My son is a Junior at a small, private high school and plays catcher. He wants to play Div. 3 baseball but is not Ivy League and has no aim to play beyond college. (right now, he's got a 3.6 GPA and a 28 ACT). I see a lot of info about Div. 1 timelines, recruiting, getting scholarship $ etc. but what about Div. 3.?
Thanks
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In my experience, the more aggressive national D3's begin recruiting junior year but the majority recruit the spring/summer between junior and senior year all the way up to the usual Nov 1 Early Decision deadline (senior year). There is a lot of leeway and less structure with D3 recruiting, but still a lot to consider in the grand scheme of things.
Good luck!
That's helpful - thank you.
Do you have thoughts about getting recruited for D3 if you do not apply Early Decision? Or do you have to apply ED to be considered?
In general, if your son needs help with Admissions to get into a more competitive school (than he would otherwise consider) the Coach may be able to help. With that help (in most cases) the Coach will want him to apply ED as a form of committment. If your son is competitive or exceeds the Admissions requirements then he has some decisions to make. For the most part it comes down to leverage and options.....who has it and how do they want to use it. There are many people on this board who have applied to many D3 schools RD and walked on with no guarantee of a roster spot. There are also many who have applied ED and guaranteed themselves a roster spot. A lot of it is understanding the coach and the situation. D3 can vary greatly, and the advice you can receive on this board is priceless with regard to specific D3 schools.
A lot of higher end D3 prospects are also mid major D1 prospects. The D3 programs have to wait for the entire recruiting process to shake out. If the prospect doesn't have a D1 verbal by the end of the summer showcases and tournaments the D3s swoop in. They will ask their top prospects to apply ED. It's as close to a commitment as a D3 can make.
The thing to watch out for at the D3 level is an invitation to walk on. Remember, the best prospects were asked to apply ED. And chances are the coach walked the application through admissions. Everything else is a free for all gamble. D3 s can roster as many players as they wish. It doesn't do much good to be player #40 when only about eighteen to twenty players get reasonable playing time. Or if the coach is limiting the roster size to find out you're one of twenty five walk on competing for two roster spots.
Theres a saying that applies to every level. Go where you are loved, not where they just show interest. Make a business plan. Pick target schools. Email them. Find out where to get in front of them. Select the best events you can afford combined with executing your plan.
A D3 coach told me he really doesn't know who's showing up each year till the first day of school, so I would think D3 recruiting never really stops. Make sure your son picks a good academic match, then consider baseball.
Do a search of this site. There are many good threads about all things D3. Many posters on this board have had sons who play or are playing at the D3 level, with a wide range of different experiences.
Here is one useful thread:
And many have had good sons, too.
BROC,
We are also a California family with a 2012 D1 and a soon to be 2016 D3 player. The process was a bit different for each, but there were more similarities, particularly upfront.
Creating a vetted list of target schools, i.e., schools where your son could be admitted AND could play baseball, was a starting point for us. That's the list of schools the player is pursuing. None were a slam dunk for both admission or Spring roster spot, but all were "possible" for both.
Then it's getting in front of those schools (Admissions and baseball staffs), e.g., email, letters, phone calls, showcases, camps, campus visits, online Admissions and baseball profiles, etc. "Demonstrated interest" by the player is very important, particularly for a player who's not a "must have" talent. Now is a great time to start for a high school Junior with D3 schools.
My 2016 had a dozen D3 coaches offer him a Spring 2017 roster spot. He turned down 5 of those schools and applied to the remaining 7 (1 ED, 5 EA, 1 RD). Despite support with Admissions by the Head Coach, he was denied at the ED school which was the biggest academic stretch by far. "Support" doesn't mean guarantee at this level. He's been admitted at all five EA schools. He really likes the RD school, but they didn't offer EA so he's in the regular pool.
Had the ED school accepted my 2016, he would've been done with this process in December. If he accepts one of the EA schools, then he'll be done now. If it ends up being the RD school, then he's done in March. The bottom line is your player is roughly 11-14 months from being done with this process so timing is essential to start now.
Also, a 28 ACT (and perhaps a greater score coming?) will open doors for many schools if the baseball talent is there. Higher is better of course.
Best of luck!!!
fenwaysouth posted:...all the way up to the usual Nov 1 Early Decision deadline (senior year). There is a lot of leeway and less structure with D3 recruiting, but still a lot to consider in the grand scheme of things.
Broc, in some cases the Early Period of NLI Signing (mid November) also comes into play. Recruits who are hoping to sign a DI NLI will wait until the Early Period ends with no offer before committing to a D3.
Broc - you're getting great advice, but the one piece of the puzzle missing so far is getting your son in front of those D3 schools. Unless he's already on a travel team getting plenty of exposure, most folks here with D3 kids recommend attending one or both of the following this coming summer:
http://www.headfirsthonorroll....l-showcase-camps.asp
http://www.stanfordbaseballcamp.com/
Wow! What great responses! I can see I have a lot more reading to do...
On the showcases, we live in California and he's signed up for the Sacramento Head First showcase in June ...anyone's thoughts on attending the August Long Island one, too? And I've heard the Stanford camp is more about DI or II coaches attending.
Broc3248 posted:Wow! What great responses! I can see I have a lot more reading to do...
On the showcases, we live in California and he's signed up for the Sacramento Head First showcase in June ...anyone's thoughts on attending the August Long Island one, too? And I've heard the Stanford camp is more about DI or II coaches attending.
My son only attended Stanford camp and received interest from a very strong academic D3 that saw him there. He is now just waiting for admissions to see if he gets in. He is also the coaches first support on the list so we will see how much weight if any the coach has.
Go where the schools on your son's vetted list will be.
HF Sac & HF LI were much better for my 2016 than Stanford. Stanford was a lot of fun. But far fewer coaches compared to HF.
Broc3248 posted:Wow! What great responses! I can see I have a lot more reading to do...
On the showcases, we live in California and he's signed up for the Sacramento Head First showcase in June ...anyone's thoughts on attending the August Long Island one, too? And I've heard the Stanford camp is more about DI or II coaches attending.
D3s typically have limited budgets for travel. There are a lot of quality academic D3s in the east. If going across country for college is viable he should attend the LI Head First. Check out the schools in the NESCAC and Centennial Conference.
My 2016LHP just committed to a D3 this evening. He had been talking to several schools but was looking more for an academic fit than baseball fit. Between visits and playing summer ball on college campuses, we visited over 30 schools. He realized early on if he wanted to play baseball he was probably a D3 kid because he still has some growing to do.
I can tell you his favorite coach is not at the school he committed to because it just didn't feel right to him. He was down to two schools but leaning to one of them because of academics. The coach of his coach offered him a roster spot and he took him up on his offer.
Congrats to your son and its never too early to begin looking or too late to be recruited. You just got to get in front of coaches.
JBoss posted:My 2016LHP just committed to a D3 this evening. He had been talking to several schools but was looking more for an academic fit than baseball fit. Between visits and playing summer ball on college campuses, we visited over 30 schools. He realized early on if he wanted to play baseball he was probably a D3 kid because he still has some growing to do.
I can tell you his favorite coach is not at the school he committed to because it just didn't feel right to him. He was down to two schools but leaning to one of them because of academics. The coach of his coach offered him a roster spot and he took him up on his offer.
Congrats to your son and its never too early to begin looking or too late to be recruited. You just got to get in front of coaches.
JBoss - Congratulations to your son with his committment tonight!!!!! Well done.
Branson Baseball posted:Go where the schools on your son's vetted list will be.
HF Sac & HF LI were much better for my 2016 than Stanford. Stanford was a lot of fun. But far fewer coaches compared to HF.
Branson - can you elaborate why HF's were better for your son? PM is fine... I have a 2018 and we'll be hitting the Stanford All Star Camp, then likely a HF (but maybe the Jupiter HF in NOV).
Branson - you can reply on this thread if you want - the more info for me, the better.
BTW- My son did the Stanford Pitchers/Catchers in Dec. of Sophomore year and that was very helpful.
And don't forget this, still the best advice I know: go to the school you like the most that wants you the most. Both of our sons played D-III baseball-one was a 4 year all conference player and the other played very little, but adores the game and became the captain of the dugout, complete with assigning "fun demerits" and the like. Both loved their experiences and we vicariously did as well. There is a "pureness", for lack of a better word, at D III schools when you know they are playing for the love of the game...because there ain't no money. Of course D I and D II guys love the game just as much, but D III is just different in a good way. Not sure my oldest would have hung in there for 5.1 years academically but he had to stay eligible to play the game he loved, got his degree (finally...), and is very successful in the business world. (and as for the level of talent, plenty of talent at D III level-3 D III guys off of our summer league team, all pitchers, have been drafted, all 3 threw low 90's with control.)
