OT: Do you think your child can play D1 ball?

try to encourge studying and not rely on the mythical D1 scholarship your little Lebrons will be getting.  Can't go wrong with encouraging straight A's.  Won't be disappointed then.

I have a colleague who says his son is an elite rugby player and joined his high school football team half way through last season as a junior.  He said his son had never played organized football before, but was 6'0", 190 and ran a 4.5 40, and the team was going to use him at RB.  I thought, "wow! this is a kid I'll have to keep an eye on.  He will be the perfect under the radar prospect--good size and athleticism and elite speed, but nobody would even know about him until his senior year."  Then I checked out the high school football team roster, and I discovered that my colleague's son made the 3rd RB on the team that ran a 4.5 40. So, yeah, I do not expect him to turn into a D1 college football player.

Now, I have seen a D1 player from the same school play in person, Reggie Smith, and as others have pointed out, he was clearly playing at a level beyond everyone else on the field.  He played at Oklahoma and was drafted in the 3rd round by the 49ers and played 3 years in the NFL, mostly as a backup.

The school has produced other D1 talent, one with a Michigan connection: Epke Udoh, who seems to have been playing in Turkey since last year.

Sports is a lot like life for a majority of Americans. Things have to line up perfectly. You need to be productive, have a good work ethic, keep growing, stay healthy, learn every day, and hope like hell someone notices your talent.

In my years of travel baseball I knew so many that could have and should have been elite athletes as we aged (myself included), but:

1.) We stopped growing.

2.) We lost the love for the game.

3.) We got injured and could never recover. OR

4.) The exposure was not there in a small town (some cannot afford camps)

5.) Academic scholarships become more important.

6.) Maybe a few or all of the above.

Genes definitely play a big role. Circumstances also play a role in forming the player. The type of coaching and level of competition can have the biggest impact. I know guys that play in MLB that weren't even top players in their area growing up. 

I certainly hope my future kids will play some sort of sport in college. I'm hoping for a future all-american tight end at Michigan. I played baseball in college (D1). I'm 6'4" and played at about 215-220. My girlfriend played basketball and tennis in college (not D1) and is 5'11". My father also played D1 baseball. 

In my "family"... both of my brothers could have played D1 football or baseball.   They were that good.  One of my brothers is a monster at 6-2, 225 with a LEGIT 4.5 40.  He was outkicking Pete Stoyanovich when they played in HS back in the day.  He could have played RB, LB or Kicker.   Unfortunately he is a major asshole with a ton of mental problems. 

The other brother was the best junior hockey defensemen in Michigan back in the day.  They thought he would be in the NHL.   As a baseball pitcher, he threw 7 no hitters in one season.  They thought he would be in the majors.  Drugs killed all of that.

I don't know how many times as a ref I've wanted to shout at a parent to STFU, let your coach do the coaching, let your kid have fun, and that neither one of you have any talent to make a living at sports.

I'm a thoroughly mediocre athlete, but I have crazy talent - equivalent of D1 athlete, maybe even more like pro athlete - in something else.

First thought:  If I had to pick something to be 1 in 10,000 good at, sports wouldn't be it.  You can make a hell of a lot more money with 1 in 10,000 talent at pretty much any other important life skill, and slaying a ton of chicks until you're 23 probably isn't worth the tradeoff of having a profession basically at your fingertips for the rest of your life.

Second thought:  Its a hell of a lot easier to work your ass off when you are supernaturally gifted at something, because you get better so fast and so quickly compared to everyone else.  There's a reward for your hard work.  I have way more respect for someone who grinds it out in the muddle of mediocrity, and frankly my favorite life achievements are things that aren't in the field where I am sort of a prodigy, because that work was thankless and a real grind.

(Also - if you're super talented, you get better teachers, so there's sort of a positive feedback loop.)

Third thought:  Being that talented at anything is both weird and fun.  Weird, in that your life experience is manifestly different from virtually everyone else.  You know how when you're in high school or college, everyone else is obsessed with having something original or different about them to make them stand out?  That urge is basically not there for really talented people.  You are so obviously, hugely different that you want nothing more than to be like everyone else.  You have no fear of being ordinary or forgotten.  You WISH you were ordinary or forgotten.  Hell, I knew some peers growing up who never got over that and didn't develop their talents in part because they couldn't stand standing out.  It is not for everyone. 

Fun, in that you basically have superpowers.  The moment - its not really a moment, but its often a pretty stark and rapid realization - when you realize that you're not just normal good, but scary / world-class good - is not entirely unlike the "discovery" part of a superhero movie story arc, except you're the protagonist.   Granted, my talent doesn't help me get girls or make me quasi-immortal, so its not quite as cool as a real superpower, but its a hell of a lot cooler than living life without it. 

My son might make a decent/serviceable HS football player & possibly baseball, basketball as well but thats where it ends. Funny thing for me is watching parents who just refuse to deal with that reality early on.

I love seeing dad who's 5'8" 165 and mom who's 5'4" 165 thinking junior is going to the N_ _ . The most fascinating for me is hockey. Those guys have the racket IMHO. They sell EVERY parent that they reasonably can that junior definately has the potential to make it. IF and ONLY IF he plays on their travel team against "proper competition". Mom & Dad never played or had the opportunity to play hockey. Hockey has no real "size" limitations and "speed" as its generally known(running, jumping etc.) do not apply the same on ice. This gives every travel coach(you know the guy. The rink rat who probably played some AHL or OHL or EHL hockey and MAYBE had a cup of coffee in the NHL with the Whalers) the ability to sell mom & dad that junior has the potential to really bloom. In his caring hands that is, and for the paltry sum of $3200 a season + equipment & travel/hotel/dinner for the family as well as picking up the coaches dinner & bar bill if you want to be with the "in" parents.

I had this exact experience with a good friend. He was chasing his 12yr old all over the midwest. Spending exuberant $$$ on travel & equipment chasing a dream. HIS dream. Meanwhile I read an article about Brendon Shannahan and how when he was 12 he could shoot a wrist shot from the half line to the back board in the air. I ask my buddy if his son or any on the team could do that? He says "hell no". 

Shanny learned/gained that by spending his every waking hour since age 5 shooting balls & pucks at their homes garage door. Does his son do that? NO. Do any of the kids on the team do that? No. They just wait for mom & dad to open the wallet and make them into an NHL player.

I look to the mom.  The mom of good football players are always hulks.

My wife's grandfather was the fastest man in the world in the late 1920s - 9.4 100 yard dash, that's right yards not meters.  He was a silver medalist in the Olympics.  She was a full scholarship athlete at UofM - gymnastics - and an academic All American.  I want my 3 boys to play sports to learn how to work together on a team, i want them to learn how to compete, i want them to learn how to achieve goals.  These are going to be some of the things that separate those that can from those that can't in their future.  Lots of global competition on the horizon.  Sports are best for these type of things. If they get to and want to play D1 sports or Ivy League then great.  I want them to be in the top 1.5% of learning and how they get there is up to them, with my help in a non- Bull Meacham sort of way.  I'm already coaching 5 days a week to keep away  the Sports Moms and Dads.  I wear khakis and a whistle and i both yell and coddle.  I tell my boys to attack each day... you know the rest every day.

young'un: 13-yo 8th grader, shade over 6' 1", ~195 lbs

Local football coaches want him *real* bad. Was pulled out of a classroom over the winter by the HS coach to get a serious recruiting pitch. Even the baseball coaches wonder why I won't allow him to play football. I've even got a non-local football coach who is willing to train him in the weightroom gratis. 

Besides the concussion thing I don't have a ton of respect for coaches. I changed the kid's diapers. I know what he can and can't do and what he might be able to do with a crapload of training. Its amazing the things coaches tell me they can develop out of the kid.

Truth is he's just a big galoot with only one real talent: he can throw a baseball pretty hard.

And if he successfully (meaning no major injuries) trains his ass off over the next 4 years I can ~100% guarantee he'll throw hard enough to go D1 as a pitcher.

Mind you I can't guarantee if he will be able to throw strikes enough to go D1. I can't guarantee he'll have the off-speed stuff to go D1. I can't guarantee his grades will warrant D1. I can't guarantee any offers will be from a good D1. 

But I can guarantee his 4-seam will have enough velo to get D1 attention. Plenty of it.

Its going to be an interesting next 4 years.

Vincent Smith frequents this blog.  It would be cool to get his perspective on not only getting a scholarship to a very high profile D1 school but also being a major contributor to the team.  I'd like to hear about athletic comparisons to his high school peers.

Both of my kids are D1 prospects - if they don't make it then the coaching was horrible

My son just finished his sophomore year in baseball. He's a pitcher, 6' 1", around 150. He throws in the low 80's,and had a 1.85 ERA this year. I think he could play in college, but I don't know about D1. He'd probably have to put on about 40 pounds, and continue developing. I suppose it's possible, but we're definitely not thinking about that now. 

Edit: As for genes, my husband is 6'2" and played baseball in high school. I'm 5'4", not an athlete. My great uncle, though, was captain of his college baseball and basketball teams at University of Chicago when it was in the Big Ten. So there is a little something percolating in the genes. 

I have a cousin that was the starting center at Michigan Tech in the mid-1980's.  He was drafted by the Hartford Whalers but didn't make the team.  Apparently he impressed in scrimmages and I believe he had more points than any other person in the workouts.  But he was cut because he wasn't strong enough or maybe lacked physicality, I guess.  He was an excellent hockey player.  Just gives you a sense on how difficult it is to make the big leagues.

And if I remember correctly I believe his dad actually played for the Montreal Canadiens for a short stint in the pros.  This is going way back but still, my cousin had the lineage and genes.

Setting aside the issue of DaShawn Hand running a 4.4 40, I'll chime in.

No, I don't think any of my kids will play D1. They're all 6 or under, but I don't see it happening because a) the genetics aren't superb (I was/am a decent athlete, but far from elite, and mom is, well, athletically challenged), and b) I'm not going to encourage them to work their asses off at sports. I love sports, but I don't see a likely high return on that time investment. I'll encourage them to work their asses off in something more suited to them and with a better likelihood of providing a secure, comfortable income.

That said, you absolutely can play at a high D1 level if your work ethic and support system are insane enough. I mean, there are limits. Not gonna happen if you have a pegleg or something from your pirate days. But with a merely pretty good level of athleticism, it can happen. My classic example is Sean Miller. I'm pretty sure he's no more athletically talented than I am. But holy crap that kid was monomaniacal in his pursuit of ballhandling. And his dad was too, in pushing him and supporting him. That obsession got him the starting point guard job at Pitt - and his head coaching gigs, I'm sure. 

She is a very good softball player as a freshman at an excellent high school program and has a lot of upside. I think she has the talent to play at a lower level D1 school but will probably never get the chance since we aren't keen on all of the marketing you have to do in softball to get a D1 scholarship. Softball is very cliquey and you have to run in the right circles to get noticed.

According to the NCAA here are the percentages of the liklihood of high school players playing D1 in each major sport.  This assumes they are playing in high school versus a total general population.  FYI these are only men's.

Football: 2.6%

Bball: 1.0%

Soccer: 1.3%

Baseball: 2.1%

Hockey: 4.6%

many VERY disappointed parents around this blog in about 10 years.  LOL.

The better question is in my opinion, why are we so concerned if our kids play college ball?  I know it sounds sexy, but the liklihood of even D1 players making it to the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc. is just as low as it is for high school athletes to make it at the D1 level.  So, the chances of any  high school player to make it to the world's best professional leagues is super small.  This means that none of them will likely ever make playing sports professionally their career.  Maybe some will play professionally for a handful of years, but so very few will never have to work another job and be financially stable from playing professional sports.  So, why do we care so much if they play D1 sports?  Are D1 athletes any more likely to be financially stable than non-athletes that graduate from the same colleges?

In my humble opinion the amount of energy and focus it takes to play D1 athletics often takes away from the job preperation and focus that is much needed in college and it makes it difficult to accept life after athletics for some and the realities of a "normal job".  Personally, if it were my kid and they were good enough, great.  I would absolutely encourage them to play as many sports as they were interested at a young age.  But, I would not be pushing them to try and be all they can be just to become a D1 athlete.  It's likelly going to be counterproductive in most instances.