Senior Year Course Correction: Try to Find a Late D1 or go the Juco route?

My DD played at a juco and then went D1, so I know something about juco softball.

Juco softball is a lot like D3 softball...There are some very good teams and there are some very bad teams. Jucos are divided into three divisions...D1, D2 and D3.

A top 20 D1 juco softball team probably would be a top D3 team and in upper half of D2 teams. The top Arizona, California and Florida jucos could probably beat a lot of D1 teams.

If she plays on a good juco team, she'll be able to play D1 ball. If she plays on a bad juco team, she will never play D1 softball.

The top Illinois jucos are Wabash College and Lake Land College.

Wabash College has a long history as a premier baseball juco, so the knowledge and facilities (thanks Title IX!) has transferred over to the softball program. Lake Land College had Denny Throneberg (an Illinois softball legend) as the Athletic Director for several years, and thus has a very fine softball program.

The top Illinois teams in the NJCAA were Wabash College (Mt. Carmel), Lake Land College (Mattoon), Kankakee CC, Illinois Central (Peoria) and South Suburban (South Holland).

The two main national juco softball organizations are the CCCAA (for California only) and NJCAA (For the rest of the US)

The NJCAA is divided into three divisions, much like the NCAA. D1 is the most competitive and offers the most scholarships. D3 schools do not offer scholarships. D2 is somewhere in the middle.

Here are links to the last 2016 softball polls for the NJCAA:

D1 Poll
D2 Poll
D3 Poll

I also know first hand the value of JUCO and to Sluggers point Lake Land is legit!

As with any poll definitely take them with a grain of salt. Defending 2015 D1 Champion Chipola not even listed and then finishes 2016 as runner up.

Phathead said:

What is a super high act for athletes. 36 is perfect and DD has couple of athletes at her school who pushed it. Some were wow low. She was upper 20's and seemed to be in the minority, fewer above than below her.

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We've found that super-high for athletes on the ACT is 34 and above (for D3 in particular) -- not unlike the rest of incoming freshmen. We've also found more and more coaches having less sway in terms of helping kids get in. Our experience last year with very high academic D3 was coaches telling girls they had to see if they got academically accepted first and then they'd be happy to take them on the team. In the past, having a coach on your side seemed to help get you in. I imagine it is different at top 10 academic D1 (Ivies, now Duke, etc) where athletics always seem to have more pull.

Sluggers thank you very much that info is great (especially the Illinois school/team info). Riseball I've followed your daughter's journey as well.

This player has grown in confidence that she can take on a D1 *athletic* challenge. She has a sister playing on a not-great D2 team and doesn't want to repeat that scenario. Is willing to go the Juco route, really prove herself and take the chance of landing with a major rather than mid-tier D1

On the D1 side, I like Marriard's advice of trying to entice a school to take a look. She can shoot in emails directly and we can leverage a few connections to help her get a few looks like that, I'd imagine.

The Juco-to-D1 path is more blurry to me. I'm sure local Jucos will have a conversation with her. Not sure exactly how to target out-of-state/region opportunities. Is it too late, fall of her senior year, to be talking to those national-championship-contending D1 Jucos? Are their rosters already filled and moneys gone?

Thanks all. Extremely helpful thoughts, insights and info.

Is it too late, fall of her senior year, to be talking to those national-championship-contending D1 Jucos? Are their rosters already filled and moneys gone?

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No, it is not too late. But, it is getting there. Get on the phone with Lake Land this afternoon. It is all about finding a team that needs her, and making sure that the juco coach is good and will train your kid appropriately. Some juco coaches suck.

It is much, much easier for the juco's to find extra money for a good athlete than an NCAA D1. If she goes to an in-state juco, there will be plenty of money for a scholarship for her.

I want to encourage the kid to look seriously at the D1 Jucos.

Many borderline D1 players sign at a NCAA D1 school, and then realize that it will be 2 years before they even get a real shot at playing. So, they quit after a season.

I saw this happen a couple of years ago to a really fine hitter. She was just a tad weak to play D1. She needed some weigh training and conditioning, and she would have been excellent. She needed a little tweaking, but she was right there. But, of course, she and her parents had stars in their eyes...

An NCAA D1 coach talked her into "red shirting", and then, *surprise*, no scholarship money for her sophomore year. The kid quit....If that same kid had *PLAYED* at a good juco (like Lake Land) for two years, then she would have have started at any mid-level NCAA D1 in the country. (As an FYI...Schools like U of I, Iowa, Wisconsin have mid-level softball programs.)

If she plays well at NJCAA D1, recruiting is a lot different. NCAA D1 coaches know what they are getting...and the kids have matured as well. Everyone knows "the deal" with college softball...("the deal" is that college softball is a lot of work and a lot of fun and it is over way too soon...but, it isn't going to put food on the table.)

My DD was not quite ready for D1 when she graduated from HS. She went to a juco in El Paso, and ended up pitching against California and Arizona jucos. She pitched probably 50 to 75 games a year for two years. After two years of that, she was more than ready for D1 softball. (After seeing playes from Palmor CC and Arizona Central--Candrea's first post as a coach--blast 300 foot homeruns off you, the #4 batter at Purdue isn't nearly as intimidating.) She went to Ohio U and was very successful.

Other kids she played with and against went to other D1 and D2 schools. One of her juco teammates played pro ball for a while.

Thanks Sluggers, we are going to work with her and her family using this info ASAP this has been really helpful. Tks again.

We just had a 2017 kid get picked up by a major D1 program after a full year of nothing recruiting-wise. It's not a bad time of year to make that call, plenty of schools have an immediate hole to fill.

ScottyDont said:

We just had a 2017 kid get picked up by a major D1 program after a full year of nothing recruiting-wise. It's not a bad time of year to make that call, plenty of schools have an immediate hole to fill.

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Nice! Power 5 Conference School I take it?

Twinsfan007 said:

Nice! Power 5 Conference School I take it?

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Big 10 Conference.

Phathead said:

What is a super high act for athletes. 36 is perfect and DD has couple of athletes at her school who pushed it. Some were wow low. She was upper 20's and seemed to be in the minority, fewer above than below her.

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If your DD has a very good GPA and would qualify for more academic money with a higher ACT you might want to look into some tutoring. My DD took @ 12 lessons of private of tutoring and it brought her ACT score up 5 points. It may be a significant investment of time and money, but could be worthwhile if your DD qualifies for additional academic money. I would check with the coaches of the schools your DD is interested in to find out what scores are required for different levels of academic scholarships.