3 Top Factors In Choosing A College Program

“You like the school, they have your major, you are comfortable on the campus“

These are common sense variables.

“all the financials are not any issue.“

This is too huge of a variable for many to place in the assume category.

It’s hard to chose a program based on a coach. Coaches get fired. If there’s upward mobility they leave for greener pastures. Sure, you don’t walk into a program if you think the coach is a jerk. But it’s not guaranteed you won’t have a jerk for a coach in a year or two.

Regarding #2...I'd say don't overlook a program that has been down but recently changed coaches...might be a good chance to get in on the ground floor of an improving program.

#2 is hard. I seen programs that yo yo

Agree on #1,  but you can't always know.  Agree with 2022 and K9 on #2.

#3 is overrated IMO.  With 35 or more players around each one doesn't have that much one-on-one time with the HC.  He doesn't have to be a saint, but it's good if he's not a monster. Who your teammates are is much, much more important.

#3 is a tough one.  Just keep in mind that the higher up the ladder the program is, the tougher the HC.  Tough in meaning that when they address you the little hairs on your neck stand up. But if you are able to play for one of these coaches, and dislike them, one day you will be applying life skills to what you have learned from them.

I agree that the relationship between your teammates is important. But thats a tough one now because there are no on campus visits. 

I agree with RJM. These days a lot of the young assistant coaches move around, a lot of the older coaches are forced to step down. ADs want younger guys who can relate to the kids today.

#1 no one can predict playing time. Each player needs to prepare for this opportunity.

#2 You and your teammates will make the program successful! Learn the game.

#3 The Coach cannot be your friend.

#4 What Summer College program can I play, to learn and develop?

#5 How do I earn $$ selling programs at basketball, football games.

#6 who is my Tutor?

Bob

@TPM posted:

I agree that the relationship between your teammates is important. But thats a tough one now because there are no on campus visits. 

I guess Francis-son will have to be resourceful.  Seems to me there is a lot of pertinent info online.  Find and follow the social media accounts of players at target schools.  Study the info in rosters. For example if a roster is full of kinesiology majors, and Francis-son plans to major in actuarial science, maybe it's not a good match. 

I wonder if in these weird times, in lieu of overnight campus visits,  a coach might ask current players to temporarily include his top prospects in their group chats on Slack or Snapchat or whatever.  Or at least give a prospect a couple of phone numbers or email address of players so he can ask  them questions.

Ding ding ding.  That was already happening.  Son got phone calls, texts, & snaps from several of the players on the teams he was being recruited by.  Especially lhp's.  I'm sure he hand picked which ones to give to which players but that has been happening.   I'm sure he told them what to say and not say.  I don't know that you want 14/15 year olds on the snapchats that going back and forth between college players. 

@Francis7 posted:

THE FOLLOWING ASSUMES THAT EVERYTHING ELSE BESIDES BASEBALL CHECKS OUT - You like the school, they have your major, you are comfortable on the campus and all the financials are not any issue. The only questions that remain are about the baseball program.

To me, there (below) are the top 3 things you need to consider. Am I off and missing anything?

1. You only get 4 years of eligibility. Go somewhere that gives you a chance to compete for playing time as soon as possible. Don't go to a school where you might start to get a chance to play in your junior year because then you have wasted 50% of your eligibility.

2. Choose a successful program. Playing for a team who is lucky to win 15 games a year gets old in a hurry. Baseball is more fun when you are winning or at least have a chance to win most of the time.

3. Play for a coach that you respect and admire. Don't go to a school where you are not sure if you will get along with the coach. Worst thing to do is have a job where you don't like your boss. 

Francis - Good question in my opinion.  You've got the "big hitters" covered in your first paragraph. As for the rest:

1) It depends what your goal at the end of the 4-5 years is.   If you want to be a professional baseball player than this becomes really, really important and a lot of it will depend on the talent level of the program.   Many freshmen compete for playing time but very few players will actually earn playing time.   As you know, those freshmen starting numbers decrease significantly as you move up the talent hierarchy.    If your son knows he won't be a professional baseball player, and he has a demanding major then I think it becomes important to put a value on his time.  My son loves baseball but he wasn't going to "sacrifice" 20-40 hours per week (depending on the season) to sit on a bench where it could be spent studying for a demanding major.   He was very sensitive to this topic when he chose the school.   So, if he wasn't going to be in the rotation by sophomore year he was going to consider his options.   That didn't happen, but it was something very top of mind for him.

2) I disagree.  In actuality, my son had a lot more opportunities to play in his 4 years because the team was never a perennial winner.  His team did win their conference one year and go to the NCAAs, and he was a big part of their success.   Some years the stars align with the right team chemistry.   Team winning history was not of major importance to my son.

3) More important than the HC's respect and admiration is your son's chemistry with his position coach and the philosphy around strength, conditioning and nutrition.   My son's PC and Strength & Conditioning coaches had a far greater influence on his performance and improvement than anything else during his 4 years.   The HC is filling out a lineup, talking to the PC and Hitting Coaches, and bringing money into the program.   HC has final say on recruitment, but after that he had bigger "fish to fry" with the entire program.  

Good luck!

I agree there's different reasons to choose a school. If you want to play in college before moving on to your career of choice, have a great experience and build great memories, then pick a place where you get along with everyone, where you'll get to play right away and where your coach will become a friend and mentor.

Other kids choose schools because baseball is their career of choice. My son picked the school that had the best baseball program and then he worked his butt off to get playing time his freshman year. I think he has a lot of respect for his coaches and is learning tons from them, but I'm not sure he cares if he "likes" them or "gets along" with them.

To boil it down, there can't be any one sized fits all factors everyone uses to choose a college.

Every kid has different priorities. Different factors matter to them. That's okay.

They should identify those, be honest with themselves about them, and then make their decisions based on their own specific needs.

As usual, Fenway hits the nail on the head on #3.

The HC is not the person that you report to on a daily basis. Your son should be establishing a report with the person who is responsible for developing him as a player. The HC is responsible for developing the player into a responsible adult.  And he is the one who runs team practice.

If you are a pitcher, then the PC recommends who should be in the game. If you are a hitter, the hitting coach does the same. During the game sometimes it may be a collective agreement, but if you aren't playing it's not always because of the HC.  

If you are a catcher, you will work under both assistants. 

A great point made about having a good relationship with the athletic trainer. 

It's impossible to say. Two schools can check every box, but one can just check the boxes and the other can blow you away. These are factors and its all entirely subjective. Where one get a check, another might get a check +. 

Winning is nice, but I wouldn't get caught up in it. Would you pass on a Va Tech, Pitt, Notre Dame to go to a winner in a weaker conference? Would you pass on a Fullerton or a Long Beach because they had a few down years? I would worry more about the level of play than I would the record. Go to a game and watch. I can guarantee a lot of middle of the road and teams with losing records are better than a lot of 30 win teams in weaker conferences. If you're choosing between two schools in the same conference that you're 50/50 on, then maybe culture and win % come into play. 

For me, I'd want to play the best competition possible. To me there is a difference between a 20 win team that is competitive and a 20 win team that gets spanked 2 of 3 every series. You have to be able to read the room. You can look at a 20 win team and say "yeah but look who they're playing" and you can look at a 35 win team and say "yeah but look who they're playing". I'd consider win %, but I wouldn't let it be a deciding factor. 

I agree with the folks who challenged #2. PTWooddaughter plays basketball at Northwestern. They were 12-20 the year before she got there. 21-15 her freshman year (losing in the NIT finals) and 26-4 last year finishing top 15 in all polls and projected to be a 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA tournament if it hadn't been cancelled. She researched the reputation of the coach, looked at who they had on the team and who they were bringing in with her and believed in what they were building. Plus, NU checked all her other boxes. Playing against great competition, an outstanding education, and a chance (not a guarantee) to play.

If the team has been terrible for 20 years and isn't doing anything to change it that's one thing, but there is nothing more satisfying (even exhilarating) than being part of a team that turns things around.

@Francis7 posted:

 

1. Go somewhere that gives you a chance to compete for playing time as soon as possible.

I think "a chance" is the key part here. The coach can tell you all you want to hear when you are being recruited. See who's ahead of you, and be ready to COMPETE. You can a great deal of insight by looking at the year to year roster and stats. 

2. Choose a successful program. Playing for a team who is lucky to win 15 games a year gets old in a hurry. Baseball is more fun when you are winning or at least have a chance to win most of the time.

I really disagree here. Son committed and played to a "15 win program or less". They competed for league title freshman year and went to NCAA's (school record win total) son's sophomore year. A good recruiting class(es) can turn a program around and change the culture.

3. Play for a coach that you respect and admire. Don't go to a school where you are not sure if you will get along with the coach. Worst thing to do is have a job where you don't like your boss. 

The coach who recruited you may be different once you are there, but yes admiration from players is good. We learned much watching games when son was still in HS being recruited. How did the coach interact with players? How were his on field decisions? Talk to a few of the current players (starters and non-starters). 

The "non baseball" reasons can't be neglected (as others indicated). Those played heavily on son's selection of college program.

Just to amplify what others have said: the sum of all three of points on Francis' checklist is greater than its parts.

1) chance to play: 100%. Study year to year stats.  See who's graduating. See who's waiting in the wings. Both Smokesons looked for and were fortunate to find mutual attraction with D3 schools where at least one starting outfielder graduated in May before they joined the team in August. What I didn't anticipate for son #1 was that one of the other OF recruits would be a power hitter, which #1 is definitely not. I also didn't expect him to compete with either of the heir apparent OFs: one led the team in hitting the year before, and the other had the most experience of any of the non-starters. So what happens is the other frosh hits with power and initially takes the third spot during fall ball and preseason and has started every game since. The OF leading the team in hitting did it again.  But the guy who expected to start after spot playing for three years had a brutal fall and preseason slump, lost his spot, and left the team after its Florida trip.

2. Successful program: 23.7%: All the D3 schools Smokesons looked at had winning records and recent playoff history, if not regionals, then at least conference tournaments.  #1 eventually played in a regional and said it was awesome being there. #2's team had been the D3 CWS the year before he was recruited. The relative strength of each team mattered, but if a HA D1 (Patriot or Ivy) had come calling then records wouldn't have mattered to either of them. At all. 

3. Play for a coach you admire: 37% but  I would change admire to tolerate, and if you end up admiring the guy, then that's a bonus.  Research this as much as possible, though, because you don't want a guy who promises your kid the moon, and then disappears as soon as your kid gets in the door.  Research is also important because someone, somewhere who thinks they weren't treated fairly by the coach may want to do a hatchet job on them.  I've seen it on this site and I've heard in the stands at showcases. Don't settle for just one opinion, good or bad. Biggest priorities about the coach for me as a parent was this: Is the dude FAIR? Is he HONEST?

So total percentage of those three: 160.7 %. Get that and you'll have a winner.

Smokeson #3 ('22) is heading into the recruiting gauntlet.  He's a pitcher, so maybe his percentages will line up differently, but I already know they're gonna add up to more than 100% and the process will be much different for him. He'll either have the velo and control he needs, or he won't.  If he doesn't then there won't be any factors at all, let alone 3.

@Francis7 posted:

1. You only get 4 years of eligibility. Go somewhere that gives you a chance to compete for playing time as soon as possible. Don't go to a school where you might start to get a chance to play in your junior year because then you have wasted 50% of your eligibility.

Most incoming freshman recruited as catchers don't play right away. One might be a stud in HS, but chances are that you will play behind the guy who has the job currently.  And probably there will be someone else looking for the job as well. Make sure that you can hit, and you will play while learning the position.

For some strange reason, some guys come in thinking that they will play as catcher right away, 

I agree with what a lot of others have said.  Play time is never a guarantee and who could have predicted what we are going through now...you have to be willing to work hard and compete, regardless.  As for the coach, I think most top programs, regardless of D1,D2,D3 are likely hard asses.  Respect yes, but likely also hate sometimes.  Most coaches have reputations and it's not too hard to find out about them.  Winning, yeah, you never know, but I do think that my son wanted to go to the best baseball school he could go to.  That was probably his top factor.  Again, that is a little subjective and changes year to year.  How much is your son factoring into the decisions? It's clear you are thinking a lot about every scenario (I think most of us do) but how much is your son?

My nephew  is a freshman football recruit at his local D3.  Based on my son’s experience he and my sister in law asked me at Christmas time looking back at it 4 (now 5) years later what was my opinion of what he should look for. He was a preferred walk on type at D1 level.  

I said from what I saw from son and his teammates’ experiences I would value two criteria over all.  Go where you are confident you will play and the team wins no matter the level.  

Son has contributed on 3 forty win teams and pitched in 3 post seasons so far. 13K fans in one at Arkansas.   They have won a bunch and lots of great memories but lots of great players I have seen move on because at the end of the day it’s way more fun to play. It’s a ton of work and time invested to sit and watch others. 

The number one thing is find a school that you would go to even if you weren't playing baseball...injuries happen, transfers happen...don't go to a school just to play baseball.