Davidson

By all means call the coach and talk to him. My son's friend is a freshmen there and if you get serious I could get you in contact with him if you want. He is a SoCal player also that was picked up as a result of his travel team.

quote:

Originally posted by Blue10:
Note: son is a very strong student and we are finding that it's quite difficult to find a good baseball school that also allows their players to be successful students.

Just a suggestion, you may want to consider looking at schools in the Northeast, if you can deal with the weather issues. You will certainly find many schools here, that will let you be both a student and an athlete.

Davidson is an awesome school, its hard not to fall in love with the campus when you visit. The field/facilities for a D1 are average, but you have to remember that going to Davidson is about getting the degree, not winning titles in baseball. I was recruited by Zandler last year and he wasn't always the most honest and transparent with me (I was in the middle of their list for pitchers, so my situation is a little different), but he is a good coach and knows his stuff. And FWIW, I'm currently attending a good baseball school that allows me to do just fine academically, it honestly comes more down to how hard the student is willing to work rather than the school.

Good point bird.

Certainly Ivy's if he is a good student. PM fenwaysouth and he can give you help/information on Cornell and the Ivy's. My son was also recruited by them and I have a pretty good view of the various Ivy programs. There are plenty of DIII's that fit the bill, and many in SoCal. It just depends on your major. My son ended up in Texas at Trinity and there are a ton of good DIII's in the south also. Chapman has an excellent baseball program, Oxy not so much but a great school; CMS is middle of the road, facilities so so. (I have heard they are planning for an upgrade)

We found it very difficult to find a D1 that accommodates high academic kids. Stanford of course but you have to be a very special ball player and student for them same with Rice. Probably the other schools on the west coast to look at would be UC Davis, & Cal Poly (both schools).

As Highheat posted probably Stanford and Rice are the only two real high academic high performing D1's in the country. If you want to play competitive ball, have a winning program and take a tough degree than a DIII is probably the way to go.

Blue,

Our neighbor (sophomore pitcher) attends Davidson. He and my son played travel ball together for many, many years. While I haven't talked to the young man in some time I do know (through his parents) that he really likes the school, campus and baseball team. He made quite a few pitching appearances as a freshmen, and even started some games last year. You will be expected to play summer baseball, and possibly hold down a part time job helping out with off sesason athletic events (ie filming field hockey games). It is a very competitive conference where Davidson typically finishes at or near the bottom. Last time I checked, our neighbor is a biology major (pre-med). I've travelled to Davidson on business and I thought their field and baseball facilities were D1 average as highheat15 describes them.

They've told me that it is a very liberal school if that matters to you. In addition, it is a very small school in terms of population. I found it interesting that Davidson is smaller than the high school my neighbor attended while my son went to a small high school but attends a much larger University. Different strokes for different folks. If I think of anything more, I'll pass it on.

I would absolutely call Coach Z, and ask him the best way to get recruited at Davidson. Remember, it is very difficult for schools like Davidson to find qualified (academic and athletic) talent which is why they recruit nationally. If you look at their roster it has a national flavor to it, so I would expect they know how to best deal with national recruiting. You and I both know that your 2013 son has talent as he has been recruited by other schools. Your son has nothing to lose and everything to gain with a quality school like Davidson. High School junior year isn't the time to be shy when you want to be recruited. Your son has the perfect excuse to call him as he has seen him at Headfirst and Stanford. Have your son reintroduce himself to the coach and explain why he is interested in Davidson. Simple as that. Best of luck.

Recruited = passion + persistence + talent + luck.

Thanks everyone! I will have son email Coach Z asking when a good time to call would be.

An exceptional school in so many ways.

Unless the number of funded baseball scholarships has grown in the past few years, it's doubtful that much can be expected from that source (The last time I was told what it was, the number was 3.). However, given the school's exceptional endowment and consistently high academic standards for all applicants, I would doubt that any financially-challenged family would fail to receive what they needed if their son passed the admissions requirements.

I just found out that they do your laundry for you at Davidson. Wow!

Our 2012 RHP took an official visit to Davidson in September. Coach Zandler saw him at 2010 nov HeadFirst Camp and 2011 Stanford Camp. First the coaches--son really likes Coach Zandler and coach Cooke. Very personable and they have great experience and professional contacts (2 Davidson pitchers were drafted this year). The campus--beautiful setting and great academics. I believe enrollment is around 2,000. Facilities okay. Players--son really enjoyed the entire team and thought the school did a great job balancing academics/athletics. As stated they play in tough conference and typically finish lower in standings.

Son ultimately committed to Princeton and Coach Zandler was a class act when son called him to let him know.

If there is anything else I can help with let me know.

Bb4me: you have a PM!

We also looked long and hard at Davidson. We were told that there are no conflicts between athletics and academics - that there are no classes past 430ish and no weekdays practices before that. We agree with all else that has been said - when S declined the offer, the coaches were very gracious.