2013 Signing early

I can't help much with what to think with the offer, but I can tell you that I signed in December and I felt that it took a lot of pressure off me. Especially considering I didn't play much my senior year.

The recruiting thing in baseball is definately set up for the coaches.

We saw so many sad cases just two weeks ago, with kids who had some coaches offering walkon spots for some of them.

The money isn't the issue, but if the school isn't offering anything then they don't think much of you obviously.

If my son gets the right school (location, program) to offer he'll take it right away, but so far the schools have either been too far away or private schools that are just pay-for-play.

He'll be playing on tbe weekends this fall with an all-star team against JUCO teams, so hoping he'll get some closer offers from that, and can commit and sign this fall.

Books and full tuition scholarships at the NAIA or Division-II level are usually rare. At least in D2, as the full scholarship limit is somewhere around 9. And that's for fully funded schools. Many D2 schools aren't even fully funded. That's an excellent offer. If it's for a JUCO, I'd say that could be a more common offer, but free schooling is free schooling.

OKbaseballDad

I have no idea about books, and I don't think books is the important big picture item here. Your son's high school and summer league stats are going to be irrelevent to almost all college coaches. What is relevent is what the coach needs in his program, your son's skills relative to those needs, your son's GPA and SAT/ACT scores.

You've said money isn't an issue, but I'm not convinced it isn't. There is a certain timing and "market" (supply/demand) for roster spots. You have to find those teams that need your son skills and perform well in front of them when the bell rings. What I don't know is if your son had the exposure to these schools before they made their recruiting decisions. In other words, was he at the necessary showcases/tournaments/camps to be considered for recruiting. Most likely the reason you saw some folks accept walk-on offers was because the recruiting dollars are gone, but the program has enough of a pull to get talent for $0. Yes, it happens all the time.

My two cents....I would think long and hard about a different approach given your limited time frame (December goal to be signed). Are you going to get more exposure playing Fall weekends against JUCO all-star teams or are you better served going to specific recruiting camps for schools that your son is most interested in. I would also re-think the location, and private school issue if it is the right situation to get a great education and play baseball. If your son's ultimate goal is JUCO, then I think your current plan has a good chance of working. If your son's ultimate goal is D2, NAIA then I think you should consider a different exposure strategy for the Fall.

Best of luck.

He's never been to a showcase, and until this summer never played outside of the regular baseball season (usually only eight weeks).

He's always been a basketball guy, and played for some of the better AAU teams, but we finally got a baseball coach at our HS who got him excited about pitching.

He threw four no-hitters this past season, so all of the local summer teams wanted him to pitch for them. His offers came from coaches who saw him either play with or against one of the kids they'd already signed.

He got several calls to play fall baseball for some teams who scrimmage on weekends against JUCO and NAIA teams, but his football and basketball coach are adamantly against that, so we're just not telling them.

He's a star in football and basketball at the HS level, but he isn't going to play collegiately at the next level, so it's an easy decision to make.

Tuition/books is pretty standard. My son also got a meal plan which helped. He signed in the fall and was glad he did. Made his sr year much better.

That's what we're hoping for...saw a lot of sad post HS grad kids in late July with no offers.