@SpeedDemon posted:I don't know how old your son is, but I think it might be beneficial to realize that if your son wants to play in college, at some point, usually around 15-16 yrs old, baseball has to become his business. By this I mean he needs to begin to think in terms of 'is there an spot on the field that I can fill? what do I need to do to earn that spot? is there someone ahead of me in line for that spot and what do I do about that? what do I need to do to hold on to that spot and make sure the next guy doesn't take it from me?'.
Competition to play in college is fierce, at every level. And as someone wise on this board wrote "everyday is a tryout".
To directly address your point, I think, i.e. my opinion is, that it's unrealistic for you to expect your son to go to college and have everything fall into place athletically, academically, and socially for 4 years. Sure, it might happen, but a million things can change, go wrong or go right, which make it untenable for your son to continue at his first school. Flexibility is key.
However, if you are deadset on him not transferring then the question becomes - which other axis are you willing to flex on? If your son 100% wants to play baseball at the same school for 4 years with no possibility of transferring, are you willing to compromise on the level of play? Are you willing to compromise academics? How about flexibility in location (near/far from friends and family)?
What does your son want?
A lot of good points in this and I appreciate it. Son is a 2024 (16 years old) and baseball has certainly become his business and he discusses the questions you mentioned with his teammates, coaches, parents, recruiters. I think these discussions are helping him formulate what he should be expecting at the next level if he is so fortunate. It will also guide him in making a decision of what to do post HS. That could even be walking away from baseball completely. It will be interesting to see what he decides.
I can't say I have the expectation of him going to college and everything falling into place. If there are people out there that are fortunate enough to have that happen to them when transitioning from HS life to post HS life...then good for them. Flexibility is definitely good to have on top of preparation. The more one can prepare, the better one can flex.
There are multiple reasons I'd prefer him not to transfer. Credits might not transfer. I want him to tough out a challenge instead of transferring as a means of escape. There would be another transition to deal with. Those are some of the reasons.
I hope there are some coaches out there that are still willing to invest in developing a player. I understand there are coaches out there that have taken advantage of the transfer portal, but I can't blame them when it's their livelihood. So we'll even discuss what to do if a coach says he's no longer welcome on the team. I think if he selects the school for the school with baseball being a bonus he may not want to transfer. He might just try playing club or being involved with baseball as a non-athlete.
I'm not sure about if he'd be willing to compromise on level of play to stay at the same school for 4 years. I'll have to see what he thinks.
As of right now he has a list of needs and wants. It's his responsibility to figure it all out. I'm just here to get him thinking about how to prioritize those needs and wants and provide my opinion when he'd like it.