Significant # of Mid-Term Transfers?

Grades

Being told their position on the depth chart and not liking what they hear.

There are lots of reasons for freshmen to transfer midyear:  grades, misconduct, love, injury,not liking the school or coaches, coaching changes, not liking what the coaches say at the end-of-fall conference regarding roles and depth chart, realization that baseball is more or less important than it seemed when they made their initial college choice, desire to go pro sooner by transferring to a JUCO, desire to be eligible at another D1 for redshirt freshman year, inability to afford school, desire to be closer to home, re-consideration of the reasons for initial college choice. 

Yes, players generally know where they stand after fall practice, either because the coaches spell it out in their end-of-fall conference or the player figures it out based on reps and observed performance.

More important, players learn a whole lot about themselves, their priorities, and what they're looking for in a school and a baseball program during their first semester away from home.  Sometimes, they realize they made a mistake in their college choice and want to correct it as soon as they can.  Not all transfers represent failures.  Many represent better informed, more mature decisions.

Aside from all the "whys" if a kid realizes he's not getting on the field he might as well make that spring his transfer semester (if he's going D1 to D1). He transfers and the spring and fall become his sitting out year. If he waits until the end of freshman year and rots on the bench, then sits out the following spring when he transfers he's sat out two years of college ball. And he'll only have three years of eligibility left.

3 main reasons: playing time, playing time, and playing time. Those end of fall practice evaluation meetings are often brutally honest

I just heard from my son that a very well known Fr. player locally is leaving a local school to go to a neighboring state's Juco based on the current D1's workout program. He's lost 20 lbs...and it was muscle. He believes it hurts his game to be that much smaller and D1 coach isn't flexible with him to augment the team workout. What a shame.

Where would transfer stats/#'s be available? 

Perhaps 2016 will benefit from that information as part of his recruiting education. Someone is always evaluating.

Two largest factors by far are:

-Not doing enough research what the school is actually like. So many kids grow up desiring to play for the local D1 that when they get any offer, they early commit at some stupidly low scholarship amount. They don't look into the coaches, the training, how they run the team, the roster, the grades required to stay on the team, the courses... and so forth. 

-Not being good enough. I see it ALL the time. Kids commit and their work ethic goes to absolute garbage. They get on campus and find out they are the worst player on the team and are all but cut.

Lots of things DO change Senior year. Priorities, relationships w/ friends & families, hectic Senior schedule & work ethic. I'd also lump in changing body types & injuries can change plans in college. 

After some thought I guess it's not difficult to understand.

I am sure there are many reasons that a player reevaluates his college choice, but I do have to agree with what TPM said, and add that it applies to divisions other than just D1s as well.  Our son is at a D2 school and we were surprised to see that there were many walk ons this fall (about 50 players competing for a roster spot).  Some of these players got very few at bats or opportunities to pitch.  While I am certain that a college coach can tell pretty quickly who will be able to help his team win games, it was clear that a walk on player better be ready to compete when he gets an opportunity.  Based on what we saw this fall at our son's school, and the schools that some of his friends ended up at (even players who signed NLIs) making the roster is really hard to do. 

From Little League through high school, our sons climb the ladder in incremental steps. Those who are offered the opportunity to play in college suddenly find themselves in the midst of the top 10%-or-so of all high school players; and many on the college roster already have from 1-3 years of experience playing at that level. Throw in the need to perform acceptably in the classroom and the time away from home, and the magnitude of the challenge increases appreciably.

What had been progress up measured rungs becomes a leap of several rungs' distance. No wonder that it doesn't work out for all who attempt it.

The above statement is fact. Most folks have no idea how hard it is to make a college baseball roster (any type).

Competition, expectations, lack of research leads to lack of playing time.  Lack of playing time leads to transfer in most cases.

As TPM said, "most have no idea how hard it is to make a team".  Nevermind actually make the travel team or make the starting lineup at any level.. 

Ditto to TPM's comment. At my son's school, fall ball starts with 45 players and is ultimately cut down to 35. Every single kid who shows up believes he is the best player that school is ever going to see. After fall workouts, scrimmages, bullpens or whatever, a lot of them realize they are in over their heads in a very big way.

A whole bunch more are told they are never going to see the field. The team might honor their scholarship commitment, but their job will be strictly field maintenance. Most kids don't want to hear this and quit. They head to the nearest CC with the head coaches blessing. Some are given a release and are allowed to transfer back home to another DI school and try again.

Walk ons are simply told they aren't a fit and hopefully they get better someplace else.

Is there a published list of mid-term D1 transfers available to the public? My 2016 would be very interested in viewing a list like this to help make his decision where he might try to play in college.

I picked up on most from Twitter. One of the sites was "D1 Baseball" that announced ~20 transfers. The others were from various programs announcing the transfer out & other schools adding D1 transfers to D2, D3, JUCO & NAIA on the individual school websites.

Baseball America used to publish D1 transfers, in as well as out, each year. That was back in the day when it was like a revolving door and out of control.

People think that the NCAA didn't put a lot of thought into this rule and it was all about them (not taking into consideration the player that gets cut or asked to leave) but in actuality it disrupted programs and put a significant dip into graduation rates and that is what it is all about, isn't it, going to college and getting a degree?  Good coaches in good programs (any type) put a lot of effort and pride into their recruiting. When you walk onto a D1 (no NLI) as a freshman, understand the significance of being asked to leave over a player that has a $$ commitment, even if you are better. That's just the way it is.  I am going to assume those freshman mentioned had no athletic commitment. 

I dont think that 20 D1 transfers overall announced on twitter is really the right news source to base any significance on it being a significant number, but that is just my opinion.

What matters each and every year is the roster, not the fall, but the spring.  If one is following a program and you suddenly find a lot of changes from year to year, that might be a red flag for you to make inquiries. Most important, IMO, is asking about how many on the roster may be 5 year players or the graduation rate of each program.  A poor graduation rate may signify a poor program. Thats more important than who transfers in or out. Again, JMO.

Sometimes people make mistakes, they get to school and realize that their decision  was a big mistake, I find that to be ok. But what I dont find ok is the fact that many, many players and their families do not do their due diligence, and that is what causes transfers. I know its natural to have second thoughts, but if your senior HS player has signed an NLI and you are worried he may be cut as a freshman, then that may have meant that it might not have been the right decision in the first place.

There should be more important factors in making his decision than watching transfer rates. Again inquire about 5 year players and graduation rates.  

Does the program retool or reload?  How do they go about making a player and their program better?  Winning vs losing record, and player academic assistance. What happens when they have to miss a class, who helps in scheduling classes around baseball, etc.

These are the important questions when considering where you will spend the next 4-5 years of your life.  The only time transfer should be a serious consideration is if the player decides not to continue playing (which is usually the case) can you afford for him to remain there.  This was a discussion we had with son, that if something happened he would return to FL and use his state money. 

Some of this can be blamed on the NCAA committee that recommended the imposition of a strict, 35-man limitation on DI rosters in 2007.

Intended to prevent major programs from loading up on talent at the expense of mid-major programs, it has forced coaches to trim some players at the margin that in prior years would have stayed by mutual agreement. Meanwhile, many of the "trimmed" players are making choices other than the DI mid-majors (i.e. JUCO's, DII, DIII, and NAIA).

IMHO, a well-intended move that ended up carrying quite a few negative, unintended consequences.

For me, knowing something about early transfers isn't the most important issue, but it is part of due diligence. Kids who are going through the recruiting process should be aware that it happens and at what rate and for what reasons. Transferring isn't the worst thing that can happen, but I think most people would prefer to avoid that kind of disruption if possible.

If anyone interested before the transfer changes,coaches used to ask their players to watch out for good players in the summer leagues who might want to transfer to their program.

Come end of the summer there would be a whole lot of movement going on.

Lots of transfer stories. I know of a pitcher that transferred out of a TOP D1 (CWS many seasons) program because he didnt like how the pcoach spoke to him.  If this were always the case (the coaches always being sweet talkin') every player would probably transfer out of almost every program.

In my opinion the rate of transferring is at an epidemic level.

There is an obvious lack of due diligence, as MidAtlantic put it.  

"Fit" needs to include academic, social & athletic. 

The sales material (school website, team websites, coaches, etc) will make everything look perfect.  But until you put boots on the ground you simply can't make an informed decision.

Obviously, now everybody puts Vanderbilt on top of their list right.  Undisputed elite academics & baseball.  My 1st question is always, did you used to live in Nashville?  No.  Do you have family in Nashville?  No.  Have you ever been to Nashville?  No.  Until you have had boots on the ground it is a FANTASY.  Nashville is not for everybody.  Just like NYC is not for everybody.  Without comfort in academics, athletics & social there will issues.

When kids & parents start doing their due diligence we'll start seeing the transfer rates slow down.  

This is exactly why my College Bus Tours have become my "passion project".  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

"Nash-Vegas" & Broadway is awesome though.

TPM - 

Funny thing about your post is "UM" means different things in different parts of the country.   But it goes to prove the point about boots on the ground.

A midwestern kid that knows nothing about Coral Gables & the 5 million people (many that speak no English) might be out of place attending UM (Univ of Miami).

Meanwhile, another kid may not be able to handle Ann Arbor's cold weather and huge public school enrollment at UM (Univ of Michigan).

Happy New Year.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

I am with ya all the way.

Son turned down Florida with all expenses paid after FL bright futures, but he felt the 40K attendees on campus might pose as a distraction. These are really important things that have to be considered when making decisions. People ask frequently why he went to a smaller ACC in South Carolina, but after visitation and getting to know some of the team members, the smaller campus atmosphere, the coaching staff philosophy (they dont all have the same) this seemed like the best option for him.

I am still going out on a limb that most of those transfers most likely never signed an NLI. Just going to prove that walking on, whether recruited or invited, never is a really good option.

JMO

Rich, 

I buy into some but not all of what you're saying.

I know a few players who transferred because of non-baseball fit issues.  In each case it involved players who grew up in major metropolitan areas and went to schools in small towns.  But the vast majority of transfer situations I've seen were driven by baseball-related issues, many of them either unforeseeable or risks willingly accepted. 

Are transfers at "epidemic" levels? I don't have any idea how to define terms or standards to make that a meaningful statement.

I think your bus tours are a great idea for showing players a wider range of possibilities than they might otherwise consider, but I don't know anyone who committed anywhere without spending more time on campus than is possible on one of your whistle stops. For this reason, I don't consider them due diligence, which is the close scrutiny one performs just before closing the deal. I see them as a horizon broadener, not an attrition reducer.

I also think "fit" is often over-rated, at least as far as climate and city size go. You'd be surprised at the range of environments you can fit into if you resolve to stick it out and maintain a good attitude. As Coach May said, for young men truly focused on baseball, the quality of the baseball experience determines everything.  

Here's an interesting link showing some percentages on how many college players are happy where they are:

http://diycollegerankings.com/...all-experience/2634/

Interesting read.  I wonder if the D3 are less  happy because there  is more variance in the quality of D 3's to begin with.   It seems that there are some really elite D3 out there, with top notch coaches, high quality facilities, in nice academic settings,  that with their  best 8 and best starting pitcher on the mound could give good D1's a short term run. That seems like a pretty cool environment to play in.   Then there seem to be those D3's that are just a step above strong HS teams in not necessarily the most stimulating academic or social environments, with not necessarily the best coaches, etc.  That doesn't seem so cool or thrilling.   I would guess since  D1's as bigger more diverse schools with lots of other things to offer besides baseball and plus just a much higher level of baseball that's it easier to be happy there -- even if the competition is super stiff for PT, etc. But that's just a guess.

Thanks for that info.

I dont think that anyone can really evaluate their experience until its all over, IMO.

Son called a few times along the way and said he wanted to come home (for a variety of reasons).  Baseball is very frustrating as it is, now add school and being far from home, a struggling young team and there can be lots of dissatisfaction.

My son would not be who he is if it were not for his college coaches, lots of life learning lessons went on in the three short years he was there. He may not have told you that then, but he will now.

I would imagine, perhaps the reason for the D3 answers may be that they wanted more of a baseball experience than they got.

Swampboy - 

Sorry for the slow response.  Just finished day 1 at the ABCA.

I call it an "epidemic" because I see news of players transferring no ESPN weekly.  Epidemic might be strong.  Nobody is dying or anything.  But it seems college athletes think they are free agents these days. Just this week a basketball player left Duke.  The report was clear to point out it was not due to academic reasons.  Who in their right mind would leave DUKE?!  Crazy.