Who is Anthony Washington Sr.?

Anthony Washington Sr. is a U.S. Army and Maryland Army National Guard veteran, a coach and official of more than twenty years, and the founder of After Today, LLC. He builds leadership training, athletic recruiting education, and people-first AI systems for student-athletes, families, schools, and organizations. He is based in Pennsylvania and works primarily across Pennsylvania and Maryland.

What does Anthony Washington Sr. do?

He works in three connected areas: athletic recruiting education that gives student-athletes and families a repeatable daily process, leadership training for first-time supervisors and public-sector leaders, and people-first AI and workflow implementation for organizations. He also speaks and runs workshops for schools, teams, and districts.

What is athletic recruiting infrastructure?

Athletic recruiting infrastructure is the repeatable system a family or program uses to manage recruiting — film, academics, communication with coaches, eligibility tracking, and follow-up — instead of relying on exposure events and luck. Anthony teaches recruiting as infrastructure so progress comes from a daily practice rather than a seasonal scramble.

What does people-first AI implementation mean?

People-first AI implementation means adopting AI to improve the work without displacing or sidelining the people who do it. In practice that means starting from the actual workflow, keeping a human accountable for decisions, training staff on the tools they will use, and setting guardrails before scale — not buying software and hoping the team adapts.

Who are Anthony's programs designed for?

Student-athletes and their parents, high school and grassroots coaches, athletic programs, schools and districts, first-time supervisors, public-sector leaders, and organizations that want leadership training or help implementing AI without leaving employees behind.

Does Anthony Washington Sr. provide leadership training?

Yes. He trains first-time supervisors and team leads on the first ninety days, difficult conversations, accountability, and building trust, drawing on his military service, public-sector supervision, and coaching experience. Training is delivered as courses, workshops, and organizational consulting.

How can a school, district, or organization work with Anthony?

Schools, districts, and organizations can book speaking engagements and workshops, bring in leadership training for supervisors and staff, or engage him on recruiting support and AI and workflow implementation. Start on the contact page and say which of those you need.

How can I book Anthony Washington Sr. to speak?

Send an inquiry through the contact page with your event date, audience, format, and location. The speaking page lists topics, session formats, and the audiences he speaks to most often.

Where is Anthony Washington Sr. based?

He is based in Pennsylvania and works primarily across Pennsylvania and Maryland, with virtual sessions available beyond that area.

Home › Blog › High School Reclassing Is Not the Biggest Recruiting Problem Anymore

High School Reclassing Is Not the Biggest Recruiting Problem Anymore

athletic · October 2, 2026

High school reclassing is still relevant.

High school reclassing is still relevant.

I just think the conversation around it is badly out of proportion to what is actually changing recruiting in 2026.

Families are still asking:

Should my athlete repeat a grade?

Would another year help them develop?

Would reclassing improve their recruiting chances?

Maybe.

But that question now sits inside a recruiting marketplace that has changed dramatically.

And in some cases, reclassing may actually create a new eligibility issue.

The NCAA Changed the Math

Division I has adopted a new age-based eligibility model that becomes mandatory for prospects first enrolling full time in college in fall 2027 or later.

Under the new framework, eligibility is tied largely to age and college-enrollment timing.

Athletes who enroll no later than the academic year following their 19th birthday can generally receive up to five years of eligibility.

Delay enrollment too long, and that eligibility window can start before the athlete ever reaches college.[1]

The NCAA has also made clear that the new model replaces several concepts families have heard about for years, including traditional seasons-of-competition tracking, delayed-enrollment rules, athletics redshirts, and many waiver opportunities.[2]

So the old equation:

Another year of high school = another year to develop = better recruiting opportunity

is no longer that simple.

Before reclassifying, families now need to ask:

How old will this athlete be when college enrollment begins?

That is a very different conversation.

Roster Construction Has Changed

The House settlement changed Division I recruiting in another major way.

For participating schools, traditional sport-specific scholarship limits were replaced with roster limits, and schools can potentially provide scholarships to every athlete on the declared roster.[3]

That changes the recruiting question.

A high school athlete cannot only ask:

Am I good enough?

They also need to ask:

Does this program have room for me?

For example, Division I women's basketball has a roster limit of 15.

Women's soccer has 28.

Softball has 25.

Beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, Division I women's flag football programs subject to the settlement rules will have a roster limit of 25.[4]

That means coaches are managing finite roster inventory.

Every freshman.

Every transfer.

Every returning athlete.

Every scholarship.

Every developmental prospect.

They all compete for the same limited space.

High School Athletes Are Competing With College Athletes

This may be the recruiting issue families underestimate most.

The Transfer Portal has created a second recruiting market.

A coach may be choosing between:

a 17-year-old high school athlete with upside,

a 20- or 21-year-old college athlete with college film, college strength training, academic credits, and proven production.

Reclassing one year does not make that structural competition disappear.

The athlete may get stronger.

More mature.

More experienced.

But the coach may still decide that the transfer is the safer roster decision.

That is why recruiting strategy has to move beyond:

Get more exposure.

Families need roster intelligence.

NIL Is Reaching High School Prospects Too

NIL is no longer something recruits can ignore until they arrive on campus.

The NCAA currently requires high school prospects planning to compete in Division I to report qualifying third-party NIL deals worth $600 or more once they enter the Division I system, including certain deals dating back to July 1, 2025 or the athlete's junior year of high school, whichever is later.[5]

That tells you how far upstream the economics of college athletics have moved.

Schools are now balancing:

roster limits,

scholarships,

direct athlete compensation,

third-party NIL,

transfer acquisition,

returning players,

and high school recruiting.

That is not the recruiting environment most parents grew up understanding.

Congress Is Trying to Change the Rules Too

The uncertainty is not limited to the NCAA.

On September 28, 2026, the U.S. Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act by a 77-22 vote.[6]

The bill addresses issues including NIL, athlete compensation, scholarships, transfers, health benefits, and broader governance of college athletics.

As of October 2, 2026, it has passed the Senate but still requires House action before it can become law. oai_citation:0‡Senate Commerce Committee

That means families are planning four years ahead inside a system whose rules are still being rewritten in real time.

And we are still spending enormous energy arguing about whether somebody should repeat eighth grade.

Reclassing Can Still Make Sense

None of this means reclassification is always a bad idea.

There can be legitimate reasons.

Physical development.

Academic development.

Maturity.

Recovering from injury.

Building better film.

Changing competitive environments.

Correcting an earlier academic path.

The better question is not:

Should this athlete reclass?

Start here:

What problem are we trying to solve by reclassifying?

That question changes everything.

If the athlete needs physical development, identify the development gap.

If academics are the problem, identify the academic gap.

If visibility is the problem, determine whether another year actually improves visibility.

If recruiting evidence is weak, determine exactly what evidence needs to change.

Do not automatically buy another year because somebody says another year is always better.

It is not.

Recruitability Has Changed

Five or ten years ago, the standard advice sounded something like this:

Get bigger.

Get stronger.

Improve your film.

Go to camps.

Email coaches.

Build relationships.

Maybe reclass if you need additional development.

Most of that still matters.

But it is incomplete.

Today's athlete also needs to understand:

Where are roster openings occurring?

Which programs are heavily using the portal?

Which programs still recruit freshmen aggressively?

How many athletes at the position are returning?

How many are graduating?

How many transferred in?

What level fits the athlete right now?

Does age affect NCAA eligibility?

When does that sport recruit?

What evidence does the athlete have that separates them from older college transfers?

That is not simply exposure.

That is recruiting intelligence.

So Why Is Everybody Still Talking About Reclassing?

Because reclassing is easy to understand.

Parent says:

My child needs another year.

Trainer says:

Another year will make them stronger.

Coach says:

They will look better in the next graduating class.

Everybody understands that.

Now try explaining:

roster economics,

House settlement rules,

Transfer Portal strategy,

age-based NCAA eligibility,

NIL reporting,

revenue sharing,

scholarship allocation,

and federal legislation.

That takes longer.

But the complexity is exactly why the conversation needs to change.

Reclassification gives families something they feel they can control.

They cannot control whether a college coach takes four transfers.

They cannot control NCAA rule changes.

They cannot control congressional legislation.

They cannot control a school's compensation strategy.

They can control whether their athlete repeats a grade.

So the controllable decision gets more attention than the structural changes around it.

Do Not Prepare for a Marketplace That No Longer Exists

That is the bigger warning.

Sometimes reclassing may absolutely be the right move.

But another year in high school should not become the default answer to every recruiting problem.

Because the athlete may spend that year developing for a recruiting marketplace that has already changed.

The modern question is bigger than:

How do I get recruited?

It is:

What recruiting marketplace am I entering, and where does my athlete realistically fit inside it?

That is the conversation families need now.

And frankly, that is where recruiting platforms need to evolve too.

Do not just show athletes how to contact coaches.

Help them understand the market those coaches are operating in.

Roster openings.

Transfers.

Eligibility.

Position demand.

Graduation.

Scholarships.

NIL.

Timing.

Competition.

That is no longer extra information.

That is the recruiting process.

Sources

[1] NCAA, "Division I adopts age-based eligibility model," June 23, 2026.
https://www.ncaa.org/news/division-i-adopts-age-based-eligibility-model/

[2] NCAA Eligibility Center, "Division I and Division II Age-Based Eligibility Rules: Eligibility 101."
https://www.ncaa.org/eligibility-center/division-i-and-division-ii-age-based-eligibility-rules/

[3] NCAA, "DI Board of Directors formally adopts changes to roster limits," June 23, 2025.
https://www.ncaa.org/news/media-center-di-board-of-directors-formally-adopts-changes-to-roster-limits/

[4] NCAA Legislative Services Database, Bylaw 17.2, Roster Limitations.
https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/bylaw?refDate=20250830&ruleId=106414

[5] NCAA, "Name, Image and Likeness."
https://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/name-image-likeness/

[6] U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, "Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Protect College Sports Act," September 28, 2026.
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/press/rep/release/senate-overwhelmingly-passes-protect-college-sports-act/

Key takeaways

High school reclassification still has legitimate uses, but it is no longer a simple recruiting advantage.
NCAA Division I prospects first enrolling in fall 2027 or later will be governed by the new age-based eligibility model.[1][2]
Delaying college enrollment beyond the academic year following an athlete's 19th birthday can reduce available collegiate eligibility.[1][2]
House settlement rules replaced sport-specific scholarship limits with roster limits for participating Division I schools.[3]
High school recruits increasingly compete with experienced college transfers for the same roster positions.
NIL reporting requirements now reach some high school prospects planning to enter Division I.[5]
The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act on September 28, 2026, but it is not yet law as of October 2, 2026. oaicitation:1‡Senate Commerce Committee
Families should ask what specific problem reclassification is intended to solve.

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