High School Games and Scouting

They get and watch high school games.

My son (2011) has been told by a couple of programs they will come out to see him in the spring and wanted his schedule when it was released. However I belive most is done in the summer/fall/camps.

Many times the college coaches have guys that refer players as well.You never know who may be sitting in the stands watching the game.It may be a grandpa who is an alumni, or someone knows the coach etc.I think many would be surprised how they hear about players.

Scouts don't show up just to see if there's a prospect. Someone in the program will show up to watch a stud. The best free recruiting exposure aid is having a stud teammate drawing scouts. Locals coaches will drop by a big game if they have time. Keep in mind the college coaches are busy coaching their team when a high school season is going on. A player is far more likely to be seen a showcases and scout league games.

A few schools from within about 3 hours drive came to see son play in the spring. They also had ALREADY seen him the summer before his JR year, so its not like they were trolling for prospects. They also knew that he had some interest in their school.

We rarely, if ever, see College recruiters at H.S. games. They get more "bang for their buck" at Summer tournament venues where the many Mega teams and hundreds players are on stage. We see MLB Scouts at H.S. games though to view those already on their radar.

The first home game last spring we had 5 colleges come and watch our 2010 son pitch.. 2 were D-1 and one was a top 25 program with a couple of small schools..

While it may vary for different parts of the country, we saw very few college recruiters attending HS games.

When they did come it was usually a follow up to watch someone they were interested in from seeing them at a summer or fall event.

Understand that the HS spring season is also the college season. Opportunities to scout during the active college are less, but they can attend HS games...

The school my son signed with saw him the summer prior to his senior year at a legion tournament.

quote:

The best free recruiting exposure aid is having a stud teammate drawing scouts.

I think RJM in general nailed this subject, but this point is one that most people fail to appreciate.

So often, parents get so caught up in wanting their kid to be the star that they forget that it is actually to his advantage to be on a team with one of the few big scout magnet players. And if you are not fortunate enough to have one that you play with, or against, this is something you need to look for in your summer team.

Unless you are one of those very few nationally recognized studs, the best thing you can do for your kid is get him on a team with as many scout magnets as possible. (As long as he gets to play, of course.)

Maybe it's different in different parts of the country but our hs team had a constant stream of college coaches during son's jr and sr years. Maybe because we had 5 D1 signees and 1 that was drafted in the 3rd round. Some of the colleges were as far away as 5 hours or so.

It was great for other high schools to get their players seen. A few of them signed the next year and their 1st exposure was playing against us. It is true you never know who's watching so always play your best.

That said, the recruiting landscape has already changed from 2 years ago and does seem to be switching to being seen in showcases or big tournaments.

It is not only having stud teammates,playing against stud teams also has the same effect. Son's sop year was going up against a team that eventually won the state championship. Pitched very well and a local MLB scout was there looking at the opposing pitcher. Led to some good stuff.

So having stud teammates and playing against good comp is good. But the comments made about showcases and good summer teams are true, this does seem the best was to get noticed.

College recruiting coordinators will definitely come to high school games in the Spring if they are interested. The pro scouts will see players at perfectgame events and then call their college contacts to come see your player. Don't forget that if they think your high school coach has credibility, they may call him for information about players on your team or in your league.

The summer is different. College coaches regularly come to tournaments, but they have definite interest in one or two players. I agree with other posters who state that a stud or two on your team is the best insurance your son will also get seen.

We had a second rounder, a third rounder, some later round picks and numerous D1 signees out of our league. I saw plenty of pro scouts but few if any D1 guys. A couple JC coaches showed up after their season ended. I saw one local D3 coach.

The reality is that unless you've got someone who they are specifically targeting or go deep into the playoffs the HS regular season seldom yields much exposure. I have seen a few college coaches at spring break tournaments, but not many. That depends a lot on how strong of a spring break tournament the school plays in. Some exposure does come from pro scouts passing on information to college coaches.

Funny thing is the HS coach would tell the parents how much exposure they'd get from playing with the HS team in the off season and during the HS season because of how strong the league is. Not surprisingly the school has signed fewer players directly to D1s than any other school in the league and the few who have signed D1 did it through outside teams.

I agree that they don't just 'stop by'. They come to watch a very specific player(s) doing a very specific thing(s).

I saw coaches create, during the early season, pitching match-ups to entice the crowd to come out and watch. Once they're there, its easy for the coaches to point out other players to those in attendance, which they will do.

My son got on the radar during one of these occasions. He was relieving another pitcher with the 'crowd' getting ready to leave. They went down to say their thanks to our coach, who suggested they stick around for another inning. They stayed for three...

It was interesting to watch the various situations unfold. When a very accomplished pitcher on our HS team verbally committed over the summer, Jr. chewed him out, saying, 'dang, nobody's going to come watch me now... In another year I suspect they'll start coming to watch him. Next year? Maybe not so much...

i would say if a kid is not seen during the summer and a college wanted to follow them, then you would be more likely to see pro guys at high school games. college off days yield some recruiting but its not on a whim. they have to be going to see a legitimate guy that most likely they have already seen