College Baseball Rosters - Out of State Players

Very nice Francis! I knew you could do it! 

You are right Francis!  It's much cheaper for players to stay in state, and helps that 11.7 go a long way.  

Ok, I'll give it a shot, Francis. Maybe it has to do with $, but proximity does come into play. And I think you'll see that with state schools more so than I think the private schools. I know "Big State U" where I live always tries to recruit the best players in the state. They are familiar with the players (easy to scout) and may think that there would be local (alumni) interest in following the top players. Sure they want to win too.

Schools in the Ivy League (Smaller roster) tend to recruit nationally. Despite its location on the west coast, it seems that Harvard Westlake (CA) has their top athletes land in Ivy league (despite its geographic distance) in baseball and other sports. From a parent's point of view, maybe we hope our kids go to the best possible school that has a small distance so we (as parents) can catch an occasional game.

Francis,

I would say your analysis is pretty accurate.  However, the density of D1 players varies greatly from state-to-state, as do the number of D1 roster spots, and they don't always match up.  For example, California has approximately 250 D1 roster spots available each year for incoming Freshman.  I can tell you that there are more D1 caliber baseball players within 100 miles of my little corner of Southern California.  Many players have no choice but to seek out of state spots, tuition be damned.  One would think that many schools in non-baseball hotspots would take advantage of this and recruit California kids, but very few actually do (outside of high academic schools that recruit nationally and the very top programs).  Two that do are Vanderbilt and Michigan, you'd think others would take note.

Thanks to all for the feedback so far. Related, for the kids who are D3, D2, and within the range of mid-major to lower end D1, should they be concentrating on more local schools rather than trying to get one several states away?

Francis7 posted:

Thanks to all for the feedback so far. Related, for the kids who are D3, D2, and within the range of mid-major to lower end D1, should they be concentrating on more local schools rather than trying to get one several states away?

I would say, that would depend largely on kid’s major/course of study and also their grades. For example, if they want to go the most highly ranked program for xyz (not baseball) and it happens to be out of state, AND they have the academic chops to get in to said program,  AND you can afford the tuition, well, then concentrate on that school and others like it no matter the state. 

Proximity is a big part of it, especially if the state has a lot of talent.  My son's future school is private so being in state does not help costs at all, that said, the majority of the roster comes from our state.  That can be said for all the other private and state schools in Texas, but we have a big talent pool, like California.  When we visited Arizona, he told us he doesn't even usually try for Texas kids...too many choices close to home.

Start with how far away from home the kid is willing to go to college and far away the parents are willing to let him go. A lot of kids will say they will go anywhere to play. But it’s not true. What if the going gets tough? Does the parents ability to get to games matter?

Once you figured out the geographical circle, what conferences fall within that circle? What teams in that conference is the player talented enough to compete to play?

Now you have a list of schools. Which ones can the family afford? Which ones are an academic fit? Don’t forget why you’re going to college. Are you comfortable with the size of the school? Is the school a social fit? A cultural fit? 

Look at the rosters over the past few years. How many out of state players are there? Are they studs? Are they marginal players? Chances are they’re players getting regular playing time. At state universities it’s not just about 11.7. It’s also about budgets. Out of state players cost more.

At privates the cost is high for every player. They will recruit from a wider range if they have a good recruiting budget. Vanderbilt’s coach is originally from NH. He has a lot of New England contacts. They year Vanderbilt won the CWS their #1, #2, closer and cleanup hitter were all from MA.

Let me first say thank you to Adbono and Francis7.  Finally a baseball thread on a baseball message board.  I think it is the same no matter the conference, including SEC and ACC.  Several factors.  Every D1 school at any level tries to win the recruiting battle for players in their state within their level.  If there are multiple schools at your level, you are bound to go fight for the players that fit your level and maybe get lucky and win a kid above your level.  Plus, as they say close the borders against the outside schools.  Money is limited for everyone some just have a little more to play with in various ways whether it is lottery money, academic money, or other sources.  The 11.7 is equal but that is all.  The rest is the factors.  Normally there is more money for in state kids than out of state kids.  The in-state tuition is a factor with some exceptions that include The Academic Common Market and Regional Contract Program and border state trades.  Money for recruiting.  It is easier and cheaper for most colleges to recruit players within their borders.  They can slip off on an off day or even a weekday game to go see a kid play plus the ability to see kids during the summer other than the big events. 

Often states have in-state cost reciprocity with border states. It’s one reason why out of state players often come from border states.

I'd be interested in comparing baseball rosters with the regular College population.  Most public Universities primarily have students from their own state or close by (where as RJM stated there may be reciprocity agreements).  Also, getting as far away from home sounds fun in theory, but going from one culture/climate to another on top of the major life change going to College brings, can cause major issues.  My oldest can't wait to get away, but when he is presented with the difference in cost (and that his parents will not cover  the entire difference), his enthusiasm dissipates somewhat.

Viking0 posted:

I'd be interested in comparing baseball rosters with the regular College population.  Most public Universities primarily have students from their own state or close by (where as RJM stated there may be reciprocity agreements).  Also, getting as far away from home sounds fun in theory, but going from one culture/climate to another on top of the major life change going to College brings, can cause major issues.  My oldest can't wait to get away, but when he is presented with the difference in cost (and that his parents will not cover  the entire difference), his enthusiasm dissipates somewhat.

 

What RJM stated is correct. Most college baseball rosters are comprised mostly of players from the home state. Players from bordering states make up most of the rest of the roster along with a few outliers. 

Getting as far away as possible to go to school may not be realistic anymore after what we are going through right now.

I dont see it being affordable on the players side, although universities love out of state students.  

The other thing is if you are from a different state, you need to get in front of the coaches to be possibly recruited.   That can become a lot of travel money headed to on campus showcases and camps just to be seen.   I know for my son we focused on one geographic area and were lucky we could stay at my parents in that area as a base camp to go from each showcase/camp in the area.

Depends on $$ and what the state does.

For example in GA the HOPE Scholarship (lottery) pays for instate tuition if your GPA is above 3.0 and full ride for 3.5? Correct me if I'm wrong, but then schools like GA and GT don't need to eat too much into their 11.7 as others have said and can afford to go after and help out those Out of State recruits. 

All the coaches talked about winning the state for recruiting. But Forbes at UNC said we'll take a guy from Ohio if he's better than an instate guy.

Then you have the private school "funny money" places like Vandy with "opportunity Vanderbilit" make it cheaper to attend Vandy than instate at Univ Tenn.

Stanford has endowment money and after the list price of something like $70K it was going to be $12-15K after endowment money. 

My son really liked UVA but it was late in the recruiting process and Coach O"Connor was honest and mentioned he was at his last spot and financials didn't look good. If my son would have gotten a 25% offer, being out of state, it would have still been upwards of $130K for 4 years. 

Texas has reciprocity with Arkansas so depending on your GPA and SAT score you can get 80-90% of the out of state fees paid for.  

https://scholarships.uark.edu/nrta/

Some programs offer academic money too. Others don't. Forbes said it was impossible and only went to NC residents and hardly ever saw it. 

We also have Tx Promise fund in TX which allows you to purchase college credits when the kid is born and pre-pay for college which is a HUGE discount. Works for any public school in the state and if you go out of state you get the cash value, with interest so that is a nice option to have.

But yeah, it was going to be hard to beat instate tuition compared to other programs, but my son was hell bent on getting out of Texas to play.

Luckily too for us there are 6 direct flights a day to ATL from Austin on Delta and 3 on Southwest. 

Going to be hard to not be there to watch. Got the ESPN App on the TV so I can watch ACC games.