Late bloomer and injuries, what are the options?

Wow. Kudos to you and your son for sticking with it! Great story.

Great HS coach too. Would be so easy to just drop him.

The timing for when he'll be healed up and when the NAIAs told you to contact them is near-perfect. So is the issue with playing NAIA? Are you looking for a higher level or better academics? Is that what you're asking?

This year, any roster spot this year is a good one!

Absolutely any spot is a good spot.

I have no problem with him going the NAIA route, I wanted to hear on other routes possible and similar experiences and if it would be worth it to gap year it or something like that.

Make the best possible education the priority. If it’s a larger college they likely have a club team. If it’s a smaller D3 or NAIA he can try to walk on. Quality D3 and NAIA programs are very competitive. They’re way beyond a notch above high school.

The high school coach must like how he toughed it out and hung around. He should talk to the coach. Maybe the coach can make some calls to local D3s and NAIAs for him.

Small colleges can have unlimited rosters. If your son can draw enough attention to make the team I’m betting he hangs around and possibly moves up the playing ranks. Or at the least he finds his ceiling.

Good luck.

@Target posted:

Absolutely any spot is a good spot.

I have no problem with him going the NAIA route, I wanted to hear on other routes possible and similar experiences and if it would be worth it to gap year it or something like that.

Gap year likely means pushing his education and the start of his career back one year. Is that really worth it?

How about going JuCo to redshirt or even  grey-shirt?  That way he could be getting on with his life while still keeping baseball in the picture.

What do his summer travel coaches suggest, who have actually seen him play?  Do they give you honest evaluation?  I would want to get some kind of evaluation before making a big decision like this.  Do they think he can play at the school who has talked to him?  Does he like the school outside of baseball?

Is he really a player or does he just want to play? I agree, he needs to be evaluated?

I also suggest a JUCO. You would be surprised by how many good Mid D1 programs have former Juco players on their rosters. 

@RJM posted:

Make the best possible education the priority. If it’s a larger college they likely have a club team. If it’s a smaller D3 or NAIA he can try to walk on. Quality D3 and NAIA programs are very competitive. They’re way beyond a notch above high school.

The high school coach must like how he toughed it out and hung around. He should talk to the coach. Maybe the coach can make some calls to local D3s and NAIAs for him.

Small colleges can have unlimited rosters. If your son can draw enough attention to make the team I’m betting he hangs around and possibly moves up the playing ranks. Or at the least he finds his ceiling.

Good luck.

100% agree with RJM especially since your son has some previous injuries, bad timing and bad luck.   First, see where his academics can take him.   Second, walking-on to a school that genuinely looks at walk-ons should also be considered.

Good luck!

I agree, get him evaluated honestly.   If he played for a legit travel program the coach will have a record of successfully placing players and will know the level at which your son would have the best shot.   It feels very late for this upcoming year and with the Covid backlog I would agree with the crowd above that if he's gotten into a school that meets his educational goals and they have club great, or he can try to walk on.  However, if the travel coach does say he can play D2 or D3 and the extra year helps him academically as well perhaps do a PG year.  It will cost you but it's an option.

Also to be completely candid when you said your son had 90 IF velo and 90 exit velo I was very surprised. Why...Because the whole setup to his senior year almost made it seem like he was a nice utility-type/team guy but those stats if accurate are quite good.  Good luck to you.

Is a gap year doable?

You may be shocked by the talent level you find at a solid D3, just about every kid in the lineup was all league somewhere in HS. If he has talent that may be a good place for him to look. You will find less talent on the bench for sure but the guys who are playing you might be surprised how competitive it is.

Only do a post grad year if it’s going to help academically. Another option is take two courses at a JuCo and focus on working out to get bigger, faster, stronger and healthy. Only taking two courses doesn’t start the five to play four clock. Showcase in the fall to see what attention he draws for starting school (and baseball) in the fall of ‘22.

He is a senior in HS and has dealt with a nagging/reoccurring injury.  What is his career path and what are his college plans should it be deemed unfeasible to pursue playing?  This is a huge piece of the equation that is absolutely necessary before anyone here can provide specific advice, IMO.  Also, what are the other parameters and/or limitations for college geographically, socially, financially, etc.?

Choosing a college path is or certainly should be (for the vast majority, anyway) so much more than deciding where one might be able to play baseball.

BTW, i can relate to your situation in so many ways... I'll be curious to see your answers to see just how many.

Contact JUCO's about walking on.  Teams need extra players for Fall scrimmages.  At this point I think you are just trying to get a foot in the door by any means possible.   

@cabbagedad posted:

He is a senior in HS and has dealt with a nagging/reoccurring injury.  What is his career path and what are his college plans should it be deemed unfeasible to pursue playing?  This is a huge piece of the equation that is absolutely necessary before anyone here can provide specific advice, IMO.  Also, what are the other parameters and/or limitations for college geographically, socially, financially, etc.?

Choosing a college path is or certainly should be (for the vast majority, anyway) so much more than deciding where one might be able to play baseball.

BTW, i can relate to your situation in so many ways... I'll be curious to see your answers to see just how many.

This is spot on. Hope that the OP comes back to read this as well as many other great responses.

Here goes.

Up until his junior summer, he didn't get a lot of looks as he was too small.  I don't think he was even deemed projectible until last summer as he always looked liked someone's little brother got on the field. Puberty kicked in, then his velos went up from mid 80s to 90 early fall, he hit 6'0", then surgery. He may be 6'1" now and doc says he will still grow an inch or two.

Does he play baseball or is he a player? He would tell you he is a baseball player.

His last summer ball coaches were college coaches making the best of the COVID shut down. He was told every team needs a player like him, not only for his skills and "leave it all out on the field" approach but also because of the energy he brings to the team. They could see him playing in college.  After last summer and before surgery, he was told when he fills out some, he could make a smaller D1 team, start on a D2, or be a stud at D3.

I don't know how fast he is going to get back into playing shape or add 20 lbs. He still doesn't have full range of motion yet in his throwing wrist.  Juco would be a great route in a non-Covid world but with NJCAA giving players an extra year of eligibility and NCAA players dropping down to NCJAA, Juco is a wait and see.  He can work his butt off to regain what he lost, find a summer team, and go from there but there will be far fewer vacancies for unsigned seniors this year and he has some flexibility.

Our oldest kid played sports in college but was done growing at 16 and wasn't injured. That one choose the school academically first, then worked in the athletics. This one wants to study business or engineering anywhere he gets to play between the lines.  I have pushed the issue about going to a school that has a program he actually wants to study.

As parents, we are still along for the ride. We will let him chase his dream as long as it is financially feasible, and  with his age,18 in August, an extra year somewhere won't hurt him.  He has a 3.5 gpa, good student but not top of his class. 

@Gunner Mack Jr. posted:

Also to be completely candid when you said your son had 90 IF velo and 90 exit velo I was very surprised. Why...Because the whole setup to his senior year almost made it seem like he was a nice utility-type/team guy but those stats if accurate are quite good.  Good luck to you.

They sounded good to me.  However, he is with a club that promotes players in the 90s and above.  And he only hit those 90s his senior year.

Do his travel team coaches have college contacts? Will they make calls on his behalf? He could get in front of colleges in the fall in showcases. His situation requires some explanation whether it’s from the coach’s contact or an email he sends personally.

Engineering and college sports are a tough mix unless the coach is understanding of the situation. This is more likely to occur at high academics. Is his 3.5 weighted or unweighted? Is he taking AP courses?

There’s a huge difference between a Business Admin degree and Engineering. What’s his passion? The decision is ultimately about the future, not baseball.

My opinion, until your son is healthy, and with club coaches obviously not being helpful, I do not see any positive outcome, by the time he has to graduate. There are hundreds of  really good healthy players available, trying to get noticed. It's a difficult time for everyone. Why has he  (not you) contacted anyone who showed interest.

You can go along for the ride for as long as you wish, but it is your responsibility as an adult to oversee that your sons education is #1. Any good honest coach will tell you that. Seems like you all have made no effort in that direction.

I am sorry that this may seem harsh, but I can tell you, honestly, that it's really tough out there.

Good luck.

TPM

I honestly believe next few years will be even more competitive and recruiting classes will be smaller for 2022. No roster restrictions this year means they have a year to decide who comes back from a plethora of talent. Next year they add another recruiting class but need to just trim a bit. Now they have another full year to really evaluate who is the best of the large roster. 2023 they have to get back to normal rosters and it is going to be all studs.  Right now, there are guys at a lot of schools who would be starters any other year but are riding the bench. The big crunch will happen when rosters return to normal size. We currently have Juniors that are categorized as freshmen. This is going to last awhile. I would choose an option that lets him get started on college.  Having injuries, it’s very possible he could have injury issues in the next few years and you don’t want him to get behind on getting started with his education.  Juco isn’t going to be any more difficult than anywhere else. It’s going to be tough everywhere.