How to tell what the letters mean

Players can receive letters due to many things and not necessarily in this order:

01-- they have been seen at a showcase or in a tournament

02-- they have gotten a lot of good press regarding their play

03-- they are in response to letters and info sent to them

04-- they read the websites of showcases and see names of players there

I do not think college coaches have time to send letters to players on a "list" they can buy if there is such a list

College coaches often get leads on players from 10 ten prospect lists at HS Showcases and Top Prospect Lists from Baseball America, team one or perfect game

What do letters mean? A lot depends on the school and the requirements they use for mailings. Like business, the letter is a marketing tool. In my opinion a letter is at the bottom of the totem pole in the recruiting scheme. Not to say they aren’t important, but many colleges “mass mail” letters in hopes that players will respond. Smaller schools don’t have the resources or the manpower to effectively recruit quality players. Instead of hiring a recruiting coordinator, spending $200.00 on airfare, and $250.00 in motel bills/meals to see one prospect, they could invest $400.00 in postage, use a student to “stuff & lick” the envelopes, and send out over a thousand recruiting letters. My son received hundreds of letters during his junior and senior years of high school. Most were from schools we had never heard of. How did these colleges target my son? In his case I felt as if showcase appearances and rankings on Baseball America generated the majority of these letters. High school coaches are also targeted to supply names of their players so colleges can start a recruiting campaign with those players. Summer teams also provide rosters to different colleges for recruiting purposes. College coaches exchange information on high school players. There is a grapevine with lots of information floating around on high school players. While I downplay the importance of a letter from a college, if a player has a desire to contact a school that had sent him a letter, this is an indicator that the coach would talk to him. After all, the coach did initiate the contact by sending him a letter. A letter, while it does not mean a great deal initially, is at least an invitation to start a recruiting discussion with the college.
Best of luck,
Fungo

bagsbaseball, don't think there is anyway you can tell the level of interest from the letters received. I think a lot of coaches are working from "lists", and I think the major schools send out many letters. All the letters we received were basically the same "....you have been identified as a player of interest, etc...." Form letters.... Until there is some personal contact....I would not put too much into the letters received.....would continue to be pro-active with recruitment.....

The letters are important in that if they request infomation ie questionnaire, nonresponse will remove you from their list as being not interested in them.

With that in mind the letters are important !!!

Being pro-active means completing and returning all information requested. Questionnaires should never be ignored. That said...most of the initial mailings we received did not come with questionnaires....

The majority of questionnaires came in response to letters my son sent to coaches....

Again parents and players....be pro-active.....write your own letters....get the exposure.....it's nice for a player to be getting the attention....but if you sit back and think because you got a lot of letters....you are being recruited....you'll be sorry....

Arizona red

Dont be so sensitive--wasn't directed at you-- was just a general statement for all the "newbies" we have coming thru the doors.

TR....don't think you should be calling me sensitive....kind of like the pot calling the kettle....copper. You are not the only one thinking about the "newbies"....both my posts were directed to them....not you.

Hey arizona red--not here to argue--too tired from things around me--but you had addressed the post to me--then you took my name out

one college coach told me, he he is trully interested in a player, he will call you.

he only sends out player info cards to players he is trully interested in. He mentioned many colleges send out letters to everyone and naturally the parents think that college is gonna offer them a scholarship, Written scholarship offers is all that matters, but send back any player info cards you get, otherwise the college cross you off the recruiting list

TR...don't want to argue either....think very highly of you.....and hope that all goes well for you......

arizonared

All will be fine

Last year a Pac 10 AD told me that they spent $25,000 annually on lists.
Names come from a multitude of sources and these are the first step in the process.
You have to get on the radar screen somehow.

My son has received some mailings from coaches. We have sent those back to the schools that have snet them. On the other hand he has received calls form schools that there have been no mailings from. I am confused by this.

Dragon, My son is a HS senior. He probably received a hundred letters starting from when he was a sophomore. Some had questionnaires and some didn't. Some will come with a camp form. He only received phone calls from a dozen schools or so. (Big difference in numbers!) Most of these had never sent him a questionnaire. I think as the other posters have said - some schools send out lots of mailings and some don't. It's hard to tell what letters came from where or what interest really is. Some schools take names off of other kids questionnaires (who's the best player you've played against), to send out additional questionnaires or letters.

I always advise everyone to return questionnaires because you never know. However, phone calls, IMO, show definate interest. That doesn't mean offer - but you're on the list that matters.

Bottom line - it's a lot of work, but player should follow up with everyone. Questionnaire, etc. I found recruiting to be a crazy process - you just don't really know where player stands until an offer comes. If we had to do one thing differently, I would suggest being more pro-active by calling the coach, if there's a school your son is interested in - a letter from that school gives him a perfect "open" to call the coach.

Arizonared,
Two months ago while sitting in the coaches office he was busy signing about 200 letters that go out every week. I am not sure how much those letters really mean, other than they are marketing their program.
You are right, make sure if one is interested you return all questionaires, write your own letters AND acknowledge that you are receiving their correspondence.
Unless one is a top ranked player, don't take anything for granted.