Keegan Jones commits to Navy

[clevelandblueraiderfan]

Congrats young man, happy for You! Go Navy!

[BCMan]

Congrats!!! Was hoping to see him at Appy State with Jay Person but Navy is a great opportunity.  

[clevelandblueraiderfan]

48 minutes ago, BCMan said:

Congrats!!! Was hoping to see him at Appy State with Jay Person but Navy is a great opportunity.  

I thought he would go to App State also, I guess Navy blew him away on his official visit this past weekend.

[HTV]

Good for him.  Having a son who went the Service Academy route I know what kind of commitment it takes to accept that challenge.  It's not an easy road.  

I'll pull for he and Navy every game except for the second Saturday in December.  Loved watching him play against Maryville this past year.  Tremendous athlete, and obviously a kid of character.  

Do you know if he is a direct admission to the USNA or if he will be going through the USNA Prep School?  

[SweetScience]

As a USN Vet this makes me smile.

[sshsfan]

19 hours ago, HTV said:

Good for him.  Having a son who went the Service Academy route I know what kind of commitment it takes to accept that challenge.  It's not an easy road.  

I'll pull for he and Navy every game except for the second Saturday in December.  Loved watching him play against Maryville this past year.  Tremendous athlete, and obviously a kid of character.  

Do you know if he is a direct admission to the USNA or if he will be going through the USNA Prep School?  

I don't know this young man but I hope for his sake he can go straight to USNA and not the prep school route.  My son was a recent attendee at the USNA prep school (also a football signee) and it was not a good experience.  I'm not sure why USNA doesn't have the prep school close or on campus like West Point does but the atmosphere in Newport RI is sub par in relation to the Naval Academy.  The football coaches are way below standard and the instructors there are more determined to "weed" kids out then to help them excel.  I love the USNA coaches (Coach Niamat and Coach Ingram are great recruiters) but the USNA Prep School is a huge let down. 

[HTV]

1 hour ago, sshsfan said:

I don't know this young man but I hope for his sake he can go straight to USNA and not the prep school route.  My son was a recent attendee at the USNA prep school (also a football signee) and it was not a good experience.  I'm not sure why USNA doesn't have the prep school close or on campus like West Point does but the atmosphere in Newport RI is sub par in relation to the Naval Academy.  The football coaches are way below standard and the instructadors there are more determined to "weed" kids out then to help them excel.  I love the USNA coaches (Coach Niamat and Coach Ingram are great recruiters) but the USNA Prep School is a huge let down. 

You are correct.  The prep school route isn't easy, and the success rate of a prep schooler to Service Academy graduation is not high, but it's not supposed to be.  As you are aware, the prep schools are for candidates who aren't quite ready to take on the academic, military, and athletic rigors of the USMA, USNA, or USAFA.  If they aren't a direct admission they need a year to adjust.  But the plus side is that after the year at Prep School they can walk away with no strings attached and their college eligibility clock hasn't begun since the Prep School is an extension of high school, and not the start of college.  The candidates are guaranteed admission in to the Academy, but they aren't obligated and can move on elsewhere should they decide that the Military life isn't what they are looking for.  

And Army Prep was located at Fort Monmouth, NJ, until 2011 when Fort Monmouth was designated for closure by the Department of Defense.  And in spite of the fact that Army Prep is located on the Post at West Point, because of NCAA rules the Army Prep Cadets can't really have much to do with the Academy itself.  They have their own campus close to the US Mint.  

Fortunately my son was a direct admission, so he didn't have to go the Prep School route, but we know several families whose sons had to go through that process.  A couple of them graduated from the Academy, and a couple decided to move on.  Like I said, it's not an easy road.   

[sshsfan]

1 hour ago, HTV said:

You are correct.  The prep school route isn't easy, and the success rate of a prep schooler to Service Academy graduation is not high, but it's not supposed to be.  As you are aware, the prep schools are for candidates who aren't quite ready to take on the academic, military, and athletic rigors of the USMA, USNA, or USAFA.  If they aren't a direct admission they need a year to adjust.  But the plus side is that after the year at Prep School they can walk away with no strings attached and their college eligibility clock hasn't begun since the Prep School is an extension of high school, and not the start of college.  The candidates are guaranteed admission in to the Academy, but they aren't obligated and can move on elsewhere should they decide that the Military life isn't what they are looking for.  

And Army Prep was located at Fort Monmouth, NJ, until 2011 when Fort Monmouth was designated for closure by the Department of Defense.  And in spite of the fact that Army Prep is located on the Post at West Point, because of NCAA rules the Army Prep Cadets can't really have much to do with the Academy itself.  They have their own campus close to the US Mint.  

Fortunately my son was a direct admission, so he didn't have to go the Prep School route, but we know several families whose sons had to go through that process.  A couple of them graduated from the Academy, and a couple decided to move on.  Like I said, it's not an easy road.   

You are correct, neither way is an easy route.  My youngest is a Plebe at West Point this year (direct admission and not playing football) and my oldest was a USNA prep schooler (football recruit) who decided that route was not for him as did several members of the football team that year so I've seen both sides of the fence.  It's not easy but the USNA prep school instructors seemed to carry a grudge against athletes (which makes up a large portion of the prep schooler population).  Maybe we just had a bad experience.  Either way the service academies are a great education and I applaud this young man for his willingness to serve our country.  Good Luck at Navy!!

[HTV]

5 hours ago, sshsfan said:

You are correct, neither way is an easy route.  My youngest is a Plebe at West Point this year (direct admission and not playing football) and my oldest was a USNA prep schooler (football recruit) who decided that route was not for him as did several members of the football team that year so I've seen both sides of the fence.  It's not easy but the USNA prep school instructors seemed to carry a grudge against athletes (which makes up a large portion of the prep schooler population).  Maybe we just had a bad experience.  Either way the service academies are a great education and I applaud this young man for his willingness to serve our country.  Good Luck at Navy!!

Hope your son is doing well at West Point.  West Point is a neat place.  My son graduated from USMA in 2009 and made the decision to get out of the Army back in April.  The West Point experience was a great one for him.  

 

[sshsfan]

1 hour ago, HTV said:

Hope your son is doing well at West Point.  West Point is a neat place.  My son graduated from USMA in 2009 and made the decision to get out of the Army back in April.  The West Point experience was a great one for him.  

 

That's awesome, tell your son thank you for his service.  My son is really liking it and seems to be thriving there. He is just finishing up his first round of TEE'S. 

 

[ocac]

On 12/19/2017 at 6:42 AM, sshsfan said:

I don't know this young man but I hope for his sake he can go straight to USNA and not the prep school route.  My son was a recent attendee at the USNA prep school (also a football signee) and it was not a good experience.  I'm not sure why USNA doesn't have the prep school close or on campus like West Point does but the atmosphere in Newport RI is sub par in relation to the Naval Academy.  The football coaches are way below standard and the instructors there are more determined to "weed" kids out then to help them excel.  I love the USNA coaches (Coach Niamat and Coach Ingram are great recruiters) but the USNA Prep School is a huge let down. 

Malcolm Perry from Kenwood went the USNA Prep School route and it has obviously helped him.  Not sure if any negativity was gained thru his experience.

[wingman10]

On 12/19/2017 at 4:08 PM, HTV said:

Hope your son is doing well at West Point.  West Point is a neat place.  My son graduated from USMA in 2009 and made the decision to get out of the Army back in April.  The West Point experience was a great one for him.  

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by wingman10