If college recruiting took place after Senior year of HS..

I get your point.  But don't you think college coaches would change their recruiting behavior if they thought they could get an advantage? 

It seems to me they are willing to take the risk based on history to get to the numbers they need.  For example, recruit 15 players for 2-3 starting positions per year.  I think they know ahead of time who are going to be top recruits, middle of the road recruits and risky recruits.  Of course this may vary somewhat with the competitive level but is essentially the same.  Does that make sense?

I think a lot of it has to do with early physical maturity.  We played a 15u team of potential D1 prospects.  They all had beards.  Most kids don't really get there until SR year. 

The November signing period doesn't help.  Football signs in February of a kid's Senior year.  They've played their Senior season.  Baseball signs in November at least several months before Senior season.

Then again...it's just a few months.  But I would love to see the baseball signing start in April not November.

I understand that walk-ons at any level are only guaranteed the opportunity to be seen with no promises but is the practice of reducing scholarship amounts or cutting scholarship players common below the D1 level as well? 

There are quite a number of ML players that come to mind with not being able to get better college opportunities, take Chris Sale for example. All 3 of the big Ds didnt offer.  He grew up in college.

I agree with fenway, most college recruiters know what they are looking for and why many do take those young players with loads of future potential, they do know and understand they may never set foot on their campus and they fit into the recruiting scheme of not being there for more than 3 years as well. They know who will be on their roster in the spring way ahead of time and who will not, that goes for most of the bigger and more successful programs. 

Its really hard for parents to understand this concept when it comes to their player.

But so many are so obsessed with getting an early commitment and settling instead of waiting, they then realize (or think) that their player could have found a better opportunity.

TPM, I think you're right.  Going through this for the first time, I can see why kids and parents jump at the first serious offer. The whole process, as many on this site have suggested, is a marathon with many ups and downs, and I imagine many parents would like the process to be over with as soon as possible, keeping their fears at bay about future uncertainty at the school their sons choose.

I have seen this phenomenon in my area. Around here, I don't think it's an issue of recruiting high school seniors, it's an issue of those kids being seen by college recruiters when they're in grades 9-11. Most college recruiters would have seen the potential earlier, but the parents only see it senior year.

Four local 8th graders have been offered, 2 football, 2 baseball.....none have accepted but I can imagine the temptation was there!