Can someone tell me what to expect when a recruiter calls.
What will they ask, and what will they expect you to tell them during that phone call.
Also do they usually call the parents or the player.
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In our experience, they called the player (usually his cell phone but some called the home phone). If the parent answered the home phone they would ask for the player or ask you to take a message if the player was not at home.
As parents we did not have any contact with the coaches until we accompanied the player on campus visits.
As parents we did not have any contact with the coaches until we accompanied the player on campus visits.
Momof4, welcome to HSBBWeb. I believe your son must be a 2010 or later player, so I will go with that. First off, unless your son has excellent grades and is burning up the basepaths, the larger programs most likely not call. My 2009 son got letters by large programs, not one ever called. Never heard from HS coach that anyone ever contacted him.
The JUCOs seem to wait longer to see what the larger programs bypass and they tend to recruit spring of senior season. Most recruiters prefer to speak to the player to get a feel for their preferences and to get to know them. The JUCO that recruited my son, spoke directly with him first several times and me once. In my son's case his summer coach recommended him to the JUCO plus the coach came up to see the local Area Code tryout. That program recruited players up here due to his contacts with our summer coach. Many have the opinion that parents should not call these coaches, but I wished I had called every one that sent letters, would have known sooner they were mass mailings. You should research the rosters of the schools that have shown interest, you can tell a lot by the rosters, where they came from, were they top of class types, All Americans, and from certain locations such as in-state or southern states. You are the best judge of where he stands in comparison, be realistic with your assessment.
I am sending you a PM. Best wishes.
The JUCOs seem to wait longer to see what the larger programs bypass and they tend to recruit spring of senior season. Most recruiters prefer to speak to the player to get a feel for their preferences and to get to know them. The JUCO that recruited my son, spoke directly with him first several times and me once. In my son's case his summer coach recommended him to the JUCO plus the coach came up to see the local Area Code tryout. That program recruited players up here due to his contacts with our summer coach. Many have the opinion that parents should not call these coaches, but I wished I had called every one that sent letters, would have known sooner they were mass mailings. You should research the rosters of the schools that have shown interest, you can tell a lot by the rosters, where they came from, were they top of class types, All Americans, and from certain locations such as in-state or southern states. You are the best judge of where he stands in comparison, be realistic with your assessment.
I am sending you a PM. Best wishes.
While the July calls are exciting to receive, keep in mind that the coaches are in all likelihood contacting many potential recruits during the first few weeks of July. (i.e. they spread a very wide net). It is great to find out they are interested but it is hard to know if your son is on their A, B, or C list. For us, the real indication of significant interest was when they made the invitations for official visits.
Almost always, they will call the player first!
They will usually tell you that they saw you play or heard good things about you or they may ask for your upcoming schedule so they can come see you play.
Depending on their level of interest, they may invite you for a visit. Not a bad sign if they don't, but usually their "A" list kids will get an invite right away, assuming they hear interest on your side.
The questions a player should be prepared to answer are:
-where are you at in the recruiting process?
-how much do you know about our program,school, location?
-what schools have you already talked to or are interested in?
-what are you looking for in a college?
-what are you planning on majoring in?
-what do you feel is your best position (P, OF,IF, etc)?
-do you have aspirations to play professionally?
-what is your greatest attribute as a baseball player?
Certainly, there are other ?'s, and some will be asked on a recruit info form they will send you or can be done on-line.
On the form, they may ask about parent's college attended, athletic history, occupation, siblings,grades, ACT/SAT scores,HS Coaches, Summer Coaches, 60 time, mph pitched or from position, hitting stats, etc, etc.
This may sound corny, but I would rehearse a conversation with your player to make sure they are comfortable with it.
While communication skills are not necessarily the #1 thing they are looking for, it really helps in the process.
My Son learned a lot in the process, and his skills in conversing with adults improved dramatically.
Finally, don't let your kid pre-judge a program until you have had a chance to research it and talk to him about it! Early on, they can get "locked-in" to a school that contacts them, and spurn other inquiries, only to not get an offer from that schools that initially showed interest!
We made up an Excel spread sheet that listed his criteria and ranked each school accordingly.
Here are the criteria we used:
School
Town
Location/distance from home
Education
Coaches
Team/level of play
Facilities
Ability to play early in career
Team Need for position
Our Cost
Their Interest
My Interest
Comments
Good Luck!
They will usually tell you that they saw you play or heard good things about you or they may ask for your upcoming schedule so they can come see you play.
Depending on their level of interest, they may invite you for a visit. Not a bad sign if they don't, but usually their "A" list kids will get an invite right away, assuming they hear interest on your side.
The questions a player should be prepared to answer are:
-where are you at in the recruiting process?
-how much do you know about our program,school, location?
-what schools have you already talked to or are interested in?
-what are you looking for in a college?
-what are you planning on majoring in?
-what do you feel is your best position (P, OF,IF, etc)?
-do you have aspirations to play professionally?
-what is your greatest attribute as a baseball player?
Certainly, there are other ?'s, and some will be asked on a recruit info form they will send you or can be done on-line.
On the form, they may ask about parent's college attended, athletic history, occupation, siblings,grades, ACT/SAT scores,HS Coaches, Summer Coaches, 60 time, mph pitched or from position, hitting stats, etc, etc.
This may sound corny, but I would rehearse a conversation with your player to make sure they are comfortable with it.
While communication skills are not necessarily the #1 thing they are looking for, it really helps in the process.
My Son learned a lot in the process, and his skills in conversing with adults improved dramatically.
Finally, don't let your kid pre-judge a program until you have had a chance to research it and talk to him about it! Early on, they can get "locked-in" to a school that contacts them, and spurn other inquiries, only to not get an offer from that schools that initially showed interest!
We made up an Excel spread sheet that listed his criteria and ranked each school accordingly.
Here are the criteria we used:
School
Town
Location/distance from home
Education
Coaches
Team/level of play
Facilities
Ability to play early in career
Team Need for position
Our Cost
Their Interest
My Interest
Comments
Good Luck!
Gitnby, very good information, I agree 100%!
I do not like rehearsed conversations
Even with our team I like to talk with a prospective player with a surprise call to him not his parent(s)---you find out a lot about a player if he is talking freely off the top of his head---and I think the player learns a lot about the coach in the same conversation--give the young players credit---they are more capable than you think---they can make their own evaluations of people
Even with our team I like to talk with a prospective player with a surprise call to him not his parent(s)---you find out a lot about a player if he is talking freely off the top of his head---and I think the player learns a lot about the coach in the same conversation--give the young players credit---they are more capable than you think---they can make their own evaluations of people
In effort to reply to all of your help. My son is a 2010 graduate. He is 17,6'2" 235, Fastball is working between 87-89 has hit 91, Slider is 80, and change is 75-76. We have had contact through email and camps with 2 of the Division 1 schools for the last year.
Would he be interested in an outstanding ACC school?
I've done this twice with the same son, D1, JC and D1 again. I did the spreadsheet thing the 1st time around, however when I look back on it, it was just a bunch of busy work for me, (it may work for others). It my son's case the 2nd time around it came down to, in this order:
1) do we son like/trust the coach to help improve his skills and have his players' back
2) is the school in a good confernce
2) can we afford the school
3) does the school have his major
My son went on his gut feeling the second time around to get it right. The schools level of play and distance from home where non-factors.
Its tough to quantify #1 on a spreadsheet, which gets back to the recruiting call, IMO you don't need a list of questions for the coach, during the conversation both of you will get a feel for how its going and questions will naturally come up.
-Let the coach worry about pregnant pauses as he will know what to say.
-Don't waste your time thinking about the next question you "want" to ask as you may miss what the coach is REALLY telling you.
-Don't anticipant a certain answer, LISTEN to what the coach says
-Don't worry about figuring everything out on one phone call. If the coach is interested he will call again and you can ask more questions, maybe some difficult ones. First impressions are important, don't scare them with a lot of playing time and $$ questions on the first call.
-Don't waste the coaches time, be honest, but also be open minded. My son ended up 2,500 miles away from where I would have guessed 2 months earlier.
btw I only talked to one of the recruiters/coaches before he decided and it was unplanned by both sides. I never met or talked to his current coaches until 6 months after he started school....
1) do we son like/trust the coach to help improve his skills and have his players' back
2) is the school in a good confernce
2) can we afford the school
3) does the school have his major
My son went on his gut feeling the second time around to get it right. The schools level of play and distance from home where non-factors.
Its tough to quantify #1 on a spreadsheet, which gets back to the recruiting call, IMO you don't need a list of questions for the coach, during the conversation both of you will get a feel for how its going and questions will naturally come up.
-Let the coach worry about pregnant pauses as he will know what to say.
-Don't waste your time thinking about the next question you "want" to ask as you may miss what the coach is REALLY telling you.
-Don't anticipant a certain answer, LISTEN to what the coach says
-Don't worry about figuring everything out on one phone call. If the coach is interested he will call again and you can ask more questions, maybe some difficult ones. First impressions are important, don't scare them with a lot of playing time and $$ questions on the first call.
-Don't waste the coaches time, be honest, but also be open minded. My son ended up 2,500 miles away from where I would have guessed 2 months earlier.
btw I only talked to one of the recruiters/coaches before he decided and it was unplanned by both sides. I never met or talked to his current coaches until 6 months after he started school....
Midlo Dad, My son would like to know more.
Thanks for everything, this all makes my head spin.
quote:Originally posted by TRhit:
I do not like rehearsed conversations
Even with our team I like to talk with a prospective player with a surprise call to him not his parent(s)---you find out a lot about a player if he is talking freely off the top of his head---and I think the player learns a lot about the coach in the same conversation--give the young players credit---they are more capable than you think---they can make their own evaluations of people
I think you misunderstood my comment about a rehearsed conversation, or maybe I stated it incorrectly?
I did NOT mean that your kid should have a canned response to questions from the coach. I meant that you could go over some of the questions he might get so that he has had time to think about what he really wants.
I overheard some of the calls my Son got as they were many times in the car on the way to or from a tournament. He was a lot more expressive and comfortable on the second, third and subsequent calls.
Momof4, where are you in Arkansas?
We're familiar with Ark. State, Arkansas and UALR. Feel free to ask the forum about schools as the process continues!
It's a fun time! Enjoy it!
Gitnby, I understood and agree with needing to go over the questions with my son. That is why I asked what to expect. He is very reserved and I believe this will not be the easiest thing he has ever done. He says and I quote " I just want to play baseball " That being said both of us know that this is part of it, and just want him to be a prepared as possible. I appreciated everything you said. We are from West Arkansas.
Although this is a first for many players, the college coach has done it several times and he knows that most are very shy and very nervous. If the coaches have been in email contact with your son or met on campus, the call is just a formality.
Just tell your son to be polite and listen, he doesn't have to ask any questions, he can tell the coach he will email any things he needs to ask after he discusses it with his folks. This is for most just a get to know you better period. As far as answers to give, be honest. This helps the coach in the recruiting process as well. I remember one coach called who never sent letters, asked son if he was familiar with the program, said no, the next day the coach sent everything he thought he should know by email.
As the summer progresses and the calls come in, he will get the hang of it. Don't stress him out with what he has to say or what the coach may say, just go with the flow.
Just tell your son to be polite and listen, he doesn't have to ask any questions, he can tell the coach he will email any things he needs to ask after he discusses it with his folks. This is for most just a get to know you better period. As far as answers to give, be honest. This helps the coach in the recruiting process as well. I remember one coach called who never sent letters, asked son if he was familiar with the program, said no, the next day the coach sent everything he thought he should know by email.
As the summer progresses and the calls come in, he will get the hang of it. Don't stress him out with what he has to say or what the coach may say, just go with the flow.
Thank you TPM that makes a lot of since and will make my son happy. You wouldn't believe all the things people have told us and him.
mom,
No problem, I am just giving my "mom" point of view.
No problem, I am just giving my "mom" point of view.
My 2 cents: When a coach is calling a player they have some level of interest in the player and are interested to see the players level of interest. I know players might be nervous or have a "shy" or quiet type personality but it is important to convey interest in the school and the program. Again sounds obvious, but alot of the time I would find players would be "yes sir" to everything or come across as disinterested (which usually has to do with the player having the quiet type of personality) but some times would give off the wrong impression and make the coach loose interest in the player.
Another important thing I have found is that if the player is talking to other schools or has recieved another offer it is important to somehow casually convey that information to the coach. The coach will usually ask anyway. Act interested, but also if applicable don't keep the other schools a secret. Coaches are human and the crazy thing is I have seen a lot of coaches really gain and raise an extreme amount of interst in the player after they found out others want him. When they didn't have as much interest before that point. Even telling the coach, other schools you have talked to.
What makes something valuable in anything in life---rare, other's want it....
Another important thing I have found is that if the player is talking to other schools or has recieved another offer it is important to somehow casually convey that information to the coach. The coach will usually ask anyway. Act interested, but also if applicable don't keep the other schools a secret. Coaches are human and the crazy thing is I have seen a lot of coaches really gain and raise an extreme amount of interst in the player after they found out others want him. When they didn't have as much interest before that point. Even telling the coach, other schools you have talked to.
What makes something valuable in anything in life---rare, other's want it....
Also, don't forget that coaches are limited in the phone calls or contacts they have with the player but the player can call the coach as many times as he would like and initiate conversations. Alot of times, when the coach is very interested and would like to talk more than they are allowed when they initiate the conversation, they would like the player to call the coach. So when they tell you, call me anytime, or call me to give me an update, and you feel they are sincere and interested...they really do want you to call THEM.
Mom,
Also something you/son need to keep in mind is that coming soon there are things called "dead" periods, "quite" times, etc. These are times that coaches cannot call due to NCAA rules and sanctions. So there may be times your son may call a coach and never receive a call back. It may be because he CAN'T, not because he doesn't want to. Some of the good ole posters here can give you theses individual periods, what they are called, and the dates.
Good luck.
Also something you/son need to keep in mind is that coming soon there are things called "dead" periods, "quite" times, etc. These are times that coaches cannot call due to NCAA rules and sanctions. So there may be times your son may call a coach and never receive a call back. It may be because he CAN'T, not because he doesn't want to. Some of the good ole posters here can give you theses individual periods, what they are called, and the dates.
Good luck.
Starting today, coaches can call a player once per week. Unfortunately, that means if they call you and leave a message and you don't reach them when you call back, thay can't return your call until the next week. So, keep trying until you catch them!