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Fall of Junior Year

M MTCatcherDad14100+ posts
I have a question that hopefully some of you can help to answer. My son is a rising junior, class of 2014 catcher and we live in Montana. Our exposure is limited during our legion season and we must travel to get in front of colleges. So the question that I have is regarding the importance of the fall of junior year to recruiting.

The primary issue is that he is also a football player and he is trying to decide on whether to play football or to continue with baseball prospect camps and showcases. Right now, with Headfirst and the Stanford Future Stars Camp he has built some momentum with coaches and he is in great baseball shape. He is really torn because he loves his football team and feels that he is letting them down but he also doesn't want to lose momentum with baseball, which is his true passion.

If the fall of junior year is not really that important to recruiting then he could easily justify playing football and then picking baseball back up in the spring. However, if this is a critical time for recruiting then he will continue with baseball.

Any feedback on this is much appreciated.
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justbaseballjustbaseball10,000+ posts
Tough question with no easy answers. Fall of junior season is important, but not critical.

How about an alternative approach? As I am a HUGE fan of playing more than one sport in HS, does the football schedule allow him to take off on a weekend to the Arizona Fall Classic? Or another event?

How about some camps over Thanksgiving or Christmas? Or early Spring tournaments/showcases before the rest of the country starts playing HS ball? (I know they don't play HS ball in Montana).

There have been some good players coming out of Montana...2 good Stanford alums, Jeff Ballard and more recently Nolan Gallagher. Do you have any access to them to ask about this?
M MTCatcherDad14100+ posts
I may be able to reach out to Nolan Gallagher as I know some people from that area who know him. I agree that a mixed approach is an option as well. Even with football, we could still do one prospect camp during season and then follow up with the GPA Camp, Stanford Catchers Camp and probably another camp in January. I think the AZ Fall Classic conflicts with the football season.

I have heard, though I am not sure if it is correct, that coaches are not allowed to participate in recruiting at camps from November through March. That is one of the reasons that I thought that the fall would be more important.

Tough decisions. Also a little worried about injury from football but I guess that goes with the territory and I can't worry too much about it.
fenwaysouthfenwaysouth10,000+ posts
MTCatcherDad14,

My two cents....I think alot is doing to depend on the type of schools he wants to get recruited by, where they are, and where will they be this Fall.

My gut tells me that if he has stud talent, and wants to be recruited by top D1s he should be focusing on baseball this Fall. He needs to be in front of those coaches this Fall.

If it is a different situation (than above) then it gets a little murkier. If he is looking at exclusively D3 schools then I think playing football as a junior is more than fine. D3s will mostly recruit in spring/summer/fall going into senior year.
justbaseballjustbaseball10,000+ posts
I was going to write earlier that if you believe your son is a super-stud that I thought it was less important to play baseball this Fall.

fenway has said the opposite and truthfully, he may be right?! Thats what makes this a tough choice.

My reasoning as to why it would be less important would be that the truly elite catchers/pitchers/middle infielders will be recognized at any time of the year...Fall, Spring, next Summer.

One thought is that if you believe he is Stanford material (academically and skill wise)...then it would seem that they have seen him and have a good idea about him and will probably not care if he plays in the Fall or not. My older son played there (w/ Gallagher)...they are very straight forward and don't mind being asked. Why not just ask them what they think? Play or not? (I think I know what their advice will be, but I could be wrong).
M MTCatcherDad14100+ posts
I think it is a good idea to ask Stanford how they rate him at this point. He has had a few conversations with Coach Ungricht and the feedback has been positive. I think Stanford would give him an honest assessment on where he is. Having said this, while Stanford would be the top choice, it is impossible to rely on getting recruited there. Among other things, they may be set at catcher, who knows. I think the focus this fall will be on getting in front of other D1 schools to keep as many options open as we can.

It is a very tough decision but at this point it looks like he is going with baseball over football.

Thanks again.

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