A college coach reached out to my son's HS coach. It was an asst coach, and I was not privy to the conversation, just told it happened. HS coach would have given him a good recommendation.
For those of you who have already had players that have been recruited, would you say this happens often or not so much unless there is serious interest? HS coach has only been contacted two other times from D1 coaches in the past 8 years.
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A call from an NCAA Recruiting coordinator to a players HS coach is interest and the player subsequently might be categorized as a 'High Follow' on their board.
Interest is always good.
The thing to keep in mind is that NCAA RC's look at a LOT of guys and only offer a few. From the players perspective it's maddening. The secret to recruiting is to cast a WIDE NET. Get in front of not only D1 schools but D2 and D3 schools.
The only way a player can sort of speed up the process is by getting an offer. It doesn't have to be a D1 offer. It can be a guaranteed roster spot thru the spring at a D3 . But he needs an offer.
Once a player has an offer, he can email schools he likes or coaches that have seen him play and notify them of the 'Change of his Recruiting Status '. Once a player is offered his status has changed and once he notifies the other the schools of that , things generally start moving. But you gotta get the offer.
Most NCAA Coaches don't do sh*t until someone else does it first. They'll watch guys a half dozen times and never speak to the player but once another school offers, they are forced to make a decision.
Good luck
-R
It's a good start. It happens more with travel coaches than high school coaches, but yes it happens when a school is interested.
It does not become serious interest until they invite you to campus or make an offer
I joined HS web many months ago, and have been reading posts for at least a year. I have absorbed a lot of valuable info and learned a lot. My Dad was a baseball player..but college baseball recruiting is different now.
My son has been playing up the past couple of seasons. Have watched other players get recruited and would have to agree that once a player had an offer, they suddenly had other schools asking for visits and making offers mid major D1-high D2 and some HA D3. We have not been very proactive...travel coaches have told us he still has plenty of time to sign. They have a lot of connections with college coaches.
I think maybe it's time to start reaching out to a few school he has interest in and go from there.
If a college program is contacting a coach your son has something to show. It’s time to get proactive in making contacts and getting seen.
As mentioned there’s a lot of contact without future forward movement. But your son has hit the level of worthwhile investigation by college coaches.
D1 recruiting coach reached out to son and a teammate their sophomore year, invited them to a camp. They went and got the "if we're interested we'll call you, don't call us" return email. Senior year, they invited the two back to a camp. I almost said no, I'm done with them, but son persisted. He and his teammate are both there now.
So yes, it's interest, but it may take a while to come to fruition.
Thank you for all the advice everyone. It all seems so daunting at times...but we will do what we can to help him. He was invited to go to PG this past fall with a competitive team, but flights were $$ and it would have meant missing many days of school, so we declined. However, son is working with a trainer a couple days a week and started Driveline program about a month ago. He attended one of their East Coast tours and we were very impressed, especially with the arm care.
Iowamom23.... I have seen and heard so much and it has become quite clear that the college coaches hold all the cards. Seems like it will be an emotional roller coaster ride. Son is very confident, mentally tough and driven. I just "sit in the stands" and enjoy watching him. All of the responses I have received confirmed what I was thinking...that we need to be more proactive.
I think it’s a start. It means they know of him and want him to know of them. Usually they ask the player to call them. It can be a long process but it’s a positive start.
College coaches don't necessarily hold all the cards. It really depends on what your player brings to the table. On the other hand, it really doesn't matter how good he is if you are unwilling to showcase his talents at the right times and places. That might mean money spent and school missed. Also, we loaded the kid up in a coach's car and waved goodbye to him more than once because we thought it was important he play but money/time off from work was an issue. When he committed he had seven offers. Some of the coaches basically hung up on him when he informed them of his decision. Who was holding the cards?
Don't let some of the post/threads here shame you into not supporting your player. It's really about being level-headed and realistic as to the abilities of your son. Freinds and family told us we were wasting our money/ misguided for the support we gave our son. He is going on two years at an out of state DI college and we're out about 5k.
Somebaseballdad....Can I ask you why people were telling you that you were wasting your money? It sounds like your son is a really good player. Is he a pitcher? When did he commit?
Mominthestands posted:Somebaseballdad....Can I ask you why people were telling you that you were wasting your money? It sounds like your son is a really good player. Is he a pitcher? When did he commit?
For the same reason I said to ignore the post here, when it comes to parents and kids/sports people always assume you're "those parents". My wife's family lives in a small town near my father and sister. We happened to play their HS team in semi-state my son's freshman year. It was the first time some of our family had seen him play as we lived two hours away and played a lot of TB well out of town. So the other team had a 6'4" 275 lb pitcher throwing in the 90's. The kid ended up 2-3 with a double off the wall and a triple and I believe 4/5 rbi's. After the game her brother said, "I take back all the things I said about the money you wasted on him and baseball". Rest of our family members had the same opinion. What do you say? I guess they just assumed we were lying about the success he was having on the field.
He went as a two-way but looking like a position player now. Committed November of sophomore year.
Mominthestands posted:A college coach reached out to my son's HS coach. It was an asst coach, and I was not privy to the conversation, just told it happened. HS coach would have given him a good recommendation.
For those of you who have already had players that have been recruited, would you say this happens often or not so much unless there is serious interest? HS coach has only been contacted two other times from D1 coaches in the past 8 years.
As others have suggested here, it's a very good start.
While an indication of interest in your son as a player is important, of equal significance is a serious appraisal of the player's fit with the non-baseball aspects associated with the interested school. If it lines up well with the student's/player's academic inclinations, great. If the college offers a desirable social/extra-curricular environment, great.
Not that you've suggested that you have; but, don't allow yourself and your son to fall into the trap of placing so much significance on the baseball aspect that it ends up overshadowing the many other attributes that make a college experience the well-rounded environment that it has the potential to be. Baseball, today, may seem to be at the forefront of considerations; but, that can change overnight with an injury, a coach's departure, or the eventual realization that the college fit beyond baseball was overlooked.
Here's the flip side: If the program indicating an interest seems to line up well not only as a baseball program, but also as a college apart from baseball; see if you can identify some other schools/baseball programs that line up similarly with this one. If you can do that, you've created a universe of schools/programs that broaden the prospect of finding an eventual college home that fits athletically, scholastically, and socially.
Believe me, if you can concentrate on that combination of elements, you'll greatly increase the player's probability of ending up at a school that feels "right" for more than just the baseball; and that could make a huge difference in his experience.
Mominthestands posted:Iowamom23.... I have seen and heard so much and it has become quite clear that the college coaches hold all the cards. Seems like it will be an emotional roller coaster ride. Son is very confident, mentally tough and driven. I just "sit in the stands" and enjoy watching him. All of the responses I have received confirmed what I was thinking...that we need to be more proactive.
I don't think the college coaches hold ALL of the cards (most, but not all). My son had some key cards — his work ethic, his confidence in himself and his willingness to reach out and promote himself. I firmly believe he wouldn't be where he is if he hadn't worked hard to get better, and then put himself in front of the college coaches game after game after game. Sounds like your son has a lot of the same characteristics and if that's the case, he will do well.
A college coach hitting up your son's high school coach is a good sign and an indication that your son has some tools to play at the next level. The summer after Junior year, there were a couple of college coaches that reached out to my son's high school coach. Both had continued interest, but it turned out that neither of the two ended up offering.
But as mentioned above, it may take awhile and getting that first offer is what really gets the turbines moving. 2 different assistant coaches from the school my son committed to watched him at 2 separate showcases in September and November of last year (my son was a HS junior at that time). The head coach finally saw him this past summer at an area code tryout and reached out indicating that there was interest. The offer did not come until the head coach was informed by my son that he had received an offer and also that 2 visits with head coaches scheduled. That's when the head coach made the move and offered my son.
Good luck...it appears you are on the right track and continue reading the advice you get here. I did and was key in being able to help my son ultimately realize his dream of playing baseball in college.
It is interesting because my youngest son was looked at by a lot of P5 schools in the Midwest where we lived at the time and had strong interest from an SEC school until their coaching staff turned over. He is one of those kids you need to see several times to understand effectiveness because he does not have the velo that is an easy eye test. The SEC school he signed with, the HC had seen him 15 times at various events, and was really good friends with the RC at the SEC school that was going to make offer as a freshman. After he committed, several SEC/ACC schools wanted us to re-consider his commitment and were "interested" in talking with him if he de-committed because then they had seen him alot this spring through fall because we moved back to the South. I think there are players like mine that it takes longer to understand their pitchability versus just velo as a pitcher and I think there are hitters who hit for average that it is harder to predict their hittability because they don't have the homeruns. The top players are easy to pick out because of velo and power. The next level players who have gaudy numbers but not the power or velo are the ones that make coaches work to recruit. The sad part is they may be the ones who succeed the most in the long run. They are the ones who pitch complete games and hit .400 plus and get on so the power guy can go 2/10 and maybe hit a HR to get them in. Every time I look at anybody's rankings I see guys who my son has dominated over the past five years as hitters or pitchers who are ranked ahead of him. I get frustrated then I get over it. Where we are now, if you are not going to the state SEC or ACC school you will not get ranked high because of loyalty I assume.
