How's it going for the 2024 HS grads out there?

Levels of coaches in that survey (according to the graph on twitter):  D1 37%, D2 12%, D3 14%, Juco 33%, NAIA 4%.

I feel that on every thread on HSBBW about recruiting, someone says word of mouth is the most important.

It's not clear on their data, on "where do you find players", does that mean where do they first identify them?  or what gives them the most information to make a decision?  when it says PG/PBR does it means data from the website, or events they put on with coaches present?  Interesting that showcase off-campus is not a choice (there are so many of them, from Headfirst down to local ones).

I was looking at PG's commitment pages, and I was surprised by how many juco commitments there are already.  Surprised because in the Before Times, I think people might post those in the spring of senior year, not fall.

Metrics are the flashy brochure that draws attention. The college coach still has to see the product.

I have an issue with recruiting services many of them just flood coach’s emails. They’re tossing spaghetti off the wall to see what sticks.

The best reference is a baseball person with college contacts and credibility who has seen the player perform. It’s best if it’s the player’s travel coach. But a personal instructor or baseball person who makes an effort to see the player play is next best.

There was a former poster on here who milked one son being a high first round draft pick and a second son going ACC into a consulting career. He consulted without ever seeing kids play. Yet he charged $1,500 (about $2,500 in 2023 money)

He advised one of my former 13u to 16u players to contact Vanderbilt and Stanford. Before moving on from coaching when my son went 17u I had advised the parents to think HA D3. This consultant wasted the parent’s money and the kid’s time. He ended up a career bench player at a HA D3.

My 2024 has been getting bombarded by Juco coaches calling him the past few weeks since fall tourneys have wrapped up. He never had much interest in the juco route though, but is now getting intrigued.

He has several D3 offers & now just needs to decide. He has an overnight visit at one of the HA D3 front runners next week & will decide shortly after that.

My 2024 was offered and committed to a local D2 school that was not even on our radar.  He couldn't be happier.  He loves the coach, fell in love with the campus and cannot wait for next fall.  His senior HS season will be spent having fun with his freshman brother who has aspirations to pitch for Ohio State.  Can't wait to do it all again, with experience!!

For the 2024’s I know who were not committed before the summer, the ones who hired a recruiter have committed. The ones who didn’t are still looking. Some are really good players and I’m surprised they haven’t been offered a spot

Is your son a pitcher or a position player (I am assuming position player since you linked to a Trey Hannam post)?  Having just gone through this with my 2024 RHP, numbers definitely matter.  If he is a positional player, then 60 time is important to most schools unless he has college level power hitting potential (no one is looking for singles hitters unless they can really run -- low-mid 6s 60 seems to me).  EV is important but not everything as kid still needs to be able to put the barrel on the ball.  Also arm strength and positional velo, plus pop time if catcher.  Other skills also important for catchers such as leadership, receiving, blocking.  If a pitcher, then velo number one thing by far that gets you noticed, although not everything.  However, if don't meet their velo minimum they are not going to look.  Showcases help, but national level ones more than regional IMO, although they are useful to get verified metrics as you note.  One thing your son should be doing after he gets verified numbers and video is to make sure he is promoting himself on social media using Flat Ground and other accounts set up to get players free exposure. I can attest from my son's experience that using these can easily get your son seen by 20K or more people for free.  If he gets interest in this way, then they will need to see him play in person before they offer.  If he is HA (and even if not), should definitely be looking at D3 as well as this division has the largest number of programs and, unlike the D1s, they are still actively recruiting kids.  D1 has gotten a lot harder with the advent of the portal.

My 2 cents for what it's worth.  Good luck!

@gch4

Your two cents is worth a lot of money.

Everything you stated is 100% correct.

Thank you, wishing your 2024 a great HS season.

Son is going to an in state division 2 school to play, position player. Academics played a big part in this, the school is a very good engineering school.

His metrics played a definite part in this. Went to 2 to 3 pbr events, got numbers. Travel coach and high school coach helped out.

@gch4 posted:

Is your son a pitcher or a position player (I am assuming position player since you linked to a Trey Hannam post)?  Having just gone through this with my 2024 RHP, numbers definitely matter.  If he is a positional player, then 60 time is important to most schools unless he has college level power hitting potential (no one is looking for singles hitters unless they can really run -- low-mid 6s 60 seems to me).  EV is important but not everything as kid still needs to be able to put the barrel on the ball.  Also arm strength and positional velo, plus pop time if catcher.  Other skills also important for catchers such as leadership, receiving, blocking.  If a pitcher, then velo number one thing by far that gets you noticed, although not everything.  However, if don't meet their velo minimum they are not going to look.  Showcases help, but national level ones more than regional IMO, although they are useful to get verified metrics as you note.  One thing your son should be doing after he gets verified numbers and video is to make sure he is promoting himself on social media using Flat Ground and other accounts set up to get players free exposure. I can attest from my son's experience that using these can easily get your son seen by 20K or more people for free.  If he gets interest in this way, then they will need to see him play in person before they offer.  If he is HA (and even if not), should definitely be looking at D3 as well as this division has the largest number of programs and, unlike the D1s, they are still actively recruiting kids.  D1 has gotten a lot harder with the advent of the portal.

My 2 cents for what it's worth.  Good luck!

You are correct, position player. His top recorded 60 is a 6.69 (last June at a team camp at a D2 college) and he is a solid hitter with power. He had a hamstring injury this summer, so unfortunately that meant he couldn't run full speed for awhile. I'm hoping he's back to his normal self by the time he goes to the showcase. He's working on trying to promote himself more on social media. Definitely a kid that doesn't like to be the center of attention or even on camera. He'd rather spend his time training over posting. Good points...appreciate it.

I really enjoy reading everyone's journey - for us, like many, its been a marathon now with a bit of a sprint.  HS Coach and baseball types told son he was "D1 material" so focused perhaps too much on that outreach over the summer during travel ball schedule and attending those camps...even had an area code invite which cemented son's D1 beliefs.  Into the fall, coaches more than willing to invite kid to a camp but his performance didn't always match the previously printed metrics (on the 60 in particular... as soon as he started xc season he was unable to notch under 7.0 much to his chagrin.)  A couple of schools gave him the "we will call you this week" as he left their camps - we were all sailing high until that week turned a little longer and the coach ultimately said they wanted to watch him more this spring, which strikes me as particularly unlikely as they have their own seasons to attend to but 17 year olds don't always know when they are being broken up with?  Lots of life lessons here regarding communication and trust and the process that goes into building organizations, with many opportunities to discuss what are realistic goals for the next four years and beyond while not stifling dreams completely.  He has had both Juco and D3 including HAD3 offers, just made his decision for a HAD3 that I think is a great fit academically and athletically, with what appear to be truly decent people at the helm.  Thanks to all of HSBaseball Web for the regular stream of advice and counsel....

@midwesttbd, what strikes a chord with me (about your story) is, “HS coach and baseball types told son he was D1 material”

My 2 cent commentary on that is this. Most HS coaches are out of touch with college baseball in general post covid. Especially when it comes to recruiting. They don’t know what D1 material is in today’s world. Same is true for many “baseball types.” In today’s world, just because you may be good enough to play D1 doesn’t mean you will get the opportunity to do so. There are more good players than there are D1 roster spots. That is a fact that some people just fail to recognize. Many parents/kids get the same advice as you did and, to be candid, those people are doing a disservice to those they advise. Right now is the most difficult time ever for a player to make a roster at a competitive D1 program. Especially if they are a freshman position player. It sounds like you ended up in a good place and I hope it works out.

@Momball11 posted:

You are correct, position player. His top recorded 60 is a 6.69 (last June at a team camp at a D2 college) and he is a solid hitter with power.

He better be playing 1st, 3rd, or catcher, and even then that time will be held against him base running.  That time is just an enormous liability. Ask me how I know...

Okay, @SomeBaseballDad, please tell me how you know. I'm here to learn.

Following because I was under the impression that this is a good time for a HSer.

@PTWood posted:

Following because I was under the impression that this is a good time for a HSer.

Going with he read that as 8.69.....

@nycdad posted:

Going with he read that as 8.69.....

An 8.69 is too slow for even a DH. That's a potential log jam on the base path.

@adbono - everything you said, but once "D1" is heard its really hard to unhear it....my son admitted it was only pride making him hesitate on the offer he eventually accepted as everything else added up.  There is no ill intent from these guys but absolutely agree they do not understand the strength of today's buyers market. 

@Momball11 posted:

Son has reached out to 30 different D1/D2 juco programs now. He's gotten maybe 3 camp invites, which he responded with a request to have a phone call (so he could gauge their need and level of interest since most are at least a full day's drive away). None of those schools responded. He did have a couple of schools that informed them they were finished with their recruiting for his class, which we deeply appreciated the honesty.

He was scheduled for a camp, but the school had to cancel it for poor weather. He's signed up for a college camp and a PBR showcase in November since I'm not sure coaches trust his self-reported numbers (Never did a PBR/PG showcase before). It's been frustrating for him because several of his teammates have received an offer or have already committed to a school. When he asked them what they think it was that got them the coach's initial attention they've said the following:

• My PBR/PG showcase numbers
• I hired a recruiter
• I tagged the coach on twitter
• I know a person, that is connected to the coach.

I feel like the experts stress that numbers aren't as important as the player's ability to perform in game, but let's face it numbers capture attention and there are certain number thresholds that coaches are looking for. Anyone see this post? https://twitter.com/TJHannam10.../1716479391809613875

Ways coaches find their players: Word of Mouth 24%, Weekend Tournaments 20%, Showcase on Campus 11%, PG/PBR 16%, Social Media 20%, Player reached out 5%, recruiter 3%.

I've read through the thread and the only point that rang true for me was the PBR/PG showcase numbers which is a natural by-product of attending these showcases.  These numbers can be meaningless unless there is a human interpreting them.  Frankly these other reasons are weak, especially in these hard recruiting times.  Word of mouth among baseball people is still the best way to get initial attention. 

You mention that his teammates have received offers or already committed to a school.  Is this high school teammates or travel teammates?  Did the high school coach or travel coach advocate for your son as well as the others?  Did you ask the high school or travel coach to help you reach out to college coaches?  Does your son play a competitive travel schedule where college coaches are in attendence watching your team and the opponents team?  PBR/PG showcases numbers don't mean much unless college coaches can validate them, and they really need to do that in person.   Every school that offered my son had seen him play at least twice.  Most were three times.

Everybody's recruiting strategy and journey is different.  Timing, planning, execution and luck are key elements.  A lot of people that come through HSBBWeb who have a difficult time with recruiting misread their son's talent level and the talent required to be recruited.  Some call this "fishing in the right pond".  How do you know your son is fishing in the right pond?  As someone who has been through this and fished in the wrong pond initially, I can tell you that you need to rethink where he is getting traction or even the slightest bit of interest.   You also need to look at timing.  It is possible that you've missed the recruiting window for your target schools and you need to rethink this.   One door closes and another door opens....the market is telling your son something.  He needs to listen to the marketplace, and adjust accordingly.  My son went through this roller coaster, so I know what you are dealing with.  Take a step back and rethink things one step at a time.   The hardest part for us was getting that first school seriously interested, and that happened because his travel coach was his champion.   Once one school is interested then Uncle Mo (momentum) steps in and makes things a little easier. 

JMO.  I wish you the best going forward!

My 2024 position player actually went thru the recruiting process with ZERO social media. He doesn't have ANYTHING!!  Word of mouth, top of the chart metrics and being in the right tournament at the right time was our ticket to a $12k D2 athletic scholarship.  He got a lot of pressure from his club coaches and teammates, but he was the first to be recruited and got more money than he probably should have.