A College visitation

I believe this is how they do it. Usually they'll put the parents up in a hotel and the player may stay with another player who is on the team. You'll see the campus with an assistant, meet some counselors, probally visit and eat with the head coach and see what they may offer. Remember, they all seem like great people but when your on the team its all business from there.

PABaseballMom - An "official" visit is the only time that the school can and will pick up the tab for the student to visit. A student is limited to taking five official visits, so a highly recruited player might want to consider that. For most players, five is more than enough. The NCAA places limits on schools as well for the total number they can have as well as other limits on the the visits.

A player can take as many unofficial visits as they can afford and desire to do.

quote:

Originally posted by lafmom:
A player can take as many unofficial visits as they can afford and desire to do.

To elaborate - An "unofficial visit" is when you contact the coach to tell them you'd like to visit, he says sure. It could be very similar to an "official visit" as described except you bear all of the cost. And I'm not sure if an overnight stay is allowed with an unofficial visit either.

Coach calls and tells you he wants you to come visit in the next week or two and make you an offer. Do you ask if this is an official or unofficial visit? It is about 4 hours from home so we won't be spendig the night. I'm only asking because if you only get 5, you'd like to know if this is one or not.

If it is a day trip, and it is a school your son might accept an offer from, one approach is to just make it an unofficial visit.

Then, if an offer is made, and the school is definitely one you are considering, the official visit can come later. That way you will know the offer is in hand when you do a full weekend, meet the players, spend time with the team and see the fall coaching, etc - before making the decision.

Also, you can even take the official visit after accepting an offer. Good way to meet everybody and geta better feel for the campus and school life.

So, is it 5 official visits total, or 5 official visits per school?

The coach would say Right up front if the visit is official.
Not sure why you would do a visit after acceptance of an offer.

quote:

Originally posted by bballman:
So, is it 5 official visits total, or 5 official visits per school?

It is 5 official visits total.

quote:

So, is it 5 official visits total, or 5 official visits per school?

Total
My guess is that OVs are fairly rare. Coaches use it as a tool to talk top prospects into going to their college.
I have never see stats on this but my guess is that very few relatively get OVs.
Probably higher in the money sports.

Official Visits are actually very common. More so for the more highly recruited positions.

There was one school within a couple hours drive of us that offered an official visit. When we said that we'd like to save them, as it was early in the recruiting process, how about an unofficial visit, he was actually a little put out, and told us that he had never signed a player who took an unofficial visit. We were very interested, so we did make it an official visit.

When a coach requests an official visit, he will send paperwork that you fill out so that he can obtain the HS transcripts, get NCAA clearinghouse info, and file with the NCAA that you have used an official visit.

You are allowed a total of 5 official visits, in which the school is allowed to pay all actual expenses of the recruit, but only the lodging and meal expenses of the parents, not the travel.

Different schools do OV's differently, in that some pony up for everything allowed, while others won't pay travel, etc. Just about anything is possible, and schools deal with budgets, so that can constrain their spending on OV's also.

Best of luck.

It would be an interesting stat to see how many guys who played college ball had an OV. Most I know never had one and just a few had UOVs. My son only had 1 UOV but several offers. Most of the coaches asked him if he would like to come and take a look at the school. The only UOV he took was UNLV and all they could do was show him around. He left hid DVD with the coordinator and we heard from them as soon as they could view it. It was a quiet period followed by a dead period.

College baseball recruiting time-lines have moved up tremendously. The reality is that most top guys commit after unofficial visits during their junior year and use official visits in their senior year to meet with all the other commits.

When I first got in this (early 90's), the guys from our program loved their official visits. Many of them would go to the fun schools for their officials. You could always count on Miami for a boat trip and good parties. Other places on the west coast put on a great show for the guys.

That has become a thing of the past for the last 5 years or so due to schools/players panicking and committing way early. It's too bad because poor decisions are being made by both school and player and a player does not get a real feel for school life on unofficials.

Finally, "unofficial visits" are a joke as a rule. They are choreographed as much as any official visit (as a rule) and border on illegal. The top players come away from those "unofficials" with an offer that is "good" for a certain amount of time and then they will be pulled "off the table". That really bothers me! This is a huge decision for a student-athlete and his family and to be pressured is just wrong! I wish there could be some formal legislation against this type of thing by the NCAA.

Here is what the hsbbweb offers as information regarding visits.
http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/official_visit_rules.htm

The OP didn't state what division or program the invite was from, I think there are different rule for each division?

For D1, as CP states, you know it is official because you must get a letter showing graduate rates and sign a rules form, as well as turn in your transcript, paperwork goes to the NCAA that you took a visit and they gave one of the 25 allowed. Without that, it is not official.

I like the UOV and so do coaches, it eliminates or strenghtens in the recruiting process. Big programs want their recruits who haven't committed to come on football weekends, they use this to sell the school, atmosphere, etc. I suggest taking UOV during baseball season. You can request and be granted your OV anytime you wish after you committ, and I do think that goes for bb scholarship as well as non bb scholarship players.

If you are close and drive your son to an OV, for D1 you get miledge reimbursement.

All D1 prospects are allowed OV to the school that they have verballed to, at the schools expense, many programs like to get kids to commit early so they don't have to pay for 25 to come, and save the OV for the ones who committed, even the big ones do this. I never knew a player who didn't take their earned OV later on even after signing or committing, it's a great way to meet your new teammates.

quote:

Just wondering if anyone could tell me if a D-1 college has ever paid the expenses for a prospect to come and visit the campus and talk with the coaches

BHD,
Didn't GSU ask your son to come on an official visit?

No they didn't even mention any visit. However he had played there in tournaments but the coach never saw him other than the DVD.
Other schools that made offers didn't either. UNLV was the only visit and it just happened he was heading there for a BKTB tournament. They also told us that if we ever came to Vegas that if we let them know we would get tickets to any games like BKTB, Football depending on when we came. They were the only ones who actually wooed us. CSU just negotiated an offer after the coaches reviewed the DVD. The fact that my son had been there may have [played into the process. Based on UNLVs interest level we thought we were getting an offer so we had to scramble to work the CSU offer when it didn't happen.

quote:

Originally posted by ncball:
Finally, "unofficial visits" are a joke as a rule. They are choreographed as much as any official visit (as a rule) and border on illegal. The top players come away from those "unofficials" with an offer that is "good" for a certain amount of time and then they will be pulled "off the table". That really bothers me! This is a huge decision for a student-athlete and his family and to be pressured is just wrong! I wish there could be some formal legislation against this type of thing by the NCAA.

ncball,
I'm not sure what you object to? As was stated earlier, the timeline for recruiting has been advanced for the top players. There is nothing unscrupulous about making an offer to a recruit during an unofficial visit. All offers come with deadlines, always have. The coach needs to know whether you're his guy or he has to move on to the next recruit in line. That's the same as it is in the business world. No school or business would make an open ended offer, decide whenever you want. Wouldn't it be just as unfair to the school to string them along for time infinity? It's not for the pressure, it's for a decision...in or out, because if you're not in, then you're out and the school needs to move on.

The only difference between official and unofficial is if the school picks up the tab for the visit.

First of all if you have true interest in the school you want an overnight so as to get to meet the team and get their insight

On an official 48 hr visit all expenses are paid by the college for the player not the parents

Bobblehead----you need to do more research--many many players get official visits

Bobble:

Official visits after committing are far from uncommon. Lots of kids commit in the summer before their senior year, then do an official visit in the fall to meet the team, watch a practice, go to a class or two, see the dorms, etc.

BHD,
If your son committed early enough, he should have been offered a visit afterwards unless they had none available.
Most schools don't give OV if close to classtime, I am assuming they must save visits for those that sign in the springtime.

quote:

The only difference between official and unofficial is if the school picks up the tab for the visit.

That is what I found. My son did everything except attend a class. The problem is the coach who evaluated him left and went to Pepperdine right in the middle of the recruiting process. He toured all the facilities and was very impressed. They gave him a T shirt and BB program to give to me. Nice touch.

TR I haven't done any research that is why I asked.

TPM it was the very last minute but we had fall back options. They just weren't what we wanted.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:

They gave him a T shirt and BB program to give to me. Nice touch.

Giving the t-shirt is in violation of NCAA rules.

That's why they always direct you to the best place to shop for college gear.

I thought that you mentioned once that your son was a late recruit, but do know that OV's are very popular.

Yes , I would have preferred a Hummer.

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:

quote:

Originally posted by ncball:
Finally, "unofficial visits" are a joke as a rule. They are choreographed as much as any official visit (as a rule) and border on illegal. The top players come away from those "unofficials" with an offer that is "good" for a certain amount of time and then they will be pulled "off the table". That really bothers me! This is a huge decision for a student-athlete and his family and to be pressured is just wrong! I wish there could be some formal legislation against this type of thing by the NCAA.

ncball,
I'm not sure what you object to? As was stated earlier, the timeline for recruiting has been advanced for the top players. There is nothing unscrupulous about making an offer to a recruit during an unofficial visit. All offers come with deadlines, always have. The coach needs to know whether you're his guy or he has to move on to the next recruit in line. That's the same as it is in the business world. No school or business would make an open ended offer, decide whenever you want. Wouldn't it be just as unfair to the school to string them along for time infinity? It's not for the pressure, it's for a decision...in or out, because if you're not in, then you're out and the school needs to move on.

The only difference between official and unofficial is if the school picks up the tab for the visit.

cplz- I have an average of about 20-22 players from my baseball club who get D1 scholarships every year. I talk to probably 10 colleges a week- more during the fall before early signing period. This is not to brag but to give you a reference point on my point of view dealing with these school and the families in my program.

Here's what I don't like- My top guys can wait until signing day and they are going to get their scholarship at top dollar. It's the next line of guys. They get recruited, go on an unofficial, and are told they have a week to make a decision or they are going to lose that offer. Many times this is the spring of their junior year.

Well, my problem is that student-athletes need to make a decision that is going to affect the rest of their lives. This is not a four year decision- it's a 40 year decision! What if that kid hasn't seen any other schools? These kids feel pressure and inevitably rush in to a quick decisions- many times the wrong one. They are now stuck with a bad decision for four years. Why?

There's no questions that both schools and student-athletes are being pressured to make snap judgments and are making poor decisions. You mentioned that they have always made offers that had deadlines. True. The difference is that these offers were made closer to the early signing period and student-athletes could make a more educated decision based on doing more research.

Finally, there is a BIG difference in what is legal and illegal in unofficial trips. It's not just who picks up the tab. These unofficials are not designed to be like official visits yet that's exactly what they have become.

My suggestion is that they allow official visits to baseball players in the spring of their junior year (to reflect the earlier signing period as compared to football) and not allow official or unofficial offers until after that time frame (summer). My hope is that both student-athletes and schools will not be rushed in making poor decisions- because they are in the way it is set up now!

I have another question about official visits vs unofficial.
My son has an offer from a D1 school that he is interested in. We have been to visit once, and coach invited him to attend their fall camp, so he and dad are going out for the weekend.
I would like my son to spend the night with some of the players to get a better feel for the program. Is this something that is allowed for a unofficial visit?

There is nothing to stop you as long as the players and coach don't mind.
I can't see how that will help.

I'm not sure if it's allowed on an unofficial visit, however I can tell you that, that is what sealed the deal for my sons choice. After spending the night with a couple of players and general students, he was impressed with the quality of the people and that is what tilted the table for him.

On the flipside, he spent an overnight at a very high dollar school that made quite a generous offer to him, and after that, he decided that that particular school wasn't a good fit for him.

So in both the acceptance and elimination of choices, the overnight stay and getting to comingle with students was the overriding deciding factor for Junior.

I would encourage it.

I setup an overnight stay with a friend at a D1 in Texas for a poster here on an unofficial visit.
Not sure staying in their room helps as you can mingle with players and students without staying over night.
I stayed for a whole week with my son and his roommates. They were up at 5 and gone. They returned at 11 or so that night.

quote:

Originally posted by tricks15:
I have another question about official visits vs unofficial.
My son has an offer from a D1 school that he is interested in. We have been to visit once, and coach invited him to attend their fall camp, so he and dad are going out for the weekend.
I would like my son to spend the night with some of the players to get a better feel for the program. Is this something that is allowed for a unofficial visit?

Not sure I understand, if he has had an offer, why is he not being given the opportunity to go on an official visit, why does he have to attend camp (which has to be at your expense).

FWIW, all players should spend overnights with their prospective teamamates, this opens ones eyes to lots of things, both for player and for the team.

As far as I am aware, D1 does not allow one to stay with players (on campus)on UV's. I thought that I remember reading once a player may stay with a "friend" off campus but it can't be considered an unofficial visit , as there may be liability to the school. I could be wrong.

There are no rules prohibiting off campus sleep overs. On campus the college may have rules that are observed by all dorm dwellers.