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Just thought I'd share a bit of a surprise (to me).  I have a close buddy (dad of a 2022) currently sitting the stands at a Big 12 school.  His son went down today for their camp.  Only 27 kids are there and my buddy says he's shocked at how bad most of the kids are.  He's spoken well of just one LHH who is apparently raking.  He said the body language of most the kids is borderline embarrassing.  The morning was your traditional drills and measurables and this afternoon is scrimmage.  He said some of the campers are actually arguing balls and strikes.  Unreal!

But 27 kids?  I could be wrong, but I think I heard the NCAA now limits camps to 35 participants.  Certainly not 27.  But a P5 D1 school camp isn't selling out right now?  That blows my mind all things considered.

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This sounds very petty and I dont understand the purpose.

Is it supposed to be good because it is a Big 12 school? Hitters, pitchers, prospect (all 22s) or different ages?  Is it affordable to most?

Was the school in the regionals?

Lots of factors you left out that could or could not explain.

Today is the first day since March 2020 that D1 baseball programs could hold a camp like this.  is that not enough to surprise to anyone else that 21s/22s/23s aren't chomping at the bit?  The dead period has been one of the central points in college baseball recruiting conversations for the last 15 months.  A significant obstacle for many.

It is a "prospect showcase" specifically for 2022s and 2023s and includes all positions.  $99-$125 dollars depending on if you're a PO or position player, so VERY affordable.  95%+ of high school baseball players believe they're D1 caliber (and so do their parents) and this is a D1 camp.  In a power 5 (attractive to many) conference.  That were impossible to attend for the last 15 months.  No, the school did not make the NCAA tourney.  Maybe I'm nuts for being surprised by this, but a year ago my son would have done unthinkable things to get in front of D1 coaches like this for 8 hours.

The first D1 camp my son went to (years ago) the head coach stopped activity in the middle of the camp and bellowed that the kids should be embarrassed. The gist of his comment was that their parents had spent a lot of money for them to get this opportunity, if they weren't interested in working and learning, they should leave now. If they were going to stay they should at least act like athletes.

I too expected kids at the camp would be interested in showing off their best, but I was wrong. I wonder if many were there to make their parents happy rather than because they cared??

I only want to say that when my son was a freshman and sophomore, we had no idea how recruiting worked, or even that it was happening at that age.  He had attended our fairly local D1's summer camp from the age of 5, at first it was about having fun, then it was about learning baseball stuff.  I feel like he kept going to the camp for that reason (and to have something productive to do in the summer, which is not easy to find for middle-schoolers and up), and because his friends were going.  By high school, these must have been called "prospect camps", but we had no idea what that meant.  I'm sure there were plenty of kids there who were like that.  I'm actually quite glad to know that we helped out some assistant coaches.

@nycdad I am not at all sure about the limits.  I absolutely could have remembered it wrong, but I at least THOUGHT I heard something about the NCAA tightening down on them.  I could be 100% wrong.  I did have a paid D1 asst tell me that walk ups are no longer permitted at camps due to some newer NCAA rules.  They used to be able to take them, but according to him, all registrants need go through some online system they have now.

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