Do your homework - This lefty got missed

I would say this with regard to expecting a HS coach to market your son.  Does your HS regularly produce college players?   Do you know the parents of any older kids who went to college?  If so, ask them how they did it.  We have a local HS that has 3 guys pitching in MLB....and several others pitching at D1 colleges.  Their HS coach does REALLY well with marketing those kids though they do play elsewhere.   Fortunately for us, a good friend's son went thru the process 4 years before us.  We knew going in that it was up to us to get him looks...as our HS coach wasn't involved.  Heck, he forgot to nominate my son for All State honors last year...so that tells you how much he cares lol.  Ask around...do your homework and go from there. 

As a HS baseball coach I agree with what you say 100%.  I think that a conversation also need to be had with the HS Baseball Coach about how they market players.  Every year at our parent meeting I describe in detail what I do to help market players.

First priority, grades! Second, obviously he has never conveyed his intentions of playing beyond high school. Unfortunately, in todays world, most view intentions by being involved in travel ball and attending a showcase(s). Third, the player has missed some critical deadlines and registration requirements to play  D1.

Recruiters are not mind readers and have a large pool they wade through for potential recruits. He may or may not be the biggest secret, I can't answer that.

Good news, just about any good baseball coach, regardless of affiliation with the kid, are connected enough to help him play on. The player or his parents need to reach out and ask for a little help.

I just made a call on behalf of a player ('15 LHP) that missed his entire senior season due to injury.  Albeit, the opportunities were at a few local Juco's. The player was excited for the opportunity to work his way back into the game.

Go JuCo, or find a good academic fit and try and walk on. They sound lazy and didn't do anything what did they expect. IMO if player truly had passion to play he would have brought up plaging at next level w HS coach, or researched what  to do to get recruited online. 

I should add, he's already decided and is set to attend a mid-level D1 here in Illinois. His dad told me he is going to walk on. I would love to see their eyes when they realize what fell into their lap.

EVERYDAY DAD, it would help to know if the kid was a late bloomer.  If the lefty PO was 5'10" last summer and could barely touch 80, then had a growth spurt, that might explain quite a bit.  There are a number of players who do not reach full puberty by the time they are sophomores and it feels like the recruiting train has left the station without these kids.  Then for whatever reason (summer job, other sports, etc) they don't play the travel circuit so THEY don't even know how they progress until the spring every year.  Personally, I love to see stories of kids that may have been overlooked that grab their opportunity and make the most of it.  Hope it works out well for him.

I should add, he's already decided and is set to attend a mid-level D1 here in Illinois. His dad told me he is going to walk on. I would love to see their eyes when they realize what fell into their lap.

I would advise to have plan B and C. Things happen and promises have already been committed by the HC. I'm not saying the player's not legit but he may not be mentally prepared to RS. As a walk on, he is not "anyone's guy".

From what I've learned with my 2016 and my nephews and nieces who played as college athletes :  The player/parent combination is in charge of "marketing" the product/player.  If you've a product to market, you're the one with the passion and goals, don't lean on anyone else to lead the process.

Utilize your club coaches and HS coach, and this website, to help develop a plan.  People that could have an influence need to know about the players goals.  These people are instrumental of providing feed back and "sanity" checks of players actual ability and realistic college levels the player should have on his target list.

Some HS coach's and club coach's are more involved and connected than people realize.  The opposite is also true.  

I have a 2018 desiring to play in college; we've developed a plan.  I say we, because he wants it and he needs a "co-driver" of the bus at this stage.  He'll be leading the charge soon with only copy editing assistance required.

This thread serves as a reminder.  Thank you for posting.  WE have a few players at our HS program who also thought they'd be "found", didn't happen.

If kid in OP is who I'm thinking he is has been on V since fresh year.

Gatornate - he is not a late bloomer. Was in the varsity rotation as a soph. Had the height and is still lean 170/180, although I'm sure he's added some strength and velo. My concern with him back when i coached him (13/14u) was his control. Well looks like he worked that out as evidenced by his perfect game.

One thing of note in this situation. Back in the day when I coached him, his mom was very upset he didn't get picked as one of our HR derby guys. Think she really soured on travel ball and I believe sports in general. A very dominant personality. Unfortunately the dad is soft spoken, easy going and wasn't going to create domestic waves. That being said.

Once they see him he'll be fine.

Although for most of the rest of us, we need to have a plan. 

I can't reiterate enough the need for players to be proactive. This is on the players, and to a degree their families. Relying on your high school coach for exposure is foolish unless you happen to play in one of a handful of programs where the HS coach truly has the ability to work college connections. Ours does hardly anything. Great guy, but not going to get you into college. The HS program has had a kid drafted 3 of the last 5 years - I am at the high school games and there are no scouts, college or pro. 

2018's high school program has had about 12 kids the past three years get D1-D2-D3 scholarships / placement, and three kids have been drafted in the past five MLB drafts. In talking with those players and their families, they all reiterate that high school baseball had hardly anything to do with their offers / draft. It's all about high level travel programs, and then attending PG showcases and HeadFirst or Stanford camps (not to say there aren't other valid options, those ones just tend to dominate our particular area). 

We do have some friends with players attending high level private schools - no shortage of help coming from their coaches or scouts attending their games, but that is because in that particular league each game literally has 10-15 D1 players going head to head. 

It's up to YOU to make things happen. 2018 gets college attention because he is proactive, and communicates where his travel program will be playing to the colleges he is interested in (and he also has over a 4.0 so there is no question about his ability to qualify academically - this is KEY). There are some "better" players in the HS program, but between their middling grades & waiting for the college coaches to come to them, they are going to be twiddling their thumbs until it is too late. As other posters here have noted, the kids who wait around to be "found" will be waiting for a long time. Too much competition, and too many viable options for coaches to see large gatherings of qualified players in one place. 

Everyday Dad posted:

 

No HS travel ball (parents would not spend the money)

Never attended any showcases or college camps and declined a scout team offer to attend a PG event in Emerson.

Never set a target school list or prepared a contact profile or video

All along the parents thought the HS coach would market him. He hasn't and because of the above reasons a major D1 calipher player has been missed. Not a HS vs travel debate however. Just that the parents/player could have done something on their own

If there was a list of things not to do so as not to be recruited, this would be it.

In the end, he was not missed. He never got in line (a good place) to be seen. High school baseball is not the best place to be seen, nor is it the worse. Geographic location, known coaches and other potential high end recruits on the same team are all positives to the "hidden gem" type players.

This was much about nothing, as the OP knew the outcome.

After watching situations like this play out over the years, I've come up with the term Baseball Recruiting Darwinism. JMO, but if the player is putting that little effort into the process, or is blindly trusting someone else to do the work, then his chances of success at a DI program would not be very good anyway. Playing college baseball takes a tremendous amount of work and commitment.

There are hundreds and hundreds of mid 80s guys in HS.  What makes you think he was 'missed'?

Some scouts and recruiters hardly ever announce their arrival or wear identifiable wardrobe. In some cases, I have seen, they actually place a staffer in identifiable clothing in the stands, all the while the person scouting the player is watching them in the dugout. Makeup and a "boutique" fit into the program are very high in the collegiate recruiting game.

I had a player get recruited based on his hustle out of the dugout to retrieve a foul ball. Proving, you never know.

FWIW sultan

Have a frosh and 3 sophs throwing that NOT on varsity

Dont insinuate ignorance here! This is an honest to God parent screwup that if you you're a dumb ___  you will miss out

Kid sits mid 80's tops upper with major projection

smh

College baseball recruiting is a marketplace.  If sellers don't let buyers know something is available then there is a communication void that is entirely on the seller.

This isn't about scouts and recruiters, this is about players and their parents doing something other than nothing.  Sorry, but I agree with others that this is entirely on the player and parents.  To say he got overlooked is ridiculous, because frankly people didn't know what they are looking for.

fenwaysouth posted:

College baseball recruiting is a marketplace.  If sellers don't let buyers know something is available then there is a communication void that is entirely on the seller.

This isn't about scouts and recruiters, this is about players and their parents doing something other than nothing.  Sorry, but I agree with others that this is entirely on the player and parents.  To say he got overlooked is ridiculous, because frankly people didn't know what they are looking for.

I think ED's point was exactly that -- you have to do something because they (scouts/recruiters) won't necessarily find you.  It appears this kid/parents did the opposite - they actually declined an opportunity to go to a PG event.  They were trying to stay hidden.  Now, it should be know we are talking about northern IL -- we have trouble getting the parents to show up in the spring, let alone scouts.   

It's not just important to have a plan. It's important to understand what direction to head. I remember the fall baseball meeting at school my son's junior year. Aside from laying out the year the coach asked about the desire to play college ball. First he asked who wanted to play college ball. Every player raised his hand. Then he asked who wanted to play D1. Again, everyone raised his hand. 

The coach laughed. Then he asked how many players have made the effort to travel five miles in two different directions to watch a D1 game. Three kids raised their hands. He then pointed out there were three kids in the room with the potential to play D1. He said the rest better put in more effort, improve a lot or get a real grasp on how hard it is to play D1. He added there's nothing wrong with playing D3. He had been a D2 All American. Heading in the wrong direction can be very costly financially and timeline-wise.

I took a teammate's dad to one of my son's scout league games post soph year. He was floored at the talent. I pointed out every kid on the field is a potential D1 player. He realized immediately his son was most likely not a D1 prospect. He was honest enough to say his son would be batting practice for the hitters he saw. He was shocked when I told him there were about eight teams of the same caliber within an hour.

Great reply RJM.  Thank you for the post.  

RJM makes a great point....I don't think some people realize how big of a deal it is to play D1.  My son wanted to play in college since the day he could throw a baseball.  His sophomore year in HS he was maybe 5'4 and 110 lbs.  The dream was starting to look like just that...a dream....at least in the minds of most people (not his).  During his junior spring season he had gotten a couple calls from D1's.  I took a Sunday and drove up to a D1 game (ironically at the school he ended up at) to watch a big league matchup between 2 of the top 3 teams in the league.  I asked him to go.....but he declined.  I wanted to see "if he could play" at that level before we got too far into the discussions with anyone.  The game ended up 15-13 or something like that....14 pitchers, 25 hits and 6 or 7 errors.  I went home, told him that I thought he was ok playing with them and he decided that he wanted to pursue it.  Fortunately it worked out.   If you've got a son interested in playing college, go check out some games....at whatever level you think he can play.  If you don't think you can be objective about your son's abilities....take someone along who you trust to "tell it like it is" and have them watch and let you know what they think.

What stands out - to me - in the original post was the seeming ambivalence shown towards baseball by the kid. College baseball is hard - D1 even harder; unless this kid was playing two other HS sports at a high level, his commitment to baseball was more like a typical kid who only wants to play through HS.

Even if the talent is there (and I'm not sure it was), the baseball commitment displayed in HS doesn't rise to a level necessary to sustain the kid through the shock of  college ball.

To me, the family's actions clearly demonstrated that they understood the kid's passion wasn't baseball. Remember, it's not only the skill level, but the heart needs to beat baseball, the brain needs to think baseball, the lungs need to breath baseball - 24/7/365. Anything less is a recipe for a poor college experience.

Buckeye 2015 posted:

RJM makes a great point....I don't think some people realize how big of a deal it is to play D1.  My son wanted to play in college since the day he could throw a baseball.  His sophomore year in HS he was maybe 5'4 and 110 lbs.  The dream was starting to look like just that...a dream....at least in the minds of most people (not his).  During his junior spring season he had gotten a couple calls from D1's.  I took a Sunday and drove up to a D1 game (ironically at the school he ended up at) to watch a big league matchup between 2 of the top 3 teams in the league.  I asked him to go.....but he declined.  I wanted to see "if he could play" at that level before we got too far into the discussions with anyone.  The game ended up 15-13 or something like that....14 pitchers, 25 hits and 6 or 7 errors.  I went home, told him that I thought he was ok playing with them and he decided that he wanted to pursue it.  Fortunately it worked out.   If you've got a son interested in playing college, go check out some games....at whatever level you think he can play.  If you don't think you can be objective about your son's abilities....take someone along who you trust to "tell it like it is" and have them watch and let you know what they think.

I totally agree with your 'tell it like it is' comment. I have trust advisors within my baseball circle that I let critique/evaluate my son. I have seen too many parents view their kid through rose-colored lenses to even count, so I trust them to tell me the truth...and they do just that. 

Now, I am extremely fortunate that my son will play for a very knowledgeable high school coach and also, very knowledgeable coaches with his travel organization with a history of getting kids signed. So, he will be in two very strong teaching environments and for that, I am happy.