@adbono posted:Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner !!
This has always been the best advice but never more than now. The hard truth is that even BEFORE Covid the recruiting process was tricky and very often didn’t end up well for many players and families. AFTER Covid the recruiting process is tricky on steroids and numbers don’t lie. There are thousands more good players than there are college baseball roster spots. More people than ever are going to be disappointed - especially if you are in denial about what has happened to the marketplace of college baseball. If you have a ‘22, ‘23, ‘24, etc. there is plenty of advice in numerous threads on here about what to do. But by all means, do something. Your odds will be better if you develop a new game plan.
10 months ago, as my son was making his final decision on a commitment, I was especially thankful for the HSBBW and all the smart advice provided here.
For him it came down to two D3’s. Both he visited, both gave good offers of academic scholarship money. One was mostly a Baseball school that was only a good fit in that they consistently compete for the D3 National Championship. The other is a HA D3 that checked every box in terms of academics, culture, as well as a very good Baseball program that isn’t a National powerhouse but is competitive.
Ultimately it was his decision, of course. I gave him space to think it through, but when he did want to talk to me about his choices, I tried to patiently relay to him what I learned here and from just reading the college Baseball “tea leaves”: that D3 title contender has always had plenty of D1 drop downs and JUCO transfers, and utilizes Gray Shirts and Red Shirts (they even talked to him about the possibilities of redshirting during his visit). I explained to my son, that will only increase after Covid.
I told him, “look, I know you are confident in yourself. You should be. You know you can play. And you have to be confident to play Baseball. But just in case you don’t end up getting much playing time, or if you don’t play until you are a Junior or a Senior, where are you going to be happiest? Where are you going to be studying something that inspires you?”
A week or so later he chose the HA D3. He decided to do early decision and the coach found even more scholarship money for him than we were expecting. His Mom and I are thrilled. Will he play there? Eventually, probably? But we know he’s going to get a great education.