Junior year

Hope this helps:

Our 03 son had a similar background to yours... The coaches will want to see how your son performs his Junior season (I think the most important HS season). I would suggest your son start writing the colleges he's interested in and include a bio, schedule etc... I would not put too much importance in how many letters your son and his coach receive...and most will probably be form letters. Just fill out any questionaires that are sent and follow up with updates, schedules and stats during the year. You may want to schedule some camps and showcases for next summer and include that info in your letters to colleges. Good luck!

The volume likely means something, but not everything. It is an indication of where he stands on September 1...not where he'll end up. Next Spring and Summer are far more important than what happens this Fall. I've known several kids that were getting high attention this time last Fall and ended up with little and I know kids who got virtually no attention at this time of the year and had their choice of nearly any school by the followoing Summer's end.

Make sure he fills out and returns the questionnaires promptly (even to the schools he may not be interested in now) and have him write a personal note back to each coach with the returned questionnaire. Also make sure to write a letter (personal) to any school he has high interest in but may not have received a letter from.

stinger -
Schools will either start or ratchet up their recruiting machines on Sept 1st for 06's. The letters will change from general information about the school to more specific baseball recruiting information. This is still early in the process and the letters will not mean anything but which schools have your son's name in their recruiting database. For those schools that are actually following your son, you may received more personal (saw your son play at...) and/or hand-written letters.

What's next? After July 1st you will know which schools are seriously interested. Until then, my suggestion is to first, do your research and start making a list of schools where: academically there is a fit; baseball skills there is a fit; and a fit due to location, cost, etc. Visit as many of these schools as you can NOW to get a feel for the campus, size of school, and the surrounding area. Its good to know what type of environment your son feels comfortable in. Then, start to contact the schools on your list by letter. Let them know you are interested in their school! Provide a profile of your son, both baseball and academic, and include contact information including an e-mail address, and where they can see your son play, either fall tournaments/showcases or school spring schedules. Continue to do your homework on school fit and be sure to include all levels (D1, DII, etc.)in your list. Send follow-up letters and e-mail/phone calls. If your son has not been to one of the major showcase events and financially this is an option, check the various schedules available online and fill out player recommendations to get on their invitation lists for next summer.

I'm sure there are things I forgot to mention, so check out the Recruiting Info on this site. Oh, and don't forget to relax and enjoy your Junior year! The recruiting crazies will start soon enough.

IMO your junior year is typically most important and more important still is what you do during the summer between your junior and senior year.

My son got letters from dozens of schools which, for the most part ultimately meant nothing. The serious interest came about from those schools that actually saw him during camps/showcases during the summer after his junior season.

Plus, a solid SAT score and grades in hand help immeasurably. Best of luck............

Stinger, You have received some very good advice from the above people.We went through the process twice, and the second time was much easier. The letters on Sept. 1st were nice, but as mentioned by justbaseball, it is just the start, not the finish.