Individual College Camp or Multi-Program Showcase

bigmac,

There is not one right answer for everyone.  I think you'll find many people have done both in an effort to find out what works and what level is appropriate for their son.  In my son's case attending a large showcase brought exposure and interest from many teams and he was able to then focus on the one's that were truly interested in him by attending their prospect camp (and doing a lot of homework).

If your son is interested in high academic schools then I would focus on the showcases and camps that will be attended by the schools your son is interested in.  You have to start somewhere to get a sense of what you are up against.  This is not an easy process to figure out, unless you look at it from the Coaches perspective.  High academic coaches will always try to get the best athlete they can (help) get admitted.  

Good luck.

Obviously there are a variety of paths that people will take and end up successful at the end as far as the camp situation goes, but in my opinion I would base it off his age and current situation.

If he is a rising Junior or Senior in high school, and has been in touch with a few schools that seem to have some legitimate interest, I would focus on the individual camps and building relationships with those programs. If he is an underclassmen, then the broaden camps with lots of schools there is a great way to broaden your potential horizons. During my recruitment I attended a camp at a college and ended up having a few smaller schools who were there as well see me and start recruiting me. It is a very good way to target a program, but also become exposed to some lower division, regional schools as well that you may have not previously considered.

I will say, if you do the individual camps, make sure there is some legitimate interest and not just a way to make money. It seems like you know these camps are a way for volunteer assistants to make money for themselves and the program, so unless there has been some strong back and forth with the RC or head coach, I wouldn't go.

Big Mac- Didn't see graduation year anywhere in your post. That should factor into the equation. Son went high academic route as well.

Freshman year and sophomore year we went to large showcases (bang for buck) where there were enough schools where he would potentially want to attend. These too were schools he did his homework on, looked at rosters, majors, academic requirement etc. By the summer before his junior year, he focused only on the high academic and went to a few showcases (Headfirst/Top 96) which hosted a number of their programs. During junior year, he then attended a few individual camps that worked into schedule. He still attended a showcase June before senior year where three of his "finalists" attended. As many have indicated, "one size doesn't fit all". The hardest part is determining when schools are interested vs INTERESTED.  Good luck to you and your son on recruiting journey.