In the past six weeks, two upper school student athletes have announced their commitments to continue their athletic careers beyond Parker at the college level. Senior Casey Barr committed to Bates College to play baseball, and senior Marc Taylor committed to Williams College to play basketball. Taylor and Barr have joined a number of recruited Parker graduates that have gone on to compete collegiately in recent years.

Barr announced on October 25 his decision to attend the small liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine before calling Bates Head Coach Jon Martin to tell him of his decision. While on the phone, Barr was at home with his family.

From his first visit to campus, Barr was drawn to the complementary mixture of academics and athletics. “I chose Bates because I felt it was the best option I had,” Barr said, “which involved an amazing academic institution and a very competitive athletic environment.”

Bates College competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) along with other small, liberal arts colleges in New England such as Williams and Bowdoin.

From the beginning of the recruiting process, Barr knew that he wanted to play baseball at a liberal arts school, preferably in the northeast. Barr said, “I was talking to coaches from Bates, Wesleyan, Vassar, Macalester, Middlebury, and Brandeis.”

For Barr this has long been a dream. “I’ve known I wanted to play baseball in college since I was in middle school,” Barr said. “I knew that if I worked hard at my game and stayed focused in the classroom then the recruiting process would take care of itself, and I would end up at a great school.”

The process, had its hiccups. “I have to admit that the recruiting process was nerve-racking at times,” Barr said. “There was a lot of uncertainty as to where I would be able to play for the majority of it.”

Throughout the recruiting process Barr knew that he would end up playing somewhere, the uncertainty and anxiety stemmed from his not knowing exactly where.

For Upper School History and Social Studies teacher and Barr’s mother, Jeanne Barr, one thing sets Bates apart from other small, liberal arts colleges. “Bates has this really cool schedule with two semesters that are each four months long, then in May, the students can do an in-depth project in whatever they want to study,” Barr said. “For Casey, the term will coincide with baseball season. That’s kind of nice to have a different rhythm going on with his classes.”

Just 6 days after Barr’s declaration on October 31, Senior Marc Taylor joined Barr in the NESCAC with his commitment to play basketball at Williams College.

Like Barr, Taylor cited Williams’s rigorous and rewarding academic curriculum, but as important to him was the performance of the team and the camaraderie. “I chose Williams because I was able to connect with the team at a personal level,” Taylor said. “I was also really drawn to how good the players were and the idea that I could become a lot better and be successful playing with these guys.”

Williams College, located in Williamstown, Massachusetts in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains, offers a renowned liberal arts education and is frequently ranked as the number one liberal arts college in the United States according to U.S. News and World Report.

Currently, the Williams basketball team is 7-1 and enjoying a strong start to their season.

Along with Williams, Taylor considered Wesleyan, Tufts, and Trinity. What set Williams apart was the program’s young talent. “Williams has a really strong current freshman class,” Taylor said, “so I would be able to make relationships and be teammates with those guys for awhile.”

Some students may be surprised to hear that the percentage of students who go on to compete collegiately from Parker compares very evenly and even exceeds those of the largest, most athletic high schools in the state.

Barr and Taylor account for around 2.5 percent of the Class of 2017 at Parker. At New Trier, a high school in Winnetka, Illinois and a perennial powerhouse in just about every sport, the student enrollment just surpasses 4,400 students. The Class of 2017 is sending 25 athletes to compete collegiately, according to their website.

These athletes account for 0.6% of the student population in the Class of 2017 at New Trier.

In the southwest suburb of La Grange, Lyons Township High School sent 5 of their 3,959 students to compete collegiately last year according to their district website. These athletes account for just about 0.1% of the Class of 2016.  

Annually, Parker will send anywhere from 1 to 5 students to compete in college, according to the College Counseling Office.

“I think we’ve probably had more tennis players be recruited out of Parker over the years than anything else,” Director of College Counseling Susan Weingartner said. “That’s a very individual sport, of course.”