Recruiting Updates

Sorting through a recruiting class is like a connect-the-dots exercise. Only when you have enough of the dots connected can you start to see the picture.

Over the past several days a few more "regular" decision admits have been identified. Combine those names with the early decision class and the Dartmouth recruiting picture gets a little clearer.

To that end, here's the early decision acceptance list from the story I posted on Big Green Alert premium last month. But a word of warning: Not every student-athlete on this list was a supported recruit, or is certain to play:

• H-back Charles "Dean" Bakes, 6-2, 240, Hotchkiss School, Conn.
• Safety Mike Banaciski, 5-11, 185, Hillsborough HS, N.J.
• Wide receiver Peter Calvanelli, 6-2, 175, Delbarton School, N.J.
• Long-snapper/linebacker William Connolly, 6-1, 230, St. Sebastian’s School, Mass.
• Wide receiver Joseph Dowdell, 6-3, 190, Bishop Kelley HS, Okla.
• Lineman Dylan Jones, 6-6, 233, Gonzaga HS, Washington, D.C.
• Offensive lineman Brett Kana, 6-4, 276, Bishop Guertin HS, N.H.
• Tight end Ed Kingsley, 6-5, 210, St. Sebastian’s, Mass.
• Defensive end Max Kingsley, 6-5, 225, St. Sebastian’s, Mass.
• Quarterback Cole Marcoux, 6-5, 234, Fieldston School, N.Y.
• Defensive back Trevor Niemann, 6-foot, 175, Chadwick School, Calif.
• Defensive tackle Martin Pomykala, 6-2, 250, New Britain HS, Conn.
• Defensive end Robbie Rodriguez, 6-3, 215, Torrey Pines HS, Calif.
• Defensive end Steve Stafford, 6-3, 225, Evangelical Christian School, Tenn.

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The Cornell Sun has a well-done story about changes Cornell has had to implement after the Ivy League determined its financial aid policy violated rules about aid to athletes. Several excerpts:

With the smallest endowment and the largest student body in the Ivy League, Cornell administrators were looking to find a way to remain competitive both in the classroom and on the field.

and (emphasis is mine)...

“The financial aid policies at Yale, Harvard, Princeton and to some extent Dartmouth are much more generous,” said. Prof. Ronald Ehrenberg, economics, Cornell Trustee and higher education economics expert. “For students coming from low-income families, Cornell is very competitive … Where the problem comes in is if you’re coming from an upper middle-income family. Harvard makes students whose families earn $180,000 only pay $18,000 a year and Yale only has students with a family income of $200,000 only pay $20,000.

Thus, the problem that Cornell faces in their financial aid for athletes does not just pertain to athletes. “Athletics is just the most visible,” Ehrenberg said. “If you lose someone interested in economics, it’s just not as visible.”

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Several emails have come this way already from people chuckling about the Yale admissions musical linked to this morning.