@PABaseball posted:Here is why. If coaches could only recruit 7 guys a year - the recruiting landscape would change dramatically. They would be doing a ton of homework, they would be watching these kids play every week, they would be 100% sure this kid could make their program better. But they can take as many as they want. If you take 18 you keep the 9 best and get rid of the rest. This is the current model we're in. Turns out - the recruiters aren't all that great at recruiting. If you can't turn 90% of a recruiting class into contributors at some point during their four year tenure, you are not recruiting properly. But nobody does - or it's extremely rare. And it turns out that a good amount of the time that #2 SS P5 commit you were referring to - wasn't really the #2 shortstop in the state or was capable of playing at that P5, just not right away. And unfortunately there isn't a development period, you're either ready or you're not. Hence the juco players and 4 year transfers.
This is why you have to have somebody in your corner who is doing it for the right reasons and not just trying to get you to the most glamorous school possible. Somebody who can say yeah they want you here, but if you don't go in there and wow everybody in the first four weeks you will be gone in June.
Somebody who can say - you have 1 P5 offer for 30% and 6 mid major offers for 50-75%. It sounds like you'd fit best at the mid major. Somebody who can say you have one D1 showing interest here and there and you have 5 D3s with strong academics and quality baseball who would love to have you.
I have one who is a freshman. Similar numbers to yours. Two power 5s and 7 mid-lower level D1s offering him anywhere from 75-100%. One of the travel teams he played for was pushing non stop for one of the P5s because he knew the coach. 2 freshman have got on the mound at that P5 this year. His pitching instructor was the one on the phone for him, giving him advice, not the travel coach who knew what would look better on the instagram account.
It is depressing. Which is is why it is extremely important to make an educated, calculated decision, and not necessarily the sexy one. The oldest went the sexy route - it has worked out but it has been nothing but an uphill battle - every single day.
@PABaseball very good assessment. The biggest challenge in the process is the last paragraph. There is so much information available, the question for most is where do I start and what is fact, fiction or somewhere in the middle.