In a social situation I crossed paths with the coach of a ranked HA D3. My son was already playing college ball. But I’m always curious to become aware of different situations.
The school is considered very challenging academically. The coach told me has grease with admissions for baseball. But only for six players per admissions year. He asks his six prime recruits to apply ED so he knows who’s serious. He doesn’t want to waste a slot sliding a kid through to have him decide to go somewhere else. Their GPA and SAT/ACT still have to be reasonably high.
Back when my son was in high school I was chatting with some Duke parents at a game. I mentioned one of the neighborhood kids was playing basketball for Duke. There was an instant chorus of “Baseball doesn’t have the same recruiting guidelines.” That was before “Who?”
Attend games. Ask questions. Most people love giving advice. Most parents love talking about their kids. Everywhere I went I asked, “How did your son happen to choose Whatsamatta U over his other options.” Then shut up and listen. You will walk away with a lot of information.