A letter from....

mom...It is ok to be be excited. You should understand, however, that few, if any recruits that get any playing time at LSU are from California.

Go to their site and look at the 2004 roster for some clues.

The money that they spent on mailings to our house, with the obligatory 3 signatures on each mailing, could have provided my family with 2 ducats to the BCS Championship Game!

I love the school because they have talented players and are in the SEC; and, I remember some of the LSU/Mississippi State matchups at DNF and the Box.

Unless he's a fireballer with size, I wouldn't count on planning a dinner for the coach when he visits the Island Empire.

They have 13 signees already for the Class of 2008. In the context of the article about the early signees, they talk about 18 draft eligible players...think about that...18 draft eligible players at one school!

It's definitely a good sign if LSU is sending letters. That can only mean one thing, other premier school letters will follow! I would love to hear about your son's baseball attributes to put it all in perspective. Sounds like a top pick.

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Just to temper this a bit here and I am sure I will again be called on the carpet for raining on someones parade--so be it

Your son sent the letter of inquiry---LSU responded which is good--being proactive and getting a response

Was the letter a form letter?
Have they seen your son play?
Was there a questionnaire included?

Just a few of the questions that need to be answered

Also as Beenthere noted check their roster and see how many out of state players they have.

TRhit

I agree with TR and Beenthere.

If you sent a letter first, they will put you on their list and mail to you regularly. That is how they do business. Grad asst's fill out everything and make copies of articles and you will receive them until signing period.

If you are serious about going there make contact, give a summer schedule, ask when they will get to see him. It costs them nothing to send mail. It keeps your son excited and you will not have to fetch the mail for the next year..

"I love the HSBBW"

After having gone through the recruiting process last year (including LSU) I think I can possibly give you some insight into what you are experiencing. If you want to compare "recruiting notes" please send me a pm or email me...my email address is in my profile. Good luck to you and your son in the recruiting experience!


Ann

fspmom,
I agree with the others but.....You have every right to be excited. One of the schools my son had on his “wish list” was LSU but after researching the roster and trying to estimate fit, I suggested he not consider LSU. We never sent any mailings to any schools but he ended up getting letters from every SEC school except LSU. He ultimately signed at another SEC West school and has played against LSU. A great experience! Back to your letter…Allow the letter to represent what you want it to represent and go from there. The HSBBW provides a lot of insight to the recruiting cycle but there are no real cut and dry answers. It is difficult to judge whether an ember of hope should be fanned into a flame or snuffed out and ignored. You need to make that call. I think everyone agrees it is difficult to find a “fit” at LSU for a number of reasons. The odds looked stacked against my son so I suggested he “snuff out” LSU and move on.
Fungo

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

My son has received mail from about 100 D1 schools, and nada from LSU. I'd stay excited, but until an offer is made and accepted, keep looking.

If your son is a junior this year, start an organization system, received mail, mail to be returned, we went as far as organized it by school. We ended up with a whole drawer full of stuff. Once the "real" recruiting started, that drawer of letters meant very little. It was nice to have them, but the fact is they have little value. Until a school sees your son play in person, and makes a phone call after July 1, then you can actually say the school is interested, and he is actively being recruited. Most big schools have a significant mailing system that starts out with 500 on the list. You have to keep grounded, this coming year will be a roller coaster ride. You have to keep the peaks and valleys as even as possible. When the offers come in the fall it will get worse, then finally when the recruiting is over, you can take a breath, the get back in the roller coaster for the next phase in the life of a baseball parent.

NCBB,
I believe her son is a senior and he's received the letter after attending a camp.
Letters are nice, and you can be flattered, but I agree with the general concensus here....until it's followed up by a phone call, don't get too excited or you'll be in for a big disappointment.

FPsMom, Just keep doing what you're doing. He's going to camps, writing letters. Make some calls too. Things will happen.
Good luck.


_______________________
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

Very good advice, NC and Mr. and Mrs.

I agree.

Calls and officials visits are what ultimately matters.

Good advice all.

quote:

---

I'd stay excited, but until an offer is made and accepted, keep looking.

---

...and the offer today may disappear without notice.

Geaux Cajuns!!

The problem is the vast majority of people are not prepared to know that a letter means...not much. Even the letters that give specific information. That is why this message board is valuable for folks who need to know that the "recruitment process" for baseball is a flimsy process.

A true example.


I know someone who believed their son was getting recruited...that they were only one to be on such a list...for football.

When they found out that my son and some others were also being 'recruited' by same school...that is by a flattering letter...

they began to take notice...especially since mine and a couple of the others had already hung up the football...playing last year. Nice to have initial contact...but it must move ahead to be valid...

Now so far, this player has one visit set up but no other calls coming in...for football! And it's with another college...other than those with the first letters.

nocal baseball is right. Our experience was that serious interest involved lots of phone calls (with the once a week limit for D1s), emails, a call from the college to the high school coach, sometimes a request for a videotape and then an invitation to visit, followed by more phone calls if the player hasn't made a commitment to the program after the visit.

I think that it can be pretty exhausting for a kid to get his hopes up every time one phone call, or one form letter, is received. Most of these go nowhere.

I think that as a parent, you have to be supportive, and make sure that your son follows through and answers inquiries, but also be careful not to make things even harder for your son by making evaluative comments (or screams) when something is received from a baseball program. By acting that way, you will get his hopes up, and most of the time, they will be dashed. That can be really exhausting and confusing for a kid.

Regrettably, the recruiting process is not fair; in most cases, it is disproportionatley weighted in favor of the recruiter. The "recruiters" hold more cards than you, the "recruitee" (there are some exceptions, everyone who has been through this process knows this). The recruiters shuffle their "cards" constantly, and you, the shuffled "recruitee," never know when you will hit the discard pile. You are often left to deduce this harsh reality by circumstantial evidence. A "recruiting letter" from a program, particularly one like LSU, is worth less,IMHO (but educated opinion), than the cost of the postage...even though the cost of postage keeps going up.

Well said, pen.

fps, congrats on the letter and the attention your son is getting - keep him working - & I'll look forward to hearing more - and if LSU is meant to be - that's great -


ps-
keep in mind many (all?) those throwing "ice water on you", also insited Labron was a "stiff"



lefties? - - - they just aint right!

Bee...I "resemble" that remark!

Surely you thought that LeBron was going to be scoring 60 points a game! Of course, with the stiffs on his team, he has a long way to go. Figure 25 ppg next season and then competiting for the playoffs in a few years. And then...

A "form letter" from LSU does not mean your son is on any "recruiting" list. More often than not, the next letter is an invitation to one or more of their "camps".

Hello???

BEE

Your LeBron feelings aside , I do not think ANYONE called him a "stiff", it is not ice water being thrown it is tempering the enthusiasm to be realistic and not go off the deep end.

Keep in mind the letter was in response to the boys inquiry-- an asst coach did his job and responded--I am not sure they,LSU, have even seen the boy in action--the boy was pro-active and that is great but one needs to look at it all realistically and that is not to say that LSU may not be where the boy ends up but for now keep the enthusiasm under control.

Happy New Year

TRhit

TR - your "facts" are a little jumbled - it happens?


I'm happy to help -

a> fps's '04 rhp/of son attended a Thanksgiving break prospect camp at UNLV

b> the very first unsolicted letter he recieved from that exposure was from LSU Tiger's coach Smoke Laval

c> her son then reponded with his letter of interest and league schedule (just as he should)

d> mom screamed and damaged her throat

e> helpful websters threw a gatorade cooler of ice water on her (figurativly)



** I'll suggest a cup of warm tea & lemon with a dash of "spirits" for the throat -
or - if necessary, a cup of "spirits" with a dash of tea & lemon -
or maybe just forget about the tea & lemon alltogether



Beenthere, it's 20.2 ppg -
TR in the recent "hummergate/throwback jersey" thread, stiff was one of the nicer opinions expressed by many on Lebron



lefties? - - - they just aint right!

Bee...I stopped paying any attention to pro basketball when Michael retired the first time.

I'm not expecting any of today's new "mopes" to be saints, but "puhlease"...enough with the police blotter stuff.

Bee, you're probably right, it was a bit of ice water, and soothing herbal tea would be better. On the other hand, as someone who can identify with this parent's reaction, I have had people use both methods with me, and frankly, the ice water route was the one that worked for me.

I will stand by my experience, and the advice I have been given as well: an initial letter, even if written in response to having been seen, means nothing unless it is followed by personal telephone contact and consistent expressions of interest. LSU has probably used up its quota of official visits already, furthermore.

Reams of us here on this board can tell stories of the "come on" letters our boys have received, after having been seen at a showcase, that made it sound as if the coach had our home telephone number on speed dial and was just sitting by the phone, drumming his fingers until he could push that button on July 1st: only to never hear another word from that school, except, as BeenthereIL so rightly points out, requests for money (in the guise of "prospect camps"). When I think of the hours my son spent, dutifully filling out those dang questionnaires, only to hear nothing or very little more, I'd like to...well, now that you mention it, scream!

I firmly stand by my belief that parents do not help by overreacting to these initial letters, even telephone calls. They tell you nothing, nothing mind you, about whether you are in a database of 1000 or an A list of 10 (even then, the odds aren't great).

In the kid's mind, it goes something like this: "Oh, Mom/Dad is SO excited about this letter, they would be so happy if this school offered me a spot". Then, kid gets not much else from school. "Oh, I must have really let Mom/Dad down" by not making it.

What we as parents are supposed to convey is: warm support, organizational help (making those folders, etc.) and a sounding board for the boy's questions. We are not supposed to be screaming as if we got a letter with a winning lottery ticket.

I would be absolutely delighted if this boy makes it to LSU or any other baseball program and I truly wish him and his parents the best. But it is important for parents to really understand the process, and to know that the first contacts mean very little. TRHit said it best, probably, and most gently. But I think that the point really needs to be made.

What board members should remember is that every college is different in the time, $$$'s, and personnel they will allocate to baseball recruiting. Getting a letter or any other form of contact will not mean the same thing from every college. Some colleges spend a great deal on recruiting and send out tens of thousands of letters and e-mails. The original posting mentioned one of many of these colleges. Great school, but an amazing recruiting machine that will flood mailboxes all over the country. Then there are some colleges who have told us that they do not have the budget or personnel to do this type of mass recruiting. That they will rarely send mail and only to those they are seriously interested in. You will also find that each college will start recruiting at different times, some sending letters as early as freshman year while others won't start contacting you until your junior year.

So, how will you know what a letter REALLY means? You won’t know until it counts. Relax and enjoy the letters and contacts when they come. Hopefully your player will use them as motivation to continue to improve on his game. But the only contact from a college that will be important is the one that comes after July 1st of your junior year with an offer to play baseball at a college your son really wants to attend. All the rest is only worth the entertainment value it provides you and your player.

hey I've been thu it also,

but, getting a great 1rst letter could also go like this - - -

wow, someone (besides mom) thinks I "got the goods" - I know I can play & am gonna keep working my but off so I'll be prepared to make choices when the opportunity comes -

lefties? - - - they just aint right!

FPSMOM - Congratulations! It feels great to get that letter, doesn't it - particularly from a program as good as LSU's. My advice is (if you haven't done so already), to take this as an opportunity to establish personal contact with the school, so that the recruiting coach begins to put a 'face to a name'. I would suggest having your son respond by writing an email to the coach (you can usually find their email address on the college website), thanking him for the letter, expressing interest in their program, and asking what kind of information would be most helpful to him (the coach) as he makes his recruiting decisions. Also ask how often the coach would like to hear from him. My son did this last year and received very positive responses. Good luck!

-----------------------------
Pay attention to the feedback that takes you where you want to go!

Gees...What nonsense from some of you!

In the name of being "politically correct".

I agree with URKillingMeBlue,
if your interested in the program continue to follow it up and try to determine where you might fit in and go from there. Just because it is a top and competitive program doesn't mean you will not be a part of it someday.

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

BeenThere -

You talkin' to me ?

-----------------------------
Pay attention to the feedback that takes you where you want to go!

mom...Go to the LSU website and see how many players are substantive contributors from the State of California.

Again...It is way late in the recruiting process for the Class of 2004; and, unless he is a fastballing pitcher with size, don't hold your breath for dinner with the LSU coaching staff.

I submit, if he was a fireballer with size, you would have committed already.

Enough said.

Why do so many of you say things to people to make them feel good when you really don't believe what you are saying or you know from experience that that information which you are conveying is not true?It helps no one and actually gives them a false sense of "hope".

BeenthereIL,

You may remember some time ago that I made a rather pointed remark concerning what I thought about LSU's recruiting practices based upon some very real events that happened to my son during the recruiting process. I was chastised by at least one staunch supporter of that program and I offered to discuss the situation in either an email or private message because I didn't want to publicly present all of the details. Well, I never heard from the other party so I guess he didn't want to hear what I had to say. I made the same offer earlier in this thread....I don't mind putting facts on the table but I do believe that sometimes it is better to discuss some topics in one-on-one conversations and that can best be accomplished by private topics or emails or phone calls. I think the mom who started this thread has actually gotten some pretty good advice and she can decide where to take it from here. I really don't think anyone here has purposely tried to deceive her about the meaning of the letter.



Ann

UKMB gives good advice. As I said before, they mail 'em by the wheelbarrow. Pick up the phone call the coach, put a voice to the face, make sure they know where you will play. If you do that and they are even mildly interested, they will come to see him at one venue or the other.

That is why we play top notch travel teams and showcase. That gives the coaches we want to have see us the opportunity to do so. My son got lots of letters from LSU. I also know that they saw him. That is all you can ask for. All any of us want is to get in front of these guys. I would never tell you that your son is not good enough. I don't know him. I remember that Debbie Kazmir came on here and asked about agents and many regulars here laughed at her.

You also never know when someone will watch. During the summer one team saw my son and he did not have it. That same school saw him in the fall and made an offer on the spot. Ya never know.

Hey Ann, I am posting after you. Good Post!

"I love the HSBBW"

Keep in mind there are three distinct groups of parents that post to hsbbw at this time of year. Those with talented sons that have not yet reached college age, parents with talented sons that have not yet reached college age but have signed a NLI, and parents of college/pro aged players that have developed some long term perspective.

What might be described as "politically correct" might also be described as "euphoria" for parents that have not yet dealt with the realities of college and/or pro baseball. There is a certain euphoria that parents experience when their sons first experience recognition at the next level. The realities of the "business" of college and, to an even greater extent, pro baseball, have not yet been experienced by many posters.

Letters, then phone calls, then scholarships, and even pro contracts become meaningless as players compete for the reality of playing time. It can be a cruel world out there- enjoy every step of the journey.

fpsmom,

IMO - Its great that your son is getting attention from any school. It is always very exciting to get interest in any form - and they should all be followed up on by your son. Dont count anything out.

However, it is important to keep a level head during the process. Try to minimize the highs and lows. If you cant do that - buy alot of Rolaids.

Most importantly - look at the facts wherever you can find them and think realistically about the various programs and where your son could fit in academically and athletically. Personally - I like numbers - so I always asked myself "what are the odds that etc..."

IMO - Beenthere delivers the steak rare - but it is Grade A stuff in my opinion. TRHit puts a little sauce on it so it goes down a bit easier.
Either way - its grade A stuff from folks who have gone through the process very successfully IMO.

Sorry for the lame steak analogy (LOL) and best of luck to your son.

I remember when the websters cautioned me about getting too excited about anything...especially regarding initial mailings of anything.

Best advice we could have received.

--

its...Moving up from hot dogs to steaks, huh?

IMO any contact is great and gives you the opportunity to keep communicating. This is especially so as you never know what's going on through this process.

My son has received letters from about 50 schools. Some have lead to more and more contact. Most have lead to nothing. But, again, you never know.

For example, one school wrote constantly, sent media guides, junior day invitation/visit followed by phone calls, hand written letters and then...... nothing. Still nothing, despite several follow up attempts by my son.

Another school sent a form letter. It was addressed "Dear Prospect". They crossed out prospect and wrote in his name. My son sent back a thank you letter, mostly out of courtesy and heard nothing further (for about 8 months) and then without any further contact, recieved a hand written note "inviting" him to the team (no scholarships at this school so none to discuss). Apparently they had seen him at a camp, never spoke to him, no other contact and then an "offer". We've got no idea what took place.

I have found the college baseball recruiting process to be the most inexact science I have ever encountered. If I recall, I think I said in one of my first posts that it reminds me (in the worst sense possible) of high school dating.

I don't get most of any of this, except to keep trying, keep contacting schools you're interested in, keep getting seen and who knows what this LSU letter means. Don't get too high or too low, just use it to keep in contact and best of luck!!!!

Hey batter says it so well. It is way less than exact. My son received letters from about the same numbers of schools. He got duplicate letters each week from two or three different schools addressed to his given name, his "nickname".

July 1 came and he heard from 4 or 5 schools, a few more as the summer and fall went on. The school he signed with sent 3 letters including the one congratulating him for signing.

Some of the heaviest "mailers" never called. My point is that mail may, or may not, be the first step by the school, in the process. An inexact one for sure. Enjoy it while you can as there are many highs and lows just getting to the NLI.

Geaux Cajuns!!

Hey Batter, is this the same team your son is most interested in? If so, our experience with the same school has been a tad different, since I believe they heard about mine through word of mouth. So the same school may be different in its recruiting methods depending on where the kid is geographically (close versus ****her away)and how the school got his name. Just a cent's worth...

And oh for heaven's sake these filters are silly. "more far away" I guess I should have said, grammatically challenged though that is....

Cal2004-sent you a PM.