The more I hear, the more I despise "the process..."

Well isn't this all just freaking me out a little. No. A LOT.

 

We've met some really nice and communicative coaches. We've also met some who don't seem to have ever realized that they talked to my son and one who kept asking him to come visit and after he said he would, the guy fell off the face of the planet. In about one day actually. So weird.

 

Sounds like a verbal commitment is just fun and games and not worth much. And to the notion that "parents need to stay out of it and let the player handle it", that's awesome in a dream world but here in reality land plane tickets cost money, hotels cost money, 17 year olds can't rent cars and at the end of this whole deal I'm gonna be stroking checks totaling thousands anyway, so you bet your butt I have a say in some of what goes on.

 

In the end, it's his decision be it D1, D3 or D192. He's a smart kid or wouldn't be looking at top academic schools. and I agree with the guy who wouldn't let his kid accept sight unseen...we saw a school this summer that looked great on paper but the area was a mess and the facilities worse than any rec league field we've seen. Great academic school though.

I think the "let the player handle it" to ME means the actual talking to the coaches. For us the family was very involved in the decision when it came to finances and generally just being older and wiser, But from the point of him calling and talking to coaches, setting up visits (he consulted with me since I was going with him and I work for a living ), , what he felt about the team, etc., those were his responsibility. That is why to me, a player should never accept on the spot unless family has done research before hand on that school (ie costs and whether they can afford it based off athletic, academic, grants loans, etc.).

 

THIS ... is not the case, Worth it. The vast majority of verbal commitments are honored -- by both sides.

When it came time for my daughter to accept the verbal offer from one school, they changed their offer and cut it significantly.  Good think we had time to find another school.  I posted here and elsewhere on that at that time. 

If a coach really wants you, he will wait.
If you committ in fear they will ask someone else, its  not the right choice.
JMO

 

I found this data.

 

 

(Not really... I just made it up.)

MaD.. Love the graphic and it's actually quite accurate. Given our current year, your first commits (-5 from graduation would be from a 2020 grad), one who just finished 7th grade. With the trends we have been seeing ..it's possible right? What do you think 2020 dad?!

TPM is correct. No fear based decisions. Ever. Like Tracy Smith says "The key to recruiting is finding the right fit...Not just for the school but the player" I agree w/ that 100%

Making decisions based on offers and utilizing some sort of realistic timeline with it will only really work if the school is the right fit. Not just baseball. But academically, socially, geographically and of course financially. Gotta do your homework.

And as TPM pointed out , they will wait... for the right player. But I would add that you gotta know where you are on the depth chart for that recruiting class. If your son is the #1 RHP for his class. Well, they will wait. If he is #3....maybe not

When my guy had his offer made.We were told he could take 2 -3 months top.

Craziest time frame I have ever heard - Good baseball player, plenty of high D2 offers, a fringe lower level D1 guy. His parents alma mater gave him 25% and told him he had till the end of the night to let them know. Less than a days time. He took it. Didn't work out.

I'm using numbers without doing the actual research. but even if the numbers are wrong the point will be accurate. Let's say there are 60 major conference programs. Add in another 10 highly regarded programs that are not in major conference. That's 70 teams. Each team will recruit 10-12 players. Those desirable teams will cummulatively be recruiting about 800 players.

 

Once past a certain number of top recruits (let's say the top 200) how much difference is there between #201 and #800? If a recruit is in the 201-800 range it's going to be a matter of which recruits commit first until a programs recruiting slots are filled. Despite this sense of urgency it's important to find the right college. It's the next three, four years of your life. If there's a sense of hesitancy in your mind it's probably a situation to pass on. If baseball is edased from the picture would you want to be there? There's more to the decision than baseball.

"There's more to the decision than baseball."

 

BLASPHEMY, RJM!!! There's nothing in this world more important than baseball!!!

 

(ok, maybe ONE thing ...)