High School Accolades// College

Seems like most of the top prospects these days verbal before they play their HS Sophomore year, so unless they tore it up as Freshman on Varsity, they don't have any accolades for the college coaches to consider.  But of course that doesn't mean they don't rack them by  the time they graduate. Most do.   But there are exceptions.  I know a 2018 who is a 10 on PG and a P5 commit since soph year but he's contributed very little on his HS teams.

My oldest played in a ten team HS conference.  He and two other kids went on to play D1 baseball, and each one had many D1 offers.  One of these guys is now in the minor leagues.  None of these three guys ever made all conference.  Yet IMHO, they were the three best players.

All conference had a lot of kids from the top two teams in the league.  These three guys played on the bottom feeders.  Possible reason??  Or maybe the HS coaches in this conference are looking at something different than what college coaches seek.

In my experience, HS stats and accolades matter little to nothing to college coaches.  College coaches care whether a player they see can help them win games.  Does that player's tool set project to the college game in that coach's eye?  Period.  All league, all conference, all time...college coaches don't care.  Can this guy help me win games?  That's what they primarily care about.

 

In my experience, HS stats and accolades matter little to nothing to college coaches.  College coaches care whether a player they see can help them win games.  Does that player's tool set project to the college game in that coach's eye?  Period.  All league, all conference, all time...college coaches don't care.  Can this guy help me win games?  That's what they primarily care about.

I'd say the above is spot on. College coaches look at your tools and if you project. High school accolades don't hurt, but a lack of them does not hurt either. My son plays in a tough HS conference here in Cali, a majority of the players committed to D1 schools aren't even hitting .300 and several are hitting below the mendoza line.

They are great for adding to the college bio on the roster, but as the dad of a son who didnt get many and he is doing ok in college, i think the focus should be on always working hard to get better and never giving up to get time on the field.

College coaches look at projectable metrics, not statistics and awards. Being all conference, county, etc. will draw attention. But the player still has to be projectable. What you will find is by the time a college prospect finishes high school he will have accumulated some awards. In reverse there will be high school players who collect awards who aren't quality college ball prospects.

mamabb0304 posted:

Question:

   What are your experiences with seeing a player with no high school accolades (all district- all state, all region, etc.) and playing in college. There are a myriad of reasons (Which may or may not have to do with ability) a player might not receive these recognitions, but seems like lots of players in college DO have them. 

  What importance is generally placed on these High School recognitions by college coaches?

This may spark a coaches attention, but what they want is a guy who will help them win.

College players have them because the whole idea is to get better in college and then  to be awarded  recognition to help the program,

I agree that there may not be any correlation between awards and talent/future prospects in baseball. 

In my son's case, he was all-conference, all-county, all-state, and named first team by all the Cleveland and Lake County newspapers.  In college, he was all-conference and listed on some All-America teams as a senior.  In the pros, he has won numerous awards including numerous player of the week awards, mid and post-season all-star teams, team MVP awards, and named to the Arizona Fall League All-Star team which is voted on by the respective General Managers of Major League baseball. 

He only has one goal left to achieve and that is to play in the big leagues.  He would trade in every award for that opportunity.

CD,

Tyler played with Daniel Moskos last winter? Not sure where everyone is right now.

TPM posted:

CD,

Tyler played with Daniel Moskos last winter? Not sure where everyone is right now.

Tyler (Coastal) has played against Daniel (Clemson) in college and many times against each other in the pros.  They have also been on the same pro teams on more than one occasion.  I just did a quick google search and could not tell where Daniel was playing but it may be in Mexico.  Tyler is back with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent league.  He started there two years ago after he was released from the Diamondbacks and was subsequently signed by the Mariners after about a month in that league.  Last year he was with the Somerset Patriots in the same league and signed with the Brewers AAA team after about 1 month of independent ball.   

Moskos is in Mexico, regular season  but not sure what team. I know his family moved to San Diego for the season so the team has to be just south of the border. I will ask his wife.

Good luck to Tyler. I admire his persistence!

Not sure it matters what you did in HS, anyway.  I've checked out some bios for freshman kids I know, and two of them blatantly lied so much that you'd have thought they were borderline first rounders.  I don't think the colleges really care and don't vet what they're given.  That alone should tell you how much value they see in that stuff.

I believe, as you would expect, that most college players have these accolades because they are more talented and stand out from their peers statistically. However, as far as I know no coach would shy away from recruiting a player based on high school awards. They can definitely help bolster a kid's resume, but when it comes down to it, players in HS are always facing different competition. An all district player from North Dakota may not be the same caliber player as an starting shortstop for a 6A texas team. So I wouldn't look to much into it. If a kid can play, then a recruiting co-coordinator should be able to see that.

Examine any D1 roster and you will most likely find every player has some accolade listed.  Point is every player at this level is in the upper percentage of high school players.  Then look at who rarely plays and you will realize that accolades don't mean that much in college.  Show me what you got and you will play,

There is a kid in our area who is about 5'7", runs a 7.5 sixty, has the work ethic of a sloth, is a liability everywhere on defense but hit over .400 last year and was All Conference.   I don't think the accolades are going to help him land a college roster spot.