As seniors at Saint Viator High School begin to finalize their college decisions, many athletes have taken to balancing the offers they have received to find which school will fit their athletic and academic needs. Many athletes in various sports have made commitments to colleges at all levels of collegiate athletics, but regardless of the school or level of athletics, most Lions look for similar attributes in their colleges.

John Kaiser, senior, said, “I mainly looked for schools that were in the Midwest…I am close with my family so I prefer[red] to stay close to them…I also generally looked for a larger school because I feel that their athletic and academic programs are higher tier.”

Size and location served as a general theme for all athletes, but others like senior Patrick Bauer looked specifically at the culture of athletics at their target college. Patrick Bauer is committed to play football at Illinois State University.

“I chose my college because they showed a lot of interest in me during the recruiting process,” said Bauer. “I visited the campus and was impressed by the facilities and coaching staff. One major factor in my decision was the support from Coach Archibald, [my football coach], who thought I would be successful at ISU in terms of character and athletic growth. While looking at…[ISU’s] football program, I mainly looked for the culture, achievements of the program, how the coaching staff interacts with the players, and how the team is supportive of your academic career.”

Culture in athletics played a major role for final commitments, but some commitments came down to which school was offering the best scholarship and met the athlete’s standards in other categories. 

“College is expensive, so if I was going to play volleyball, I was hoping to get a scholarship out of it,” said senior Marcelina Gorny. “Most of my top schools were D2…Hillsdale was one of the first schools I reached out to at the beginning of my journey due to their incredible academics. When I met the team I immediately loved them…Each girl was so incredibly welcoming and human…the coaching staff was incredible as well.”

The commitment of Saint Viator athletes is a testimony to hard work and dedication, but each athlete’s selection process of colleges reveals the importance of many factors, all of which work towards the common goal of finding a school that educates the whole person.