As many students are nearing their final years of high school, student-athletes have begun announcing their commitments for future collegiate athletic careers. During their time in high school, student-athletes who feel prepared and willing to pursue their sport at the next level can begin the process of committing to a college to play their sport while attending.
Senior offensive tackle Braden Wilmes, who has committed to Clemson University to play football, said that wanting to play in college has been a long time coming. To achieve this goal, Wilmes said he had to start preparing very early in high school, long before he would be graduating.
“I realized I wanted to play football in college after my freshman season. I had so much fun playing that year that I decided to dedicate myself to becoming a better player all offseason in hopes of making varsity as a sophomore,” Wilmes said.
In terms of getting recruited, the process varies by sport. Junior middle blocker Anniston Clark, who is committed to play volleyball for Lipscomb University, said that for National Collegiate Athletic Association sports specifically, coaches can’t contact you until June 15 after your sophomore year.
“When you turn 14, you start to go to these big club tournaments called qualifiers, the coaches kind of start watching you and emailing you, but they can’t say they’re interested in you until your sophomore year,” Clark said.
Wilmes said the process of committing was very time-consuming and required him to sacrifice his time outside of school to make it all work out. Wilmes said he spent much of his sophomore year under a tight schedule to consider all of the opportunities laid out for him.
Clark said that since the process of recruiting can be a lot for one person, it’s common for students to receive help from parents or high school and club coaches to email coaches and travel to schools. Clark said she couldn’t have done it without the tremendous support of her parents.
“I met the coaches. I played with the girls, got a tour of campus and Nashville, and that really sold me. I went to other camps and other places too, but I really just knew that that’s where I wanted to go,” Clark said.
Senior Cara Jeffries, who is committed to playing soccer at Missouri Western State as a defender, said that playing soccer in college will not always be simple, and she will have to overcome challenges such as being far from home. However, she said playing soccer in college will help her in many ways.
“Playing in college is not easy, and it definitely teaches you resilience. I think it’ll definitely be helpful later in life,” Jeffries said. “As far as things I have learned from coaches and being able to go into college knowing people and meeting people from your sports, I think that it’s very beneficial in the long run.”
