College Recruiting Advisers - Good and Bad Experiences

The MLB Pipeline idea would not affect recruiting. The top 80 players in the country don't need recruiting services. Plus they would all be rising seniors who all would have committed by then. 

Interesting thread.  I've often wondered if this was an ethical business or a money grab.  I can imagine there are cases where they could help a player find a home.  Like any business I'm sure there are good and bad organizations. 

I don't see how its regulated. It's a service and i'm sure they all stipulate variables outside their control that would cause lack of placement. 

I don't see how these work.  How valuable is a referral from someone who is being paid to refer a kid?  

I would focus on services that attend games to scout the kids,  understand the market, have relationships with coaches nationwide, and do not take everyone.  services should not be guaranteeing placement but will likely have stats on the percentage of clients placed.  I see a lot of ex-players that claim to have all these great relationships with college coaches. and most have limited relationships.  The best that i have seen by far is NSR.  

This is an interesting topic.  My son was at Area Code Underclass this summer and several of the players (I'd guestimate 1/3) of the players had one of these advisers and I met 2 of them....although they did not try a sales pitch on me, the parents I talked to about them had nothing but good things to say..

I'm not sure how much can be done or if anything needs to be done. The job of these sites is to help create contact/interest, not get you a scholarship. When it doesn't work out the argument is that the player just wasn't good enough. You can't blame a recruiting service when schools don't offer you. 

MLB is not entering the college recruiting showcase arena. All MLB is doing is taking closer scrutinization of the top 80 rising seniors. These are players, who if they sign rather than attend college will be signing for seven figure bonuses. They will have already gone through the same showcase environment as every other college prospect and committed before even being eligible for this MLB three week prospect showcase.

As for the placement companies, ever see the Liberty Mutual ad where the guy throws his wallet in the river? A player can do a better job of targeting and marketing himself to colleges with the help of his travel coach.

From my experience players with the help of travel coaches, can market themselves to colleges with success, especially the top players.   But to dismiss recruiting services as a waster of money i think is wrong.  I have seen a much higher degree of success from those players that used the proper recruiting services than who relied on themselves and their travel and high school coaches.  recruiting websites are a waste of $. I agree on that.  However, If you use a service that has scouts at the tournaments watching the games with the college coaches, with relationships, the results are dramatic.  i disagree that players and coaches can do better on their own. They can succeed on there own, yes.  is it worth the money? from what i have seen, a resounding yes.  but for those that do not spend the money on the right recruiting coordinator yet spend money on showcase after showcase,  i question the logic.  Just my opinion from what i have witnessed.  

I've never heard of anyone that charges like that....meaning an upfront fee then more once you've got a scholarship.  Any I've hard of are upfront....and even at that, I've never seen one that doesn't anything that a parent with a computer and a bit of video skill can't do their own.  It's not hard.  Emails for RC's are on every school's website.  Contact the coaches....then make sure you're somewhere that you can be seen by any that reply with interest.    Very, very few guys have ever been recruited or offered a scholarship without being seen by the HC or RC....despite what these "recruting services" tell you.  Are there some, yes, but the percentage is very small.    Be very careful before falling for the "sales pitch" from these companies promising big results.....again, it's not hard, you can do it yourself. 

I have also never heard anyone talk about an "advisor" with regard to getting them in college.  Advisers are typically used by draft-bound kids to help them thru the process. 

I agree with Buckeye. Most coaches want to see the players play in person.  They like video, referrals, etc., but in the end, they like their own eyes more...

What I wouldn’t like about services is having spaghetti thrown off the wall to see what sticks. I preferred a targeted, referenced (credible travel coach telling contacts/colleges coaches to see my kid) approach. 

Are you suggesting that college recruiter coordinators throw spaghetti at a wall or are not credible? Perhaps some do but if you find the right one they are credible and have far more contacts than your son’s credible travel coach. And by the way, travel coaches should be involved as well. It’s an added advisor with added contacts in the process. For those that want to give their son the best opportunity it works extremely well.

GloFisher posted:

Are you suggesting that college recruiter coordinators throw spaghetti at a wall or are not credible? Perhaps some do but if you find the right one they are credible and have far more contacts than your son’s credible travel coach. And by the way, travel coaches should be involved as well. It’s an added advisor with added contacts in the process. For those that want to give their son the best opportunity it works extremely well.

I’m not suggesting anything. I’m stating there are recruiting coordinators who don’t do a good job for players. With a good travel program they’re unneccesary. They will put the player’s name out anywhere they can. They email any coach they think they can draw attention.

They haven’t necessarily seen the player play. I know one who tried to get a future HA Centennial League D3 player in front of Vanderbilt and Stanford. Another tried to get a future D2 PSAC player in front of ACC programs.

A player should make a list of colleges he wants to play, review the list with his travel coach to see if it’s legit choices and have the travel coach promote the player. It’s what my son’s coach did for all the team’s players. 

The advisors who blanket colleges with marketing programs on behalf of their clients lack credibility. Their solicitations tend to receive the same treatment from coaches as the marketing pieces we all receive in the mail each day; the ones that go immediately into the recycling bin.

Coaches listen to trusted sources, and they're naturally skeptical of paid advisors. In the large majority of cases, it's a waste of money.

I’ve talked to several college coaches and it appears that these advisor programs are a waste of money. Coaches like players to take the initiative and state their interest in the college program. From there the player has to have the goods. Great skills test results open eyes and will get a player a closer look. My 2021 grandson tested Exit Velocity of 95mph, and Raw Throwing of 87mph at a recent showcase (his first showcase as a high schooler) and immediately had scouts following him for the rest of the weekend. He had a great showcase getting on-base 8 of 10 AB’s hitting the ball hard with every at bat. I should also mention that he is very athletic 6’2” / 190 lbs. His travel ball coach (who is a former MLB Scout) tells us college coaches have taken notice and if he keeps progressing so will MLB.

Bottom line is to match a players skill set to the right program. Be realistic about the players ability an contact those programs that are a good fit.

if you think it’s valuable then that’s all that matters.

 

The more kids they have the less time they can spend on your kid. If recruiting websites are a waste then whatever they offer in relation to a website or profile, emails and videos must be as well? Do you get a list of coaches contacted with notes and updates consistently? Do you have access to those coaches? 

IMHO, if they got a zero up front and a large fee for placement once it happens, I “may” buy in a bit on their commitment to the process but still think the talent, tournaments, coaches and showcases work for most kids. ..with talent being the primary driver.

My 2018 worked with what I would call an ADVISOR rather than a RECRUITER.

Since neither my husband or I had any experience with any athletic recruiting it seemed worthwhile. The advisor called us after he spoke at an event we attended and saw my son throw his freshman year. We paid a flat fee son's freshman year and continue to talk to them now that he's in college from time to time. And it was less than attending a PG tournament.

They helped us shoot his video and offered direction on how to do future videos. They helped him write his initial emails to coaches, offered suggestions on where to send it, put together a web site for him where we could post video, photos, transcripts, etc. I know from the analytics that coaches did go look at his stuff from time to time.

They also helped son identify colleges he was interested in. When we had questions about a specific tournament or what to say to a coach or whether to attend a specific camp, they offered advice.  Even now, son reaches out from time to time about questions he has about baseball in general.

I feel like they offered us tools and information on how to think about the recruiting process, and then were a comforting word on the phone when offers came in and we were trying to decide whether to jump or to hold out for the dream school (which we did).

 

In only one case did they talk to a coach on my son's behalf and I think they had a relationship with the coach and thought my son would be a good fit.

It was a good experience for us and I feel like we got our money's worth, but based on what others say, I can see where often it isn't.

 

My grandson's travel ball coach tells players to concentrate on training and being the best player you can be. Be realistic about your ability and Target those schools at your level you'd like to attend regardless of baseball. Services can help in the process, but if you follow the rules above you can do as good a job on your own.  Bottom line, be a stand-out player and your choices will be greatly enhanced.