A Journey to Becoming the 6 Percent
The journey to becoming a collegiate athlete is a long and tedious process. Therefore, it may not be a surprise that, according to statistics published by the NCAA, just 6 percent of high school athletes play at the college level. Each athlete’s story is different, yet together, they hold many commonalities. For example, some athletes — especially the juniors featured below — commit to a school early, which alters their experience from those who do not sign until later in the process.
Morgan Verbeten
Soccer has been a large part of senior Morgan Verbeten’s life since she was 4. She has always had a love for the sport but didn’t embark on collegiate pursuits until her sophomore year. At one point, Verbeten had hesitations about playing soccer in college, stemming from the large time commitment. Because of this, Verbeten ultimately decided a Division III school would fit her best. “I d...
Danny Pucino
The lifelong dream of wrestling in college came true on April 5 for sophomore Danny Pucino. He aspired to attend an Ivy League or Big 10 school to continue his academic and athletic career. The one problem for Pucino, as he explained, was that “[he’s] not supposed to really talk to schools.” College coaches cannot contact an athlete before Sep. 1 of their junior year. Pucino got the process...
Evan Rassmussen
On Nov. 24, junior Evan Rasmussen received his first offer to play college soccer, from the University of Michigan, which he accepted. Rasmussen has many ties to Ann Arbor, as his family is from there and it is where his brother, Jacob Rasmussen, is currently enrolled as a junior. Evan described it as his “dream school” ever since he was little. Rasmussen’s biggest fear about attending the University of Mic...
Andrew Kim
Junior Andrew Kim committed to play baseball at the University of Illinois on Oct. 17, 2017. Kim has been playing with the Slammers Baseball travel program, based out of Lake Forest, since he was 12 years old. Ed Tolzien, the director of Slammers, helped begin Kim’s college recruiting. The recruiting process was short for Kim. “It all happened so fast, within a week,” he said. Kim...
Thomas Pearson
After winning the 2015 IHSA 3A State championship, goalkeeper junior Thomas Pearson wanted to achieve this feeling at the collegiate soccer level. With a championship ring on his finger that year, Pearson knew he could live his dream of playing in college. Pearson had offers from Rutgers University, where his dad played soccer, along with the U.S. Naval Academy. His recruiting and commitment were ...
Jack Stevens
Senior Jack Stevens always wanted to play collegiate volleyball but didn’t think it could be a reality until his sophomore year, when the coaches from his club team, Adversity, told him that college coaches started showing interest in him. “[My recruiting process] was pretty rough because I had a lot of injuries when a lot of schools were scouting. My injuries definitely limited [which school...
Charlie Schmidt
Senior Charlie Schmidt received many offers throughout his recruiting process to play Division I football from universities such as Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Northwestern, Toledo and Central Michigan. Though his recruiting process was long, Schmidt held a more positive outlook for the duration of his recruitment compared to many athletes. “A lot of people say that [the recruiting proce...
Charlie Foltz
Seeing what college lacrosse took and what an athlete would get from it, junior Charlie Foltz decided it was what he wanted to do in college. So, Foltz verbally committed to Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina on April 22. Belmont Abbey, a private Catholic school, has an enrollment size similar to LHS. “I loved it there. The campus was beautiful, the team was great,” said Foltz. With his official ...
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