cabbagedad posted:NSCTalentScout posted:I played college ball at a mid major and we had probably 4 or 5 players walk on and make the team while I was there. It comes down to what the school needs. As a catcher that certainly helps. Coaches always need catchers to help catch bullpens. It's definitely a risk trying to go and walk-on, but it happens at the D1 level for sure. We had a guy walk-on and hit almost 20 HR's for us. So it's not impossible. But he has to have some tools that will stand out to a coach.
Were those 4 or 5 players true walk ons, preferred or somewhere in between? What level of communication and feedback did they receive, if any, from the staff at the school prior to deciding to walk on? The guy that walked on and hit 20 HR's... same questions. Was there dialog with the staff prior to walk-on?
4 were true walk-ons. 3 were pitchers that had good stuff and slipped through the cracks. 1 was a catcher who helped with bullpens and played for us for one season. And the last, "the 20 HR" guy was slightly recruited by our previous head coach. But he did not make the team after his initial fall. Two years later we got a new head coach and he tried out and made the team.
However, we also had plenty of players with us in the fall who had contact with our coaches previously but had to earn their spots in the fall. On average I'd say typically 5 players would be cut prior to the start of the season when the final roster was made.