How do colleges feel about player not playing HS team?

Personal opinion is that unless homeschooled, they may wonder why player aspires to play beyond HS, but does not want to play HS....only club team.

 

I think it definitely looks bad.  Lots has been posted on this topic on this site on this already, some relatively recently.  I weighed in there already....also, son was at a camp this weekend with 14 D1 coaches (including RCs from several top 25, elite programs - SEC, Big 10, ACC, etc) and question came up about HS ball during a Q&A.  They all agreed it is very important to play, even though they are limited on how often they can scout.  Three big topics that were mentioned:
1. HS ball is for the team and championships (more so than Summer / Showcase ball) and coaches like kids who can compete in that environment with pressure (even if they are not there to see it, they can learn all about the results)
2. Do NOT bad mouth HS coach and/or not play because of dislike for a HS coach/poor program or blame a HS coach for poor performance.  One coach said "you are dead in the water with us if we hear that kind of stuff".
3. We will talk to your HS coach in nearly every case, and we learn a lot about players on and off the field via HS coach.

I think the only reason some may not play is dislike for coach, and they think coach won't give them good review if college Coach asks his opinion.

We r very lucky to have HS coach who likes son because he thinks he is coachable and makes corrections when needed, he has little patience for players who don't listen  or try. Guess if u don't have that suck it up and make the best of it. 

College coaches want to hear about you as a player and person from someone that isn't you or your family. They want to hear about coachability and if you are willing to sacrifice your personal gains for the betterment of the team. College coaches really worry about one thing and that's winning games.

Yet, they still recruit those players. If I'm now wrong, it was either last year or the year before that the top five draft picks from California were all players who didn't play for their high school and all also received big-school offers. Recruiters may pay these ideas lip service, but talent wins games, so, in the end, while it might be a tie-breaker, it isn't going to keep a truly talented player fromgetting offers.

I would also suspect that, for a few at least, academic eligibility might be a reason.

I agree that talent matters most, and if the kid is good, they aren't going to care one bit.

In an ideal world, a kid plays for their high school.  And hopefully it's a very rewarding experience for all involved.

 

As noted above, some top Cali players did not play for their high schools, but were drafted and had top college program offers.

 

My 2012 played in a non high school, SoCal based league in the Spring of 2012.  His reason for playing in this league was the need for an extra high school year as he had used his four years of HS eligibility from ages 13-16.  League had many top players, with a variety of reasons for playing in this league, who were drafted and who were offered at top colleges.  (There were also a lot of players who weren't drafted or offered.)  League had many scouts at most games due to the talent.

 

My son was not drafted but had a lot of D1 offers.  One D3 college coach contacted my son's high school coach.  None contacted the coach in this alternate league (son had committed before the early signing period).  Many college coaches contacted my son's Summer team coach, but not all.  Every coach who offered my son saw him play, typically multiple times, at a camp, showcase, or tourney.

 

Short story long.  High school stats don't matter as the OP noted.  Playing for a high school is nice, as is a reference from a player's high school coach, but college coaches want to see a player in person and judge for themselves.  That will generally happen at a camp, showcase, or tourney.  Tools/Talent is what matters.

I will have to disagree with Ryn.  I was at a meeting two weeks ago that involved 2 dozen college coaches.  One of the coaches as the college guys who had kids that only played travel ball.  The only coaches that had kids that did not play HS ball were the JC coaches.  One of the 4 year coaches shook their head and said the following, "If they do not want to play HS ball then I have a problem with that and I believe there is something going on."

Coach, I greatly respect your opinion.  Undoubtedly you've seen these SoCal kids in particular who aren't playing for their high schools.  I certainly don't know all their reasons, I can only speak for my guy (completed eligibility at 16...dumb move on our part to start school so early). 

 

My guess is that some college coaches care, and some don't.  There were plenty of guys in the alternate league who weren't playing high school ball but were going on to college.

I think in general it is a warning flag that a kid is not playing on his HS team.  Questions will be asked why.  It is up to the recruiter to decide if there are any significant issues.  I know that our sons were seen at HS games and very limited exposure to camps and showcases.

Branson, I have a feeling in your unique case it would be looked at differently.

I agree it can be a warning flag, but I know a kid who pitched for an extremely weak private high school. He was so much better than all of the kids he played with and against that it really did him no good to pitch in high school. He would have been better off working all spring to get ready for summer showcase.

 

He gave up 8 hits in a showcase game and his dad told me he gave up more hits in that one game than he gave up the entire season in high school. Kid threw several no hitters against terrible competition. Dad said his son's high school stats looked great, beyond belief really, but that they were completely bogus due to the lack of competition. Kid just blew his mid-80's fastball past everyone and with a good curve and complete confidence, he was untouchable in high school.

 

On the flip side, I guess his high school stats may have gotten him a look in showcase?

 

There's plenty of travel ball to be played from June through October.  I would never counsel anyone not to play for their school team.  And I think it would be a huge red flag about the player and his family. 

 

Maybe if you're unbelievably talented, someone will listen to your reasons and come to feel OK with you as an individual.  But for the typical player, I think it's a stupid idea that would shoot the kid in the foot.

You can always cherry-pick these responses and find an anecdotal reason why someone was justified skipping high school ball and later signing a D1 letter or getting drafted, etc.

 

If you are in high school, you should play high school ball.  If you are so good that you outshine the league, then lead that school to a state championship or a district title or something like that.  The challenge of high school ball is adapting to the teammates and coaches who are there and making the most out of that experience.  That is what coaches expect.  They don't have time to hear the reasons why that didn't occur or why you may have been justified in skipping the experience.  Do some kids succeed while bypassing hs ball?  Yes, there are exceptions to every rule.  Is it a good idea to skip hs ball?  As Midlo Dad said, that would be a very poor decision.  No reason to put up red flags next to your name.  There should be no reason to have to explain things to the next level of coaches and scouts.   

Playing for your HS team is all about the school and your teammates. My son transferred into a small (212 students) private HS as a sophomore. Team was terrible, 2-10 league play. League consists of schools that 800-1400 students. Year 2 they went 4-8 league play. Year 3 they went 10-2 & won league for the first time in schools 8 year history and only had 2 seniors on the 12 man rooster. When Jr was interviewed after the league win, he was asked how this felt by the local newspaper! "Best day of my life". This was after many wins & titles in travel ball and long after he signed to play DI ball.

It's all part of the high school experience. However, I think, for now at least, this is a phenomenon limited to Southern California. Outside that area, at this time, I think it is more likely to draw scrutiny. I certainly hope it doesn't become commonplace, but it might. Basketball has changed a lot. Most kids will still play HS basketball, but it is their AAU coach they look to for guidance. This may be because high school coaches, under certain job restrictions, just aren't at the level of the big time AAU basketball and baseball scout team levels.

I suppose there are cases where not playing for your high school works out for the best. But I can't think of a single case where that has happened.  It actually bothers me when I hear about a kid in this country that doesn't play high school baseball.  What exactly does that accomplish?  I don't understand the thought process behind deciding not to play high school baseball.  Name one MLB player from this country that did not play high school baseball.  Maybe there has been one or two, out of many thousands, I just don't know who they are. I do know of one that didn't play high school, but only because the coach wouldn't let him on the team.

In middle school my daughter played in a travel softball program that decided it's players at every level (12u to 18u) would not be allowed to play for school teams. They declared the coaching at the school level was too weak. They lost several players before deciding it was a bad idea. My daughter's high school coach started in the Big Ten. She recruited her into the travel program where she was the program hitting instructor.

As noted, my 2012's circumstances were different than most.  The SoCal league I referenced (http://www.abclbaseball.com/) included both high school and post-high school players.  Kids play in this league for a variety of reasons.  Including many kids who are top players and who've been highly regarded by PG, colleges, and the pros.

 

The OP was questioning how do college coaches feel about kids not playing for their HS team.  In the case of playing in this league instead, I don't know that college coaches care..some might, but obviously some don't as kids are going to some pretty fine college programs.  However, if I were a SoCal high school coach I would care...I might be losing some good players to an alternate situation.  Some articles on the league's site reference that.

 

My preference is to play for your high school, whatever high school that is.  My 2012 did and so does his 2016 brother.

My son was confronted with this dilema.  HS team forfeited 3/4 of the 2013  season due players not being eligible (grades). Was able to play in the ABCL league as an alternative.  Son loved the fast pace of the game there.  This year HS baseball team still in limbo, no head coach as of 1/28/2013 and team being dropped to the worst league in the division (5),  so son is going back to ABCL.

 

Met with D1 coach and asked what he taught about his decision to not play HS ball. Coach said he did not like that because it looked suspicious, but if he fully explained the circumstances to a college head coach of his decision to play more challenging baseball than his current situation it might fly with them.