My son is one of those "7s" that will get the opportunity to see if he can get it done at a very solid D1 program. You don't have to spend a fortune but if it is his dream let him work for it until he is aware it is time to be done. You might be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
Backstop, curious for myself, CaCo and others, how old was he when he rated 7, did you pretty much agree with rating and how much did he improve from that time to the time he was recruited to a D1? Awesome that he did this, BTW!
He attended his only PG showcase right before his sophomore year. He had pitched some varsity as a freshman, but at this point he was still a primary catcher and secondary pitcher. He attended the showcase as a primary catcher.
I think his rating was fair. Based on 60 time, pop time, catcher velo, and how he hit in the games I wasn't shocked when it came out.
My son is supremely confident and he didn't bat an eye. At the time I honestly freaked out a bit, but had spent enough time here to sort of refocus.
He has always played on the best teams in our area because as you know solid catchers can be hard to come by. This worked in his favor. Two months later he was playing with older boys at PG Underclass. They were trying to get 2015 catcher committed (ultimately went to WV) so put him on the mound and after his first outing the school he is attending asked our coaches about him. Mind you he topped at 78 at this point.
At this time he with some pushing from me (I could see he would never run well enough or hit for enough power to play at D1 level) he committed himself to being the best pitcher he could be. In the gym non stop and really just took advantage of opportunities given to him.
One camp and one summer later he committed to his future school one day before school started his junior year. He has honestly been living a charmed life since. Pitched in some very high profile events this summer and pitched well enough to be the MV-Pitcher of a good PG event.
Do I think PG would rate him as higher than a 7 now? Based on his metrics I don't know. He honestly tops at 85 or so (84 on PG), but his ability to pitch in big games against very good competition as well as commitment he has to a good D1 make me confident they would rate him higher if we wanted to spend the money. I just never saw the point. Committed to the school he wants with a coach that believes in him and clearly not a pro prospect out of HS.