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PROS: Kid can relax and play without the pressure of pleasing. Time can be spent cleaning up/improving their game. Money can be saved, limit travel/tournaments/showcases, go to committed to college's camps. Focus on grades, like baseball they can never be too good. Parents get to post on social media.

CONS: Staff that recruited player leaves, RC that loves your son takes another job and HC has no idea who you are. HC is fired, resigns or takes another job. You stop working because you "made it" and it shows, they decommit from you because you have not progressed. At 15 they recruit you based on how much they expect you to develop. Kid has no idea what he wants to do with his professional (not baseball) life, that school have a curriculum/major that fits?

That's just a start, this should be a fun and informative thread to follow.

JCG posted:

You should get some well-informed replies.

You can also do a search here and find a lot of discussion.

From what I have seen the pros are that sometimes it works out absolutely great for the kid,  and the cons are that sometimes it's a disaster.

^^^^^^^+1...in  a nutshell. We were talking about this the other day. If it's a dream school, go for it. If not, why take yourself off the market early?

 

Advantages:

 Gives you a strong sense of affirmation (which is no small thing in a sport defined by failure)

Gives  you something to crow about to others  (how much of an advantage this counts as depends on your personality and situation) 

Relieves one major source of stress -- uncertainty.    Which can be a very major source of stress.  

Disadvantages:  

It's a one way street.   

Teams that might otherwise be interested in you, will stop thinking about you as an option.    Which may or may not be a big deal, depending on.... 

... The coach who got you to commit early and his situation.

Because he does not thereby commit to you.  No matter who he is, he is likely to  keep looking, since he has to hedge his bets.

 If he finds a better fit, he may  drop you like a hot potato without hesitation.  

That particular coach  may not  even be around when time comes to make an actual binding offer.

Though one major source of  stress (uncertainty) may be relieved, another source of stress, probably lesser,   is introduced  since  you still have to do your part to make sure that the "offer"  comes to ultimate fruition  in the form of a signed NLI.

Welcome to the site.  What position does player play and is this a school at the top of his list?  Are we talking power 5 D1?  These are a few key variables.  I'm sure you will get some great responses but also be aware that you can search existing threads in this forum and there are many on this topic.  Generally...

Some pro's -  

assuming school is making significant $ investment, less likely that they will recruit more high profile guys at your position

better chance of finding a mutual match - they are looking for a player like you for position and you are looking at their school as one of your top choices

some mental relief from the recruiting process

 

Some cons -

you basically take yourself off the market, so if things change, it can be a much more difficult path to find the right school again

If coaches change, which they do frequently, you may be starting all over or in a place where you are no longer considered the preferred player

it is a very one-sided agreement.  if you don't progress at the expected rate or if they find a better candidate at your position, they will find a way to "back out".

If your interests change or refine as to which school you prefer, it becomes much more difficult to change directions.

 PS - well geez, looks like I just repeated what everyone else said in the last seven minutes.  At least we are consistent.

Last edited by cabbagedad
Old timer posted:

 I would like to hear the pros and cons on committing early. 

  1. What is early?
  2. What is the assumed level of academic achievement?
  3. What is the assumed number of college choices at the time of committing early?
  4. What position is played?
  5. What is the level of baseball talent (use a PG rating as the indicator)?
JCG posted:

From what I have seen the pros are that sometimes it works out absolutely great for the kid,  and the cons are that sometimes it's a disaster.

To amplify on this a bit.   My son played with 2 kids who committed to the same major conference school during their sophomore year of HS.  It was a dream school for both.  One was a 2016, the other a 2017. Subsequently the recruiting coach moved on.  2016 was given an NLI and played extremely for the team this year as a frosh.  2017 was left dangling and never saw an NLI. Fortunately he  found a nice mid-level conference match a month or so ago and signed.

Sometimes it works out great. Sometimes it doesn't.

You could make the case that despite its flaws the system worked well and each kid wound up where he really belongs. But I can't help thinking the 2017 got lucky in the end and would have had a much smoother ride without the early commit.

cabbagedad posted:

Welcome to the site.  What position does player play and is this a school at the top of his list?  Are we talking power 5 D1?  These are a few key variables.  I'm sure you will get some great responses but also be aware that you can search existing threads in this forum and there are many on this topic.  Generally...

Some pro's -  

assuming school is making significant $ investment, less likely that they will recruit more high profile guys at your position

better chance of finding a mutual match - they are looking for a player like you for position and you are looking at their school as one of your top choices

some mental relief from the recruiting process

 

Some cons -

you basically take yourself off the market, so if things change, it can be a much more difficult path to find the right school again

If coaches change, which they do frequently, you may be starting all over or in a place where you are no longer considered the preferred player

it is a very one-sided agreement.  if you don't progress at the expected rate or if they find a better candidate at your position, they will find a way to "back out".

If your interests change or refine as to which school you prefer, it becomes much more difficult to change directions.

 PS - well geez, looks like I just repeated what everyone else said in the last seven minutes.  At least we are consistent.

RHP Major D1 it's on his list

I wonder how many kids commit early to their dream school without closely examining if it's the right school baseball wise, academically, geographically, socially and culturally.

It can be hard enough for adults to sort this all out. Yet ultimately the kid has to make the decision. Yes, baseball comes first for a top prospect. But a high school sophomore top prospect might not be one by the time he's twenty-one (didn't develop, injury)  The other issues matter in the decision. The non baseball aspects of the decision may affect his future.

Last edited by RJM
RJM posted:

I wonder how many kids commit early to their dream school without closely examining if it's the right school baseball wise, academically, geographically, socially and culturally.

Yes indeed.  My 2021 is not exactly an early recruit but it is funny how he says "wow it'd be so cool to play for Louisville" when he has literally never set foot in the state of Kentucky let alone has any clue about Louisville's curriculum nor any clue as to what he would major in.   He wouldn't have even known that the U of Kentucky's home park is an extreme hitters park as compared to Louisville's park if I hadn't told him.

 

Old timer posted:
cabbagedad posted:

Welcome to the site.  What position does player play and is this a school at the top of his list?  Are we talking power 5 D1?  These are a few key variables.  I'm sure you will get some great responses but also be aware that you can search existing threads in this forum and there are many on this topic.  Generally...

Some pro's -  

assuming school is making significant $ investment, less likely that they will recruit more high profile guys at your position

better chance of finding a mutual match - they are looking for a player like you for position and you are looking at their school as one of your top choices

some mental relief from the recruiting process

 

Some cons -

you basically take yourself off the market, so if things change, it can be a much more difficult path to find the right school again

If coaches change, which they do frequently, you may be starting all over or in a place where you are no longer considered the preferred player

it is a very one-sided agreement.  if you don't progress at the expected rate or if they find a better candidate at your position, they will find a way to "back out".

If your interests change or refine as to which school you prefer, it becomes much more difficult to change directions.

 PS - well geez, looks like I just repeated what everyone else said in the last seven minutes.  At least we are consistent.

RHP Major D1 it's on his list

Thanks, so with P's, I think you have sort of another sub-set of pro's and cons.

Teams carry lots of P's.  So, signing the player early and committing $ won't stop school from recruiting hard for more guys like you or better.  P's is where most of the $ goes, although that $ is not unlimited.

The race to sign arms is the most aggressive, so things happen earlier and, thus, I think there are more misses.  Also, injury is most likely to be a factor with P's.  And, if player does not develop quite as well as projected, the school may still keep him on with a lesser role in mind.  That role may equate to a very unhappy player who had the impression he would play a much bigger role.

Last edited by cabbagedad
baseballmom posted:

Just look up top, hit the magnifying glass to do a search...The answer today is the same as it was in 2004...a one way street to nowhere....

Early Commitments

http://community.hsbaseballweb...ng=Early+Committment 

wow if you look over the threads from 04-08 even later you realize how early is...back them the winter of JR year was consider early and somewhat controversial to discuss! Today you are already being looked at by D'3 by them and have been crossed off by D1 and much of D2...the college coaches sure have gotten better at predicting earlier!! Those dumbass coaches of 10 years were way behind!

Every trip we make this summer for baseball is being tied in with a campus visit to a school of interest in the area. Get an idea for the kind of campus environment your kid desires. We are trying to meet with the baseball staffs at those schools, a little harder to pull off it appears! Just getting one to answer the phone is a challenge.

 

Anyone care to  give an educated guess (or if you know, even better) how much of the scholarship budget remains by the end of this summer for a major D1's? By class 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

If anyone knows the same from 10 years ago, that would be a good data point. 

MLB draft, decommits not withstanding, I will guess zero, zero, 30%, 70%.

Anyone? 

Go44dad posted:

Anyone care to  give an educated guess (or if you know, even better) how much of the scholarship budget remains by the end of this summer for a major D1's? By class 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

If anyone knows the same from 10 years ago, that would be a good data point. 

MLB draft, decommits not withstanding, I will guess zero, zero, 30%, 70%.

Anyone? 

Moving on from Heimlich, I thought the question posed by the wonderful and always thoughtful Go44Dad was a great one. Anyone care to postulate intelligentia et scientia?

Go44dad posted:

Anyone care to  give an educated guess (or if you know, even better) how much of the scholarship budget remains by the end of this summer for a major D1's? By class 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

If anyone knows the same from 10 years ago, that would be a good data point. 

MLB draft, decommits not withstanding, I will guess zero, zero, 30%, 70%.

Anyone? 

Sounds to me that would be a real good reason to commit early.

My son is a 2020...early commitment has come up often.  The trend I am seeing with pitchers is that the super duper OMG this 14 year old is throwing a million miles an hour...those guys are NOT committing early.  The 14 year old throwing 85 miles an hour IS committing early. 

Every now and then it is because it is a local school to them and where they feel comfortable playing.  I really can't fault that decision, if that is where they and their parents were always hoping they would go then good for them, I hope it works out.  However, if the 14 year old is already 6'4 and 200 pounds he really might not progress much more in which case he will be dropped, then it is heartbreak for all.

What most of us 2020 parents have talked about is being very afraid of coaching changes and our kids not progressing.  The general take has been what's the harm in waiting until Junior year when the kid is currently showing skills, not projected skills, CURRENT skills that the coach wants for his team. Yes, most of the money will be gone, but if you are talking MAJOR D1 then they have kids that will go in the draft and then money will be free again.

For low D1, D2, D3, NAIA and Juco....why commit early if the kid could progress more and possibly get a higher level school to show interest, possibly a better offer?  It also depends on the aspirations of the player.  There are some kids that say they WILL be on a MLB field one day, and some kids that are using baseball for leverage to get into a better school and have no aspirations to play after college. What does your kid want out of baseball is the biggest question I would ask.  Follow that up with a plan to give him the best chance to get there.

"Sounds to me that would be a real good reason to commit early."

While all the money may be gone, ironically a bunch of that money is committed twice. Because early comittments are not enforceable, some schools will stockpile comittments and leave the "undeserving" at the proverbial NLI alter. What makes a kid "undeserving?" Coaching change, skills that plateau, draft miscalculations (either for incoming or out going players), grade/score issues, a better player comes along, are a few reasons.

Read the old threads. This is a passionate issue - it seems the younger the player and more inexperienced the parent, the more early comittment seems the better path.

Also, what exactly are the thought processes which lead your kid to pick this school? (Some posters here are gently asking: if he's good enough to get attention now, why lock yourself in without having a full understanding of possible college options - which tend to change as a kid's attention turns towards college?)

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