Francis7 posted:Thanks to all for everything shared so far! It's appreciated.
I hear what some are saying about pick the best college, etc. But, here's a "what if" and a "guess" to factor it on the topic.
"What if" the kid in question is a better baseball player than he is a student. Maybe he's a D1 talent, or, close to it, or with striking distance of being a D1 player, but, he's not a "D1 student" and all the extra work, incentives, tutoring, etc., is not going to get him there. Maybe is has a learning disability and is a special education/IEP student? But, he's a very good baseball player. And, it's his dream to play college baseball because he wants to experience college baseball. Further, while getting a degree in college should always be the goal in attending college, playing college baseball and maybe leveraging that later in life is MAYBE, ALMOST, just as important to him as getting that 4-year degree?
I would "guess" that there are some D3 programs that are actually better than some D1 programs in terms of BASEBALL. Yeah, Princeton is a D1. And, it's the best education that anyone could ever dream for their child. And, the Princeton baseball program is fine. But, I would "guess" that there's some D3 baseball programs that are heads and shoulders above that of Princeton JUST FOR A BASEBALL PERSPECTIVE.
I can't imagine that it's hard to fathom there are many kids out there who are bright, etc., and capable of attending school after High School who are not "D1 students" but may have the baseball skills and the desire to play baseball in college. I would think that D3 is the answer for them? Or, maybe it's not? I don't know. That's why I floated out the OP for discussion.
May I suggest that NAIA may also be an option. The description above fits a family friend pretty well. He chose the program because the school specialized in Students like him. It is a state school, so the costs are reasonable, and it gave him the best chance to play and still get a degree. If he would have gone D1 or D3 he may not have been able to stay eligible.
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CabbageDad beat me to it.