Caco3Girl
I don't think I agree that any player misses the bus if they don't get their name out by ANY date.
A stud is a stud - even if he suddenly develops in his senior year. There is no mercy - until the NLI is signed; it's a business. There is always room in the inn for the overlooked pitcher who throws 93. There is no room in the inn for the pitcher who threw 80 as an eighth grader (and was "recruited") and 80 as a senior In a top twenty program (a slight exaggeration and no disrespect to the sidearmers out there).
A kid should go out, work hard, study harder, play a game he loves to his best ability. Because there is no enforceable commitment until late, coaches are ALWAYS looking to improve their recruiting class - even if it means having 30 freshman show up for first day of fall practice.
While I don't really like anecdotal stories as proving principles, S (a small kid with no noticable physical attributes) was unknown (not even playing travel ball after eighth grade, attending no PG events) until Stanford and Headfirst camps opened the floodgates for college interest. He did work hard in the conditioning area, hard with his PC, and hard on a miserable HS team. At least two hours a day virtually EVERYDAY out of sight of all traditional exposure venues. Now, I also recognize that, as Fenway puts it, luck is a major recruiting factor, S made luck easier to find him.