2021s

If you asked me a couple months ago, I would have unquestionably leaned towards a "sky is falling approach" to 2021s.  But since then, I've seen nothing to substantiate it.  I was so worried that many good players would be left with no offers.  Boy, was I worried for nothing.  We are still seeing 2021s in our area (frankly, quite a few that I never considered college-caliber) committing.  Not every day, as it's slowed down some, but it's still regularly happening.  But the "stature" of the programs is certainly heading downward - generally speaking.  Mostly seeing D2 JUCOs and NAIA commitments at this point.  We're in Omaha - without question the "epicenter" of NE baseball in terms of population/players.  For reference, Kansas City is 3 hours away and Des Moines is 2.

My son's buddy committed to a stronger D2 JUCO program just a couple weeks ago, but we know it involved no money.  My guess is that anything coming in now involves zero athletic monies or very close to it.

So why does all seem fine/normal?  My best guess is that a good portion of it of is too good to be true.  I am predicting what I call "delayed carnage."  I think xmas break of 2021 could be much darker for many than it normally is.  The bubble bursts and cuts and transfers become pervasive.  I'd love to be wrong; I just don't know how the system can hold up the surplus weight for very long.

One piece of good news I'll share.  My 2021 is committed to JUCO where the coach genuinely likes to run small/smaller rosters.  30-35 guys and never above 35.  When my son toured there in July, the coach told us he was reluctantly going to run with 39 due to Covid this season.  But that didn't come to pass.  He's moved 8ish guys (6 to D1 4-years and 2 to D2) on over the past 2 months.  A really great surprise because my son MIGHT actually stand a shot of being on a 35 or less roster this fall.  I'm not counting chickens before they're hatched, but it's been awesome to see the coach moving guys on this fall all things considered.  Again, mostly D1 4-year schools.

Happy for your son Danj!

Commitments still happening. Friend of my son just committed this week to a D1 in TX. Don't know how long he held the offer, but there are still schools looking for talented kids. My son is a 2022, so I don't know when it's too late by division.

Some 2021’s on So-Cal scouts teams are still committing to top D3 schools and still some D1’s. One 2021 committed to UNLV last week.

@chazball not sure if it’s the same kid but one of my son’s classmates also just committed to a P5 D1 in TX.

@chazball posted:

Commitments still happening. Friend of my son just committed this week to a D1 in TX. Don't know how long he held the offer, but there are still schools looking for talented kids. My son is a 2022, so I don't know when it's too late by division.

Anyone that is committing to a D1 in Texas right now is almost certainly getting no baseball $.  That means they are a walk on - and they will be competing with 5 recruiting classes of guys on scholarship. The chances of that working out are slim and none. IMO that’s the worst possible decision a 2021 can make unless they will be content not playing baseball.

In general, I would guess that any 2021 committing NOW to anywhere is not getting any athletic scholarship.

@Francis7 posted:

In general, I would guess that any 2021 committing NOW to anywhere is not getting any athletic scholarship.

But you still get to splash a big announcement on Twitter!!                           #blessed

@adbono posted:

But you still get to splash a big announcement on Twitter!!                           #blessed

Respect my decision.  Oh wait, that is just for transfers.

@Francis7 posted:

How much is left to the school year? At most, five months?

At this point, kids have either signed a NLI or not.

If not, they either have an offer that's yet to be accepted or they have no offers.

For the kids with no offers, are they out of time - given the pandemic situation and where college rosters are now? (Note that this year is not like past years where maybe there was some time...perhaps.)

For the kids with offers and they haven't yet accepted, when is it going to be too late to accept...again, given the pandemic situation now and the college rosters overflowing?

The regular signing period for D1/D2 is in April. November was only the early period.

Bunches of 2021's here in MN committing to JUCO's...primarily in IA but also some in MN. The D2/D3 commitments seem to be slowing. Many D3's to the biggest D3 conference here called the MIAC. The most known schools in the MIAC are Carleton, Macalester, St John's, and St Thomas (after having been kicked out of the MIAC they are moving to D1 for 2021).

Side note that the #8 ranked PBR kid in MN/ND/SD is Josh Kingery, a LHP who has verified 90 in the left wing and has NOT committed anywhere yet. I am guessing that he will be committing somewhere sooner than later...probably D1.

I think some D3's and JUCO kind of look at position players all the way through the spring.  My 2021 is seeing a lot of more activity with D3 and JUCO that we were a bit surprised by.  Maybe they were waiting on budgets or approvals from college administrators. If you go the smaller college route I think it would just be prudent to do lots of research(I know others have mentioned this before) on their financials at this point and not just for athletics. 

if you're a 2021 or have one, you must follow @JRudd_Scout. Huge opportunity and gift here connecting players and coaches with needs and spots to fill.....

https://twitter.com/JRudd_Scou...509664195678211?s=20

I’m happy to help! Come follow along on Twitter as we prepare to turn over a comprehensive list of colleges looking for 2021’s.

https://twitter.com/jrudd_scout?s=21

@Francis7 posted:

In general, I would guess that any 2021 committing NOW to anywhere is not getting any athletic scholarship.

Oh, I’m sure they’ll find athletic money for a pitcher who throws 95+

I would bet that the lefty referenced in this thread earlier that throws 90 will get athletic money.  

My son was offered verbally by a Juco, but they said they didn’t have any athletic money. Is this typical? Should I be worried that the offer isn’t serious if they have no skin in the game? Thank you would appreciate your feedback

I’m not real familiar with JuCos. This is a general answer. Is it they don’t have athletic money available? Or they do but not for your son? If just not for your son he’s probably insurance if recruited players of higher priority, who will get a better shot don’t pan out. If they don’t provide athletic money do they have other money available? You have to understand the big picture to understand your son’s position.

There are 3 categories of JUCOs - just as there are in 4 year NCAA schools: D1, D2 & D3. If fully funded (and many aren’t) D1 JuCos can offer 24 full scholarships which can (and often are) be split into half’s. D2 JuCos also offer scholarships but can only offer books, tuition & fees - roughly 50% of the annual cost. D3 JuCos don’t offer any athletic scholarships. Some, but not all, JuCos have on campus housing. As far as the situation with your son goes, the JuCo in question has either already given away all their scholarships or they are only interested enough to offer a walk on opportunity. Even when schools say they are out of money, most of them hold a scholarship or two back in case a hard throwing pitcher shows up out of nowhere at the last minute. My advice would be to keep looking. A walk-on offer can be accepted at the 11th hour. No need to jump at that.

@adbono posted:

There are 3 categories of JUCOs - just as there are in 4 year NCAA schools: D1, D2 & D3. If fully funded (and many aren’t) D1 JuCos can offer 24 full scholarships which can (and often are) be split into half’s. D2 JuCos also offer scholarships but can only offer books, tuition & fees - roughly 50% of the annual cost. D3 JuCos don’t offer any athletic scholarships. Some, but not all, JuCos have on campus housing. As far as the situation with your son goes, the JuCo in question has either already given away all their scholarships or they are only interested enough to offer a walk on opportunity. Even when schools say they are out of money, most of them hold a scholarship or two back in case a hard throwing pitcher shows up out of nowhere at the last minute. My advice would be to keep looking. A walk-on offer can be accepted at the 11th hour. No need to jump at that.

I would suspect that many JUCO's are holding some scholarship $ back for the rather large amount of D1 drop downs that will be available next year.