Invite to Brown Camp

Don't go send the coach a note that he is shut down and would not be in proper shape. They will understand.

Agree with BOF. Your son should send a note to the coach explaining his interest in Brown, his academic and athletic accomplishments, and his health situtation. They will understand.

In addition, I would strongly urge you to visit the campus, meet the head coach/pitching coach (Drabinski is both) and take in a few games this Spring to see if this the right level and situation for your son. BTW...I'm very fond of the campus. When meeting the coach, ask for their recrutiing schedule for the spring, summer and fall in 2013. They should guide you through their process which is somewhat different than traditional D1s.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.

definitely let them know the circumstances

Thanks guys. Great advice. fenway thanks for the details. I will keep you posted. from the research my son has done so far he really likes Brown. the campus looks great in pictures but we will definitely take a trip this spring.

jg,

If your son is Ivy material in terms of baseball this is also a great year to really investigate the various Ivies and 'little Ivy / NESCAC' possibilities.


If I could look back and have a re-do on this, it would be to get my son on more of these campuses when he was a soph / junior. Unofficial visits, meet the coach, but also take the general campus tour/info session, to get a real sense of what it takes as a student, AND what it feels like socially.

Also if he is Ivy prospect material, plan your SAT subject tests for this year carefully, and invest in SAT prep.

My two cents. Good luck. Agree with Fenway, that is a great campus. Personality is very different from the other Ivies.

Enjoy the ride.

jgsmittay:

Welcome to this invaluable resource.

Fenway is the King when it comes to useful info regarding the Ivy recruiting process; he's super knowledgable and always willing to help with information and share his experience(s).

When I grow up, I want to be just like Fenway...the only problem is, I suspect that I am older than he is!

My son just started his freshman year at an Ivy school and Fenway's advice was priceless. I am not sure I can add anything other than a different perspective, but feel free to PM me w/ questions.

Slotty,

thanks for the reply. The Ivies are a stretch for my 2014 LHP but I think he has a very good shot at some of the top D3 (I mean academically) schools here in New England. We live in Maine so I'm pretty sure he will get a look form Bates, Bowdoin, Colby. And he has been invited to camps now at Brown (his fave so far), Dartmouth and Wesleyan, so he's keeping his fingers crossed. This board is indeed a godsend. I'll keep you posted.

jgsmittay- I can't help you anymore regarding this issue because I'd just be echoing the great advice given above. I just wanted to simply give an endorsement for Brown's new recruiting coordinator, who I know personally and think is a great resource.

For what its worth, Providence is a GREAT place to go to school, or to live for that matter. As to Brown, word is they are soon going to have a new baseball complex as well.

Good to know J H. Thanks

quote:

jgsmittay said...thanks for the reply. The Ivies are a stretch for my 2014 LHP but I think he has a very good shot at some of the top D3 (I mean academically) schools here in New England. We live in Maine so I'm pretty sure he will get a look form Bates, Bowdoin, Colby. And he has been invited to camps now at Brown (his fave so far), Dartmouth and Wesleyan, so he's keeping his fingers crossed. This board is indeed a godsend. I'll keep you posted.

My two cents.....I don't think they are as much of a stretch as you believe. The academic admission difference between D3 NESCAC (Bates, Bowdoin, Cobly, Wesleyan, etc...) and D1 Ivy (Brown, Dartmouth, etc...) is not very big overall in the grand scheme of things. All of them have low admissions rates through the "front door". If you come through the "back door" you can potentially leverage your baseball skills to increase your admission chances.

If your son is a very good baseball player, possibly an Ivy coach will recruit him and back him for admission. NESCACs uses a "banding" process, and Ivys use an Academic Index to measure the academic threshold for recruited athletes. Basically, it is the same process they just call it something different. But baseball could be your son's hook into a highly competitive academic D1. Your son should consider it IMHO. There are pros and cons to each, as well as similiarities (all are need based financial aid). My suggestion would be to research the h-e-c-k out of each to understand the best situation for your son, as well as other options.

Good luck!

Hey folks I thought I'd reach out and get your take on something. So upon my insistence, my 2014 LHP has sent emails back to coaches at several schools (Brown and Wesleyan his faves included) informing them he could not attend their upcoming camps because he has a sore elbow and has been told to rest it until mid November. He really wanted to go anyway but as we all agree, waiting was the smart decision.

Problem is that he sent his emails out to coaches on Monday asking them is there are later camps etc that he could make it up. He has not heard back from any of them. He, of course, takes this to mean that they are now not interested. I've told him that is not true, that they are busy and will probably get back to him if and when they have a winter camp or later in spring.
My question is, am I right in this?

Or do we need to start the courting process all over again when he's ready to throw?

jgsmittay,

I would not worry at all. As the parent of a 2014, it has been my experience in talking with the high academic schools that they don't get too serious with recruits until they have SAT/ACT scores in hand. Also, some (particularly head coaches) are a little slow in their email correspondence. They will always be interested in a LHP when the time comes.

jgsmittay-

FWIW - This is the busy season in recruiting for the high academic schools. ED applications are due on November 1 so coaches have to have their "TIPS" for admissions ready by then. In academic recruiting this period is used exclusively to finalize the 2013 matriculating freshmen.

For Players graduating HS in 2014 the radar turns on at the end of December and glows softly until the college season is over next spring. Then the radar burns brighter until the beginning of August. From August through October the real action happens for the high academic schools.

Thanks guys. Good and helpful intel as always. I'll let the kid know so he can chill.

Was at an Ivy camp last summer. Two schools said they would be wrapping up 2013 by the end of August. Impression we got is that generally....generally....the first to conclude are the top D1, followed by Ivy, then the NESCAC types.

Couple of random observations. Most schools list their upcoming camps on their websites. (Not Brown, as of today) I think it's good for an Ivy candidate to show resourcefulness and let coaches know he is aware of the posted schedule.

Experience tells me an invitation to a camp does not necessarily mean the school is interested in the prospective camper. Happy to be informed otherwise about this

Correct. An invitation to camp means, pretty much, nothing. Having said that, my son was recruited by an Ivy school that saw him first at their camp in July. In this case, they ran his transcript through admissions over the summer, but the recruiting pace didn't pick up until October. That was a busy month for him with official visits, introspection and a tough choice between Ivy and D3. My son finally decided to commit to his D3 at the end of October and he is very happy with his choice. He served as an intern in the House of Representatives this summer and is currently studying in Rome. He felt that Ivy baseball would have precluded adventures like that. Only a D3 coach would give a player permission to miss Fall ball for a semester studying the EU and ECB in Rome and Brussels.

quote:

Originally posted by leftyshortstop:
Correct. An invitation to camp means, pretty much, nothing. Having said that, my son was recruited by an Ivy school that saw him first at their camp in July. In this case, they ran his transcript through admissions over the summer, but the recruiting pace didn't pick up until October. That was a busy month for him with official visits, introspection and a tough choice between Ivy and D3. My son finally decided to commit to his D3 at the end of October and he is very happy with his choice. He served as an intern in the House of Representatives this summer and is currently studying in Rome. He felt that Ivy baseball would have precluded adventures like that. Only a D3 coach would give a player permission to miss Fall ball for a semester studying the EU and ECB in Rome and Brussels.

Good stuff, Lefty. Want to make sure I understand. Your son was a rising senior when an Ivy first saw him at their camp in July, right? And the recruiting pace didn't pick up until October....for both the Ivy and the D3, or one or the other? Thanks in advance for any further details you may provide

Correct. As a rising senior he went to two Ivy camps that summer. Ivy first met my son in person at their camp in July (it should be noted that they may have seen him at PG events and they certainly had access to PG rating and info)and started the process about two weeks after camp. As many poster have stated, academic recruiting really starts full bore after HeadFirst in August. September and October get pretty crazy. Other Ivy players that we know committed earlier. Every situation is different.

As others have said before, you will know when your son is being recruited.

For my son the camp invitation was preceded by a phone call from the coach, and there was a personal note on the invitation, followed by an offer to set up an overnight.

Once your son has his SAT scores, I'd suggesting sending the scores and an unofficial transcript. The coaches will have an excellent idea if they can get him in.

Players from my sons high school have played Ivy and NESCAC. They have not been the valedictorians of the high school.

twotex is making an important point. If you have to ask whether the communication is recruitment or not, then it is safe to say that you are NOT being recruited at this time. Actual recruitment is never ambiguous. To paraphrase Justice Potter Stewart "You will kwow it when you see it"