If my son could play at......

sitbackandenjoy,

I'm not sure I understand your approach. My understanding is that you are picking schools based on academics and other schools based on baseball. Why not look into the baseball programs for the schools you've already identified academically, and whittle them down to 25-30 or so? That will be less work aand probably more meaningful.

Looking for a program that is a "great place to play" has to be determined by your son. He is the one who will be there for 4 years. He'll look at the school, coaches, facilities, professors, etc... Word of mouth is great, but frankly there are many kids who end up transferring because you just don't know until you are there. There is always going to be some risk because everyones idea of a "great place to play" is different.

Bottom line, I would take your original list and start digging and networking to see if you can find that diamond in the rough there. Also, get some professional evaluations of where your son lies in the D1, D2, D3 baseball talent continuum. Research schools on this site, and contact some coaches about camps. Camps will give you a great idea about the coaches, facilities and their overall program.

Best of luck!

I am not understanding the approach either. There are many fine schools everywhere that are "great places to play". Asking other people is a great way to gather information, however, it's very hard to give that information when you know nothing about the player, his family's financial situation as well as personal preferences (from NY to FL covers LOTS of ground). A great point made above, what to one player is a great place to play is not to another, decisions are personal.

The HSBBW offers some great stuff for recruiting tips and a suggested timeline. I suggest that you take a look at this info (and suggest to others). You've already stated that he is physically young for 15, that can change drastically, and I am sure that you understand how important academics are (how can you know he will be eligible for Penn State based on 3 HS semesters and a PSAT). I am sure that based on what others have said, he has the ability to play college ball, however, it may be a few years (yes a few more years) until you really have a good idea of where he will fit based on his talent and yes, for some programs physical stature.

BTW, does your son play on varsity, JV? Any valid showcases that help to evaluate and identify areas he needs to work on, is he a pitcher or a position player?

Please don't take this the wrong way, but there is a method to this madness and putting the cart before the horse seems to be very common these days, and I understand that recruiting is very competitive as well as getting admitted to college. I understand it was years ago when son was a sophmore in HS, but basically some things have not changed. Work, work, work hard in the classroom, begin a conditioning and weight training program, secure a good travel team to play with for this coming summer, some camps, a reliable showcase for a realiable evaulation. Since he seems to prefer a wide geographical area, you might want to get involved in a team that will travel in other geographical areas. Often when players watch their peers play (those they will be competing with for college programs)will set in another direction.

Good luck.

quote:

I do not think that the powerhouse D1's will be recruiting him - based on his size right now 5'10" and (almost)150, he is a young sophomore (still 15). Based on many evaluations, he has been told he is capable of playing college ball, he just needs to get bigger

The issue with any college or pro team is talent - not size. He is bigger than my son was at that age.

Let me simplify things. Pick the school for the baseball program and then make the best out of the academics. You can always go back and make up for an academic decision but you cannot do the same with baseball. With baseball, you basically get one chance and thus there are no do-overs or mulligans.

This is obviously just my "opinion" and many, many, many here disagree with it. I think I am right however. You don't need the hsbbweb to pick a fine academic school. In other words, if baseball were not important, you wouldn't be here wondering about options.

I have never heard of Mansfield College so not sure if they are a "great" program.

I know it is a very general question. Just hoping to hear of a good program that we may not know of because of our location.

ClevelandDad seems understand the question I'm asking.

I am putting the "cart before the horse", in this post, that was the point.

Thanks for the advice as far as working out, academics and good travel team that plays in other areas.(This summer he is with a new team that will do exactly that).

But I also get that it may be too vague of a question to get answers.

Thanks anyways..

I subscribe to the fact that your son will be a person alot longer than he will be a baseball player. With this as a foundation; my approach would be to help him FIRST find a school where he will get a good education, enjoy his life on campus, make friends that will help him through the next phase of life and THEN evaluate the baseball program.

Start by making a list of attributes that make sense for him: School size (large/small), location (urban, suburban, rural), academic profile (public, private, specialty). I would then focus on his wants; for example my son wanted warm weather and good access to affordable golf. My requirement was that the town needed to be serviced by Southwest Airlines.

Once you have a profile then start using some of the tools that ara available to define the schools. I like collegeboard.org. You can put in almost all your requirements/attributes and it will give you a list.

Then the real work starts. Your son needs to start reading about the schools on the list. You can probably create a big list and then whittle it down to something manageable (less than 50). Once you have a list of potential schools you can start thinking about baseball.

My point is worry about his education and his life; then figure out how baseball will help him grow as a student and then as a person.

When my son was 15, before we looked at specific schools, we visited nearby schools and watched a little baseball. If you are in Philly, run down to Nova (mid D1, suburbs), Penn (low D1, City), Haverford (High D3, small). In very short order your son will be able to see the types of schools, and types of programs, he may be interested in. Then focus on those types of schools, maybe sign up for a camp. Use a college book like Barrons or College Confidential on the internet. Then research the baseball programs after you have whittled it down. Its not easy - but if it was, we wouldn't need this website... would we?

I agree with ClevelandDad completely. I am an attorney so I went the "academic route". However, I am of the extreme minority opinion that academically, it doesn't much matter which school you attend as long as the school has your course of study. Make the best baseball choice and simply do well at the school. Unless my son is going to Harvard, Yale or some other elite school (which he is not) I am fine with a JUCO if it is the best baseball decision. He will study, get the grades and then move on to a 4 yr (based on baseball again). If he gets good grades, he will be fine. Again, I am aware this is not a popular opinion. Nobody cares that I received my AA from a junior college and then went to a middle of the road state university. I still made it through and am doing quite well. Make the best baseball decision. That is what we are going to do. I am not minimizing the importance of a good education, but Calculus at Harvard is the same at any other University. Like CD said, you only get one shot (in most cases) with baseball.

2013 Dad - brilliant minds think alike

Let me clarify some of my comments about education. Yes, if a player has the ability to play at Stanford or Vanderbilt - go there and get a great education too. If the opportunity arises at a lower academic school, there are all kinds of ways to account for that. One is to simply apply yourself while in school and when you get out learn to outwork your competition. If the name on the diploma is a hindrance, one could go back and get a graduate degree at a "name" school, for example.

At my son's school, they did not offer the degree he wanted (Engineering) but they offered a bridge degree (computer science) with guaranteed acceptance into a name engineering school assuming the GPA requirements were met. The engineering degree was 3+2. Take three years at the first school and complete the final two years at the engineering school. There are many ways to skin this cat without compromising on baseball yet still getting a top notch education.

Let me be clear. I totally believe in a college education as I have an engineering degree and a law degree. I am all for going to a name academic school but there are other academic strategies that can succeed as well.

As I said previously, others disagee here. That is fine as I don't believe there are right or wrong answers. These are personal decisions that cannot be answered by a message board.

I am solidly on board with the previous posts.

If you are a parent think of it like your own personal experience. Most of us likely were not college athletes and I imagine most folks experiences are similar to mine. I have a Biology degree from a Midwestern state school and I am a supervisor for a major insurance company. Haven't really applied much of the specific school training to my job. My wife's experience is similar but she went to small, private school and paid too much

Now if you go to Stanford, Harvard, etc not apples to apples, but if you are going to some State U not sure they differ that much really. JMO

I want into the brilliant minds club. Everyone who works for me went to a better school than I did.

I am impressed that your son is making a list. I'm getting a lot of "I dunno's" from my sophomore. I did get him to give me a list of states where he might want to go to school and play.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by twotex:
I want into the brilliant minds club. Everyone who works for me went to a better school than I did.

QUOTE]

Too funny!!!!

Something along the lines of a conversation I had with a friend of mine the other day. He has two boys one a junior and the other 13. Both are straight A students, but junior is #1 in his class and wired such that he has to have the highest grade in any class as well.

So the three of them are driving around the other day when younger brother turns to older brother and says "Question for you. Why are you spending so much time studying to get a 100 when I have the same exact GPA with a 90"

Apparently the eldest son was not amused.

HAHA, smart kid!

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
Let me be clear. I totally believe in a college education as I have an engineering degree and a law degree. I am all for going to a name academic school but there are other academic strategies that can succeed as well.

The other day I read an article that stated that my son's former pitching coach (now HC at UF) first attended Florida Community College for 2 years before he headed to UVA.

Worked for him!

quote:

Originally posted by ILVBB:
I subscribe to the fact that your son will be a person alot longer than he will be a baseball player. With this as a foundation; my approach would be to help him FIRST find a school where he will get a good education, enjoy his life on campus, make friends that will help him through the next phase of life and THEN evaluate the baseball program.

Granting that our sons will be people a lot longer than they are baseball players, they still need to decide what KIND of people they will be after their playing days.

I have a lot of respect for any young man who decides that he wants to be the kind of man who pursues his goals with all his might.

For this kind of young man, a "great place to play" will be very different than for the young man who wants to fit playing college ball into his overall college experience.

Nothing wrong with either approach, as long as you know who you are, know what you're choosing, know the consequences of your choice, and are willing to accept them.

Very seldom is someone worse off for having tried his very best at something.

quote:

Nothing wrong with either approach, as long as you know who you are, know what you're choosing, know the consequences of your choice, and are willing to accept them.

I can not fault anything you have written. But the point that you make about "know your consequences" is very true. From my prospective is VERY FEW kids have any idea what it means to be a college student. Most parents have no clue what it means to play baseball in college.

My son had a great college career; we thought he would have a chance to move on, it didn't happen. His fall back position was a great education and a chance to go on to graduate school.

Pursuing goals is the right message for all young people. But as parents we need to provide an ounce of reality.

I'll be a bit different here, and I have a bias. If your son becomes interested in D III's, Virginia has a number of excellent schools with very good baseball programs. My bias is where my sons attended, Christopher Newport University. Academically, the incoming freshman class SAT/GPA ranks only below UVA and William and Mary in the state, and we have lots of great schools. Baseball-wise, a very good program, a coach we thought the world of, with facilities very few D III's can match. It's simply a great place to play. Aside from my "bias choice", the other D III schools I really like, academically and baseball-wise are Bridgewater (just a great place to go to school), Lynchburg, and Randolph Macon (a brand new field and one of my favorite coaches). There are lots of others, some with very good baseball (Shenandoah, Virginia Wesleyan), some with great academic reputations (Washington and Lee), and the choices/combinations are all over the place.

Academically, if your son does the work in his major, he'll be fine at pretty much any school, and when it comes to the job market, having college baseball sitting on his sheet is an eye-catcher at interview time. There's are lots of sports lovers in this world, and having played college baseball will help.

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Dad:
However, I am of the extreme minority opinion that academically, it doesn't much matter which school you attend as long as the school has your course of study. Make the best baseball choice and simply do well at the school. Unless my son is going to Harvard, Yale or some other elite school (which he is not) Nobody cares that I received my AA from a junior college and then went to a middle of the road state university. I still made it through and am doing quite well. Make the best baseball decision. That is what we are going to do. I am not minimizing the importance of a good education, but Calculus at Harvard is the same at any other University.

I tend to agree with you and CD on the baseball aspect if that is what is most important to you or your son.
HOWEVER, as you know many people do put a premium on great academics, and the reason boils down to simple math. Most of our kids will not make the pros at any level, much less the majors. So if your son plays at a baseball school and graduates with a degree from a standard college, he might not have the same opportunities as someone who comes from an institution with a better reputation. That is not to say a bright motivated kid cannot go to a standard college and not succeed. Nor is there any guarantee that a kid will be a success just because he graduates from a top institution.
What it does mean is that some institutions are better at helping their graduates than others. Furthermore, while they are in school, the motivation and resources to help them succeed are better. The support and networking also makes a difference after graduation, not to mention the ability to get into a graduate school with good grades from a top institution.

CD correctly points out that most people coming to this forum have baseball as part of their sons life. I believe that many of us would like to find the best balance, always keeping in mind that the odds are they will hang up their cleats in 4-5 years.
I know my son loves the idea of playing pro ball, but as talented as he may be, we want him to have the greatest opportunity to succeed in life beyond baseball.

Thank You hokieone!

This is exactly the type of reply I was hoping for!

We will take a closer look at Christopher Newport University and the other schools you mentioned.