2015 Commitments

EvoShield Canes OF, Stephen Polansky (Hickory 15), committed to Va Tech. Congrats, Po!

I remember when my 2008 son went through the recruiting pipeline. The very first offers made to even the most elite players in his class, nationwide, started in November of his junior year (2006), or less than 1 1/2 years before graduation.

Now you have guys committing 15 months ahead of that time table.

That rates a "WOW".

Congrats to Stephen and his family. What intrigues me is not that he received an "early" offer, but that is was Virginia Tech. Wonder if Hughes is tired of playing second fiddle to some of the other ACC schools who recruit early?

Congrats to PO and family. Great kid, great parents, should be a Great fit at Tech!

So I guess we need to sit down with 2016 joemktgson and start targeting schools. Think it will be safe to wait until February to do this, when he has 6 months of HS under his belt?

Congrats to the family on the work, foresight, and dedication. There's a blueprint in here somewhere.

quote:

So I guess we need to sit down with 2016 joemktgson and start targeting schools.

I know you were tongue in cheek on this, but indications are that perhaps you should not be -- not if your son has legit D1 ability. Apparently he could well be committed by this time next year!

In Polansky's case, he is a very talented player...lots of fast twitch. The talent is evident. Also, Coach Hughes' son plays for the EvoCanes so he was able to watch Stephen all summer. Finally, VT has gotten more verbals from underclassmen this year than in the past, which tells me they are trying to lock up kids earlier to compete with the rest of the ACC. Either you adapt or become irrelevant. Congrats to VT for adapting.

quote:

Originally posted by joemktg:
So I guess we need to sit down with 2016 joemktgson and start targeting schools. Think it will be safe to wait until February to do this, when he has 6 months of HS under his belt?

Joemktg, you may already be years behind. Berryberrygoodson2017 has already been talking to several ACC and SEC programs. (Won't be long before this is thought to be the "new norm," the way things are going!)

quote:

Originally posted by berryberrygood:
Won't be long before this is thought to be the "new norm," the way things are going!

Or the AAU Basketball paradigm.

quote:

Finally, VT has gotten more verbals from underclassmen this year than in the past, which tells me they are trying to lock up kids earlier to compete with the rest of the ACC. Either you adapt or become irrelevant. Congrats to VT for adapting.

Well, it is about time. It sounds like VT may have finally figured it out. I don't think there has been a lack of interest by recruits over the last bunch of years and there has not been a lack of talent in the state over the last bunch of years. VT does recruit some talented players, but they've lacked depth that better ACC teams have. Hopefully the idea of competing for younger talented recruits to keep pace with competition will stick with the program.

I don't think there's been any lack of effort in the past. I do think the team's steady improvement in quality of play, players getting drafted into the pros, new investments in facilities, etc., are all turning heads with kids.

The fact of the matter is, Va. Tech is a school a lot of kids grow up dreaming about attending. Maybe their parents went there, maybe they love the idea of being in a stadium with 70,000 of their closest fans 6 times each fall for the rest of their lives, but the reality is that VT has a lot of advantages in recruiting. Now that they are consistently competitive in the ACC, it's only natural that players respond accordingly.

I can also tell you, with each passing year the number of players and former players who are out there singing the praises of Coach Hughes grows. That makes an impression. Everyone likes the head guy when they are being romanced during recruiting. When the players still love and respect him after 4 years of working with him daily, it means a lot.

The 2015 list will continue to grow, a number of prospects are making unofficial visits this fall. We will track their decisions here!

Baseball Commitment Tracker

Pete Hughes is a class act, an outstanding coach and a good friend. He had 50 years of catching up to do against other ACC schools -- or as long as the Hokies should have been in the ACC but were not. It is no surprise he is making progress. Midlo is right. Hokie roots run deep in the Commonwealth and there are lots of talented players and their families who want to be part of the Virginia Tech baseball rebirth. Pete is making that very possible.

Another EvoCane to the SEC:

Kaleb Bowman, Woodgrove, RHP to South Carolina

I've got a son 2017... and am very curious what the likelihood of these schools altering their commitments - as in how much, etc??

Surely there will be pitchers who develop surprisingly between their Sophomore and Senior year who these teams wish they would be able to offer the scholarship to, vs the kid they offered before hie sophomore season?

Wish and hope someone tracks this and can provide facts that should be available to all families with an interest.

Early commits need to remember GPA and SAT/ACT scores matter when it comes to actually getting the scholarship.

quote:

Originally posted by zrxkuma:
Early commits need to remember GPA and SAT/ACT scores matter when it comes to actually getting the scholarship.

We discuss this with our kids all the time.

I understand from a college coach that Connor Eason of Great Bridge committed to UVA last night.

Yes.... was on Twitter. Posted by Dynamic Baseball. However, Connor is a Hickory product.

Daniel Lynch, LHP Freeman, to UVA.

 

2 more EvoCanes to the ACC:

Paul Hall, LHP Maury, to Va Tech

Grant Maiorana, OF/C Western Branch, to Va Tech

***That is 13 EvoCanes in the 2015 class that are committed to ACC/SEC schools***

The numbers are very low...like a handful per year.  We pay attention to this for our kids and help counsel them properly.

Congrats to Daniel Lynch!  

 

You can see him here... 

 

 

 

Please disregard the kids that you hear in back ground.  I opted to not mute the video because I'm partial to the pop of the catchers mitt.  There scouting reports on teams were pretty funny though considering the 2 teams that were supposed to be "down" made it to regionals and states!  I also toyed with the idea of putting "Eye of the Tiger" in the back ground but just couldn't do it.  Maybe now I should put "That Good Ole Song"... "Wah-hoo-wah, wah-hoo-wah! Uni-v, Virginia! Hoo-rah-ray, hoo-rah-ray, ray, ray--U-Va!"

 

The rest of the RBA West players can be seen here... http://www.playinschool.com/rbawest2013

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

www.twitter.com/PlayInSchool

I see that 13 players of the 2015 class committed to ACC/SEC congrats to them an their family's.  My question is how many will go to the committed schools. And how many will really play on these teams. 

 

Coaches are always looking for up grades an a lot can change between now and then?  An stats on this??

Wow!  I should just go ahead and tell my son (2015 - 1st Team all District) to throw in the towel - it's over....

Proud praent,

 

As long as they stay injury free, I will say all of them.  Let's look at Connor Eason since JB was throwing 90-91 as a frosh. Connor was 5-10ish and 81-83 as a frosh but the ball came out of his hand very easily.  UVA saw him throw several times and liked him but wanted to see more growth. So...they see him this past winter at the East Coast Baseball camp where he had grown to 6-1ish and was touching 85-87. He committed this spring. Just last week at the PG National, he touched 89 as a rising junior.

 

Will there be others who throw harder by the time he matriculates to UVa?  Maybe, maybe not. What Connor has shown them is the ability to get high level hitters out (with the EvoCanes) and a consistent pattern of velocity improvement. They can project him to be throwing 90+. 

 

Ilovebaseball,

 

I'd suggest your son find a solid travel team so the colleges of interest in him can see him play. They won't recruit him off any All District teams. 

redbird and SE DAD, I am not in any way diminishing the accomplishments of these players.  If the player is a good fit than great, but experience has been little different then yours or these players.  Here's what I have seen:

 

Coaches are recruiting players to win, (we can agreed on that), an what they see in young players is projection, sometimes doesn't work out.  Let me put different spin on this just for good discussion.  

 

Why would a young player want to go to a ACC/SEC school as freshman an never see the field, an possible not as a sophomore  . An if the players doesn't progress as projected by coaches never see the field. Also there could be a coaching change even before the player gets there, then what? 

 

Here is my advice to young players an even studs, go to good JUCO, get two years of proven college baseball under your belt an then go to the big D1 school an get a starting position. 

 

D1 are always looking at JUCO players, the main reason is they have good college baseball for the last two years, and can get right into their program an improve it and be starters.  Also when these 2015's are there every fall there will a class of JUCO recruits show up on day one to take there spots they thought they had.

 

I have seen this happen, I am sure parents can also chime in with story's of how they thought their player had worked into a starting spot to see the JUCO's arrive an take'em away.  Your thoughts.

Proud Praent, 

I understand what you're saying, but these super-early major conference commits are so far ahead of the pack and so committed to the regimens/programs/disciplines that will keep them ahead of the pack that it doesn't require a huge leap of faith to project them as successful college players.

Swampboy:  your talking about the top  10%, an they are few an far between. Unfortunately we see to many kids and parents that are not in touch with reality an think they not only can get on a D1 roster but start.  Most find out the hard way.  They go to D1's an sit when they could be starters in other programs and continue to work there way there.  

Well, you've changed the subject a couple times.

 

First you asked how many of these 2015 commits will actually go to these schools, and Redbird assured you nearly all of them would.  

 

Then you shifted the focus to how many will go to major conference schools and be disappointed by the opportunities they find, and I said the super-early commits I've seen are on a trajectory that does lead to success at big programs.

 

Then you changed the subject yet again to advise where non-elite players should go.  Well that's fine, except this started out as a conversation about a small handful of truly elite players.  The general advice doesn't so readily apply to them.  

 

Even so, I do agree with your general point that non-elite players who pick the most prestigious program available to them often have a harder road than if they went for a better fit or gave themselves more time to develop in environments that aren't over their heads.  But that idea is a long way off from where the thread started.

 

Proud Praent and Ilovebaseball,

 

You do realize you are on a Virginia forum?  Things could be different in, say,  South Texas and NH?

 

I posted awhile back how many early verbal commitments came from Virginia, NC, SC, GA and FL, while other states like CA and TX did not have many (at the time).  Months have passed since that post so the stats have changed, but even mid-majors around here are on the early commitment bandwagon.  In Virginia, we mostly have 2 year community colleges, many/most without baseball programs.  Not so many JUCOs for our instate guys.

The question of whether a kid who just finished his sophomore year should commit is always going to be a case-by-case situation.

 

For most, it's an option they could only wish to have in the first place.  If you get that option, consider yourself lucky.

 

For those who do have the option, clearly there are some who are ready and who are getting the offer they wanted/needed.  Others would be well advised to wait and weigh their options a bit longer.

 

The key is in doing your homework and having the self awareness to know which category you fall into.  Clearly we have seen mistakes made on both ends and as you see more and more early commitments I think you may see more and more mistakes -- probably the same percentage, but of a larger number of players.

 

But we almost never see a decommitment pushed by the school.  The biggest drivers of decommitments are players failing to do their classroom work, players getting into trouble (DUI's and the like), or players changing their minds.  When players change their minds, it has been my observation that a common problem is that the parents drove the initial decision making too much -- some are always looking for those bragging rights --  and at some point the kid spoke up and said, "But that's not what I want!"

 

There is a lot of concern expressed over whether committing early hurts the kid by putting him at a college coach's mercy.  That is an interesting theory of what might happen, but in practice we don't see it actually happening.  The bigger risk that's growing is for the college coaches who have money committed out there, position slots filled in their recruiting classes, and then after they've seen everyone else commit elsewhere, they guy they thought they had locked down messes up or just changes his mind.  And then they have a hole in their class and have to scramble to fill it.

 

My thinking is that if the brakes get put on this, it'll be the college coaches who do it, not the players.  And it probably won't require the NCAA to intervene, either.

And my experience is way different than yours.  We work with coaches and players every day.  Why can't a frosh step on the field right away?  Why not shoot for the stars?  If they have to sit the bench and bide their time, why is that a bad thing?  We not compete at the highest level if you have the ability and drive.  I heard a great story about the Oregon State CF.  He lived in a tent to tryout for the team as a walk on his frosh year.  He had gone unrecruited and earned a spot on the team.  If he followed your advice, he would have been at a JuCo watching the CWS.

 

And, I completely disagree with your use of JuCo.  JuCo, IMO, should be for: 1) Highly drafted guys who didn't sign and want another shot the next year; 2) guys with academic issues; 3) guys who weren't recruited due to injury or some other circumstance who have D1 potential.

I am hoping for the best for all these players,

 

I apologize for getting off subject, I read some of these posts an think about the post an different issues an opinions out there. All well thought out with I enjoy hearing the opinions and experiences of other players, parents, and coaches.  There are so many different paths to college baseball, some we agreed with, some we don't, I enjoy this site and hearing from other people outside my normal circle. 

 

Another EvoCane to the ACC:

Evan Sperling, RHP Grafton, to UVA.

Congrats to Nick, family, and Cardinals. What a great choice, and a great school!

 

W&M seems to have changed their recruiting philosophy over the last few years with new W&M Head Coach Pinzino.  They are getting very, very  good talent and much earlier in the process than in years past.  Nick makes 3 players in the Dominion district alone verbally committed to W&M (that I know of).  This is a program on the rise.  I'm really looking forward to seeing this guys play in a couple years.

Nathan Trevillian, 2015 RHP from Amherst and the Virginia Cardinals, has committed to Liberty University.

 

Currently ranked by Perfect Game as the # 2 Virginia player in his class, Nathan chose the Flames over numerous other suitors and competing offers.  Nathan gained wide attention after his eye-opening spring and summer season that included a 9-up, 9-down, 5 K performance at PG's Junior National Showcase, where his fastball was at 90 mph, and where no ball was hit hard or left the infield.

Another EvoCane commits:

 

Chase Illig, Tazewell, C - to College of Charleston

 

Chase is our 20th 2015 to commit.  Congrats!