RJM posted:I could see someone who is a Baseball lifer who knows he won't go very far as a player, who wants to be a coach, going to a specific D1 to learn from the coaching staff.
I know of a kid that did this in basketball. Instead of going D2 he walked on at a D1 power. He never played when it mattered. He wants to be a coach. He decided part of his education would be learning by being coached by one of the best. He has a player’s NCAA championship ring. He's now a graduate assistant.
When he contacted the coach he sold himself as someone who would practice hard with the scout team against the starters, have a high GPA and graduate keeping their APR up.
My son wants to coach (if playing doesn't work). My biggest regret of his HS career is that he played basketball through his junior year. Team sucked and he sat and decided not to go out again.
His senior year they brought in a new coach who turned the program around and they had their first winning season in I think 15 years — I told son he missed a huge opportunity to learn from that experience.
There's lots of reasons to join a team in addition to playing.