Hello Army fans. I have several football recruiting questions pertaining to West Point (and perhaps the other military academies) that you may be able to answer for me.
- If a player is recruited to West Point and commits to going, does he follow the same application process that all other students applying to West Point follow? I don't know a lot about the application process to West Point, so perhaps there may be different "paths" for all applicants, and maybe a football recruit path is not unusual. I'm just curious if a football recruit is "helped along" in the process for gaining admission.
- This question is probably just another way of stating the prior question. I'm a Notre Dame fan, and follow ND recruiting closely. While ND has higher standards for football recruits than many other FBS schools, many of the recruits would not make it into ND if they went through the normal application process. Are there football recruits that make it into West Point that would not be at West Point if they had to apply like everyone else?
- Since all the cadets at West Point are receiving a free education, is there a special designation for football players? That is, how does the NCAA 85 scholarship limit apply? Or does it even apply to the football roster?
- Every FBS college program has walk-ons. Since every West Point cadet is on scholarship, the distinction between a walk-on vs scholarship player at other schools doesn't seem to apply. Or does it? What is the walk-on program like at West Point? Is there a different perception held of those cadets that were specifically recruited to play football between those that walked-on?
- Is recruiting handled similarly at the Air Force and Navy Academies? If not, what are the differences?
Thanks for any responses you can provide! My son just started researching the process for applying to West Point. While he probably will not be good enough to play football at West Point, some of these questions popped into my mind as we have been discussing the application process.