2014 Questions--need the truth!

Welcome hardgame.

First direct personal contact by mail/email initiated by the school can begin on September 1 of Junior year of HS.

Other players may have committed based on any number of ways. You mentioned a couple of them. Typically, the college coach will contact the player's HS or travel coach, ask him to have the player call the college coach or visit the college coach on campus (both legal)...and then make the offer.

You also mentioned at a camp on campus...this too is legal.

Fill out the questionnaires, return them promptly with a personal letter from your son explaining why he is interested in THAT school in particular (if he is). He may also call the coaches directly if he wishes to discuss anything about the program...they cannot return the call if they are not in.

We all hear about these super-early commitments and it can make us feel a little panicky. Please try not to get over-anxious about these. They may be around us, but are not as common as you might think. In addition, sometimes they are fabricated stories by parents...foolish to do on their part, but it still happens nonetheless.

Keep your head focused on your own son's situation and ask as many questions as you want here. You will read different opinions on here sometimes, but no one will blow smoke up your backside.

Great information, justbaseball, I appreciate it.

What is the July 1st date I read and hear about? Has that been moved to September 1st now of Junior year? Previous thread on here referenced several kids getting a phone call right on July 1st...

I agree, will worry about my kid and laugh at some of the tall tales I have already heard. Funniest thing of all is that I have always been told grades are paramount to a college baseball coach because they have so few scholarships and cannot afford to make mistake on kid that may flunk out of school or not get admitted....how in the world then, can some of these 2014 kids be getting "offers" when most (if not all) haven't even taken the ACT/SAT? Why are colleges even making offers and accepting commitments if they don't know if kid can get accepted or will have the grades? Seems like a waste of time and ineffient process on their part!

BTW, what happened to grades being important? I hear nothing about that nor see an emphasis being put on it so far....in fact, the most academically challenged players in our area are the ones giving all the commitments right now....are these parents just flat lying about some of this stuff? It is even making it to our newspaper/websites without any verification from anyone! Head-scratcher...

Some parents are stretching the truth, but don't waste your time trying to figure out which ones. Down the road you will hear about players in your area who got "full rides." Extremely unusual and in most cases, untrue.

Grades are VERY important! Sounds like you have the right focus on that. It WILL open more doors. But coaches can give offers with the 'hope' that the player will qualify later. Not uncommon for that to not work out. If you follow college football recruiting, for example, there is a lot more website tracking of commitments. Many 'signed classes' don't all show up. Often, its because, in the end, some of the players didn't qualify. We can assume the same is true in baseball...probably to a lesser degree, but still true nonetheless.

July 1 before Senior year is the first date that coaches can phone a player. September 1 of Junior year is the first date they can make personal contact by email/regular mail.

Again, GRADES ARE IN FACT IMPORTANT. Stick with it!

Again, great information and thank you.

So, last question and I think I have my answers. You are correct, I'm not worrying about the "noise" I hear because I know how people are...but in the world of facebook and social media with our kids, I just want to know what is what.

Bottom line, a player who claims that he went on a recruiting trip in January of this year (2012) to a basketball game and got offered, who grads in 2014 is either flat lying or that school blatantly violated NCAA rules....is that correct based on the rules as you know them? I thought it was BS all along, but your knowledge about it helps me simmer my kid down (who BTW was better than this kid all through the years growing up, but now has to read it on-line and in the digital media as you can imagine)---

Thanks again, justbaseball.

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
Again, great information and thank you.

So, last question and I think I have my answers. You are correct, I'm not worrying about the "noise" I hear because I know how people are...but in the world of facebook and social media with our kids, I just want to know what is what.

Bottom line, a player who claims that he went on a recruiting trip in January of this year (2012) to a basketball game and got offered, who grads in 2014 is either flat lying or that school blatantly violated NCAA rules....is that correct based on the rules as you know them? I thought it was BS all along, but your knowledge about it helps me simmer my kid down (who BTW was better than this kid all through the years growing up, but now has to read it on-line and in the digital media as you can imagine)---

Thanks again, justbaseball.

Welcome!
You have asked great questions and gotten great answers from JBB.
Listen to what he says, don't beleive everything that you hear. It is importnat at this point to educate yourself of the process and you have come to the right place for answers.
There are different types of visits that can occur before the actually dates that is allowed by NCAA. Remember JBB used the term initial in the contact (by coaches).

At any time a player can attend a college camp or go on an unofficial visit. A player at those times on the coaches college campus can be offered (to a 2013,2014 or 2015) a commitment. Someone may have used the word recruiting trip incorrectly, or it could be that the coach through someone else asked that the player come to see him, and to that person it was a recruiting trip, happens all of the time. There are specific rules but there are ways to get around them legally.

We recently had a discussion here about posts on social media about recruiting. I personally wouldn't pay much attention to what others are doing, concentrate on the process for your own player (tell him to keep much to himself) and ignore all that other noise you and he are hearing (whether true or not focus on your situation only).

The recruiting process is different for everyone. While your son may be better than that player, that may not mean that would be the right fit for him. In this process you would want your son to investigate as many possibilities as he can before he makes a decision.

Hope this helps.

hardgame - You're asking the right questions, doing a good job so far! Hang in there.

I can imagine the pressures social media adds. Our younger son was recruited and committed in the new age of social media. We (as a family) agreed that after his commitment (1 game into his HS junior season) that there would be no posting, there would be no newspaper articles, there would be nothing but focusing on his HS season. The only people in the world who knew were us (family), his head HS coach, his travel coach and the other schools that recruited him...so they wouldn't spend any more time on him.

None of his teammates knew, none of his assistant coaches knew, no one else in his HS knew. He had taken a few 'unofficial visits' (our expense, as TPM described), yet told no one. Just family, HS head coach (who was fabulous with help and advice) and the college coaches. Not even my good friends on this message board or in the neighborhood knew. Not until after the season and only because they kept asking.

By keeping the focus on his team and school, his grades remained high and his team won everything in sight.

This is the way we chose to do it. Its not the only way, but I really like the way it worked out. Of course, he was our second son to go through this...so I like to think I learned from our mistakes the first time around.

Keep your son focused on whats in front of him...the others simply do not matter whether accurate or not...that is unless they either motivate or de-motivate your son. It doesn't sound to me at all like you are anywhere near falling into the down side of this...you seem like you're a smart guy doing a great job for your son. Keep it up!

One of my son's high school teammates has an early commit to Pepperdine. He's a 2014, RHP,very good pitcher,4.00 student at a rigorous college prep,great work ethic,good character kid,good parents,and a great teammate.So it does happen. His mom told me he had always liked the Pepperdine baseball team growing up.

I was happy for the boy ! However, my 2014 son initially felt quite different about it. He was somewhat mad because he himself had not received any looks or offers. I explained to him that pitchers are at the top of the food chain in the baseball world.I told him to just keep working hard and everything will work out.Don't worry about things you cannot control.All the stuff that many of the dads on this board have had to tell their sons.

A couple of days later my son was telling his travel ball coach about the early commit.His coach told my son that was great news and everyone on the team will benefit.He went on to tell my son how he was not on anyone's radar going into his senior year at Ranch Bernardo High School.However,Hank Blalock,Matt Wheatland,& Scott Heard, all teammates of his, were being heavily scouted by MLB and big time D-1 colleges.He ended up getting a baseball scholarship to The University of San Diego,played minor league ball,and came back to USD to finish his degree. Not bad for someone who was not on anyone's radar

A day or so after that my son told his personal trainer about the early commit.He too said that was great news and everyone will benefit.He then told my son about how playing with Benji Gil in high school got everyone on the team chances to be seen.Chances they might not have ever had.Lots of scouts were at at every Castle Park High School game that year.Benji was the 19th pick of the 1991 draft,and a couple of his teammates ended up playing D-1 college baseball.Unfortunately,3 players from that same team(including my son's trainer)never played beyond high school. They were more talented than the 2 that played college ball.However,they never took school seriously and never got that chance.To this day they ALL regret not working hard in the classroom......

My son got over his initial disappointment.Realized that he's happy for his teammate,and at the end of the day all he can control is his attitude and work ethic.Everything will work out in the end

Gee, I tried telling him this stuff.What do I know ? I'm just a dad...... don't have the street cred that his coaches do LOL !

Thanks again, guys---great information and much appreciated! I agree, we will worry about ourselves and let all these publicity hounds do their thing...when the dust settles though, lots of people will have egg on their face if stuff is being exaggerated, in today's world there are no secrets with internet information, roster verifications, who ends up signing, etc....I guess this is the reality TV world we live in, everyone looking for their 15 minutes!

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
... in today's world there are no secrets with internet information...

You will find that scholarship information is confidential. Coaches don't want players talking about how much they received. I found contentment in just being happy for my son and not worrying about all the talk...

Best of luck to yours.

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:
...and not worrying about all the talk...

Best of luck to yours.

Chip..somebody hacked your account?

Hardgame,
The July 1st date is the date in which college coaches can begin to call rising seniors. It is not for rising juniors. Sept 1st is the date for contacting Juniors and that is only by e-mail. They still cannot call them. However, as has been explained above, they can always talk to a player if the player calls them. I have seen this happen quite often. As a travel coach I even had the "Hey, have this player call me." situation come up not long ago.

I have a 2014 as well, so I understand your anxiety, especially as others around commit. What has helped is watching some of the kids I know that are 2013 and how their process went. To actually see it work normally rather than the random act of a Freshman committing to a D1 school.

Good luck to your son.

As stated above, most of the 2014 kids I see that are getting offers are pitchers, (mostly ones that throw 90+, but a few other lefties as well). Other kids (such as catchers and bashers) have had a few discussions with coaches/assistant coaches informing them that they are on the schools radar and will begin to get more serious in the months to come.

Many players follow up on that interest and go to college camps of teams stating true interest that the player is also interested in, and some establish a strong repore and even get offers/commitments. In addition, I assume some even follow up and go to camps of schools that show interest via email/mail on or after September 1, 2012. However, I assume for 2014s very few get offers until the Spring/Summer of 2013.

Note: as stated above, coaches cannot call player directly to recruit him until July 1, 2013, and only verbal offers can be made. No offer is official until signing day, the first day of which for 2014s is November 1, 2013.

There is a kid on my son's 2014 team that was offered and has committed to a major D1 program that is a MIF. Everyone else that is getting interest and such is pitchers and catchers.

Although there is an accuracy disclaimer on their website, Perfect Game lists 2014s that have verbally committed. Just a random check: Virginia has 8 and NC has 10 so far (not all pitchers). You can check your state if you log into the PG website. Or, PM me and let me know your state and I can let you know how many and who is listed as committed.

I just found this tidbit of info on the PG site tonight. You can search by state or by school. Cool.

I think everyone will agree that the recruiting timeline is becoming earlier for some, but I wonder if east coast schools are "more ahead", of let's say, midwest schools? Something for me to go research....

Well, this is interesting:

Number of 2014 commits per state per PG website (just checked a few states):

FL 28
CA 13
SC 11
NC 10
VA 8
GA 8
TX 2
IA 2
TN 2
IL 2
PA 0
OK 0
KS 0
KY 0
AL 0

There could be more commits that PG does not have information for.

Also, the Virginia board reports that 2 2015s have verbally committed.

like most i am a fan of PG but there are a lot of kids we play with comitted who are not on the list..you only get on it if you tell them your comitted and the period between committing and putting it on there can be slow..travel coaches still want the colleges showing up at games..looks good

quote:

Originally posted by whits23:
..you only get on it if you tell them your comitted and the period between committing and putting it on there can be slow...

The player/parent can update the player PG profile (college committment, height, weight, etc). No need for PG to do that.

quote:

Originally posted by justbaseball:
Some parents are stretching the truth, but don't waste your time trying to figure out which ones. Down the road you will hear about players in your area who got "full rides." Extremely unusual and in most cases, untrue.

Grades are VERY important! Sounds like you have the right focus on that. It WILL open more doors. But coaches can give offers with the 'hope' that the player will qualify later. Not uncommon for that to not work out. If you follow college football recruiting, for example, there is a lot more website tracking of commitments. Many 'signed classes' don't all show up. Often, its because, in the end, some of the players didn't qualify. We can assume the same is true in baseball...probably to a lesser degree, but still true nonetheless.

July 1 before Senior year is the first date that coaches can phone a player. September 1 of Junior year is the first date they can make personal contact by email/regular mail.

Again, GRADES ARE IN FACT IMPORTANT. Stick with it!

I am no way saying you are incorrect, I know you know what you are talking about, but my 2013 got two calls prior to September 1st.... and he has a 3.75 GPA and not one coach has asked about his grades or even acknowledge it. Hopefully it will help him get an opportunity....

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
Great information, justbaseball, I appreciate it.

What is the July 1st date I read and hear about? Has that been moved to September 1st now of Junior year? Previous thread on here referenced several kids getting a phone call right on July 1st...

I agree, will worry about my kid and laugh at some of the tall tales I have already heard. Funniest thing of all is that I have always been told grades are paramount to a college baseball coach because they have so few scholarships and cannot afford to make mistake on kid that may flunk out of school or not get admitted....how in the world then, can some of these 2014 kids be getting "offers" when most (if not all) haven't even taken the ACT/SAT? Why are colleges even making offers and accepting commitments if they don't know if kid can get accepted or will have the grades? Seems like a waste of time and ineffient process on their part!

BTW, what happened to grades being important? I hear nothing about that nor see an emphasis being put on it so far....in fact, the most academically challenged players in our area are the ones giving all the commitments right now....are these parents just flat lying about some of this stuff? It is even making it to our newspaper/websites without any verification from anyone! Head-scratcher...

Agreed, 2013 grades have not helped him to date, have not been mentioned by any coach as important.

It becomes important once you get the athletic scholarship offer from your dream school and find out that you don't qualify to attend.

I was hoping that good grades might given the player academic money and the coach would say hey lets take the player with goods grades and we can save some athletic money for another player they want and thus make the team better overall.

That does in fact happen. Not uncommon at all.

But...the talent and need still has to be there.