college roster questions

2 year schools and the players have proved themselves.

Win now philosophy versus win in 3 years. I was suprised after watching a season of JC ball how ****** the all state high schoolers looked in comparison, boys vs men. 4 years schools sign based in potential, very few can impact as freshman although a few do, and many wind up at a JC after not cutting it for whatever reason at a 4 year.

Kevin,
There are many reasons for a lot J.C. players on the rosters.
Some players didn't have the GPA's out high school and had to get their GPA's up.
Very few Freshman start at a 4 year school, so going to a Juco allows them to start and play every game to increase their skills.
Cost of school is a lot less and allows players to get their general education classes out of the way without student loans or parents having to pay as much.
Chance to be seen by more 4 year schools that may have not seen players before.
Better chance for scholorships when a 4 year doesn't have to review every year.
Some are just not ready to go away to college. A J.C. allows them to grow into the college experance.

With the new roster cap and 25% minimum scholarship requirements, many colleges unfortunately don't have the luxury of recruiting freshmen to develop who have potential but cannot make an immediate impact. There are some programs that still put an emphasis on development, but many seem to be shifting away from this approach.

I've been looking at some college baseball rosters and many of them seem to have alot of players from jucos and community colleges, what's the deal?

Maybe I am misinterpreting this comment, but it seems as if people continue to have a negative attitude about players at JUCO programs. I know some of my friends do and have commented that they are "only looking at four year programs and D1's for their sons."

Will some of you please provide your thoughts on this topic?

I believe that it all comes down to what your Goals are. If your goal is to enjoy a baseball experience through your college years and then join the workforce employing your college degree, then a 4 year program makes a lot of sense. Often in a 4 year program a freshman will be developed but primarily be used infrequently as upper classmen play.

Some also have the dream of playing in a top contending D1 with the goal of playing on a team that competes in Omaha.

Our choice on JUCO was based on my son’s dream of playing pro ball. He was not able to play his senior season in HS due to an injury, although he had been receiving a fair amount of pro interest the fall leading up to his senior baseball season. He had offers from several D1's, D2's and about 6 Florida JUCO's.
He went to a JUCO so that he would remain draft eligible each year he attended college.


His focus is baseball and not academics. He will major in business and start his own, if he is not able to fully realize his dream.

He is now a sophomore and has started and played virtually every inning since he has been in college. That makes him an interesting transfer option for D1's. We are just getting into that now, about 2 weeks ago I was concerned about what happens next...now 3 D1's are coming to see him play Thursday.

The JUCO route has worked very well for my son, and we are very happy that was the route he chose.

There can be any number of reasons a player chooses the JUCO route. For some it may be grades, some want to play right away, for some it may be their only opportunity to keep playing, and for others it is the best route to pro ball. As to why a junior college player may be attractive to a coach at a four year school, that JUCO player has a lot of AB's or IP's against quality opposition. That's experience that a player coming out of high school doesn't have. My older son attended a JUCO because that was the only opportunity he had to keep playing after high school. It appeared after his JUCO career was over that he was through. Applied and was accepted to go to his dream school to just be a student. At orientation,he talked to the coach, got a tryout, and they kept him. The coach told him that they liked his experience - 300 or so college AB's, 2 summers in collegiate wood bat leagues, etc. It's just easier sometimes to project a player that's been around college level competition longer. Now, for the ultra talented, top 200 level high school player its a different story. But for the average Joe playing college baseball that experience really helps out in making him an attractive addition to a team.

Another thought on a good juco program is that they have less rules to work around. Which means you can get more work in than you can at some of the d-1 schools that don't play as much in the fall and have restrictions regarding practice times and how much you can do. for many it also allows you more time on the field as opposed to sitting the first year or two. Me, I would recommend it to most players.

What JC did your son go to Floridafan?

Another advantage of the JUCO route is making a better choice of a 4 year progam after 2 years of experience. A common mistake of HS players is choosing a 4 year school that is not a good fit for them. After the JUCO experience they have a much more realistic view of where they can play and also have a better perspective to make wise academic choices.

Hey Play9,

Sorry I missed your post.

My guy played at Daytona State his Freshman year and transferred to Polk State for his Sophomore year.

Looking for the right fit for the next level.

Toooldforthis and Lefty's dad pretty much covered why our son went JC route. In just a few short months he has learned many things both on and off the field. He should come away from Juco with his AA and no debt, be a better player and hopefully draftable. He knows a couple of his ex-teammates at D1s and we are keeping tabs on them too. We'll see who gets to the big show first.

In California a player who attends a JUCO and gets his AA Degree with a 3.00 GPA is automatically accepted to a California State University without having to take SAT's or ACT test. The JUCO curriculum takes into account all requirements to meet the upper class requisites for admission. Secondly, in some areas the JUCO schools have their affiliated course curriculum to meet the University of California requirements at Berkeley, UCLA or at Santa Barbara. My oldest son just graduated from UC Santa Barbara with his B.A. degree in Economics after getting 3 AA Degrees from our local Community College. It was much less expensive to do it that way and he actually learned how to write a decent essay...LOL

Our baseball player was not a student and only cared about playing ball. We actually got him through his college senior year and he played his full 4 years in 5. But we found out that most baseball jocks would rather play baseball at the JC level then sit on the bench as an underclassmen at a D1. All of the players that went that way with our son have gone on to play at D1, D2 or D3 colleges as did our son too..

JMO

Another reason to chose the JUCO route...my opinion of course. While we were in Jupiter this last week, there was talk of some offers from D1's that had been previously verbally committed being withdrawn based on various situations. I don't think it is fair for a school to expect a player to hold up his end of the bargain and not continue on the recruiting path before signing day, but schools are withdrawing offers? I know this has been touched on by some previously. Please offer your thoughts!

check the pro rosters and just see how many more are playing at that level that are born out of JUCO's, I highly recommend the juco if u want to play rather than sit ur first 2 years of D-1, I recommend more to juco every year more than I ever have D-1, experience is the key,, grades arent as big a factor in juco but you still have to meet all the criterior to play,, so read and learn and play!!