I know that there are a few parents with sons at one of the academies now, or in the very recent past. Maybe they will add their comments to the mix.
Although I don't have a lot of information, I have learned much in the last year as we have begun exploring these options with my '07. I know more about the program at Army than I do about the other Service Academies, and I completely concur with the comments that have been made with respect to coach Sottolano.
My son, for reasons other than baseball, has just recently settled on Army as his #1 choice for school. (He is currently a Junior with a 4.0 gpa.) My son attended Army's baseball camp this past summer as an opportunity to see the school, meet the coaching staff, get a feel for what things would be like. Fortunately for us, the week we were there was also during the time that "Beast Barracks" (New Cadet Basic Training)was going on so he was able to witness first hand the kinds of activities and disciplines that were occurring. Interestingly, his initial reaction was not positive, but as he has had time to process the information and filter it in the context of what he wants to accomplish, West Point has become his dominant first choice and other schools are now a distant second.
Basically the coaches told us that "if they want my son as a recruited player", then he will get a nomination. Not sure exactly what that process would look like but came away feeling less concerned about the nomination process. Of course, one must still be academically qualified to gain admission, but we're fairly confident at this point in son's academic competence.
One thing that I found fascinating at Army was the was the team chemistry. During the winter and early spring when the team is basically constrained to practicing indoors, they actually eat together each evening in the field house. The evening meal is brought in to them and they eat together as part of their scheduled practice time.
Army did have a player, Schuyler Williamson, who was drafted by Detroit this last June. The Army is allowing him to defer his deployment pending the outcome of his professional experience. I believe he is doing recruiting during the off-season, and will ultimately either have to fulfill his 5 year commitment or repay the Army for his education. Either way, it is a great opportunity for Schuyler.
A cadet may leave within the first two years without incurring any penalty. Once they begin their Junior year, they are commited. It is true that the Service Academies are not part of the National Letter of Intent program. Nor are they subject to exactly the same recruiting guidelines as other NCAA Div I schools. Largely this is because the process of obtaining a nomination from a congressman, and being offered an appointment, is much more complex and time consuming. For example, my '07 will actually open his file for admission and begin the nomination process next month (January). This process is typically started in the spring of the Junior year. This does not mean that the Service academies do not have guidelines, they are just different. For example, they are able to contact a prospective student during their junior year, but the total number of contacts cannot exceed the same number of contacts allowed by other NCAA schools. In fact, if the prospect is a recruited athlete, then the admissions department is not allowed to make any personal contact with the prospective student in order to minimize the risk of exceeding the allowable contacts.
So for us, Army is our Plan A. However, as others have mentioned, we definitely plan to have a plan B and maybe even a plan C. My son has an eye condition that is automatically disqualifying at Naval and Air Force academies, but is a waiverable condition with Army. Therefore, because of the medical requirements, even if he is a recruited athlete and is offered admission based upon his academics, it will probably be late spring of his Senior Year before we have worked through medical waiver and will know for sure that he would be able to attend there. Whether we would do an NLI with another school is a decision that is still a year down the road, but it is something that we would consider. Of course, we would be totally upfront with school B and let them know that if medically qualified, son would accept appointment to the Academy. Since the Service Academies are not part of the NLI program, there would be no penalty in pursuing that avenue.
There is a listserve, email discussion group for parents and prospective applicants that has been very informative. If you like, PM me and I'll put you in touch so that you can subscribe to that list.