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High School Seniors leaving early...is this the new trend?


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Just saw this in our local sports coverage.  Last season, a well-regarded PG left local EVV high school early to play for IU basketball team.  Now comes news of a highly ranked QB from nearby O'boro HS leaving early "to play for Rutgers".  Certainly he is not going to actually play this year so uncertain what the benefit would be to do this - other than avoiding injury.

 

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - Senior Gavin Wimsatt has played his last played his last football game with Owensboro High School.  Officials with the school’s athletic department say Wimsatt is leaving to play for Rutgers.  In April, Wimsatt committed to Rutgers, but this announcement means he’s leaving high school early. 

 Got official confirmation this morning from @OHSsports athletic department, that senior QB @GavinWimsatt did indeed play his last game for Owensboro HS last night & he is leaving for Rutgers. Per OHS, Wimsatt is going to release a video message on social media sometime soon!

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2 minutes ago, MDAlum82 said:

Just saw this in our local sports coverage.  Last season, a well-regarded PG left local EVV high school early to play for IU basketball team.  Now comes news of a highly ranked QB from nearby O'boro HS leaving early "to play for Rutgers".  Certainly he is not going to actually play this year so uncertain what the benefit would be to do this - other than avoiding injury.

 

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - Senior Gavin Wimsatt has played his last played his last football game with Owensboro High School.  Officials with the school’s athletic department say Wimsatt is leaving to play for Rutgers.  In April, Wimsatt committed to Rutgers, but this announcement means he’s leaving high school early. 

 Got official confirmation this morning from @OHSsports athletic department, that senior QB @GavinWimsatt did indeed play his last game for Owensboro HS last night & he is leaving for Rutgers. Per OHS, Wimsatt is going to release a video message on social media sometime soon!

Don’t like it…

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In the case of the PG & the IU B-ball team, the results were under-whelming.  The common refrain was he "needed another year" to mature and be ready for the physicality of Big Ten basketball....maybe that is what his Sr year of high would have given him?  Certainly the coaching was most likely better @ IU but he could have hit the weight room and matured physically in high school as easily as he could have at IU and not wasted his freshmen year of eligibility.   Football is even more physically demanding.  

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They’ll get better coaching, nutrition, training, and education going to college early. Plus NIL money so why not go early if you can? 
we have selfish fans who care more about the high school teams then individuals so understandable why they might not like this trend

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Have heard a lot of kids graduating early and skipping spring semester.  
 

I am fine with that, but I think kids are getting some bad advice on skipping whole senior season.  Especially to play at Rutgers.   Why is the endgame of all of this?  If he is going to Rutgers he is probably not going to the NFL.  

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4 minutes ago, fenderbender said:

 If he is going to Rutgers he is probably not going to the NFL.  

That's probably what they said about the 14 currently active players from there in the NFL. That's 1 more than IU has

Edited by gonzoron
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For a few highly rated recruits, it's all about the $$$$$. You have the kid from Texas that reclassified and left for Ohio St., and I believe his last name is Ewers, and he signed a contract for $1.4 million over three years to basically sign autographs. He is probably an exception when it comes to that amount of money, since you have to be a highly rated recruit that has name recognition and is going to a high profile football school. 

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40 minutes ago, Whiting89 said:

we have selfish fans who care more about the high school teams then individuals so understandable why they might not like this trend

What?  I want kids to enjoy their senior year of high school.  Those memories will outlast their playing career.  I also want to make sure they are mature enough to handle what awaits them on a big college campus.  Selfish?  Hardly.

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1 hour ago, Whiting89 said:

They’ll get better coaching, nutrition, training, and education going to college early. Plus NIL money so why not go early if you can? 
we have selfish fans who care more about the high school teams then individuals so understandable why they might not like this trend

The "better coaching, training,..." comment depends entirely on the college in question, esp when it comes to education, often an after thought at many colleges.  There are some high school programs whose facilities and staff can go toe to toe with many mid-level colleges, esp in Texas and down south in SEC country.  Much is being made of "NIL" $ but when the dust settles, those who make real money - defined here as $25k/year, the avg difference in annual earnings btwn someone with a high school diploma and a Bachelor's degree, will be few and far btwn, IMHO.  I may be wrong, won't be the first time. 

Your comment seems to assume there are no "selfish" college programs and coaches who care more about their needs than the needs of the recruit?  Color me skeptical. College coaching staffs have far more to lose $$$ from underperformance than HS coaches.  That certainly seemed to be the case of the young man who went to IU.  IU needed a PG so they convinced him to come early, it did not turn out well.  Who loses the most in this scenario, the athlete or the program/staff?  

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1 hour ago, Grover said:

That's a tremendous insult of his high school coaches.  😆

Considering the staff in question, yes, I guess it was an insult.  Mea Culpa.  However, MOST college programs have larger coaching staffs than most normal high schools could ever dream of, much less pay, so I think the one aspect of this scenario I would agree with is "better coaching overall"...

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1 hour ago, DanteEstonia said:

Maybe some kids would prefer to enjoy their senior year of high school outside of high school.

Sure.  While they're 18.  Then regret it for the rest of their lives.

Edited by Grover
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4 hours ago, DanteEstonia said:

How many of your graduation requirements did you have filled leading into your Senior year?

All of them except Government/Economics. I ended up going to school 1 hour a day. Also had a full time job.

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4 hours ago, gonzoron said:

All of them except Government/Economics. I ended up going to school 1 hour a day. Also had a full time job.

You were like me, and some of the students that I have taught before. I had all my graduation requirements met by December 2005, but BNL (and my mother) would not let me graduate early. All that did was punish my ambition.

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2 hours ago, DanteEstonia said:

You were like me, and some of the students that I have taught before. I had all my graduation requirements met by December 2005, but BNL (and my mother) would not let me graduate early. All that did was punish my ambition.

There were quite a few mid-term graduates at Hamilton Heights. And that was the 1973-74 school year. I started out taking 4 classes(3 of those were electives) but dropped 3 at the beginning of the semester. Gave me more time to sleep before heading to school for my 1 hour a day(10-11am). I usually stayed about an hour after class was over to talk to underclassmen girls I had a crush on. Guess my memory is a lot better than @Grover's

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2 hours ago, gonzoron said:

There were quite a few mid-term graduates at Hamilton Heights. And that was the 1973-74 school year. I started out taking 4 classes(3 of those were electives) but dropped 3 at the beginning of the semester. Gave me more time to sleep before heading to school for my 1 hour a day(10-11am). I usually stayed about an hour after class was over to talk to underclassmen girls I had a crush on. Guess my memory is a lot better than @Grover's

We had plenty of midterm grads.  I needed so few credits my senior year that I was done before lunch.  After flirting and usually failing with the pretty girls I would go to Pizza King with the current CG safety's dad.  I'd get a Tex BBQ and dominate Galaga and Donkey Kong.  You know...stuff a 17 year old should be doing.

But I have no idea how many grad requirements I had filled leading into my senior year.

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