Camp attendance question

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are actually interested in him from his performance at the showcase or just soliciting campers in general.

Dads of pitchers may view this differently than I do, but I would assume that they "may" be interested and certainly they play off other camps to fill their own.

I would plan to attend and let junior rest his arm in January. He still would have February to gear up for HS ball and it's likely "Region" games won't begin until mid March giving him plenty of time to prepare for his season.

Lefty Catch, if your son hasn't had a break since last winter by all means shut him down from pitching and his throwing program for at least a couple of months. Don't have him stop working out though. Work on the body- weights, velocity improvement stuff, etc...While this camp would allow you to get some level of exposure to the coaches, if they have interest they will have ample opportunity to see him next season. You also need to ask yourself some questions about your son and what his abilities are relative to where he will play in college. Is his velocity, at minimum mid to high 80's? Is he ranked by PG in class of 2013? If he is even a borderline D1 prospect you should have received, at minimum, a dozen or two winter camp invites by now. Clemson is an ACC school which is one of the better conferences and they'll be pretty particular in the pitchers they offer to. This is the time of year that the schools have camps and yes, they are money makers for the programs. Here is a copy of Clemson's 2012 recruiting class. All but two players are ranked in PG top 500 and the other two are top 1000.

Nat Rank Name Pos Ht Wt B T High School Hometown St
23 Lucas Sims RHP 6-2 195 R R Brookwood Lawrenceville GA
28 Clate Schmidt RHP 6-2 180 S R Allatoona Acworth GA
41 James Matthew Crownover LHP 6-0 195 R L Ringgold Ringgold GA
114 Wales Toney RHP 6-3 190 L R T.L. Hanna Anderson SC
237 Steven Duggar OF 6-2 175 L R Byrnes Moore SC
403 Jackson Campana 3B 6-6 220 R R Providence Charlotte NC
411 Kevin Bradley SS 6-2 195 S R Hopewell Pennington NJ
454 Tyler Krieger MIF 6-1 160 S R Northview Johns Creek GA
468 Kyle Whitman 1B 6-3 210 L R Nation Ford Fort Mill SC
500 Brody Koerner RHP 6-2 180 R R JM Robinson Concord NC
500 Andrew Cox OF 6-1 195 L L Belton-Honea Path Belton SC
500 Matthew Reed C 6-2 185 R R Woodgrove Purcellville VA
500 Maleeke Gibson OF 5-11 155 L R Lakewood Sumter SC
T-1000 Zack Erwin LHP 6-5 180 L L Duluth Duluth GA
T-1000 Glen Batson SS 6-3 190 R R Greenville Greenville SC

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You also need to ask yourself some questions about your son and what his abilities are relative to where he will play in college. Is his velocity, at minimum mid to high 80's? Is he ranked by PG in class of 2013? If he is even a borderline D1 prospect you should have received, at minimum, a dozen or two winter camp invites by now.

I want to know where these rules are written in stone. If you arent ranked by PG, you have no shot at D-1? Ask the Rawlings Prospects in St Louis about that rule. I dont think they do anything with Perfect Game and they send tons of guys to D-1 schools. If you dont have invites to 12 or 24 camps by now you wont go D-1. I find this very hard to believe. I wonder if my son would fill out the recruiting questionnaire to 50 D-1 schools if he would get about 40 invites to camps. I guess that would make him a D-1 prospect. I think you are painting with a very broad, negative brush.

I don't see how camp invites add up to anything. I receive about 3 emails a week for my 2014 "inviting" him to D1 camps. I am sure that half of theses programs have no clue as to who my kid is. It is far more likely that they got our email off of a mailing list. I also do not think that you have to be involved with a PG rating either, there is a whole lot more to being a D1 prospect than that.

If I wanted to go to Clemson, I would go to their camp.

You must remember, a prospect camp raises money for the schools baseball program. That's why you have 75 kids there and mostly they have 4 or 5 kids they already know and want a better look at. I have found if your son is a pitcher or a catcher go to the schools pitching/catching camps.

be honest with yourself..if your kids not throwing over 87 or so as a righty he probably is not d1 material..also look at his physique..is he a man already? does he have a d1 body or d1 SPEED if not be honest with yourself..you are not playing d1 with 7.5 speed UNless your a pitcher or a guy that could put it out consistently with bbcor

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Originally posted by wogdoggy:
be honest with yourself..if your kids not throwing over 87 or so as a righty he probably is not d1 material..also look at his physique..is he a man already? does he have a d1 body or d1 SPEED if not be honest with yourself..you are not playing d1 with 7.5 speed UNless your a pitcher or a guy that could put it out consistently with bbcor

If you would read his post, he is a 2013 lhp. So most of your advise does no good here.

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Originally posted by Mizzoubaseball:

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Originally posted by wogdoggy:
be honest with yourself..if your kids not throwing over 87 or so as a righty he probably is not d1 material..also look at his physique..is he a man already? does he have a d1 body or d1 SPEED if not be honest with yourself..you are not playing d1 with 7.5 speed UNless your a pitcher or a guy that could put it out consistently with bbcor

If you would read his post, he is a 2013 lhp. So most of your advise does no good here.

but next year its dead on ballz accurate..this year he gets exposure,,next year reality sets in.

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Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
If I wanted to go to Clemson, I would go to their camp.

They don't recruit from their camp, but they do ask players they are courting to attend so they can get to know them better. FWIW, I know people who attended many of their camps and never given a consideration and some who never attended get scholarships. Going to camp doesn't mean they will like your son any better.



If you want to pick up some great coaching tips and see the campus, meet the coaches go, but if you have concerns about too much, don't. That outways anything else.

Good point that was brought up was what does your lefty throw? They tend to take pitchers that are high velo guys, lefty and righty that will get the lions share of the work. Since your son is a 2013, it's early, unless he's a stud now. I think the advice given to you was great, this is all about your son's ability and where he will be by next year and if it is not close to upper 80's, he may want to consider other options where he will play more often, a mid tier D1 or lower or another division. But that does not mean they may not have interest.

If you have some concerns here is a suggestion, contact the recruiting coordinator, Brad Lecroy. Tell him you met (insert name of coach) at a showcase. Your son should do it. Tell him that he really wants to attend, but he needs the rest. Could he send his HS schedule as well as summer? This can be done through email most likely you can find it on their website.

The good thing about making contact is because all of these coaches help each other out, if they don't feel that the player is right for their program, they may make recommendations to others, but it's all about how your son presents his case, himself, his grades and his attitude. That usually makes an impact one way or the other.

TPM there was very good advice in that post! (as usual).

The sooner our guys start to think about the 'networking' aspect of this, the better. It is a lifetime 'skill' to be aware of the fact that contacts you make in one setting might not pan out there, but could possibly help you out in an entirely different place later. Reaching out to a coach in an honest and mature fashion never hurts.

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Originally posted by BaseballmomandCEP:
TPM there was very good advice in that post! (as usual).

TPM is short for Tiger Paw Mom (former Clemson Mom).

While they might not neccessarily "recruit" from a camp, it is a great way to get on their radar, if you are worthy. You will find out real quick if he is D1 material or not. I spoke with a coach, and former teammate, from a major D1 program a while back. They are looking at 2013 and 2014 players for the future. They won't pay much attention to a 2012 unless they are flat out phenom that has been hiding under a rock.

TPM hit it right on the head, the coach said that while they might not need your kids services he might know someone that does or could and does not hesitate to pass that info along.

I think the issue was not about whether to go to the camp because he felt it a waste of time or not, but rather that his son needed some rest, which is and should be the first consideration.
So that is why I suggested contacting Lecroy.

These guys are super great guys and they network too, if they find a player they really think is special but not right for them they make calls.
I heard that some players are referred to other former coaches or players that make up Jack's coaching tree, good network to be in!

Thanks for the input everyone. Some of you bring up some great points.

TPM, great advice...we were already considering him contacting the recruiting coordinator and will probably go that route. Definitely want to make sure they know he is interested, but feel he really needs the rest at this point...hasn't ever had arm issues and certainly don't want them to start now.