first college visit

First of all, congratulations to your son! Unofficial visits often offer the recruited player his best opportunity to get a good feel for what a program and its college offer and are like.

My first suggestion would be for your son to find out from the recruiting coordinator what specific itinerary events are planned beyond the basketball game. It's not unusual for staffs to schedule informal time with players and coaches (i. e. meals, tours, sleepovers, meeting with admissions/academic reps). It might also be helpful to know how many other, if any, additional recruits will be present at the same time.

Knowing this will help you get an idea of, among other things, what opportunities might naturally present themselves for you and your son to get your questions answered. As you review the itinerary, make sure that it touches all the bases you want to touch while there (i. e. plenty of one-on-one chat time between your son and current players).

I think for most who go through the process, unofficial visits are among the most fun and enlightening times spent. Enjoy and learn as much as you can!

is thisw an official visit?

We were invited to a Junior Day and attended a basketball game as well. We got there early and did a self tour of the campus. At the game, there were probably 7-8 other recruits there and the coaches gave a short speech, and made their way around and talked to everyone individually while we ate. We went to the game and thanked the coaches before we left.

This was our first college visit as well and my sons were a little wide-eyed after the experience even though my wife and I weren't overly impressed. But it was a good way for them to get their feet wet and have something to compare it to as we visited other colleges.

My advice is to enjoy it and don't stress over it.

quote:

Originally posted by chefmike7777:
2014 got email from a HC several days ago inviting him, my wife and me to come to a football or basketball game in next 2 weeks (3 comp tickets). we accepted basketball game a week from saturday. HC emailed back and said RC will be in contact in a few days with details. University is 3 hours away, game time fro basketball game is 2pm. Since this is our first visit, I guess I am asking what to expect, look for, ask (I know 2014 ask , etc

Congratulations Chefmike7777. Enjoy the ride. This is exciting.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
is thisw an official visit?

no this isn't an official visit that I know of. they haven't offered to pay for anything other than 3 comp basketball tickets. To be honest, I am not sure I would want this to be an official visit since there are only 5 allowed.

Great answers, prepster. I guess we will wait on RC to get some of those answers. It does help that we know this college pretty well in general as several good friends of older sons went there.

He is very excited, I am as well. wife not so much because she is "losing another one to college"

Aren't official visits prohibited before 7/1 following the recruit's junior year in high school? If not, pardon the question; but, I was thinking that their start date coincided with the date that coaches could begin calling.

Another thought: It may well go without saying; but, recruits and parents, alike, need to keep in mind that visits of any type (Let's throw camps in, as well.) induce an evaluation that's mutual in nature; and, don't believe for a second that the college's current players aren't evaluating the recruit as part of that. They're going to be every bit as interested in the question of the recruit's "fit" with the program's culture as the coaches; and, there's an excellent chance that their opinion is going to be solicited by the coaches following the visit.

The worst thing you can do, in my opinion, is to try to be anyone other than yourself when visiting. It's usually transparent when that's taking place.

You certainly want to encourage a rapport with the coaches and players that brings out the "real person" in them; so that you're in the best position to make an accurate assessment of what they're really like. That's what they want to see in the recruit, as well.

At this point in time, you are right Prepster...would have to be an unofficial visit.

As was said, these unofficial visits should be fun and a chance for both the coaches and yourselves to figure out if this could be a good place for you.

My sons kind of arrived at both conclusions as they did these types of visits. They were a big help in final decisions.

Get all you can out of it.

quote:

Aren't official visits prohibited before 7/1 following the recruit's junior year in high school?

An official visit in not permitted until the opening day of high school classes of the senior year. (13.6.2.2.1 in D1, 13.6.1.2 in D2, 13.6.1.1.1 in D3)

Thanks for keeping us straight yet again, 3F!

Congrats! This is an exciting time for sure. My son took his first unofficial visit a few weeks ago, so maybe this being fresh in my mind will help. We attended a football game. RC wanted to meet with us before the game, so we arranged a time to meet at the baseball field, he showed us around the facilities, introduced us to the other assistant coaches, and then took us on a campus tour. I thought that part was nice and casual, a good give and take, we asked questions about campus life, entrance requirements, living arrangements, etc. Once we got to the football game, hubby and I hung back, and let our son chat with his recruiter. He got to go down on the field before the game and watch the warmups. At that point he was paired up with a current player, so they could talk as well.
We actually didn't even meet the head coach until we were in our seats, he had a recruit there on his official visit, so obviously he was spending more time with that family, which was fine. I have to say the most telling point of the visit for me was watching current players interact with the HC. They stopped by, on their own time (as far as I know) to say Hi, to chat, and seemed very comfortable with him. That made me feel like he is a stand up guy, not like, oh gosh, coach is here, stay away from that section, if that makes any sense.
It was a fun day, and the ride home was interesting. We all had taken in different aspects of the visit, so the sharing of what was observed was good. Of course, our son remembered the weight room and the equipment he saw sitting around, and hubby remembered the details about the training table and the travel, and I tried to get a read on the people aspects. All in all, a great learning experience for all of us.
Good luck! and enjoy this time.

Thanks 3F for the great info as always!

If a player has made a verbal commitment can he go on an official visit to another college? It seems like there is so much pressure to make that early commitment in the Junior and even Sophomore year that it nearly makes the OV obsolete. Right program with the right offer who cares?

Sure, a verbal commitment is not by rule an actual commitment. I don't think taking an official visit to a program while verbally committed to some other program is very ethical, and it might work against a high school player since the baseball world is small.

My own son took his official visit after he had signed his NLI. The official visit was used as a get-acquainted meeting, rather than as a recruiting tool.

Because of the timing mismatch between many players' commitments and the September 1st rule mentioned by 3FingeredGlove, many official visits are taken long after the commitment has been made. As a result, unofficial visits, "Junior Days," and camps end up providing the lion's share of a recruited player's opportunities to visit and get to know a program before making the commitment.

thanks to all 2014 is very much looking forward to this.still waiting on details from RC, I will for sure pass along any insites as the RC contacts us or after visit.