will look at.

Here is the one thing you should remember: your S is only going to have lots of good choices for college. He will be in a better position than 95+% of kids applying to school. Turn the whole college selection process into a fun thing and it will work out well.

Good luck!

[tennis_ocd]

imo you've got to put grades and SATs above tennis -- and I wouldn't let a teenage see you waffle with the decision. as a 15 yo 3-star he'll have many opportunities to play.

[Vicious Vik]

You and your son are Indian am I right?


I would go D1. D3 tennis is really low quality. There are like 3 respectable teams. Even going to a team like Buffalo is better than a D3 team.