Advice For The HS Freshmen Who Wants To Later Play College Baseball

The focus should be on getting bigger, stronger, faster and improving skills.  There’s no sense in going to a quality showcase unless there’s something to show. It’s not a bad idea for a freshman to go to an inexpensive, local college showcase style camp to get a feel for what’s coming. 

Typically college camps are fundraisers for the spring trip. The good college camps are the prospect camps where the coaching staff has reached out to the player through his high school or travel coach.

At the right time your son should align himself with a travel team where the coach/program has contacts and credibility at the right competitive level. Recruiting is a lot easier playing for a coach who can sell the player. 

Unless the kid turns into a potential D1 player who could be recruited out of the area think regionally in terms of showcases. If he’s a top student think Head First.

Go watch college games at various levels of ball. Ask parents how their son ended up there. Most parents enjoy talking about their kids. Sometimes you can engage a scout and ask him about the typical metrics in the conference for your son’s position 

Short answer... must do's - be good enough mentally and physically and have the grades.  But there really are no short answers.

Welcome to the site and congratulations!  You have found the place that will answer those questions in far more detail, ten times over, some more and some less related to your son's specific and unique set of circumstances.  RJM's reply was a great one.  You will get plenty more.  You can also search the site by topic and find an enormous amount of discussion and information on these topics.  

My contribution always includes the reminder to make sure he fully enjoys the HS experience along the way.  Once in a lifetime and very special.  Too many get caught up in chasing the college or pro baseball dream and forget to fully take in what is likely the most rewarding and fun baseball experience that is the present.  If he reaches his goal, it will be far more like work once he gets there than what he envisioned during the dream phase.

Francis7 posted:

Your son just started High School this semester.  He will graduate in 2022.  His goal is to play college baseball after high school.    Outside of training on his own and working hard on getting good grades, what should he be focused on in each of the next 4 baseball seasons and off-seasons?  What should he avoid and/or not be concerned about and when? 

For example:  Showcases.  When are they appropriate and when is it too soon?  Should he attend them at all?  Or, are college camps more important?  Is attending a camp without an invitation worthwhile or not?  Should he align himself with a certain kind of travel team?  What should he be looking for in a team with respect to showcases, tournaments and camps? 

Basically, for a just starting HS baseball player, who wants to play in college, what are the “must do’s” and “don’t bothers” and when and why for anything mentioned? 

There is no correct answer. Everything is fluid, changing and subject to what the player's skills are. If your kid is a 2022, focus on playing against the best competition you can find. Play on the best team you can get on (travel) in which you will get meaningful playing time. Have fun, don't burn him out.

Right now, it's important that you the parent learn the recruiting ropes, know where the kid's skills fall against their peers and maintain objectivity by getting sound feedback from quality coaches. Cannot stress enough grades. GRADES!!!! I know good baseball players who aren't getting offers because grades are keeping the coaches away, not the skills. So stay on them about being a great student first. Parents carry a lot of water during the recruiting process. Get smart, get active in developing a recruiting plan for your son. Got more $$$ than time? Pay someone to do that, but they will not have skin in the game like you.

cabbagedad posted:

...Welcome to the site and congratulations!  You have found the place that will answer those questions in far more detail, ten times over, some more and some less related to your son's specific and unique set of circumstances.  

No no noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

October of my son’s freshman year, I took him to a UCONN camp.  I was totally ignorant that it was a recruiting tool, thought it was cool just to get him on a college field and get a feel for it.  Coach Penders went up to my son and said “welcome Jack, you’re the youngest kid here by 2 years.  Glad you’re here.”

I agree with all above.  You have time, work hard and enjoy the process.

Agree with Gary and RJM.  GRADES!   The first question the coach asked my son was "What is your GPA?"  If the grades aren't there, it's the end of discussion.  Note - NCAA minimum is a 2.0 GPA.  Some schools have higher standards.  One thing overlooked many times - there are more academic scholarships  out there than athletic scholarships.

On the athletic side what RJM posted is good advice.  Find a good quality travel team that has contacts.  Don't showcase unless the player has skills to show.  Otherwise, it'll just be a waste of $$ and time.

Don't rule out D2, D3, NAIA or even JuCo.  My son played at a D2 JuCo and a D2 University - both were competitive squads.

Go see some college games (any level).

And don't forget to enjoy his HS experience.   Those 4 years will go by quicker than you can imagine.

As mentioned - develop a plan.   It just doesn't happen unless you make it happen.

Just a comment on grades ... The NCAA requirement is 2.0. A coach may be willing to take a risk on a stud, pro prospect with borderline grades. But typically most college coaches are looking for 3.0. There’s an expectation a player’s gpa will be lower in college due to the demands of playing a sport.

Athletes often get a break on high school gpa and sat scores versus a regular applicants. But the schools do have their own minimum acceptance level even for athletes.

Best advice I can give — stay on this site. Ask questions. Smart questions, stupid questions. Don't take the answers personally. Just ask. You will learn so much and your son will benefit.

Iowamom23 posted:

Best advice I can give — stay on this site. Ask questions. Smart questions, stupid questions. Don't take the answers personally. Just ask. You will learn so much and your son will benefit.

I'm a '22 dad and, yeah, what she said.  This site is extremely valuable.

My son is a 2020 and  has ambitions to play D1 baseball in college. You could do some local showcase type events (PBR, etc.) early in high school to get initial measurables and to get him used to the format, but I would hold off on any bigger events until he truly has something to show. My son has done the Stanford camp and HeadFirst Honor Roll and both were great. HeadFirst was exceptional for allowing direct recruiting interaction with coaches and that is not really useful until September 1 of junior year. If your son has good grades - focus on grades! - and will take honors/AP classes, I recommend getting baseline SAT and/or ACT scores at the end of sophomore year or early junior year. My son has found that he has a bit of an edge in conversations with high academic coaches because he already has those scores. In the West, the Fall Classic is a "must" junior year. Get on the most competitive club team that you can find for summer/fall ball. We are only doing on-campus camps with schools where there is mutual interest or my son is highly interested in the school (with or without baseball). Best of luck!

I wanted to say THANKS(!) to everyone for their replies.  And, if anyone else has more to share, please do!

I want to re-read through all the comments and digest them.  I'm sure I will have some follow-up questions!

https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/??...llege-sports_en_US??

link to NCAA site, create an account for your son. Its important to not only have a decent GPA but you have to make sure you take and pass the appropriate core classes. Don't wait until the kid is a Jr. or Sr. to find out he needed a certain math or science class. 

Many people say "don't showcase until you have something to show."  We would have saved money and time if we had known what that means.  It is not about "how well you play," it starts with measurable numbers.  For the most part, the only schools that recruit before the summer after junior year are D1s.  Their interest starts (as relevant to position) with FB, 60-yard-dash, pop time, exit velocity, throwing velocity, and player height, those are what make them pay attention, then they look to see if you can play the game.  If you don't hit those numbers, then you might as well wait until junior year and the summer after for showcases and camps.  You can measure these things on your own (or with the help of high school coaches, instructors, etc.). It would be great if some knowledgable posters could give the numbers that make D1s take notice. 

For my own 2022, he’s totally on board with bigger, faster, stronger, better.  His coaches have stressed that to him and he’s bought in, 100%, and made some nice gains there recently.  He’s also understanding the importance of grades now.  But, he will probably never be an honors program/AP, high SAT, kid.  There’s no 4.0 GPA in his future.  My guess is that he will end up in the high 2’s.  (Just being objective.)  So, that’s going to be a hurdle for him.  But, I continue to preach to him that coaches want D1 athletes who are D1 students too.  That said, his future may be D3 no matter how good he gets on the field.  And, he understands it.  He wants to be D1.  But, he also knows there are some great D3 programs out there as well.

The alignment with the right travel program is on my radar.  Currently, the program that he plays with has GREAT coaches/instructors.  These are guys who know their stuff and really care about the kids.  From that respect, it’s been AWESOME and he’s learned, and benefited, A LOT from being with these guys.  However, their teams struggle to compete because they just haven’t been able to recruit enough talent – especially pitchers! – on their rosters.  Therefore, I do have so concerns about how their credibility would be perceived at higher competition levels.  And, while they have some D1 commits in the program, I think it’s more a matter of kids coming to them to train and play, and being committed on their own, rather than the coaches helping the kids get committed. 

So, at what point is it critical that your son plays for a program where the coaches have a proven track record at helping kids get on college teams?  Is it the summer of their sophomore year?  Sooner?  Later?

I figured  that parents carry a lot of the weight in the recruiting process and it’s important to learn the recruiting ropes.  And, that’s my biggest concern now – because I probably don’t know as much as I should know, and have an understanding on the tasks, timing, etc. 

Someone once suggested the following to me – although they said it takes time and effort:  Find out what schools would align with your son’s interest and the likelihood of him attending, and look at the roster of their baseball team.  Look up the kids’ perfect game profiles and see where they played their summer ball before they were in college.  If you see a trend that most of School X’s roster, or a fair chunk of it, all played with Travel Program ABC, then you should be looking to get your kid playing with that program – as they probably have connections with that school which will help your son.

That seems to make sense.  Are there other things/tasks that one should be doing as a parent?  What are they?  And, when should you be doing them?

I've heard mentioned, and believe read it somewhere on this site (but can't find it now); What's the deal with a 3.5GPA? Is that the minimum required for a DI/DII to combine athletic and academic money?

Francis7 posted:

 

The alignment with the right travel program is on my radar.  Currently, the program that he plays with has GREAT coaches/instructors.  These are guys who know their stuff and really care about the kids.  From that respect, it’s been AWESOME and he’s learned, and benefited, A LOT from being with these guys.  However, their teams struggle to compete because they just haven’t been able to recruit enough talent – especially pitchers! – on their rosters.  Therefore, I do have so concerns about how their credibility would be perceived at higher competition levels.  And, while they have some D1 commits in the program, I think it’s more a matter of kids coming to them to train and play, and being committed on their own, rather than the coaches helping the kids get committed. 

 

Sometimes its not about winning (queue those who disagree) when it comes to a quality travel program.  I've put many posts on here about travel programs and our experiences.  We used to regularly play the travel program my kid ended up on in High School.  Used to beat them a lot.  I could not understand why there were considered such a great program.  They are known nationally, not one of the top top programs, but known enough that they regularly showed up on lists of good programs when PGStaff used to post here.  

My kid switched to their program in HS due to some recommendations by numerous folks who understood the recruiting process in our area.  Once we started playing for them I saw the light...They were more concerned about developing the player and showcasing them then they were in winning games.  Yes they wanted to win but they would sacrifice that if it meant getting a kid some reps to work on a hole in his game or getting someone into a game to be seen by a scout or recruiter.  We would primarily play like minded programs in the area with the occasional tourney thrown in.  There were times where we stopped games early because it was too hot and the catchers were becoming dehydrated, or extended games because some college guys requested to see a specific player play in a specific position.  We lent players to the other teams and vice versa to help fill in gaps at times.  The normal substitution rules were thrown out as well.  We would swap kids in and out all game long, bat continuous order, etc.  The only time we played normal baseball rules was during tourneys and then we may have one team on the field day one and a different team on day two.  Kids were not assigned to one of the three teams until the Wednesday before the weekend. This provided the program with the opportunity to adjust teams based on getting kids in front of the proper recruiters.  

When it comes to selecting the right travel team its not about winning.  They are many programs out there built around that.  You really need to be looking for a program that has deep contacts with the college recruiters, works to develop the player, understands what level the player should be playing at and works to get the players in a position to be seen by the right folks.

Francis, if it looks like your son's GPA will be around high 2s or so, you could also look into SAT/ACT tutoring.  A good test score can compensate for GPA.  We did a tutoring program for my son and it helped him a ton - roughly, increased his ACT composite score by 3 or 4 points which makes a big difference.  It was a lot of work for him, and at the time I was hesitant due to the cost, but as it turns out the return on that investment will be huge and I am so glad he did it.  It also helps with recruiting b/c the HC knows he will be admitted and receive academic aid.  As I am sure you know, there is not a lot of athletic money for baseball so coaches have to put packages together that combine athletic, academic and need based aid.

One other point to consider is patience - everyone's recruiting path is unique.  Just as an example, my son is a Senior (2019) and is still undecided - still getting looks from all Divisions and trying to make the best decision.  A common perception is that if you are not "committed" by Senior year, it is too late for DI or DII.  That is not true as many programs leave a few spots for late bloomers, rostered players transfer or quit, get hurt,  etc.  Of course we did not expect my son to be uncommitted and undecided at this relatively late point, but that is his journey.  Don't plan for that, but be open to the reality that it can be a long journey with some twists and turns!

Best of luck!!

nycdad posted:

I've heard mentioned, and believe read it somewhere on this site (but can't find it now); What's the deal with a 3.5GPA? Is that the minimum required for a DI/DII to combine athletic and academic money?

As with all things NCAA, it's more complicated than that, but this is the section of the D1 manual:

15.5.3.2.4.1 Academic Honor Awards—Based on High School Record. Academic honor
awards that are part of an institution’s normal arrangements for academic scholarships, based solely
on the recipient’s high school record and awarded independently of athletics interests and in amounts
consistent with the pattern of all such awards made by institutions, are exempt from an institution’s
equivalency computation, provided the recipient was ranked in the upper 10 percent of the high school
graduating class or achieved a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.500 (based on a maximum
of 4.000) or a minimum ACT sum score of 105 or a minimum SAT score of 1200 (critical reading and
math) for SAT tests taken before March 1, 2016; or a minimum SAT score of 1270 (critical reading
and math) for tests taken on or after March 1, 2016, based on the concordance determined by the College
Board. (Adopted: 1/12/99 effective 8/1/99, Revised: 1/14/08 effective 8/1/08, 1/16/10 effective 8/1/10,
2/2/16)

Google "NCAA Manuals" for the completed set of manuals. The pdf versions are free.

thank you for that. My 2020 is right under 3.5, basically needs maintain close to a 4.0 rest of jr year to be there, but he just took the SAT blind, with no prep to see where he was and to map out a test prep strategy, should be able to hit about 1270 second time through.