Getting Recruited Out of Juco

I believe that @adbono would be best t answer this question, but here's what I saw in 2016. When there were exceptional players on the field, both pro and D1 scouts were in the stands. I'm assuming that other colleges were there at times, but didn't have bling to announce themselves.

The coach clearly had ties to Texas Tech, Louisiana Lafayette, Tarleton State and a couple others because that's where a majority of the players went. However, my son went to Arkansas and another kid went to Oklahoma - my son was also drafted but didn't sign. So I think there's visibility and you go where your ability projects, but I don't think that players or parents reach out to schools, it's just the coach - @adbono  would no better how this part of the process works,

Mid D1 programs in Florida pull heavily from the state JUCO programs and some from out of state. It  has to do with relationships developed over the years between coaches, scouts and the pipeline that exists. That's an important part of the JUCO staff to move their grads forward towards a 4 year degree and athletic opportunities.

You might want to do research on where those JUCO players go after 2 years.

From my observation, no difference than other ways of getting in front of 4 yr schools.

JUCOs will hold a scout day

Coaches have their connections

PBR has a section of JUCOs

Social Media - mostly twitter

article in collaboration with Keep Playing Baseball

https://keepplayingbaseball.or...f-the-juco-pipeline/

As for researching, CBI JUCO Pipeline feature should be used by student athletes thinking about going the JUCO route.

  There are a number if ways that players can advance from JuCo to 4 year schools. The most common way historically has been that a 4 year coach will call a JuCo HC asking about/for players that the JuCo HC will endorse. That phone call can also be placed by the JuCo HC to the 4 year coach on behalf of the JuCo player. This is why it’s important to stay in good graces with your JuCo HC if you are a JuCo player. The JuCo HC can to more to help one of his players advance than anyone else. He can also do more than anyone to hinder a player’s advancement. A JuCo player should always be mindful of that and it should factor into which JuCo a player chooses out of HS.
  There are other avenues that can advance a player. But the JuCo HC’s opinion of any if his players always  comes into play. Most JuCos have scout days that feature all their sophomore players. These are showcase type workouts that are conducted in the fall and are attended by RCs from 4 year schools and MLB scouts. A good showing at this event, combined with productive game stats from the previous year, can get a player advanced. Posting video on some social media platforms can help too - and this can be initiated be either the JuCo coaching staff or the player. Some JuCos do a lot to help their players advance. Some don’t do as much.
  The better the JuCo team the better the chances of those players advancing. Four year schools are playing their own season during the spring so RCs time already has a full plate of demands. In season they only break away to look at JuCo players for good reasons. Like seeing a team with a lot of good players. In the spring, if a JuCo team advances to post season play, you will see 4 year RCs all over the ballpark watching JuCo Regional Tournaments and World Series events. In the fall JuCos will play games (often round robin tourneys) on the campus of 4 year schools to give their players exposure. But again, when a 4 year RC sees a JuCo player he likes and wants to recruit, the first person he talks to is the JuCo HC.
  Players do sometimes reach out to 4 year schools on their own. And it can get tricky when they do that. Sometimes it works out for them and sometimes they get themselves in hot water. It’s risky and I would not recommend that course of action. IMO the best way for a player to advance is a coordinated effort between the JuCo player and his JuCo coaching staff. Here is what that looks like - when it occurs. The JuCo player will meet with his coaches during fall of his sophomore year. The player will provide a list of 10 or so of his schools of interest. They will have a conversation about how realistic that list is. As in, is that player good enough to play at those schools. Are his grades good enough, etc. When the list is agreed upon the phone calls begin. Video is sent. Visits are scheduled and completed. And offers are generated. But every JuCo doesn’t do this for their players.
  When a HS player goes the JuCo route he should consider it to be a 2 year commitment. While it’s possible to leave a JuCo for a 4 year school after only one year it is very rare. And even more rare for it to be done w/o the cooperation of the JuCo HC. The worst thing a JuCo player can do is throw off the vibe that he wants to leave after one year. If that happens he is likely to find himself in a doghouse that he will never get out of. JuCo HCs don’t like or want one and done players - unless it’s something the HC has already agreed to.
  Just like in HS, the best thing a JuCo player can do to help advance is to help his team win games and standout as he does it. Word of mouth goes a long way. Video helps. Social media helps. Stats mean a lot. Body language is huge. But it often comes down to what the JuCo HC has to say about a player.
  Hope that helps.

Connections of juco coach is best way. You just helped hope that your school and his connections lineup. The problem sometimes is some jUConn coaches will almost not allow certain D1 coaches to their complex, according to how they’ve been treated in the past.  The player has to talk to his juco Coach about where he wants to go. Just remember a lot of the rules that other coaches have to play by don’t apply to juco coaches.  

For my son the Fall was huge.  We played in front of 30-50 coaches almost every game and when we played Iowa Western it was probably 100-150 scouts and coaches.  His outing against them is how he ended up where he is now.  It was about a 3 week evaluation period and then the texts and phone calls started coming in.  Our coach encouraged our guys to email coaches.  A lot of the mid majors like being contacted because they are always getting sniped by the bigger schools.  I do agree that the head coach is going to be your best ally and the person you should start with.   

Great info posted here.

Don't forget it's not just D1 but D2 programs as well are looking for JUCO guys.

TPM is correct about D2s. Many D2 programs have rosters that are primarily (or almost exclusively) made up of JuCo players. As D1 continues to be brutally cut throat D2 becomes a better option for many players. For the most part D2 is a more player friendly existence and the level of play is very good among the top 75 D2 schools. Some D2s have tremendous facilities and some offer great academic programs. Don’t look down your nose at D2 in general. There are some really good options.

@adbono posted:

TPM is correct about D2s. Many D2 programs have rosters that are primarily (or almost exclusively) made up of JuCo players. As D1 continues to be brutally cut throat D2 becomes a better option for many players. For the most part D2 is a more player friendly existence and the level of play is very good among the top 75 D2 schools. Some D2s have tremendous facilities and some offer great academic programs. Don’t look down your nose at D2 in general. There are some really good options.

CBI Juco Pipeline dashboard allows you to sort by division column.

Can quickly look at historical trends

Here is a link that provides quick understanding of the JUCO Pipeline feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KW5a-6JciA

Note,  the feature has generated positive responses from JUCO coaches because it enhances their marketing reach.

Just got one to subscribe recently so he can publish CBI images on his website and quickly review the college profiles of his competitors.

Yes, great info here.  I would add a few things...

Look at it from the other perspective as well.  Check rosters to see what schools lean on/recruit JC players and where they typically come from.  As example, many California JC players wind up in several geographical pockets on the other side of the country and several points in between.

Also be aware that JC coaches have specific pipelines.  That pipeline very well may not align with the player's desired location, school type, geographic region, major, etc.  So it is often necessary for the player to either drive the process with the cooperation of the JC coach or forge alone (hopefully with at least the coach' endorsement).

There are also significant transfer considerations with regard to class credits.  This varies far more than you may anticipate.

The timing can be very challenging as well.  I know of a handful of JC coaches that don't want their players worrying about or actively pursuing their 4 yr schools while in season.  This can leave for a VERY short window, particularly for those players that perform better their sophomore year than freshman year (very common).

Francis;

Our local California State D-2 school's roster of 35 players, includes 20 former Junior College players and 5 former D-1 players.

At the local Santa Rosa JC ranked 3rd in Baseball in the State of California in 1990 and #16 in the Academic USA .

Four of the JC players transferred to U of Oklahoma, one to U of Hawaii, one to Nebraska, one to U of Texas, one to the U of California/Riverside and three to Sonoma State U.

Consider the JC's a Farm team for the College 4 year programs. All of the players "stepped" immediately in the starting line-ups.

Bob

@Consultant posted:

Francis;

Our local California State D-2 school's roster of 35 players, includes 20 former Junior College players and 5 former D-1 players.

At the local Santa Rosa JC ranked 3rd in Baseball in the State of California in 1990 and #16 in the Academic USA .

Four of the JC players transferred to U of Oklahoma, one to U of Hawaii, one to Nebraska, one to U of Texas, one to the U of California/Riverside and three to Sonoma State U.

Consider the JC's a Farm team for the College 4 year programs. All of the players "stepped" immediately in the starting line-ups.

Bob

Bob,

Here were 2022 numbers for the CCCAA

San Joaquin Delta

Details by division and position

@adbono posted:

The JuCo player will meet with his coaches during fall of his sophomore year. The player will provide a list of 10 or so of his schools of interest. They will have a conversation about how realistic that list is. As in, is that player good enough to play at those schools. Are his grades good enough, etc. When the list is agreed upon the phone calls begin. Video is sent. Visits are scheduled and completed. And offers are generated.

This is 100% what my son is going through.

@Francis7 a couple things very different from HS recruiting:

In HS my son had showcase metrics. In Juco he has an actual college slashline, and he's played in front of a large number of scouts.

His HS and travel coaches saw him as a 14-18 YO living at home. His Juco coach has seen him as an adult, showing up every day on his own, making life choices in a college setting.

This means that he and his coach go into that meeting with a better sense of reality than he could have had as a 16-17 year old. And when the Juco coach calls the 4-yr coach, the receiving coach knows that the judgement about the player is made after seeing him perform intensively, on and off the field, as an adult. This all helps the player to make a decision about programs where he can realistically step in as a contributor from day one.

Yes, if you look at where a Juco's players end up, there will likely be a cluster of schools that indicate the HC's personal network. But at @Consultant indicates, it's not a constraint, especially for top talent. My son's HC has been happy to cold-call coaches from schools outside the area, where it made sense.

HS recruiting seems to involve some voodoo of paying for the right travel team, going to the right showcases and popping the right metrics, having the right video, tweeting the right hashtags... for Juco players, in my experience, their track record and HC voiceover is what matters.

@Long415 posted:

This is 100% what my son is going through.

@Francis7 a couple things very different from HS recruiting:

In HS my son had showcase metrics. In Juco he has an actual college slashline, and he's played in front of a large number of scouts.

His HS and travel coaches saw him as a 14-18 YO living at home. His Juco coach has seen him as an adult, showing up every day on his own, making life choices in a college setting.

This means that he and his coach go into that meeting with a better sense of reality than he could have had as a 16-17 year old. And when the Juco coach calls the 4-yr coach, the receiving coach knows that the judgement about the player is made after seeing him perform intensively, on and off the field, as an adult. This all helps the player to make a decision about programs where he can realistically step in as a contributor from day one.

Yes, if you look at where a Juco's players end up, there will likely be a cluster of schools that indicate the HC's personal network. But at @Consultant indicates, it's not a constraint, especially for top talent. My son's HC has been happy to cold-call coaches from schools outside the area, where it made sense.

HS recruiting seems to involve some voodoo of paying for the right travel team, going to the right showcases and popping the right metrics, having the right video, tweeting the right hashtags... for Juco players, in my experience, their track record and HC voiceover is what matters.

Excellent post!

The "correct" JUCO is the answer for a majority of kids out of HS.  Learn the speed of the game at the next level, learn how to study for college courses, go to practice for 5/6 days a week and lift at 5 a.m., do your own laundry, cook, clean all without Mommy and Daddy showing you the way.  You will also see very quickly how good you need to be to play at the next level.  IMO Juco is the cheapest (both mentally and financially) way to see if you may make it at the next level.  Don't kid yourself into thinking that you will even see the field at the JUCO level.  And if you are lucky enough to be a contributor, that definitely doesn't mean you are going to go D1 or even D2 after those 2 years.  I watched many a young man take his cleats off for the last time on a JUCO field..

As far as getting recruited, like many others have said, your JC head Coach will hold the keys to that process.  Those guys are not going to vouch for kids that cannot get it done on the field and in the classroom.  Their reputation with their peers means everything to the success of a JUCO program and the Coaches ability to help kids move on. 

The last and most important part of being recruited out of a JUCO is ACADEMICS.  Understand the rules and make the grades.  Make sure advisors at the JUCO understand the mission is to move to a 4 year school in 2 years.  If you are one of those kids that starts at a 4 year school, transfers to a Juco, and wants to go back to a 4 year school, please make sure you understand those Academic requirements.  They are more stringent than those that simply go from 2 yr. to 4 yr.  I do know of some universities that will not even recruit 4-2-4 kids because of the potential eligibility issues. 

Go watch a JUCO game or 2 this spring.  You can get a feel for a program.  Talk to parents in the stands.  Check Twitter for commitment announcements for particular schools.  You will get a feel for the caliber of player they recruit and ultimately promote.  If you are a D2 guy and you go to a JUCO that consistently places guys in P5 conferences, you will never see the field.  Understand your level, find the right Coach and the JUCO experience will be one of the greatest experiences of your life.