NCAA mtgs 11/3-11/4

Fingers crossed we hear some good news later today or tomorrow about post January 1st. I keep checking his twitter or the D1baseball website...nothing yet!

They are waiting to find out who the president is before they make an announcement so good luck. 

Little weird nothing's leaked by mid-day Friday

Maybe they were waiting for news on the vaccine

@Tres Elakes 24 posted:

Maybe they were waiting for news on the vaccine

The ultimate x factor - how bad does it get this winter and how quickly can we distribute the vaccine(s)?

@OskiSD Thanks for pointing to Kendall Rogers as a resource for NCAA decisions on recruiting.  As of last Monday, he seemed to think that the dead period would be extended past Jan 1.  However, it seems like coaches are lobbying to be able to see kids in person in a limited capacity. 

Two coaches have told my son that they will not be making any offers until they see kids in person.  It would be great if coaches and players were able to see each other in person in January, but I don't have a lot of hope.

@knownothingdad we are in the same boat...

He seems to be in the know, not what anyone wanted to hear.  Dead period extending to 4/1?

https://twitter.com/KendallRog...999668942286851?s=19

@22and25 posted:

He seems to be in the know, not what anyone wanted to hear.  Dead period extending to 4/1?

https://twitter.com/KendallRog...999668942286851?s=19

He is a great follow. I hate paying for anything online but make an exception for D1B.

Disappointing news if true

@22and25 posted:

He seems to be in the know, not what anyone wanted to hear.  Dead period extending to 4/1?

https://twitter.com/KendallRog...999668942286851?s=19

D1Baseball.com: Best coverage of the DI game by a mile, and the best just got better with the addition of Mike Rooney to the writing staff. West Coast coverage will especially benefit from his addition.

Separately, I hate to see the extension, as well. Altered some via adherence to protocols (all of which had to be followed throughout Fall Baseball), safe visits can be performed.

@Prepster posted:

D1Baseball.com: Best coverage of the DI game by a mile, and the best just got better with the addition of Mike Rooney to the writing staff. West Coast coverage will especially benefit from his addition.

Separately, I hate to see the extension, as well. Altered some via adherence to protocols (all of which had to be followed throughout Fall Baseball), safe visits can be performed.

The three D1 guys (Fitt, Rogers and Rooney) are also doing regular podcasts now.

Here is what I saw in the article this am:

”As part of the committee’s likely expanded role moving forward, they weighed in on a trio of proposed waivers by the American Baseball Coaches Association, which we chronicled, here, last week. The committee did not weigh in on a proposed change to the recruiting calendar in the spring. That might be because the proposed recruiting waiver was dependent on the dead period being lifted in January, and that moratorium is expected to be extended to April.“

If this is indeed the case then in addition to continuing to eat, lift, train, repeat what should we be doing?

Those of us (our kids) that have heard the "we are interested but need to see you in person" from coaches...what else might we be able to do...if anything?

According to twitter, PG/PBR commits, and other places kids in the 21/22/23/24 classes continue to commit...and their is a ton of legit kids that are training 30+ hours a week all school year at JUCO wanting spots at a D1 too.

@used2lurk what else might we be able to do...if anything?

You've got to get creative.  I promise you that others are and will continue to do so.  My 2021 had some coaches ready to come out and watch him play ball this spring (2020).  It was great.  Genuine interest. Requested spring schedule.  Trajectory was right where we wanted it to be.  They'd be watching, so all he had to do was go out and perform.  Then Covid hit and spring ball was killed.  My son was really down on the fact they now wouldn't be coming to watch him, so he found another way.  He got diligent about shooting video.  He was already working out from top to bottom 7 days a week.  He committed to (and stuck with) shooting quality video 3-4 days a week.  He had a tripod phone/camera mount that lived in his trunk alongside his gear as well as mobile adjustable mounts that could attach to fences, nets, etc.  He shot and shot and shot.  And every Sunday, his targets were sent a link to a 3-5 minute Youtude video of the best footage from that week.  "Coronavirus Week 1," "Coronavirus Week 2," etc.  It was his way of allowing his coaching targets to still watch him each week in the spring.  He started out sending the easy/standard stuff, but knew that wouldn't maintain interest from week to week, so he then had to get creative and add new drills/content each and every week.  That wasn't easy.  It took focus and planning.  Often it required orchestrating buddies to be present because you can only do so many drills by yourself.  My son had some 2020 high school grad buddies who were committed pitchers.  One was D1, but he had some high level JUCO buddies as well.  So he begged them to come out and throw live to him - which they did.  And he shot all that.  Sometimes from multiple angles thanks to a buddy's phone.  So my son was able to send coaches videos that were prefaced with "here is some live hitting off D1 Baseball University pitching commit Johnny Smith."  Thing like that drove the number of views up significantly.

He got some feedback from some prospective coaches who told him they didn't have any other prospect doing what he was doing.  That's what "creative" looked like for him this spring, but you HAVE to find something to stand out and differentiate yourself.  Covid presents obstacles and barriers and there is no magic way of getting passed them that works for everyone.  You experiment.  But if you're doing the same things that every other prospect is doing, good luck.  That should be the baseline bare minimum.  But I'd recommend you spend some time brain storming ideas.  When you come up with some that no one else is doing, you might be on to something...

Agree with Danj.  A kid on our team was one of the first to commit.  His dad was filming literally everything he did.  From his between inning warmup to his live fielding to his hitting.  We started doing the same thing and within a couple months our son received several offers and great feedback from the coaches about how we basically brought everything they needed to see to them.  Hitting, fielding, footwork, arm slots, etc...  Go the extra mile and it pays off for sure during a time like this.  Good luck!  

Thank you @DanJ & @4arms. We have done quite a bit of video and that has been helpful but we will begin to think more out of the box and mix it up. I do question if every week is too much. We have been doing emails roughly 2x/month but will look for more content and more emails (assuming the content is good).

How old is your son?

Lurk and I both have '22s. My son is pretty much on the same schedule as lurk, sending stuff out about every two weeks to target schools.

I have a '24 ... we've decided to get into next summer before activating a targeted (proactive) email campaign with college coaches.  My son is active on Instagram (has an account dedicated to his sports) and is just starting to cut his teeth on Twitter.   

As a dad, I spent this fall mastering (practicing) my new emerging videography role.  Arggh ... takes the fun out it, especially on Monday's when I feel the pressure to cut tape and publish on Youtube before the next practice. 

Best of luck to all the parents that come before me during these crazy COVID days.

I'd agree that once a week is almost certainly too much - especially right now.  My son's situation was different.  He had lost the spring high school baseball season that prospective coaches were ready to come watch some and part of it was simply trying to show prospective coaches that he wasn't sitting around playing video games and the like.  I listened to a lot of podcasts and videos where coaches specifically spoke about how kids were spending their newfound extra down time.  Both because of losing spring baseball and because most were remote learning (which largely a joke).  Many were saying it'd separate the good from the great. 

Part of the process involves staying relevant and visible to coaches.  Especially for kids like mine who didn't have schools in line dying to recruit him.  He had solid interest, but giving coaches too much space allows others kids to swoop in and become their new bright shiny object and steal their attention.  My kid is a grinder who is best evaluated over time.  In other words, he doesn't have the sizzle of the monster bat which is college coach priority #1 if you're not a pitcher.  He has the high AVG and OBP, steals lots of bases, great athleticism, makes web gem-type plays, high baseball IQ, informal leader, etc.  Translated, that means he's "a dime a dozen."  Not important in the 2020 landscape sort of ways.  From my perspective, pitching owns about 70% of the overall importance in recruiting, huge bats account for about 25% and everything else (my son) gets about 5%.  So it became all about him fighting to stand out and sending new/fresh videos every week this spring was one avenue he tried.  Some coaches appreciated it while others blew it off.  We watched the weekly views the videos were getting and it was up and down.  We tried to learn from week to week and adjust.  If anyone has an interest in seeing what he sent out, send me private message.

My cousin dates a mid-major paid D1 assistant coach.  A couple years ago, I asked him for the "magic bullet."  Remember wanting that and thinking one might actually exist?  I was SO disappointed when he told me the "secret."  He said you have to "be seen."  Only now can I look back and understand what he meant and why I was incapable of understanding it at the time.  He was absolutely right of course.  But being seen looks different for each and every player.  You can perfectly copy another kid's approach and hear crickets chirping.  My advice for anyone without a big pitching arm or a big bat, is to do things that no one else is doing.  In addition to doing all the things that everyone else is doing.