assuming a player has the skills to play D1 and also hopes to play past college; how important is the conference? I noticed on another thread someone mentioned that a player in the SEC or ACC is going to have more scouts around. What if the school that seems to fit is in one of the "lesser" conferences? Will they still be seen? (Assuming they are good enough to be seen.)
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Good question.
What is important is what games do they play outside of conference. So many guys have been given pro opportunities because they were seen at a smaller school playing against a bigger conference program.
If the playervaspires to play beyond college, what is important is who you work with and who you play against, regardless of conference.
The fit is what is most important.
It's fair to say that any D1 player who gets regular playing time will get seen.
It might be in non conference games. It might be in summer leagues. But you'll get seen.
If you go to a less prestigious conference, you won't get seen as often or seen by the decision makers who evaluate potential first rounders pitching on Friday nights in the major conferences, but you will get seen.
And of course, you'll get seen more by playing at a mid major or lower tier D1 than you will sitting on the bench at a power conference school.
Probably more important than conference is getting to the Cape for serious players beyond college. Of course teams that go to the CWS consistently will help.
The fact is, these days a great player will get seen anywhere because of his talent. You can be at a D3 for that. The difference would be, if a player plays in the SEC for example, scouts can now have a better idea of how successful that player will be against big league arms (or hitters). Draft picks from high school are based almost completely on projectibility, whereas a guy getting drafted out of college would have a better shot if he is playing against better competition. That said, the difference between success in the SEC and success in Conference USA is not going to be a huge gap to a scout.
IMO, 95+ is 95+ regardless if the pitcher is at a power conference or a mid-major. The scouts will come around.
A pitcher can be noticed at any level. 93-95 against Biblio Tech is still 93-95 against LSU. I know two D3 players who physically matured in college. Both went from mid 80s in high school to 92-94 in college. They were noticed and drafted.
A lower level hitter might be questioned about the quality of pitching he faces. That question can be answered by playing in the right collegiate summer league.
As someone else noted it's hard to be noticed sitting on the bench. Don't overreach for bragging rights in high school. Overreaching turns into a nightmare in college. One of my son's travel teammates overreached. He sat freshman year. He sat out soph year transferring. The next year he hurt his elbow. Career over without stepping on a college field.
I'm thinking about guys who go in the lower rounds of the draft. I assume they come from a much wider array of programs than guys who go in the high rounds. Do scouts spend as much time trying to figure out the lower round picks? Would guess not. If that's right, I'm guessing that if you are a lower round kind of guy, you're much more likely to be noticed if you play along side or against a bunch of higher round guys. Scouts will see more of you and have more confidence in their assessment of you and won't have to put in a ton of extra work to see you. I would think this is especially true for position players. That's a way that conference and such might matter. But I'm just guessing. I admit.
