Curious: HA and decent player

Interesting topic.

My son's goal, like many, was not only to be drafted, but to be a major league pitcher. Coming from a family of engineers, taking engineering classes in HS, he wished to attend the best school he could for a degree in engineering.

Most of the coaches that came after him were from HA D1, P5 programs.

Not one of those programs would have have allowed him to major in engineering.

Why?  Because those coaches are paid to win championships, and in many majors you can't sacrifice class time for practice time. Now that may not always be the case on every team, but I am well aware of what a top D1 coach needs to accomplish. GPA is important at most programs, coaches get big bonuses for team GPA. The major doesnt matter.

So for those that don't know, son chose Clemson, 90% scholarship, returning year paid in full, went to the cape, won 2 ACC championships and been to Omaha, drafted second round. Has some minor degree in some silly major. But his framed degree  hangs on the wall in his office and he and we are very proud of what he has accomplished so far since those years when he wanted a degree in engineering.

I did not write this to brag. Not my intention. Many of you know who he is, it's in my bio.

Here is my point. It is very, very difficult to attend a top tier D1 baseball program and matriculate in many majors. At some point, depending on your son's skill level and GPA he will have to make decisions, because in the end the coach is going to chose the best players with solid a GPA. You can look over D1rosters and see that many are in the same major. FWIW a roster will have some with difficult majors that churn out top GPAs because it helps the overall team GPA.

Over the years I have seen too many webster's players go after the wrong program, then end up scrambling to find the right fit. Lots of folks here have gone down that road, so listen carefully to what they say.

FWIW, there are lots of mid D1 programs that prefer JUCO transfers over freshman.  But in the meantime, your player has to decide at some point, where he wants to go and what he wants to do.

Your son's GPA and his baseball skills will determine where he will eventually attend.

BTW, my son's love of baseball has opened most doors for him. You MUST love the game to succeed either as a player or coach.

Happy New Year everyone!

Engineering is particularly hard because of scheduling issues; many of the required lab classes take place during practice and are difficult to schedule around.  My son, who was not an engineering major, could never take a class that started after 1 pm or that met on Fridays or Tuesdays in the Spring.

One thing often overlooked in the recruiting madness--serious baseball players need to make hard decisions (about other sports, about friends, about majors, about money) at a fairly young age.  It sounds from your bio, @TPM, that your son had a lot of success with his decisions. Kudos to him and you!

@RHP_Parent

My point exactly.

There are many considerations and most of the time it comes down to what does the player really want to do after all the cards are on the table. If we hadn't listened to coaches, scouts, and parents who had been through the process not sure where he would be today.

Parents would be wise to figure out what kind of jobs that baseball players from their player's prospective college actually get.  Don't be swayed by the statistics for non-athletes...those kids actually had internships, joined student organizations and weren't limited to certain majors or classes.  (Some of them actually take classes that meet on Friday.)

Look at recent rosters for kids who should have graduated, and then look those kids up on LinkedIn to see where they work now...you may be surprised.

@TexasLefty posted:

What do you do today’s environment in terms of recruiting with a HA kid who is also a high performer (let’s say not on anyone’s radar in terms of being recruited top D1 schools, but still pretty good)?  @Francis7 made me think about this 😁.

Do they go JUCO and live their dream and possibly transfer until it ends?  Or do you just say that their intelligence will make tons more $$ and go strictly HA?  Do they still have a chance at HA to get to the big league through development in a HA school?  

Went back to OP as this was a long thread. RipkenFan son is a HA kid who had one primary MLB tool (elite speed).  Chose to attend the HA D1 over the top 25 ranked D1 Big State U school. Got the best of both worlds- was able to earn a chemical engineering degree from a top 5 HA school four years ago, and was a top 10 round draftee. It can happen!  I do think that things would have been different had he gone HA D3, or not had the series he had in a pre conference spring training weekend series (7/11, 5 SBs)against the #5 team in country. That put him on the radar of a number of teams. 3 months before that series he was going through the Rhodes Scholar process.... (lol)

Happy New Year to All.

@Ripken Fan

That's a great story. Kudos to your son.

One of son's teammates took pre med courses. I guess that if baseball didn't work out he would go to medical school.

He currently is a ML coach!

@Ripken Fan posted:

Went back to OP as this was a long thread. RipkenFan son is a HA kid who had one primary MLB tool (elite speed).  Chose to attend the HA D1 over the top 25 ranked D1 Big State U school. Got the best of both worlds- was able to earn a chemical engineering degree from a top 5 HA school four years ago, and was a top 10 round draftee. It can happen!  I do think that things would have been different had he gone HA D3, or not had the series he had in a pre conference spring training weekend series (7/11, 5 SBs)against the #5 team in country. That put him on the radar of a number of teams. 3 months before that series he was going through the Rhodes Scholar process.... (lol)

Happy New Year to All.

Wow. Amazing story.

What college did he attend?

It is an amazing story, but players who get to Ivy League (D1) schools don't have the same issue as the OP.  Ivy players have D1-level skills plus academics, and then are able to major in whatever subjects they want, and/or get drafted.

In the case of the OP, the player has the academic qualifications, but not D1-level baseball skills.  So, the question was, should he go straight to a HA D3, or should he go to a juco?  Most HA D3 (or Ivy) schools don't take many juco transfers, so if the D1 skills never come, the transfer choices might be more limited.

@anotherparent posted:

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In the case of the OP, the player has the academic qualifications, but not D1-level baseball skills.  So, the question was, should he go straight to a HA D3, or should he go to a juco?  Most HA D3 (or Ivy) schools don't take many juco transfers, so if the D1 skills never come, the transfer choices might be more limited.

I think there have been enough examples, situations & experiences shared int his thread that the OP realizes you have to figure out your own path.  For example, @Ripken Fan's son and my son both competed in the same conference and majored in engineering.  Both of our son's had very different recruiting experiences, goals and skill sets.   

It is really up to the OP to research all of his potential paths with goals, risk and cost in mind.  Back when my son played, you didn't see many (if at all) JUCO transfers into HA D3s.  I suspect there are a few now, but probably not a path travelled often.  What is the OPs intended outcome...professional baseball or professional fill in the blank.  I haven't heard anything yet about what the OP wants to do at the end of 4 years.  So, I think that has yet to be determined.

JMO.

Happy New Years Eve!!  🎉

@fenwaysouth posted:

I think there have been enough examples, situations & experiences shared int his thread that the OP realizes you have to figure out your own path…. It is really up to the OP to research all of his potential paths with goals, risk and cost in mind… What is the OPs intended outcome...professional baseball or professional fill in the blank.  I haven't heard anything yet about what the OP wants to do at the end of 4 years.  So, I think that has yet to be determined.

JMO.

Thanks.  This thread has been extremely helpful to me through the personal examples and the understanding this community brings. Too many variables academically and athletically at this point but all this information is extremely helpful.  I just don’t know what I don’t know yet 😁.

I’d love to talk athletic hypotheticals but I think those need to wait until he finishes this spring and summer.