Any idea what the deal is with college basketball as far as recruit’s age goes? I thought it was normal to graduate high school at 18, or 17 if you have a Summer birthday. I was born in July and graduated HS when I was still 17, a couple months shy of 18. But when folks talk about college basketball players, those same kids would be considered young for their class? I’ve read about parents holding their kids back a year so that they can mature physically and have a better shot at a scholarship. Is this common practice? Do kids start school later in some states? Just wondering what’s up with this.
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I turned 18 like the first couple weeks of my freshman year and I know I’m considered quite young for my class.
It’s pretty common among elite players to graduate when you are 19. It could be them being held back a year, started school late (for August-December birthdays), and/or attend a prep school.
Many top recruits “reclassify” to a younger grade. Usually during middle school. You can’t do it once you start high school. My son played on a USA National select team in eighth grade and he was the only one on the team that had not done that. Many others start their kids late on purpose. Some states, like Kentucky, do this regularly. Almost every kid who then “graduates early” or reclassifies to an older grade, is actually just rejoining their original class.
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Yeah, 17/18 is normal but a lot of kids are intentionally being held back now. Don’t know exactly when this trend started. I’ve heard in the past that some of it is due to what some parents perceive to be a maturity issue. I’ve also heard that in terms of athletics, parents are doing it to make their kids look good relative to their peers in the whatever graduating class they end up in.