Where College Athletes Come From: Recruitment in Private Versus Public High Schools for NCAA Athletes

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: Class, Inequality, Sport, and Education (Table 18)

Abstract

This paper examines the pipeline from high school to intercollegiate athletics across different sporting contexts, particularly between “country club” and “backyard” sports. We define “country club” sports as ones that require significant resources and historically have been associated with the upper-class, like equestrian. “Backyard” sports can be played with minimal monetary investment and fewer resources, like running. We examined rosters of men’s and women’s tennis and golf as “country club” sports and men’s and women’s basketball as a “backyard” sports. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether or not an athlete’s type of high school is related to their potential recruitment at the NCAA Division I level, with special attention paid to cross-sport differences.

Authors

• Christopher Russell Marsicano, Davidson College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Abigail Francis, Davidson College
  Presenting Author

• Andrew James Sheldon, Davidson College
  Presenting Author