Molly Plasket: Future College Athlete

Q&A

by jenny

How did you start thinking about college lacrosse (were you encouraged by a coach, family, friends, college interest)?

I never thought I was good enough to play college sports, like [lacrosse] was just something I always did for fun but I played year-round and club(1). [Recruitment] was pretty much the objective of my club team, Midwestern Force, to get kids to go on to the next level and play college [lacrosse] so it actually was just a natural progression.

What was your first offer?

The first offer I got was the fall of my freshman year so college wasn’t on my radar, I was still trying to acclimate myself to high school life. I was playing club and Ohio State showed a lot of interest in me and I was like, “Oh maybe I can do this,” and that got the ball rolling on recruiting. It was very abnormal [but then] I started thinking about college more and taking visits.

Can you describe the process of recruitment that you went through?

NCAA rules say you’re not allowed to talk to coaches unless you’re on their campus or you call them or they can talk to you through your club coach(2). My club coach would call me and say, “Hey Molly, this school is really interested in you, you should give them a call around 3 p.m. tomorrow.” Then I would call and the coach would introduce themselves and their program and that they would love if I came out and visited. That happened with around 15-20 schools and then I would either take visits or if I knew I wasn’t interested, I would say “Thank you but I don’t think that’s the school for me.”

What did you do on college visits?

I would go on visits and usually they would have days where I visited [the school] and then a clinic immediately after so they could see me play in their setting. I would either continue a dialogue with the coaches [afterwards] and we would have discussions about furthering our relationship or they wouldn’t show interest in me and things would fall through.

When and how did Stanford formally recruit you?

Stanford was up in the clouds [for me] and wasn’t something I ever thought I could do if they hadn’t shown interest in me. One day, I was at school and my club coach called me and said, “Hey Stanford just emailed me and they really want you to come to their camp.” I was very surprised, but she said she thought I could do it. And I thought, “If Stanford ever wanted me, that’s where I would go.”

How did Stanford’s interest in you progress?

I went to that camp [they invited me to] and they really liked the way that I played. They kept in contact with me and they told Coach Stimmel or my club coach when they would want me to come out for camps or clinics. Coach Stimmel helped me a lot with Stanford. I went out to as many camps as I could; opportunities were few and far but whenever I could I would go. I made the choice to go to Stanford January 6th, 2013.

What kind of commitment do you have now?

I am a verbal commit(3) to Stanford. NCAA rules say you can’t sign a National Letter of Intent(4) until your senior year. Verbal commits are pretty strong; no coach would back out unless I were to plummet in school, get into illegal trouble, or show that I’m not the kid they thought I was. But I can back out of it, if for some reason I decide it’s too far from home or too hard, which is not in my plans. Nothing’s set in stone until I sign my National Letter of Intent but I can tell you I am 99% sure that I will be attending Stanford University.

What’re you doing now in terms of lacrosse and getting ready for Stanford? Do you have certain requirements, academic or athletic, that you have to meet to actually go?

Stanford “owns” me, I send them my grades every quarter, I’m not allowed to schedule classes until I run it by admissions, I send them any standardized test scores. They’ve asked me to take as many AP courses as I can next year so I have six APs next year. It’s very academically rigorous because that’s how Stanford is. They are absolutely one of the top academic programs in the world(5) so they expect that from not only their students but their athletes too, which is something that’s uncommon(6). As far as lacrosse, I couldn’t quit or stop playing club. They want me to be in my best physical condition and want me to be playing as much as possible since I’m not playing any other sport.

With regards to standardized testing, does Stanford have minimum score requirements for their athletes?

Their students who apply are between 32-36 [on the] ACT(7) but because athletes have a little support through the athletic program, the initial score they asked me to get was a 31. I have surpassed that so I can say with certainty as long as I’m playing lacrosse there, I’ll be accepted.

Do you think college recruitment was a difficult process or were you ever discouraged considering how few people get recruited to D1 schools?

It’s very stressful. People enjoy it because all these schools are trying to court you into coming to their school and they’re very nice to you. At the same time, it builds up your ego. But then there will be a school that doesn’t really see you fitting into their program and that stinks, but [recruitment] just opened so many doors that were opened for me much much sooner than I expected. It was a whirlwind. It was unreal and crazy; in that sense, it was stressful. There were days where I would go to Coach P[inta]’s room, during school, and I would be crying saying I didn’t know where I wanted to go and she would calm me down. And yes, I doubt myself sometimes, even with being committed to Stanford and I worry that I won’t be good enough, academically or athletically, but they chose me and wanted me for a reason and that’s something I have to remember. [I continue] working hard so I don’t fail.

Are you excited to join one of best women’s lacrosse programs in the nation?

Stanford truly is one of the best programs in the nation. They’re fast-growing and improving at an exponential rate. They had their first NCAA tournament victory in the program history last year, and they’re out for blood; they want a national championship(8). The coach is tough(9). She’s strict and thirsty for wins. So with that said, [Stanford] is growing. It’s improving and I think that in my four years we could win a state championship.

How do you think your college experience will differ from the norm since you will be an athlete?

I think its a whole different experience(10). Some of my lacrosse friends that play in college, like Megan Knoop, said there’s three aspects of college: social, academic and athletic but you can only choose two. Sometimes, you’ll want to be athletic and social and not academic. But Stanford being such a top-notch academic institution, I think it’s gonna be primarily athletic and academic for me. It’s nice [though], because your team is in the same circumstances and they’re like a built-in set of friends. I don’t think it’ll be a chore or anything playing lacrosse because I’ll be with a set of people I enjoy being with and it’s like family out there. It will be physically and mentally tough but it’ll be interesting and a challenge [and] I think I’m up for it.

Notes:

(1)According to the Baltimore Sun and US Lacrosse, the rise of club teams for lacrosse has changed the climate of the recruiting process to mirror those of basketball and football. Coaches push for younger commits now, so Molly’s sophomore commitment exemplifies the changing nature of college lacrosse.

(2)NCAA Recruiting Rules state that during sophomore year in high school, athletes may contact coaches via telephone as long as the expense is on the athlete. College coaches may not call the athlete. Off-campus contact and official visits are prohibited but there is no limit to unofficial visits an athlete may take.

(3)The official definition of a verbal commitment according to NCAA is: a phrase is used to describe a prospect's commitment to a school before he or she signs (or is able to sign) a National Letter of Intent. A prospect can announce a verbal commitment at any time. While verbal commitments have become very popular for both prospects and coaches, this "commitment" is NOT binding on either the prospect or the school. Only the signing of the National Letter of Intent accompanied by a financial aid agreement is binding on both parties.

(4)According to NCAA, a National Letter of Intent is a “binding agreement between an NCAA school and a student-athlete in which the student-athlete agrees to attend the school for one year and the school agrees to provide financial aid to the student-athlete. The NLI is voluntary and prospective student-athletes do not have to participate to play sports or receive financial aid.” Seniors sign their National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day, which is a designated day in February.

(5)U.S. News ranks Stanford as the fifth best national university, just under Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Stanford is the U.S.’s most selective college, with their acceptance rate in 2014 at merely 5%. According to the New York Times, top-notch colleges are getting increasingly competitive, with their acceptance rates dropping each year. Molly may be one of the less than 5% who will be accepted for Stanford in 2015.

(6)Stanford does not seek just base their recruitment choices on athletic performance but academic as well. Their football program was praised by the Wall Street Journal for their superior class of students. The WSJ noted that many of Stanford’s recruits had similar ideals for choosing Stanford above other offers; they wanted to be at a top academic institute to set themselves up for their futures. While common perception may be that recruited athletes are not as academically competitive as other students, this is clearly not the case at Stanford, where they look for utter excellence in both.

(7)According to Family Connection, Stanford’s accepted applicants’ ACT score range was 31-34 with the average at 32.

(8)Stanford is currently ranked 18th in the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse rankings. They have been 14-4 this year. In 2013, Stanford won its first NCAA tournament victory against Notre Dame 8-7 as well as winning its eighth Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament title in nine years.

(9) Stanford’s head coach is Amy Bokker. Since her arrival at Stanford in 2009, the program has consistently placed in the top 25 in the rankings. Additionally, in 2011, Bokker led Stanford to one of the best seasons the program has ever had with a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and ranked 6th.

Works Cited

Everson, Darren, and Jared Diamond. “Stanford Corners the ‘Smart’ Market.” Wall Street Journal 9 Feb. 2011: n. pag. Wall Street Journal. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704364004576132503526250500>.

“The National Letter of Intent.” NCAA. Turner Sports, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/national-letter-intent>.

“National University Rankings.” US News. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities>.

“Recruiting Regulations.” NCAA. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.aaaa-sa.org/College%20PDF/NCAA%20Recruiting%20Regulations.pdf>.

“Stanford Lacrosse Camp.” USSC. Nike, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.ussportscamps.com/lacrosse/nike/stanford-lacrosse-camp>.

Walker, Childs. “Despite Reservations, College Lacrosse Coaches Recruit Younger and Younger Players.” Baltimore Sun [Baltimore] 17 Nov. 2012: n. pag. US Lacrosse. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.uslacrosse.org/Portals/1/documents/pdf/participants/parents/college-coaches-recruiting-younger-and-younger-players.pdf>.

“Women’s Lacrosse Rankings.” NCAA. Turner Sports, 5 May 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/lacrosse-women/d1>.