The college recruitment process can be very stressful and unpredictable. These three Shorewood athletes learned how to successfully navigate the process of college recruiting to ultimately achieve what many high school athletes are unable to do.
Senior Ben Allen who will be attending Chapman in the fall for swimming first realized he wanted to swim in college during his junior year. After doing some research on schools, he knew Chapman was where he wanted to be. “I reached out to the coach and when I went down for a recruitment trip I was pretty much sold on the school and their swim program,” Allen said.
Senior Luke Gillingham also realized he wanted to continue his sport in college during his junior year. Gillingham will be attending Portland State University to run cross-country and track. For Gillingham, the recruitment process was also fairly smooth with the only difficulty being knowing where to start. “It was definitely hard to get started since I didn’t know what to do and didn’t have much guidance besides a few friends who were a year older and already went through it,” Gillingham said.
To help him make his decision, Gillingham made sure to keep his choices to a limited amount to not get overwhelmed. “Over time I narrowed it down based off the school’s and team’s academic and athletic level, coach’s interest, tuition cost, and location,” Gillingham said.
Senior Kate Evans will be playing basketball at Fresno Pacific University. At Fresno Pacific, she’s excited for the new team she’s going to be on. “I’m looking forward to getting to know my teammates more and being in an environment where everyone is there to get better,” Evans said. Evans knew this was where she wanted to go when she visited. “I loved the coach and community and I felt the most at home there. The team was very welcoming and it just felt like a good fit,” Evans said.
For Allen, he was sold on Chapman by both the team and its location. “I really love how energetic and supportive the community of the swim team is. I also loved that the coach primarily values that their athletes have good balance in their lives,” Allen said,“They make it a priority to ensure that all of their athletes have all the resources they need both physically and mentally. I also really loved the area that Chapman is in.”
The transition from high school to college athletics can be challenging and athletes can often have varying views on it. “I’m nervous about the transition from high school to college athletics and not preparing myself enough for it,” Evans said. Gillingham feels a similar way to Evans. “I’m probably the most nervous about just living away from my family and having so much responsibility for my own growth and development, but I know I have prepared well for that transition,” Gillingham said.
For current high school athletes considering playing in college, Gillingham has some advice. “Just don’t forget why you got into the sport in the first place, the best things will happen when you’re having fun and it can be easy to get stressed out about recruiting. Just be consistent in your day-to-day and enjoy the process and that’s when you’ll find the best outcome,” Gillingham said.
