@Francis7 posted:For the kid attending the historically very weak D1 baseball program, unless you love the school, is it going to be any fun to play there and lose all the time? That sounds more like drudgery than a positive experience.
Wouldn't you rather play for a good D2 or D3 and have a more positive experience?
Wouldn't it have been better for this player to go to a D2 or D3 where he knew he had a chance to play as a freshman and see what he could do?
Lots of posts so far, but I was waiting for the "40 year" benefit of going to XUniversity based on the degree you receive. If you are a player whose sole focus is on the baseball side and you don't "fish in the right pond", you'll be disappointed. If a player isn't that PG10 and goes to P5 school with nice team stuff, and isn't at the high end recruit coming in (or is experiencing a logjam at your position), he likely won't get many ABs. That's why, what if baseball doesn't pan out, do you still like the school selected?
As for "going to a losing program" son saw its benefits with opportunities and also how quickly a school can turn around in W & L based upon a good recruiting class or two. Are you ok, sitting the bench of a good program, or better of earning playing time with a program on the upswing?
Good discussion here- making charts of schools that are reaches, safety,etc. is similar baseball-wise as it is the scholastic (SAT score, grades, awards,extracurriculars, etc) . As BOF mentioned, major/area comes into play--is it offered? encouraged? Probably confess, that son fell into the "Trap" and was probably set to go to HA D3, if nothing materialized by end of August prior to senior year, in the 2 D1 conferences he was vetting. I think he too was motivated by his HS coach's belief that he would never play D1. Go visit or stream games by schools of interest--quite beneficial. Also don't rely on one person's evaluation. As some posters have realized there is a "gamut" of levels of play in D1, D2, D3. Not all are alike.