@Ster posted:I will give the qualifying phrase "Everyone's recruitment is different", but I have found so far with my 2024 RHP that the camps have not been a productive use of time and money with his recruitment.
My opinions is strictly based upon our experience, but with the mid-major camps that my son attended, I believe that their are two types of kids that attend those camps.
1) The kid that has already been recruited by the school and they have already offered or are 90% sure that they are going to offer. I know of two kids this past year that fell into this category. They went to the camp and were offered the following week, but they had been talking to the assistant coaches of that school for quite a while.
2) The second type of kid that attends the camp is the kid that has had no communication with any of the coaches other than and email invitation. Those kids are not getting any consideration and are there only to provide some income for the program and or assistant coaches. In my opinion this is 99% of the kids that attend the camps.
I know one camp that my son attended with one of his travel ball team mates. His team mate had been communicating with the school for several months prior to the camp. My son actually put up better numbers at the camp, but he didn't even get so much as a conversation with the coaches while the other kid received an offer the following week.
I just don't think that anything happens at a camp that gets the attention of a coach. Maybe if you are pitcher and stroll off the mound having pumped 94 mph fastballs, but for the most part, I think that coaches already have their minds made up about who they are offering well before the camps for Jr. and Sr. players.
Exactly my experience as well.
I will add - camps are usually divided into groups. And typically only players in a certain group (e.g. group A, group 1, blue team, etc) are being considered. Everyone else is there to pay the salary of the assistant coach; they would have to do something spectacular to get noticed. But I've seen non-recruits do spectacular things and get nothing more than an attaboy.
It's usually obvious pretty quickly which group is made up of the real recruits. Unless the camp is small enough that everyone is under consideration.
Another way to tell if you are under serious consideration is if they have you play against their existing commits.