Data Gathering on where 2019 would compete as a RHP

All my opinion.....

Won't the schools know where he fits?  Throw your net.  If he has been competing in visible tournaments (big PG stuff, etc), I would think the ACC's would have at least reached out some by now if there was interest.

Keep competing, keep working out, the schools are looking for talent.  Send videos and schedules to Coaches/RC's.  Next summer should be big for him.

Clueless I am in the same boat as you with a 2019 RHP.   Hopefully you will share what you find.  My sons "dream" school is a big SEC school down the street from our house.  

Go44dad posted:

All my opinion.....

Won't the schools know where he fits?  Throw your net.  If he has been competing in visible tournaments (big PG stuff, etc), I would think the ACC's would have at least reached out some by now if there was interest.

Keep competing, keep working out, the schools are looking for talent.  Send videos and schedules to Coaches/RC's.  Next summer should be big for him.

I understand what the OP is trying to do.  Like my son, he was not fully grown and over 6' by 14 yrs old.  You need to gauge/forecast where son will be as a senior in HS to determine a college fit.   The recruiting game is more difficult if you have a son that matures/grows more slowly than most.  For example, I looked at our local D1 and they already have 5 RHP committed for the class of 2108.  4 out of the 5 are 6'5" and the 5th is 6'7" and all throwing over 90 mph.  My son is now finally 5'11" as a junior and still growing.  I was 5'11" when I graduated HS and grew 3 more inches in college.  In the travel circuit, it seemed to be the norm for the players to be taller than their fathers by 14 yrs old. 

Curious if the D1 roster has Juco transfers?  That could be the route for a younger graduate or "late blooming/grower".

I'm not sure that any one thing makes the recruiting game "harder".  It seems like projectability for size would help it.  I know you think your son will be taller, but maybe he won't, or at least not much?  In the end, there's only so much he can control....work out, get better, play good competition.  And cast the net.

(I know I kinda mixed responses to OP and Mr Schert)

In my uneducated opinion, being a parent of a 2020, if I had a late bloomer child who desperately wanted to play baseball in college I would likely take him to the uncommitted showcases in his junior and senior year but I would probably be directing him to think of the NAIA/D3/Juco route as a fall back position.

Being a late bloomer is going to be a tough road, and while data crunching may make you feel like you are making sense of all this craziness called recruiting, you can't predict with any certainty where your son will end up.  My son is 14 and he has already passed both myself and his father in height...no idea where it came from, but genetics are a funny thing and you can't predict them. Best thing you can do, again in my uneducated opinion, is to have contingency plans in place for where he actually is in the height and mph department when it really is crunch time.

What are his numbers now.  

Go44dad posted:

Curious if the D1 roster has Juco transfers?  That could be the route for a younger graduate or "late blooming/grower".

I'm not sure that any one thing makes the recruiting game "harder".  It seems like projectability for size would help it.  I know you think your son will be taller, but maybe he won't, or at least not much?  In the end, there's only so much he can control....work out, get better, play good competition.  And cast the net.

(I know I kinda mixed responses to OP and Mr Schert)

All good advice but as a late bloomer you will cast the net later rather than sooner in the recruiting game and that makes it tougher.

I'm thinking it's a little early to start benchmarking and trying to determine fit.  I'd wait 3-4 months, get into the high school season and then use that information to maybe tweak summer plans.

I know you state your reason is to determine where he could compete, but I guess I am curios as to whether you will use this info to take immediate actions (i.e. early list of target schools).  I would highly recommend that if you go down this path and use it for near term decision making, that you also look at where a particular college pitcher was throwing summer after freshman year - and maybe track progression until the peak.  I suspect you will find the occasional ACC pitcher that was nowhere near the top of his class as a rising sophomore (lots are, but not all).  I don't have the data, but suspect the range tightens as the kid progresses.  I would say his performance up through next July/August will have a lot to do with where he can compete.  I would suggest that there is little downside to keeping ACC schools on the list for now (no real cost in terms of effort or dollars) and postpone this exercise for at least six months after you gather more realistic data from your son's summer outings.

If you were a 2018, then some data crunching today might be appropriate, but a 2019 (no idea of actual age as to whether a young or an old 2019) who is still growing like a sprout has an unknown upside.  Did see one 2019 commit (Furman), but looks like these schools you listed have a little work left on class of 2017 and have just started to focus on 2018 (big summer coming up for 2018's).  If you were dead set on ACC, then you might need to be taking action now, but moving on from ACC caliber pitching buys you some time in the recruiting game IMO.

Crunching the data to form a list of targets is a good plan. The schools you mention are very good schools with baseball programs that are solid. As mentioned and im sure you know, nobody can predict the future and nothing replaces hard work. Support him and help him along the way. Best of luck to you and report back here when you are getting more into the process.

Thanks all for the thoughts...  Son is definitely late bloomer.

He broke his arm two months ago, orthopedist told him his growth plates were wide open. Sure enough two months later when cast and brace came off he had grown 1.5 inches to an even 6 feet. Ridiculous!

He's now 15.5 years old, 6 foot, 140 lbs, and peaks  lower mid-70s. Definitely not the kind of stud who would gather interest from the ACC school down the street. He wants to be a tar heel... but that comes from the heart not the head.

We have not done any "showcasing" as IMO there hasn't been anything compelling to show anybody.

I agree with all that this summer is an important time. He's working hard to fill out his growing frame, but thats been challenged by what I'm calling the stretch armstrong phenomenon... ;-)

We are not panicking, just trying to work out a strategy that can help us deal with the uncertainty of where his body will go, where his academic interests will end up, and how much he REALLY wants this.

To the question of whether data gathering would lead to an immediate action, I'd say no, its just getting the ball rolling and trying to identify how we'll go forward without turning this into a panicky situation. Probably wishful thinking.

Thanks again, y'all are terrific.

ShoveIT... How and where did you get that information on Furman commits? I'm clueless about resources out there for seeing this process evolve.

Thanks,

For starters, I don't think there is any level of college baseball where mid-70's will work which I am sure you already know.  Thus, your son has a year and a half (until summer of junior year when he must showcase) to add about 10 MPH to his fastball before you receive "data" that D1's are interested. 

Encourage him to build his arm strength through long tossing and also build his overall body strength through weightlifting.  For long tossing and arm strength, he can use the stick test to measure his arm strength.  After each session, throw one ball and see where it lands.  Mark it with a stick and continue to try and beat that mark as time goes by to track arm strength.  Obviously, see if you can find a pitching instructor who can teach proper mechanics to wriggle every mile-per-hour of velocity they can get out of him.  

If he adds 10 or 20 more lbs of muscle to his frame, and builds serious arm strength through proper long tossing, I believe the young man can see his D1 aspirations come true.  He can also work to develop his grades and secondary pitches as well in the mean time.  Most D1 pitchers are about mid-80's in high school and cruise at about 88 mph in college.  There are exceptions but I am pretty confidant providing these numbers.  Encourage the young man to get to work with these numbers in mind.  He has enough time.     

cluelessDad2019 posted:

ShoveIT... How and where did you get that information on Furman commits? I'm clueless about resources out there for seeing this process evolve.

Thanks,

I don't have that, my son attended a camp there when he was in HS. He also had a friend committed there.  My comment was more about the overall program and school.  You can sort on PG site by school and see commitments though.

I do have a friend who has twins at Wofford, one in football and the other baseball.

Clueless, there is a bunch of data in this thread: http://community.hsbaseballweb...-at-certain-schools?

cluelessDad2019 posted:

ShoveIT... How and where did you get that information on Furman commits? I'm clueless about resources out there for seeing this process evolve.

Thanks,

Go to the Perfect Game website and search under the College tab for College recruits.  You search by Grad Year AND either state of residency (i.e. all kids in Virginia in class of 2019) or school (i.e. all commits to Furman for class of 2019).  

Clueless, here's another way to look at it. How many different outcomes are realistic? It sounds like for the summer before your son's senior year, the best case will be velo in the upper 80s, grades and test scores good enough for high academic NC/SC D1s, and for the net costs of those schools to make sense for you. What if his velo is low or mid-80s? How does that change things? Would he play D3, or would he go to a state school and walk on or not play? If he is just starting to "bloom" at that time, would he/you be open to junior college with the hope of transferring to D1?

Chances are you can narrow down the likely outcomes to 2 or 3... then prepare for them all. If D3 is in the equation, start a list of candidates now, and go to some camps. If juco is an option, start looking for the best fit now. For the southern high academics, visit and meet the staffs and figure out if the costs will be a deal breaker.

The problem that many of us run into is time. Most people focus their efforts on the highest level possible, and let the market tell them that they aimed too high. That system works well, but it doesn't leave much time for research or exposure if you haven't found a home by the time senior year rolls around (which will be upon him very quickly). And I'm not talking about spending a lot of money. Visits and school camps are not terribly expensive, and research is just a matter of putting in the time.

For RHPs, it's mostly about velo which does make the process a little less complicated. Good luck and keep us updated.

2019, are you located near Santa Rosa?

We have several 2017 International tournaments and your son can join one of our SSK teams and after 4 games the evaluation by pro scouts and college players can be provided.

Our games are against College players and the Australian visiting teams.

Bob

<rwilliams@goodwillseries.org>