quote:Originally posted by Sandman:
This whole recruiting effort was really another bonding moment for my son and me. And as we sat at dinner last weekend, the day after his most recent overnight visit to his top school, still discussing his wonderful opportunity, the sincerity with which he turned to me and said "Dad, none of this could've happened without YOUR help; THANK YOU SO MUCH!" was absolutely priceless.Of course, I quickly reminded him that I was just the guide, and that HE was the one who has done, and continues to do, all of the work (on the field, in the gym and in the classroom). A real lesson in ambition and perseverence was learned here and I'm proud to have been a part of it.
Okay, I teared up a bit at that part. Congratulations! My son is also narrowing down his choices with one more D3 overnight visit in January. His plan is to decide very soon after that visit and definitely before baseball season.
It has been one wild ride from initial interest from a D1 to finally realizing that the best fit for him is D3 (small school, good academics, good baseball with the opportunity to continue developing).
For anyone who is interested, the colleges became aware of my son through the following:
Summer/Fall showcase team: One D1 contact (included Junior Day invite) that died off over the summer. Did give the D3 coaches that were already interested a chance to see him pitch a bit more.
Camps: Two D3 contacts (have visited and applied to both). One camp was at the college that is interested. Another camp was hosted at a local college with several other college coaches in attendance.
High School Team: One D3 contacted us because the new assistant coach has seen our high school team play many times and is aware of the caliber of the players (we are not in the big population areas of Virginia but are a top team in the Region). Our coaches also have been in contact with one of the D3 colleges that became interested after seen my son at their camp.
NCSA: Only valuable if you are casting a very wide net or just can't get it done yourself. Several D3 schools and an NAIA D1 have contacted my son based on his profile; however, they are not really programs or locations that he is interested in EXCEPT for one D3 school that we will be visiting next month.
In a nutshell, the e-mails he originally sent out with his bio did not really develop into anything (but he felt that he had to take a shot at mid to low D1 first). Camps were the most effective with the showcase team allowing more looks (and playing against great competition to see how you match up doesn't hurt either).