@Francis7 posted:Maybe I am wrong? But, when I look at Perfect Game and PBR stuff, and I see stuff shared on social media like Twitter and Instagram, and I focus on a specific grad year and position, my impression is that there is A LOT of kids out there who seem great. They have size, experience and all the performance metrics. "Good students" too.
Here, I am not talking about the obvious future P5 kids. They are at another level. More so, I mean everyone outside the can't miss studs.
There seems to be SO MANY really good players at a specific grad year and position. How can they all find opportunities to play in college? How many of them won't continue after HS despite being capable and deserving a chance?
A once met a parent whose child played another D1 sport at a large college. Kid is really good. Played on national teams in the sport. For this particular sport, the kid is at another level.
But, this sport, while they obviously have statistics, it's not like baseball where there are a ton of performance metrics. There's no exit velo or POP time or spin rate, etc.
That being said, the parent maintains that, when it comes to recruiting - especially in their sport - a huge element is that there's something about the athlete that just connects with the recruiting coach. Maybe it's body type? Maybe it's attitude? Maybe the player reminds the coach of something in themselves?
Getting back to baseball, since there so many good players and a finite amount of opportunities each year, is that "connection" what drives the decision?
If you have 200 outfielders in a graduation year who all run a 6.80 and have an exit velo of 90, there's got to be something that happens to make a coach what a specific one, right?
Is that why everyone says it's important to go where you are loved rather than try and shoehorn yourself on to a roster - because that love means they want you, and it's better to be wanted than to be one who's left without a chair when the music stops?
Yes, something happens.
Some really fast kids are good at baseball. Some are not. Some can reach a 90 exit velo but can't hit all that well. Some kids are baseball smart. Some kids are blockheads. Coaches can watch and tell the difference. It's their job. They do it all the time. If they can't do it, they have to find another job.