Ed Ryder is a former coach at multiple schools. He started as the head basketball coach at SUNY Oneonta and from there on has coached men's and women's basketball at Cornell, Adelphi, and Mount Saint Vincent's. He also has coached lacrosse at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick. After his college coaching career, he decided to start coaching the high school men's soccer team at Robert F. Kennedy. With this incredible coaching experience, Coach Ryder was able to tell us what he looks for and notices as a college coach vs a high school coach. 

Performance and Intensity

One of the biggest differences he has noticed from seeing kids come out of the middle school level vs coming out of the high school level is the player performance, mostly due to the intensity. “Kids don't appreciate how you must train and practice as a college player,” Ryder said of this discrepancy. “The transition is so big that it takes a lot of time to figure out how you can do it.” He also said that “every kid in college is good in high school but not every college player is good in college.” He explained after that the level of play is so different and intense that you might not be able to go through with it. It takes a lot more to make your college team compared to your high school team where you could just show up and play if you're just athletic. 

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Not Everyone Can Handle the Adjustment

He also mentions the adjustments away from home that kids must face. Your high school is 15-20 minutes away from your house, but college is hours away. This is a big factor on how kids play compared to having a game 5 minutes from your house. Coach Ryder has seen players enter the high school and college level as freshmen and notices that kids are late bloomers. The size difference for a senior in college vs a freshman in college could be the difference of not making the team. Now this doesn't mean to try and kill yourself in the gym or training, but it does make a difference in the recruiting class. 

Size Matters

Coach Ryder was honest with us and said he has not taken certain players with the right skill because of the way they are built and there just isn't much you can do about it, especially at the Division 1 level. However, one thing you can do is make sure you are ready emotionally and show that you are mature enough to play at the college level. So control the controllables during your recruiting process and give it your all!

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* Originally published on September 19, 2022, by Chris Russo