College Recruiting

They've been recruiting for years now, in fact the higher caliber schools are likely finished recruiting position players at this point and are looking to add late blooming pitchers. There are over 100 freshmen that are committed to D1 programs already so the recruiting is happening - Vanderbilt has 20 commits for the class of 2021 right now. 

Exit Velo is fairly irrelevant and 6.9 doesn't stand out as a D1 outfielder for top college coaches and especially pro scouts. At this point if you're asking when schools start recruiting - pro baseball is out of the equation and the question should be is he D1 material? I've never seen him play and the all tournament accolades are meaningless, but either his travel coaches don't think he's good enough to play in the upper half of D1 programs or they can't do a thing for him. Talk to his coach about potential schools he fits in at, if that goes nowhere time do find a new team. If he is as good as he's made out to be it should not be a problem finding a much stronger travel program. 

Thanks for your input. His travelball coach, who is a former MLB scout, told him he was D1 material. Hopefully he'll find a good college fit. His main attribute is he can really hit and the better the competition the better he does. One scout commented that he would be best suited to 1st Base or perhaps pitching at the next level. He doesn't like pitching but he has hit 90 on the few times he's tried. I'm sure Time will sort it all out one way or another.

Aside from his measurables, how are his grades, test scores, character, leadership skills, is he a great teammate, etc.?  

Also, I’m not sure I would be sending that video to coaches, the giggling may not go over well with some coaches.

Thanks for your input. He is a 3.6 GPA student with 1,000+ on SAT. Good all around kid & teammate. Works out 4-5 times a week, and has weekend job to save for college. We have no doubt he will be successful in life has he is a really hard worker who wants to be the best he can be.

Looks like several players from the same program have committed to some impressive D1s.  You should have a candid conversation with your program director about what/when he sees in your grandson’s future.  Is he playing for the top level team? And has he been reaching out to schools?

This past summer as a 16 year old he played on his clubs top 18u team and did extremely well. He has not reached out to any schools as of yet. (Which he probably should have) But he wants to wait until after his Junior year baseball season when he has High School stats and videos to share and he can get his speed down below 6.8 seconds. He's committed to keep working and continues to make good strides towards improvement.

I don't know that playing for an 18U team is the best option.  D1 coaches aren't scouting the 18U teams because all the potential fits should already be committed.  He should play 16U or 17U, the high level D1 schools are at 16U first and maybe 17U to fill in and watch their commits.  18U teams are playing after their senior year and most kids who are committed to D1 teams head to campus that summer, they aren't playing club ball.

I think those numbers are great.  Big kid, elite exit velocity, runs well.  A few things I learned about this from being in your position last year:

• Some schools value the metrics a lot, others not so much.  My 2020 did a PBR deal and didn't think any one noticed or cared, but on his recruiting visit to his mid major D1, the coach spouted them all off from memory.  The exit velocity was the most important one to him.  Other programs yawned and didn't care.
• Mid Majors, D2, NAIA, and JUCO will be recruiting in earnest this summer.  Will be a huge one for him.  I agree with a previous poster- don't play 18U.  17U is where those kind of programs will be.  
• You guys are in a great spot.  Make sure you are playing in front of the kind of coaches/prorgrams you want to play for. 
• There are lots of posts on the recruiting process on this site, but sending messages to coaches plays a role...at least, it did for my kid.  

Good luck to you guys!

My two cents...

Your son is way behind the 8-ball in 2021 college baseball recruiting.   There is much more to college baseball recruiting than showing up at a showcase or tournament.   There is a lot of hardwork that happens outside of the baseball diamond and gym focused on researching colleges, coaches and especially communications.  I'd suggest your grandson & parent get with his travel coach or high school coach and come up with a plan to reach out to as many schools as possible.  It seems like your son is getting some showcase & tournament exposure but not taking advantage of it or following up (email, text, phone call) with the coaches.  Otherwise, he'd probably have some offers or serious interest at this point.   Your grandson has some assets (size & athleticism, GPA, hardworker) that coaches may find interesting but your grandson has to remind them that he is available and looking for the right program.  

This recruiting process is all about numbers.   Find 30 programs that he is a good fit for, reach out to them and see who is interested.   Going back to my earlier statement about involving travel coach or high school coach; your grandson can divide and conquer those 30 programs by dividing up the list among himself and his advocates to reach out to those college coaches.   He has to get on the offensive with this recruiting process.

As always, JMO.  Good luck!

There is D1 and D1, and schools that might be interested in him might not be where he thinks he wants to go.  Sometimes a travel coach happens not to have contacts at a school that would be a good fit otherwise, which is why you have to do some of the work on your own.  That's why, as everyone else said, it's important NOW to sit down with the travel coach to go over a list of colleges - where the coach has contacts and/or could see him fitting, and where he thinks he wants to go.  And make it a fairly large list.

There are plenty of cautionary tales on this board, some playing out right now, of players who were recruited late (i.e. summer after junior year) to D1s without athletic money, showed up to a team with 40-50+ players, and were cut or redshirted after the fall.  For every one reported on this site, there are dozens more such stories out there.

If his best attribute is hitting, then exit velocity is his main measurable, whether coaches like it or not.  But, he has to be seen hitting against 85+ mph pitching, i.e. in good tournaments.  You should know by now where his team will be playing this summer.  NOW (before the college season begins) is the time to email coaches at colleges where he fits with his measurables, video, and high school and summer schedule.

Peach49 posted:

But he wants to wait until after his Junior year baseball season when he has High School stats and videos to share and he can get his speed down below 6.8 seconds.

Sure, but then time is very short.  High school stats won't matter.  Video from games won't matter either, especially if he's not a pitcher; coaches can evaluate his swing from video shot in a cage.  He already has the 100+ EV, and a sub-7 60 time.  That's why contact has to begin now.

Most all of the responses seem to indicate my grandson needs to start contacting schools now. I will encourage him to start doing that ASAP.

Just as a note, almost all the responses say that the first thing is to talk to the travel coach about what schools might fit.  There's not much point in contacting schools unless you have a realistic list; most schools will want to talk to the travel coach anyway, so he needs to be part of the process.

Peach49 posted:

Most all of the responses seem to indicate my grandson needs to start contacting schools now. I will encourage him to start doing that ASAP.

Agree with all of the advice here.

Before you contact schools, make sure your grandson has been identified as  either a D1, D2, D3 etc. player by a reliable person or scouting service. 

Also it's important to understand that the MOST important thing is getting a college education and working hard to get as much money as you can to help pay for it. That should be the goal, not getting drafted, definetly not that!

My grandsons been told by coaches he's a D1 power hitter. At a hitting camp his average Exit Velocity was 92 over hundreds of hits Toping out at 103 with a large number of hits in the 96-98 range. His top Exit Velocity was 10mph faster then a player who is already signed to a D1. Hopefully this translates into him finding a school that's a good fit for baseball and academics.

Has he done any PG showcases?  I know that some people here don't like them, but if he hit 103 at a showcase, he would likely be the top exit Velo for the event and that would get tweeted out  and get some attention. It  would also be solid documentation to send to coaches.  Same with PBR if there is a good program in your state.  If he is a great D1 hitter, either coaches haven't seen him/know about him, or there is a disconnect about where he falls.  Either way, reaching out to coaches is a must.

Peach49 posted:

My grandsons been told by coaches he's a D1 power hitter. At a hitting camp his average Exit Velocity was 92 over hundreds of hits Toping out at 103 with a large number of hits in the 96-98 range. His top Exit Velocity was 10mph faster then a player who is already signed to a D1. Hopefully this translates into him finding a school that's a good fit for baseball and academics.

SOME programs will care about those metrics, ALL programs will care if he can connect with the ball.  Make sure you're getting advice from someone who isn't his hitting coach.  Preferably someone with a proven track record in getting kids PROPERLY (minimal bouncebacks or uncommits) placed with programs.  

He's done both PG and Baseball Factory Showcases and hit 97 and 98 this past summer, he also threw 90mph at an UnderArmour tournament.

There are three levels (my view) of D1. There are the major conferences and other ranked programs. There are the mid majors. Then there are the bottom feeders. If your son fell into major conference/ranked and pro prospect he would likely be committed to a college program already. His travel coach would be telling him about the spro couts asking about him who come to see him play. If he played for the right travel team the coach would have sat down with him fall of soph year to create a business plan to target the right D1’s for exposure. The coach would be preselling/promoting the kid before tournaments.

At this point dad and son need to create that business plan as soon as possible. They need to be realistic about targets. The kid needs to email all of them to find out what events they attend to scout players. 

The ultimate goal is to find a quality baseball, educational, and social environment for college. The big picture is to set him up to graduate prepared to take the first steps of his forty year plan. 

Be focused and real. Don’t rule anything out. There are late bloomers and late discoveries. It’s why some MLB players came from mid major baseball programs. But EDUCATION FIRST.

Good luck.

Fenway nailed it, he is way behind the curve. Your making the mistakes of many, many, many posters who come through here. "Big Johnny hits/throws.runs "fill in the number" he does this better than Bobby who just got a full scholly from Big Time Baseball U." 

Realize for most of our kids/parents/families getting an opportunity to play college baseball is a freaking lot of work. So - "Make a plan and work the plan", which includes:

1.  30-40 programs that fit his profile that include size, academic match, distance from home, cost, THEN baseball. Baseball should include:  stretch, good, easy, in all divisions 1-3. 

2. Get the Princeton, Fiske, US News, etc and start to review them as part of developing a profile list. Sit as a family nightly and develop this list, talk about the costs, desires, wants, needs and then the baseball program. 

3. Get a scout to evaluate the player and as TPM indicated. This needs to be someone who has NO vested interest in the player. 

4. Develop a player profile with links to videos. (look them up they are here on this site) This is what YOUR PLAYER will be emailing to coaches and recruiters.  Add some short video links. Short to the point, no "eye of the tiger" (look up how to do a video here) 

https://docs.google.com/docume...mck/edit?usp=sharing

5. Profile all of the schools he is interested in, with coaches names, contact information, etc. This is ancient but it should look like this. 

https://drive.google.com/open?...KtlKoMYkUReuW7IH_K74

6. Once you get all of this figured out set up a specific email address that your player and family can use to communicate with coaches and programs. Your player should be doing all of this BUT someone needs to proof everything that goes out.

7. Start working on a summer schedule and talk to the programs on where they are planning on going and go to those. As you get close make sure you email his playing schedule.

8. If he has not already done this start visiting the schools on his list so he has a true understanding of his interest in a program. Size, layout, location, etc. 

9. Once you he gets some interest then there is a whole additional things you/him/family should be doing but this should get HIM started (NOT you)  If he is not 100% committed to doing and working on this then stop now because playing college baseball is harder than you, him and his family can imagine. 

10. PS make sure he gets a Pro-scout to invite him to the Area Code games in your area. 

11. Remember programs recruit players not statistics, and they are looking for those that can play, have the right attitude and are interested in THEIR program.

Sorry if this was a bit blunt, but seriously this is going to take 100's of hours to get sorted out and your Grandson will have to drive it not you or Mom/Dad.  

Good luck! 

How did your grandson enter junior year of high school and not recognize what was going on around him (other players)? He may want to play major college ball and be drafted. But I see a huge crevice between the vision and the motivation. 

Thanks for your input. Having been a 2 sport athlete in college I realize the tremendous commitment it takes to be a successful athlete and actually graduate on time. The top 2 schools on his list are UC Santa Barbara and Sonoma State. Both schools have shown interest, but Sonoma is closer to home.

There were 7 players from his travel ball team that signed to play in college. None started contacting colleges until after there Junior year HS baseball season which is why he felt he still has time. He's had 3 D1 and 2 D2 show interest.  In preparation he's put together a player profile that covers all his contact info, testing results, GPA, SAT, baseball awards, and video links. 

Peach49 posted:

Thanks for your input. Having been a 2 sport athlete in college I realize the tremendous commitment it takes to be a successful athlete and actually graduate on time. The top 2 schools on his list are UC Santa Barbara and Sonoma State. Both schools have shown interest, but Sonoma is closer to home.

Santa Barbara already has 5 2021 commits, 3 of which are position players. Sonoma is an average D2 program with no commits as of right now. Nothing wrong with that, but the lack of interest from other schools would imply that he is more likely a candidate for D2 baseball as their recruiting timeline starts later and will be heavy this summer.

In other words there might be more interested schools, but they will do the bulk of their recruiting from June to August. So if he's been tearing up high school and summer tournaments and has former pro/college coaches all signs would point towards him being identified already as more of a D2, D3, Juco type guy. Again, nothing wrong with that, but everyone is a D1 prospect when you're paying to train and play somewhere. 

The best course of action is to sit down with travel coach, hand him a list and say I want to play here - which schools can I play at on this list? Get the feedback and then talk about how you get in front of those schools and what they can do on their end to help. And remember exit velo means nothing if you can't crush 85+ on a regular basis. High schools stats mean nothing. 

Peach49 posted:

There were 7 players from his travel ball team that signed to play in college. None started contacting colleges until after there Junior year HS baseball season which is why he felt he still has time. He's had 3 D1 and 2 D2 show interest.  In preparation he's put together a player profile that covers all his contact info, testing results, GPA, SAT, baseball awards, and video links. 

Showing interest in not being recruited. A lot of players don’t get past “shown interest.” Active, ongoing communication means there’s genuine interest. An offer is being recruited. 

Recruiting is like a sales environment. It’s important to recognize the difference between tire kickers, suspects and prospects. A prospect is when there’s a financial offer on the table.

Personally I feel my grandson would be happier at a D2 like Sonoma State. It’s a rural smaller school, closer to home, and our grandson really likes the coaching style of coach Goelz and his staff. Many years ago I was on the Football and Track teams at San Francisco State (D2) and greatly enjoyed it.

Sonoma is a huge red flag. They routinely have 60+ show up for baseball, and in the old days many had "preferred walk on status" (LOL - whatever that meant)  What happens late in the fall is D1 drop downs show up after they don't make their 35 man rosters (or realize they will be sitting) and "take" open spots. it is not a healthy baseball environment IMO.

Believe it or not UCSB is extremely hard to get into academically and given his GPA/scores he would not make it through admissions, (actually for most UC's) without coach support. I think they are also going through a coaching change.

If you are form Cali be aware that there are 10x's more Cali D1 baseball players in the state than there are slots so given his late start and he is in even bigger trouble than I thought from your original post. 

Couple of additional insights: 

From Coach May: (legend here at HSBBW) "YOU WILL KNOW when coaches are REALLY interested in your player"

From my wife: (legend in my house) "All of these coaches are a bunch of used car salesmen" 

I would make sure he has a broad target list with a majority of the programs outside of Cali given his status unless he is including a number of the SCIAC Div III programs (some of the top in the country) and be very careful with DII programs since they get a lot of D1 drop downs. 

Good Luck

I very strongly recommend that your grandson get an invite to the NorCal World Series next May. Nearly every college program, at all levels, on the West coast attends. 

Also you should be aware that Sonoma State recruits relatively few freshmen, and often those who are recruited don’t play. Santa Rosa JC is feeder for them, and can open up bigger opportunities too.

I have a bad habit (!) of reading old threads for fun; I found these two, which match the OP's situation in many ways, from just two years ago.  One in January 2018, asking for advice on recruiting for a 2019 outfielder:

https://community.hsbaseballwe...out-solid-offers-yet

and then the end result, posted in August 2019:

https://community.hsbaseballwe...ing-process-with-son

OK, I'll bite. 

6’3”/200 lbs., 6.9 speed, 90mph raw arm velocity, and Exit Velocity of 103mph

That WILL MOST DEFINITELY garner a LOT of attention (D1 and pro) for a 2021.  That is IF that player has the right exposure.  You say he's done a PG Showcase? I don't see any evidence of this unless his name doesn't jive with his defunct twitter handle. There are plenty of P5 D1 recruits that have not yet cracked 7.0 on their 60, he can improve on that. Believe me, a 6'-3" 200 lbs. player running a 6.9 will get attention, especially with a 103 exit velo.

But if this is a legit post then I agree with FENWAYSOUTH.  You HAVE to be in charge of your own recruiting process. He should have made contact with coaches a while ago. They won't come knocking on his door unless he's:

1. Posted the above metrics on either PG or PBR, and

2. Reached out to coaches

Metrics won't necessarily get you an offer but they will certainly get coaches to come see you play, especially if you reached out to them and provided them with legit numbers backed by PG or PBR.

RJM posted:

Peach49 posted:

There were 7 players from his travel ball team that signed to play in college. None started contacting colleges until after there Junior year HS baseball season which is why he felt he still has time. He's had 3 D1 and 2 D2 show interest.  In preparation he's put together a player profile that covers all his contact info, testing results, GPA, SAT, baseball awards, and video links. 

Showing interest in not being recruited. A lot of players don’t get past “shown interest.” Active, ongoing communication means there’s genuine interest. An offer is being recruited. 

Recruiting is like a sales environment. It’s important to recognize the difference between tire kickers, suspects and prospects. A prospect is when there’s a financial offer on the table.

My son probably had about 20 schools that "showed interest" and yet only 2 schools (D1) actively attempted to sign him.  We were somewhat naive (no relative in 3 generations every played a college sport) and assumed if he put up good stats/numbers "they will find him".  College was to get a good education, not to play sports.  This couldn't be further from reality in the baseball world.  Call it luck, divine intervention, whatever, but he was extremely fortunate one mid-high D1 program saw something and took a chance.  Learn from our mistake and push your grandson/family to take an active role as many have referred to above.  At the end of the day, everything worked out for our son who just started his career in The Show.  Good luck in your grandson's journey. 

Thank you for your comments. I've been telling my grandson that his testing metrics are very good for a 2021 and that he needs to be proactive in contacting college coaches. He's been reluctant because he wants to show coaches even better numbers before he makes his big push to colleges. I'll talk to him again and encourage him send his player profile to all the colleges he is considering.

OK, a little more work and I was able to find your grandson...

He has no posted metrics on PG; he has only played in one PG event.

His most recent metrics posted on PBR are the following:

6'-3" 200 lbs, 81 OF velocity, 7.25 60, and 95 exit velocity. His most recent stats on PBR were from May 2019 and that's where his OF and 60 time comes from. His exit velo on that date was 89 (still not bad); his 95 exit velocity is from 2018. In my opinion, a 6'-3" 200 lbs kid should be in the 90's at a minimum just based on size alone.

One other note: a PBR exit velocity is not the same as a PG exit velocity because PG's is wood-bat only. Most of PBR's exit velocity postings are metal bat unless noted in their comments (as in a Pro Case event where they use wood bat only).

So the metrics you posted in your OP are REALLY GOOD, they are just not backed up by one of the two major metric databases for prep baseball. If your grandson gets the metrics you reported up on PG or PBR, he will get plenty of attention.

With the above information (metrics actually posted), I do not see D1 coaches paying much if any attention unless he's in contact with them. An OF with his size should project very well in my opinion. He needs to continue to work hard, contact MANY coaches this winter, and have a comprehensive plan for the spring and summer. He needs to get as much exposure as possible.

Thanks for your insight. The best aspect of my grandsons game is his hitting. In this original thread I posted video of his Exit Velocity of 101mph taken at the DUB baseball training center in Morgan Hill (he did 103 the same day but not on video). The best he’s done at a Showcase is 97 at the 2019 BAWS in Lathrop, CA. He also did 98mph while hitting for Coach Goelz at Sonoma State. My grandson likes Sonoma State and they appear to have some interest in him. He’s working hard to have a successful Junior Year HS Baseball season and hopefully that plus a good Summer Showcase season will give him some options of where he’ll be able to play college baseball.

Peach49 posted:

Thanks for your insight. The best aspect of my grandsons game is his hitting. In this original thread I posted video of his Exit Velocity of 101mph taken at the DUB baseball training center in Morgan Hill (he did 103 the same day but not on video). The best he’s done at a Showcase is 97 at the 2019 BAWS in Lathrop, CA. He also did 98mph while hitting for Coach Goelz at Sonoma State. My grandson likes Sonoma State and they appear to have some interest in him. He’s working hard to have a successful Junior Year HS Baseball season and hopefully that plus a good Summer Showcase season will give him some options of where he’ll be able to play college baseball.

Your OP asks "advise best course of action to peak interest from MLB and college scouts." Getting those metrics recorded by reputable and well known sources is part of the answer. The other part is contacting coaches so they can come see you play  and another part is performing well at games when those coaches you've contacted specifically come to see you play. Sometimes playing well in the ONE game they come to see you play doesn't work out; baseball is a game of failure. Unfortunately, most college coaches are results-oriented even though they pride themselves in their ability to "spot talent." So you need to communicate with many coaches who represent schools from multiple levels (D1, D2, D3, etc.).

PBR qualifies as a reputable and well-known source for verifiable metrics. Your grandsons metrics on PBR seem to be taken right from the 2019 BAWS (https://www.bayareaworldseries.com/baws2019stats) The highest exit velo for the event is 95 (BBCOR off tee).

I'm not saying he doesn't have the stats you reported in your OP; I'm just saying they are not recorded anywhere other than the 101 in the video. The problem with stats from  single video at an individual training academy is it doesn't show how peers performed at the same time using the same equipment; that's what both PG and PBR are known to provide. I think PG is a little bit better as they have more of a nationally-standardized testing format vs. individual franchises sanctioned by PBR.

So with that being said, I personally think your grandson has a LOT of potential; tell him too keep working hard and to contact those coaches! With the right exposure he should get plenty of attention this summer!

Peach49 posted:

Thank you for your comments. I've been telling my grandson that his testing metrics are very good for a 2021 and that he needs to be proactive in contacting college coaches. He's been reluctant because he wants to show coaches even better numbers before he makes his big push to colleges. I'll talk to him again and encourage him send his player profile to all the colleges he is considering.

College recruiting is about metrics, projectability and showing the ability to compete against top travel competition. It’s not about high school statistics. The best high school stats can do is draw interest to start back at metrics, projectability and stability to compete against top travel competition.

In a majority of most high school prospect’s games they don’t face the kind of pitching to project college potential. Running up stats against non prospect pitchers is not going to help him get to college ball. 

I misspoke, 97mph Exit Velocity was at the NCTB Fall Classic in Lathrop. He also ran 7.06 at that event. (See Twitter post from NCTB below) PBR was at this event but didn’t update stats on his profile. I’ll encourage him to keep working and start to reach out to coaches. Thanks for your advise.

https://mobile.twitter.com/NCT...431259872354304?s=09

Peach49 posted:

I misspoke, 97mph Exit Velocity was at the NCTB Fall Classic in Lathrop. He also ran 7.06 at that event. (See Twitter post from NCTB below) PBR was at this event but didn’t update stats on his profile. I’ll encourage him to keep working and start to reach out to coaches. Thanks for your advise.

https://mobile.twitter.com/NCT...431259872354304?s=09

 

 

I see a PBR showcase coming up soon in your area: NorCal Preseason All-State (Invite-Only)

https://www.prepbaseballreport...on-all-state-1-25-20

Have your grandson ask for an invite. He certainly has the metrics to get an invite. If he's ready (arm) it's a good way to start his HS season and get all of his stats in one place.

Peach49 posted:

I misspoke, 97mph Exit Velocity was at the NCTB Fall Classic in Lathrop. He also ran 7.06 at that event. (See Twitter post from NCTB below) PBR was at this event but didn’t update stats on his profile. I’ll encourage him to keep working and start to reach out to coaches. Thanks for your advise.

https://mobile.twitter.com/NCT...431259872354304?s=09

 

 

You can contact PBR and ask them to update his profile. If the new numbers are legit, they will likely update. 

Just to throw it out there, there's some really good JUCO options to consider as well.  One thing about power hitters is it's the hardest of the tools to project, so unless you are really crushing it consistently against good pitching, you need the other metrics as well.  By going JUCO first, it can open doors to many more D1 schools than are available to him right now, assuming he proves it at the JUCO level.  Keep in mind the JUCO kids play some really good baseball too and are hungry so they tend to grind.  Go in with eyes wide open on JUCO recruiting as well, as that level picks up more the summer after junior year and will get guys that fall off D1.  Don't fall in love with D1 just to play D1, sometimes your better option is a different path.....everyone has a different road to travel.