Fall Injury impact

Your son has nothing with respect to playing baseball if not his health; and, despite his physician's encouraging prognosis, it's doubtful that he's going to see meaningful interest from recruiters until he's had time to demonstrate that the shoulder is fully healed (at least, from a scholarship perspective). As a result, his full attention needs to be applied to his rehabilitation with the goal of making a steady, unrushed recovery.

Please note that I referred to an "unrushed" recovery. As one whose son saw a seemingly promising professional career ended by what was probably a rushed recovery from a SLAP tear to his labrum, I can't help but emphasize the need to have him work diligently with his physical therapist; but not try to force the healing process to come along faster than the associated tissues are capable of healing.

Although I understand completely the sentiment behind it, I doubt that "full panic mode" results in anything beneficial for him or for you. Instead, my counsel would be to consistently support his systematic recovery. Meanwhile, I'd be looking at whatever college options leave the prospect of his playing open (like the one you mentioned) with an eye to other dimensions, as well (i.e. curriculum, environment, location, etc.).

Best of luck to him!

Great post Prepster.

I am saddened to hear about any kid who gets injured, especially with an injury like a labral tear.
Unfortunately your son sustained a significant injury that does not always come back to 100%. I've spoken to several knowledgeable surgeons that say labrum tears are much worse than rotator cuff tears. That is especially true from a return to top level sports such as tennis and baseball.
So it is not a surprise that schools that were once interested in him are now waiting to see how he recovers.

I like the suggestions Prepster gave you, and think your son needs to fully focus on his recovery and not rush to try and get back on schools radars prematurely. There would be nothing worse than he and/or you pushing to get back too soon and then have a setback, which might be permanent. He needs to be healthy first, so worrying will not make it go any faster, but might raise the anxiety to the point that he considers rushing back.

Good luck and let us know how things are coming along for him.

Sorry to hear that Clemson. Injuries are tough. Mine went through one where his first doctor told him to find a running sport. It's been a long slow recovery, and it's put him behind in the college recruiting/search process...but at least he's not playing s0ccer.

Give it time. Worst thing to do is rush things. Don't jeopardize college time to rush back for a little HS senior time. There will be setbacks...expect them so when they happen they don't hit him as hard. By not rushing back, hopefully those set backs will be minor not major ones. When he comes out on the other end, he'll find out things about himself he wouldn't have known otherwise. It's just not a fun journey. But he'll be stronger.

It really hurts when your child is hurt...you feel helpless.

Thanks for the encouragement all. We're not planning to rush things. His ortho was a former MLB player and understands our situation and what is needed to make the most of the recovery. We don't expect much recruiting activity in the spring anyway with coaches busy in their own season. He'll more than likely spend most of the senior season as a DH. He wants to play ball in college but has the grades to get into most any school and academic scholarships should pay for most of it, so that's a good thing. Another positive is since he was already leaning toward pre-med, the whole process has him interested in orthopedics.

Who was his ortho, Clemson? If you need a good PT, I've got one for you in Plano my son used. He's a baseball guy that specializes in throwing related PT....he's the only guy this side of town John Conway uses.

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Originally posted by Clemson896:
Another positive is since he was already leaning toward pre-med, the whole process has him interested in orthopedics.

Funny you should say that because my son had a broken leg that required surgery, and he immediately gained an interest in the field. It grew into a desire to be a doctor, most likely in orthopedics.

It's good to hear your son is a good student so he can get into most colleges. Hopefully he will be able to find the right fit so he can do pre-med at an academic university and also play baseball once he has recovered.
Keep your chin up because once he gets healthy things will start looking up again.

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I am with Prepster on this one. My son suffered a labrum tear as a HS sophomore. To his credit, he followed the rehab/PT protocols VERY DILIGENTLY (and slowly, I might add) and came back for his junior year 100%. He is now a sophomore in college playing D1 with an arm that is as strong as ever.

My son missed the entire summer through winter recruiting season due to two injuries. All interest whithered away. Summer after senior year a couple of locals made offers following the Legion tournament. It wasn't schools he was academically interested. He went off to a major conference college he was admitted academically. He tried to walk on. They're interested. They don't have a roster spot this year. What he gained is he knows he can play at that level or below due to the tryout. He got in a year of academics. All he's lost is the fifth year to play four. He's evaluating his transfer to play options.

Whether or not your son is considered a pro prospect has some bearing on what route you take. If my son was a pro prospect he probably would have gone the JuCo route.