2010 Top Private School Programs

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
Getting recognized by a college is primarily a function of "playoffs" whilst additional potential players are discovered @ on campus programs. So called "Showcase" teams will give a player some additional good competition & tryout skills, but they won't get one additional "looks" (despite their [the teams] fevered advertising).

This could not be further from the truth. I can cite a list as long as my arm of players who were seen by their showcase team and not seen on their HS team.

Jess:

I concur with Redbird in his analysis in the post preceding this one. Additionally, I in no way misquoted you. You suggested that people at PVI, whether coaches, administrators, parents, or players it is hard to say, were upset with FH's success in recruiting players away from PVI. I suggested that you offered no proof. You then suggested that a rumor at a dinner with family friends was "proof." Please.

And I can cite a # of D1 Baseball coaches here in VA who do not watch showcases but do have representatives to every (and I mean every) district & regional series.
There are even those (Hartman & now Hughes)who will tell parents & players in public that they don't consider "showcases".

Also, if you note, I said "generally". Not "always".

Oh, it's nice to see "countless" & "dozens" weigh in again. Now you're lumping in the staff @ PVI when I went out of my way NOT to include them. Keep moving those goalposts, 'K?

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
...There are even those (Hartman & now Hughes)who will tell parents & players in public that they don't consider "showcases"...

That's completely the opposite of what Coach Hughes personally told me this summer...while watching a showcase tourney...on English Field.

Additionally, every D1 coach that I know in VA has personally told me they come to showcase tourneys to ID players. Weird...

I was at 3 of them this summer. Which sessions were you at?

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
I was at 3 of them this summer. Which sessions were you at?

I was in 2 tourneys at VT this summer as well as hanging out with VT coaches at 3 others off campus. Regardless of how many tourneys I was at this summer, your statements are wrong as they pertain to the D1 schools in VA (UVA, VT, JMU, GMU, VCU, ODU, RU, LU, UR, VMI, W&M, etc.)

Jess - I do not think you have been to any showcases if you do not think Colleges recruit from them. My son has been contacted by coaches only because of the showcases he attended. I think your assessment is completely flawed. Going to a school whose program is recognizable is helpful to get on the reputable Showcase team. Getting on the right Showcase team is the key, I think.

It is rare that a player will get recruited just from his HS experience alone. PVI is no exception. My guess is that most of the D1 recruits have been exposed to the Scouts from more than their 25 HS games to get a D1 NLI.

Now maybe Hughes does not recruit from Showcases, but he is the exception... not the norm and although VT is a D1 and from what I know a decent program, they aren't burning a path to Omaha. If what you say is true, he is only recruiting based on the HS school record, it might explain a lot.

are you guys just talking past each other?

When Jess1 is talking about showcases that the D-1 coaches aren't participating in, is Jess1 talking about showcases such as TPX-90 or Baseball Factory type events?

When Redbird and others are talking about showcases, is Redbird talking about the Impact or other 'select' tourneys that are held at venues like VT or ODU, or talking about the UVA, VT or ODU sponsored showcases/prospect camps? Both?

Spartan - Good Point, I was referring to a Showcase team playing other Showcase teams at College venues.

My response was to the following quote- which Jess seems to be of the opinion that Showcase teams do nothing to open doors for D1 prospects. I think his opinion is that they come from HS ball.

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
Getting recognized by a college is primarily a function of "playoffs" whilst additional potential players are discovered @ on campus programs. So called "Showcase" teams will give a player some additional good competition & tryout skills, but they won't get one additional "looks" (despite their [the teams] fevered advertising).

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
Getting recognized by a college is primarily a function of "playoffs" whilst additional potential players are discovered @ on campus programs. So called "Showcase" teams will give a player some additional good competition & tryout skills, but they won't get one additional "looks" (despite their [the teams] fevered advertising).

By far, the number of college coaches I have seen at events where showcase teams play showcase teams (whether a team showcase event or a WWB event, e.g.) far exceeds the number of college coaches seen at a high school game, including districts and regionals. I identified 64 college coaches at my son's team's first game at the 17U WWB this past summer; I am sure there were many I could not identify. There were no where near 64 college coaches at the VHSL Regionals I attended this past spring. There may be a particular showcase event where fewer college scouts would be present than a given high school event, but overall more coaches are seen at showcase events.

WB -

quote:

TPX-90 or Baseball Factory type events

Precisely.
Of course a college coach would be interested in observing a program at said school - but I'm seriously doubtful that coaches from 64 different colleges drove/flew into E. Cobb.
Representatives, perhaps, but certainly not Coaches (and by that I mean the primary staff - not the ancillaries found on seemingly every college campus).

If one is a good HS player, he'll be found.

J

PS - I'll admit "showcase" is an overworked term - the list of teams calling themselves "showcase" in VA alone is... long.

I have to disagree with you about the number of college coaches at East Cobb. 64 is probably a low number. My son's team played at the East Cobb Complex the first night of the 17u tourney last July and there were loads of college coaches there. Quite a few pro scouts in attendance as well.

Jess,

I don’t consider head coaches or recruiting coaches as ancillary and I recognize a large number of them. During the past two years of recruiting and watching over 200 baseball games involving "showcase teams", I have found it entertaining to watch the coaches who watch the recruits – who wears their colors, who doesn’t, who sits immediately behind the guns, who leans on the distant wall, who watches from the outfield, etc. When you were a kid riding on a long trip, did you ever play car tag bingo with other members in the car, identifying the tags of various states as the cars passed by? I play “coach bingo” or "conference bingo" and write down a list of the coaches I recognize, e.g., seeing if I can identify one from each ACC or SEC school. I made the list of those coaches for the POOL PLAY game I referenced. That is how I had an exact count of the ones I recognized. Now, understand that I did not say 64 colleges, I said 64 college coaches. There were a number of colleges that had two coaches at the game I referenced. For example, both the head coach and the recruiting coach from South Carolina were at that game. And remember, the number is of those I could identify. I am sure there were coaches there “incognito” or coaches who I did not recognize, making the number considerably higher. I bet Perfect Game could tell you who was there.

I believe my comments about PVI clarify the spectrum of roles that both showcases and high school seasons play. Showcases are critically important in any case.

Showcase teams get the "top" players "top" offers. This process leads to early signing offers and decisions.

For the players who are "good", but not "top", showcase teams get them on the radar as 'follows'. These players can earn offers based on campus visits or team camps and what they do during their senior high school seasons.

Some of the lower Tier 1's and certainly the D2 and D3's who know they will not get the "top" players are going to be aggressive in making offers based on summer/fall showcase events, including WWBA, Jupiter and others.

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
... but I'm seriously doubtful that coaches from 64 different colleges drove/flew into E. Cobb.
Representatives, perhaps, but certainly not Coaches (and by that I mean the primary staff - not the ancillaries found on seemingly every college campus)...

You couldn't be more wrong.

A quick question for you, though. Who would these "representatives" be? Coach Hughes usually sends Coach Gambino or Coach K - they handle the recruiting for VT. I have not seen nor heard of them outsourcing their recruiting. I know several people who have recommended recruits to schools but do not attend events as a "representative" of a school.

re-reading these posts, it appears Jess1 is talking about the TPX-90 type events when he's referring to showcases without 64 D1 coaches/asst coaches. He's right about that, TPX events (at least the ones I've been to in VA and MD) don't have that many D1 reps. They've been populated by a couple of small D1s, some D2s, but mostly D3 schools. Not all that different than the mix of schools that were at events like Best of Virginia camps.

There is a tremendous difference between a TPX 90 and a WWBA in East Cobb or Jupiter events. There is tremendous difference between a TPX 90 and an Impact baseball 4 team weekend round robin at Virginia Tech. There is a tremendous difference between a TPX 90 and a showcase sponsored by George Mason, or UVA, or ODU, or VT.

These events get many more D1 reps.

My guess is that Jess has not attended WWBA, Jupiter or an Impact Showcase. If he did, I do not think he would walk away with the same conclusion. To post a blanket statement that players will get noticed based on their HS season, is in my opinion is nonsense. Unless you are throwing 90+ chances you are not going to magically get a D1 NLI.

I'm not sure what experience Jess has had with Showcase teams either. Our experience has been nothing but positive and yes, they do attend Showcases at a College venue every weekend during the summer and fall, and yes, scouts are there in large numbers.