@RJM posted:Some of the respondents have mentioned you know you’re a D1 prospect when they’re recruiting you. I’m talking about when a player starts making their plan to get recruited. When looking for the next travel team.
At least for me - I don't think anybody should start considering college baseball until they start to stand out at the high school level. I understand there are powerhouse HS programs where JV players are committed to P5s and all that but that is a very small sample. Almost everybody else will play for a normal high school in the pretty good to slightly below average range.
If you can't stand out against other normal high schoolers - how special can you be? If you're that good (D1 prospect) you should be able to hold not only your own, but excel against older players, the vast majority of who will not be advancing past their final HS game.
And if you don't start to do that until your junior/senior year that is perfectly fine. Some come along later than others and may be more suited for a different level of D1 baseball than somebody who did it as a freshman.
Reminds me of a kid I knew who was recruited to a lower level D1 out of a powerhouse HS heading into his junior year. He didn't make his HS team as a senior. His college coach called him and let him know that were rescinding their offer. If he couldn't make his HS team how was he ever going to play for him. Other parents talked about what a jerk the college coach was. The coach wasn't a jerk, he was a bad recruiter.