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Geographical locations

TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
Last week I mentioed something about considering location in the recruiting process. This came up in discussing recruiting costs and where mney might be more wisely spent.

I think my statement was misunderstood so would like to explain further.
We all look at rosters as to position needs, but how many have noticed where the players come from.

Here are 5 schools, two from the same conference, all share very good weather for playing baseball, one having actual colder winter than the rest.
One school is from the west, one from the southeast, two from the south, and one mid atlantic school. Some of the rosters are 2006, some 2007.

southern state school: 37 rostered, 22 IS, 15 OS
mid atlantic state school: 33 rostered 16 IS, 17 OS
west state school: 39 rostered, 35 IS,3 OS
southern private school: 38 rostered, 31 IS, 7 0S
southeast private school: 38 rostered, 27 IS, 11 OS
All schools are from top ranked programs.
So when spending your money on camps and area showcases, wouldn't it be wise to conider where most of the players come from? If I lived close to a southern school, why would one pay the expense of sending son to a camp out west (for recruiting purposes) where they only recruit 3 from OS? Wouldn't we be better off considering the mid atantic school?
Of course these schools look for top talent and very selective in their process. But using these as an example, do you consider this factor (where players come from_ in any school your son is interested in?

Just examples for thought for budgeting and open for discussion. Smile

Clemson was NOT one of the schools used as an example!

I can tell you this of all schools that I used, in each school, most of the OS players were from Florida, a few from California, very few from the northern states.
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BeezerBeezer1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
But using these as an example, do you consider this factor (where players come from) in any school your son is interested in?


TPM - We're a few years away from really digging in to all of this but my son has already been talking about a variety of different programs and where he may ultimately end up. I remember one time he asked specifically about LSU and asked if he could go there. My response was along the lines of "Yes, but not very likely" and I went on to explain that he should look at their roster and see how are from out of state, how many are from the midwest and how many players are from Ohio.
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
TPM, I think your post and analysis is well thought through and very important. As an illustration, on the West Coast, the only school that recruits nationally is Stanford...for obvious reasons.
The other major programs including Washington, Oregon St., UCLA, USC, Cal,Fullerton, USD, Loyola, etc are almost exclusively in state. USC has an occasional exception like Jeff Clement but mostly they recruit from LA/San Diego areas. I have my own thoughts on the reasons but I think these roster trends are quite well established and are not likely to change. I am not sure if it is true but I was told one of the UC schools wanted to recruit out of state and they had to get approval by the athletic department and others in the University to do so.
So, if you are out of state and wanting to play in the Pac10, WCC, or BigWest, you better be very good or be looking at Arizona State or Arizona, which also do a lot of recruiting in CA.
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
Beezer, since the "instate" recruiting pretty much applies to the public universities/state colleges as well as to the many that are private, I don't think it is as much $$$$, except the ability to save on recruiting budgets, as it is the proliferation of available talent. In my view, CA has far more DI players graduating from high school each year than there are spots open in the California DI programs.
Last edited by infielddad
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
I would agree that some of the publics do recruit in-state based on the significant difference in costs of out of state vs in-state tuition.
However, at private schools like USD, USC, Pepperdine, etc., the scholarship amounts/costs are the same whether you are in-state or out. Since the private schools, other than Stanford, largely recruit and sign only CA players, I tend to believe the same approach to signing players exists whether public or private: there is a talent level in CA. that allows schools, whether public or private, to meet their skill needs by looking pretty much in their own back yard.
ILVBBILVBB1,000+ posts
What we learned going through the process last year was:

1. The numbers work against you if you are from California (that is there are more good players than opportunities).

2. The higher that you can go in the educational food chain (i.e. the better the grades/test scores) the more opportunity there is.

3. If your son is willing to leave the comfort of home (in our case California) the more opportunity could be found.

4. There are more great schools, where kids can play ball, then the average teenager is aware of (if it is not on ESPN then they generally have not heard of it).

5. For state schools, it is cheaper and safer for them to bring in a JC transfer. So unless you are a 6"3" LHP, you better be able to complete against a 20-year old with 2-years experience.

6. Kids (and some parents) need to figure out that if they are willing to drive 3-5 hours to go home, then why not travel 3-5 hours on a plane?

7. Funny but true, the colder the winter weather the greater the opportunity (i.e. everyone wants to go to school where it is warm).

This may not be great wisdom, but it sure helped us in both creating opportunity and ultimately my son making what we hope was a good decision as to what college to attend.
Last edited by ILVBB

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