@JucoDad posted:My 2015-2016 juco parent experience is a little outdated and pre transfer-portal/covid debacle (thankfully) however I think my observations are still mostly reinvent.
There will be 50 plus kids tying for 30 slots at the start of the school year, if you don’t have a scholarship before the first day, it’s highly unlikely you will get a spot (although there are a few exceptions every year). The coaches are going to put the best players on the field for most of the innings. Lesser players (like my son his freshman year) will get some filler work (my son played 11 innings his first year). If you or your kid complains about it, it will only get much worse…
There will always be some politics it’s human nature, kids can lose opportunities to play and to be recommended if they won’t conform to the coach’s program. The coaches are typically old school – It’s the same as real life, if your boss doesn’t like you, your screwed…
If your numbers are good, or you project you will be highly visible at the D1 and pro levels. My son threw only 11 innings as a freshman with an ERA above 6 but I can now find scout video of him that year on the web – I was at every game and had no clue.
During my two seasons as a juco parent at Hill College in Texas, every kid that was good enough to play at the next level was placed correctly. The kids with pro scout interest went P5 D1, the very talented kids that didn’t project went to non P5 D1’s and everyone else went D2. Out of the 2 seasons I watched, 3 kids were eventually drafted and I think that’s typical unless you’re at San Jac or McLennan in Texas.
It's a great option for kids with a baseball first mentality or who'd like to get half their education without being in debt. They've got to love the grind, or they won't last - If they do run the gauntlet, they'll have a bunch of lifelong brothers.
This is exactly what I was talking about before. There are so many kids who believe they are DI players or maybe don't have the grades to get them in a 4-year school and are "advised" to go JUCO only to find out they are NOT DI players, never (or hardly ever) get any playing time because they are surrounded by better players and then are done with their 2 years with no options to play anywhere. It used to be that kids who were more like DII or DIII players could go JUCO, develop and get stronger, and have a chance at a DI school or a stronger DII, but this has changed dramatically. Kids leaving P5's, going JUCO for a year and then transferring are taking more and more of those roster spots as well. I totally get, as it has been said here multiple times, that this varies from regions and different parts of the country, but I am just talking about what I have seen in the upper midwest and the personal experience from kids up here. We only have a few "strong" JUCO's up here so every kid from this area goes to the 1-2 strong ones that are close to home which creates even more competition and those borderline DI/DII kids are not hardly ever seeing the field for playing time.
JUCO is not the JUCO it was years ago.