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Men's soccer / Re: 2023 NCAA Tournament
« on: Today at 02:52:28 pm »
A few obsevations re amherst recruiting.
- Coach Elias at Middlebury told parents he gets 50 prereads from admissions. No reason to think that's different at Amherst. I doubt Serpone only makes 6-8 offers; that is, I don't think he has a 100% yield. Although undoubtedly the yield is very high.
- kids in the mix at Amherst are unlikely to worry that the academics are too much for them. They have high grades and board scores in a rigorous program.
- I would guess that Serpone has 75 - 100 kids in the mix thinking they have a shot at an offer, but that's just a guess. And gets thousands, not hundreds, of kids reaching out.
- Serpone is very charismatic, for sure. Although, with hindsight/perspective Amherst wouldn't have been a good fit for my son (pregame, he prefers to close his eyes and turn inward (you can see him in a recent W&L lockerroom post doing just that) and was put off by the rowdy shouting/banging/swearing that goes on in the Amherst pregame lockerroom. He also strongly prefers the W&L style of play over the Amherst style. Yet with all that said, if Amherst made him an offer, he would have accepted. Recruiting is a little like courtship, and Serpone makes the recruit feel special, and wanted. And that's head- turning, especially when you are 16 or 17 years old.
Some of the things he did, which was different from other schools: held invitation only Junior days for recruits (a day long extravaganza selling the program). On other occasions, Invited recruits to eat lunch with the team, sit in on the pregame lockerroom, watch the game. His assistant coach called my son every week, and Serpone called him every 2 weeks. And this was a kid who was *not* their top recruit!
As for when he cuts recruits loose, I don't know. My son had other offers, and when he got his then 1st choice, he accepted and took himself out of the running at other schools.
- Coach Elias at Middlebury told parents he gets 50 prereads from admissions. No reason to think that's different at Amherst. I doubt Serpone only makes 6-8 offers; that is, I don't think he has a 100% yield. Although undoubtedly the yield is very high.
- kids in the mix at Amherst are unlikely to worry that the academics are too much for them. They have high grades and board scores in a rigorous program.
- I would guess that Serpone has 75 - 100 kids in the mix thinking they have a shot at an offer, but that's just a guess. And gets thousands, not hundreds, of kids reaching out.
- Serpone is very charismatic, for sure. Although, with hindsight/perspective Amherst wouldn't have been a good fit for my son (pregame, he prefers to close his eyes and turn inward (you can see him in a recent W&L lockerroom post doing just that) and was put off by the rowdy shouting/banging/swearing that goes on in the Amherst pregame lockerroom. He also strongly prefers the W&L style of play over the Amherst style. Yet with all that said, if Amherst made him an offer, he would have accepted. Recruiting is a little like courtship, and Serpone makes the recruit feel special, and wanted. And that's head- turning, especially when you are 16 or 17 years old.
Some of the things he did, which was different from other schools: held invitation only Junior days for recruits (a day long extravaganza selling the program). On other occasions, Invited recruits to eat lunch with the team, sit in on the pregame lockerroom, watch the game. His assistant coach called my son every week, and Serpone called him every 2 weeks. And this was a kid who was *not* their top recruit!
As for when he cuts recruits loose, I don't know. My son had other offers, and when he got his then 1st choice, he accepted and took himself out of the running at other schools.