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Reply to "Labrum injury – bad timing"

Smitty28 posted:

Tequila, I feel for you and your son, I really do.  But having two kids in college (non-athletes) and seeing so many kids my 2019 has grown up with go on to college to play baseball, I've gained perspective.  I would lean strongly towards going to a school he wants to be at.  I have seen so many kids go to schools only to be redshirted and cut, or cut straight away in the fall of freshman year, or decide they don't like the school and come home, etc.  Honestly, most kids don't make it as a ball player 3 or 4 years anyway.  The kids that seem most successful and happy (with or without baseball) go to schools they love and have great all-around experiences.  I think one of the best pieces of advice I got here on HSBBW was to have your son go to a school he'd want to go to with or without baseball.  This, and academic quality, were the two guard rails we put on my 2019's college selection.

One other thought - he's a catcher, so no doubt he can play other positions.  If he can hit the coach will find a spot for him.  Lots of kids get recruited as catchers and end up playing elsewhere.

Thanks Smitty for the thoughtful response and ideas! Every situation has it's own set of circumstances and nuances and ours is no different. One thing that has been big on my son's list of requirements is that he wants to go out of state. The interesting thing there is that I don't think he knows specifically why. Where we find ourselves is with him having a fantastic opportunity at a local D3 with the only real drawback being that it's local. If you picked the school up and put it in virtually any other state he'd have already committed and we'd have put down a deposit. So, his mother and I are encouraging him to look at what he will be getting out of the situation, the cost savings, programs available at the school, history of student success post-graduation, etc. etc. Our feeling at this point is that he should commit and give it a year (or even a semester if his injury returns or rehab doesn't progress) and transfer if he's unhappy. It's a D3 (no roster limits) and the coaches love him so it's unlikely that he'll get the boot from the team even if he doesn't return to form. He just wouldn't be playing and would likely make the decision himself that he's done. However, it's his decision but I will say that the other school in the mix that he's deciding between is very similar in academic make-up, size, cost (though about $5K/yr more), etc. but it's an eight hour drive from us (like we're going to be dropping in on him regularly anyway). Heck they're even in the same athletic conference but it just doesn't feel to me that he's using the highest level of maturity in evaluating the pros and cons. Time will tell but I've rambled on enough. Thanks again for all the input! Another testament to why this site is so great.

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