Advice on High Schooler wanting to play college ball

JoesphR I'm taking a lunch break so I'm going to give you a pretty quick response but there will many other people with vast knowledge on here to add more to what I'm saying.

First welcome to the site and it's a great place to really learn answers / get opinions to your questions.

Your son is a rising Junior and seems to have half the problem already solved with very solid academics. Now I wouldn't say you are late to the game because I don't have enough information to go on based on your initial post. How good is the high school team and how good are the summer / fall(???) teams he's on? That will help tremendously if he's playing on good teams in front of the right people.

Now let's assume he's not because by following this plan it will just help along the process if he is on good teams in front of the right people.

First I would identify around 10 - 20 schools he would like to attend based on academics. Find the major(s) he would like to study and narrow the list down that way.

Second see what kind of camps they offer / attend and go to them. This can get really pricey so need to really pick and choose here. Before attending the camp have your son, not you, contact the coachign staff in an email (preferably the recruiting coach) and introduce himself. Tell them he's interested in the school and just some background info - but don't get carried away. Before the camp starts have your son go up and introduce himself to the coaches and remind them he sent an email. Make sure he doesn't assume they will remember the email because they probably won't. Now the next big thing to do is do well in the camp. Always hustle, be first to volunteer for something, have a positive attitude, don't get frustrated if mess something up and stuff like that.

Once this happens then if your son can play they may take notice if he has what they are looking for. But make sure you don't put all your eggs in one basket.

The next thing I would do is find what showcases the staff of the schools interested in will be at and go there. Do the same stuff - introductory email, go up to them introduce self and then perform.

The reason I say take this approach is because you are being seen by the people you want to be seen by. Relying on being on good summer / fall teams helps and can be successful but I'm a big believer of putting yourself out there in front of the people that matter.

Anyway that should be a good start and others will follow up with better stuff. I'm heading back out into the sun to finish cutting grass on our athletic fields.

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Welcome aboard the HSBBW JosephR. You've definitely come to one of the best sites for help.

You've discovered this site...that's a great first step. Next you should start searching all around the site. Start by clicking on 'Main Web Site' in the header at the top of this page. Explore every nook and cranny. You're off to a good start. Enjoy!



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Welcome - I am going to assume your son plays for his HS. Is he also on a summer/fall team? If you scroll your cursor over to the left side of the screen you will see a green tab pop out. From there click on the recruiting timeline, that may help a little. If he is entering the 11th grade, there is still plenty of time and opportunity. This site is a wealth of information. Also, check out the search function - that often leads to quick answers.

This link will take you to the FAMOUS "Recruiting Timeline", then check out all the articles found by clicking the little green pullout tab on the top left margin of this page!
Good Luck!

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/recruit_timeline.htm

You are going to get/find many great tips here on how to contact schools and coaches, how to go to the right events for exposure, etc.

Meanwhile...
1.) Make sure he continues to prioritize taking care of the academic side. This is where he will get the most scholarship money and of course, what will pay the most dividends after baseball.

2.) Make sure he continues to work hard at improving his game, his speed and agility and his conditioning. When it comes down to it, he is going to have to be good enough to make the team. It's not an easy task at any level for the vast majority of "good" HS players - almost always much harder than they think as they are coming up through the ranks.
Best of luck.

JosephR

Welcome to HSBBWeb. You've got some great advice so far. I will add one thing, but it is a "big" one thing to me in terms of strategy. This may save you a lot of time in your search, and possibly the way you start your seach. Rather than looking at the best baseball programs that have academics look at the best academic schools that have baseball. I have no idea what level of baseball player or student your son is, but if I could do it all over again....that is where I would start my recruiting strategy.

quote:

He is good player but he just doesn't want to wait for someone to call him

Then, he should start calling them. He is at an age now where his baseball skill and passion should be coming through. As coach2709 suggests begin to identify those 10-20 schools that offer what he wants to get out of college and baseball. The best tool for that is to create a profile on collegeboard.org that will request your requirements. From those requirements you can start to create a list. From the list you can contact coaches and ask about either skills or recruitment camps. In addition, he should be playing baseball this summer. Send the coaches his baseball schedule.

Recruited = passion + skill + exposure + persistence + luck.

Good luck.