Need a little advice, please

OHMom2010 - welcome to the hsbbweb!

Recruiting is two things - talent plus exposure. Missing either piece and your son's career will end in high school. From the sounds of it, he has the talent to play at the collegiate level. Now he needs to get busy and showcase that talent and it is not too late by any stretch. The college camps are indeed one good way to get exposure. The exposure there will be more limited however. Recommend your son attends at least two showcases this summer. Buckeye Scout is one that is heavily attended by midwestern schools including Ohio. For national exposure, Perfect Game is the best. Here is a link to their site:

http://www.perfectgame.org/

Finally, I would encourage your son to showcase all of his tools including pitching and hitting. Some schools may like one of his talents better than the other and he does not want to leave any opportunites on the table imho.

You didn't mention if he was playing summer baseball... Here's a few quick thoughts.

Since he is going the JC route because of grades, why would you "market" him?

What does his HS coach say? What about his summer team coach? Does he have talent (size, speed, baseball skills) to play at a D1, D2, D3, NAIA, level?

If he wants to pitch, then he had better talk to his HS or summer league coach first and actually get on the mound.

Contact the local JC coaches. He could probably work out with their team or take a baseball class during the summer to check out if he fits in.

Don't panic. You don't have to have a 4 year plan to fit into one year. You can have a three year plan (last year of high school and 2 years at a JC) to go to a 4 year college.

Make the major part of your plan to help him raise his grades. Baseball in college requires academic discipline and classroom skills. Without those skills he will not be successful.

OHMom2010, first of all, welcome to HSBBW!! Glad you found us!

You've been given great advice already. Here are a few additional comments and suggestions.

1. Since your son has struggled in high school, jr. college probably is the best idea. As you evaluate jr. colleges, look for programs that maintain a high level of academic oversight over their players (mandatory study hall, coach getting regular grade reports, etc.) so your son won't fall through the cracks. Some jr. colleges have a lot of academic accountability and others have practically none.

2. Don't worry about your son not having a lot of stats. Most college coaches pay little attention to stats, especially if they're coming from a small school with presumably inferior competition. Instead, college coaches focus on "tools," i.e. innate abilities that a player possesses, such as running speed, bat speed, hitting ability, arm strength, etc. They also look at "projectability," i.e. a player's potential to further develop.

3. This summer is very important for your son. He definitely needs to be seen by as many colleges as possible. Is he playing for a summer team that gets good exposure? If not, find one to join. Camps are a good idea if they are at schools that would be a good fit for your son. I suggest that you post a question on the Ohio forum of HSBBW and ask about upcoming jr. college camps in your area. Also, your son should contact jr. college coaches and ask for a personal tryout where he can run, hit, and throw a bullpen session. College coaches who see him can best determine whether he projects better as a pitcher or position player.

Best wishes as you proceed!

Wow. Thank you for all this great advice. You guys really know your stuff.

First off, we are encouraging him to focus on grades. He's been inconsistent, but I've found many times you just have to wait for boys to grow up.

He's playing this summer in a college AAA wood bat league and is one of the better players on his team, which is giving him the confidence to know he can compete at the next level. There are many current Division I and II players on the teams. I don't think they have many scouts at the games, unfortunately.

His high school counselor is encouraging him to attend a junior college in the south, so that's where we want to look. What's tough is that we're up north and they're down south, so how do you get a spot on a team?

We were looking at the collegebaseballcamps.com web site and thought we'd go to two of their camps, one here and one in the Carolinas, but we'll take a good look at the perfectgame showcases, too.

Sounds like you've all been there and done that, and your wisdom is greatly appreciated. We don't necessarily want to "market" our son as much as just find him somewhere to play. Like I said, the tuition and scholarship is just not an issue for us.

Thank you again.

Welcome.
This is just my advice, which may mean a little or may mean nothing.

Your son may be a good outfielder and hitter, but unfortunetly there are lots of players who are as well. If he can pitch, I would begin some lessons on pitching, they are always needed more than postion players. That makes him more marketble.

Do know that good southern JUCO programs usually bring in lots of players, and then pick and choose who they want. Don't indicate to them that you can afford to pay for out of state, that should be a discussion after they take notice. Don't try to buy your way into a college program, any program.

Your son's HS and summer league coach should be advising him as to what they see as a good future fit, they are more familiar with his level of play than the HS guidance counselor, though it does appear that JUCO will be the best fit for him due to grades.

Right now, I would concentrate more on grades, and if it were mine, I would also concentrate on looking for a JUCO closer to home. If your son does well, he then has a track record he can handle it, and may be more marketable to the better JUCO's in the south for the following year. Let your son prove to you he can handle going to school and play baseball at the same time, that should be the first concern.

I agree that you might consider a national PG showcase, there he will have an opportunity to get rated properly and also be able to see the competition on a national level. Also look at the college camps in your area.

Ohio Mom, I'm curious as to why his high school counselor wants him to attend jr. college in the south. What is her thinking on that?

Frankly, your son may have a better chance of playing for a nearby jr. colleges since he is presumably playing for an Ohio-area summer team. My advice would be for your son to send an introductory email to every college coach he is interested in playing for and attach his summer schedule. If coaches are interested in him, they will come to one or more of his summer games.

There's nothing wrong with looking for a school in the south. That is the goal for many players.

Also, there are no JC DI schools in Ohio and not very many, if any, in the surrounding states. There are not very many JC baseball programs period in that part of the country.

Obviously the academic part of this is important. But regarding playing in the south and what the possibilities might be, that will be determined by the players ability.

My suggestion would be to find out how your son compares in abilty to the type of players at various JCs in the south. If baseball is truly important, the worst thing is to go to a JC and not play.

This is often said on this site and it is very true in your situation... You really need to find the right fit.

OHMOM2010,
Agree with what others have said.
This link will take you to all 3 JUCO divisions across the nation. You'll find lots of helpful information. Several Div. I Juco's in Region 7 (Tenn & Kty), Region 10 (Carolina's has many D-I & D-II schools).
Good luck to your son!!

http://www.njcaa.org/sports_ne...id=1&gender=w&slid=3

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges.cfm

I am not sure what is referred to as "south".

Here in FL, if you look at rosters (a good suggestion to study all roster) most are made up of players from the state. One roster I looked at only had two or three from other states.

I agree with PG. If baseball is the most important thing, the worst thing is choosing that option (anywhere) and not playing. My understanding now is that it's even harder these days to crack the JUCO lineup or even survive the cuts. One needs to determine how their ability matches up.

Finding a small D1 program with good academic support could be an option, especially if the player picks up his grades.

A 2010 player has time, you just have to make a plan and follow through. You don't have to rush,many players don't find a program until even a few weeks before school begins. Yu got to try to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together to find the right fit.

quote:

Finding a small D1 program with good academic support could be an option, especially if the player picks up his grades.

This advice is debatable. Even small D1s require good academics and they competition for a roster spot could also see your son sitting the bench.

I suggest there is no easy guaranteed route to college ball. Your son had better get his act together academically and BB wise.
There are several JCs in Fla that have out of state players. We had interest from Pensacola, Miami Dade and a few others we called and sent a DVD .
I agree pitching creates more opportunity however the competition for roster spots is always tough. I also think there may be more opportunities now for 2 way players.
If your son is serious he should get his act together. He should realize that banking on becoming a high paid Pro is a long shot and his education will probably be more important in the not too long run.

I just listened to the NHL draft yesterday. It was interesting that a guy who was drafted 13th over all 4 years ago hasn't played in the NHL yet and that only 3% of the drafter players ever played beyond the club teams. The only good thing in hockey is that a club player can make 6 figure incomes unlike BB.
Time to get priorities right.

South = any where south of Ohio.

BHD,
I agree with everything you have said.
However, since your son and mine were recruited the JUCO landscape has changed. Economics and new transfer rules have seen to that. Take a look at the roster from Miami Dade, most from out of state are D1 transfers. A few from out of the country. That's why one has to really study each JUCO one has an interest in.

Anywhere you go, you will have to prove yourself for a spot and compete in the classroom as well as on the field. The classroom IS the most important thing to consider.

I made that statement about the D1 without even knowing if the player qualifies for that division. Nay not even be an option.

The NHL hockey draft has no relationship to the baseball draft---where did that come from ?

TR:

Sure it does in that the NHL drafts HS players just like baseball. I think BBD made a valuable analogy. And he also gave great advice on making sure you have all your "bases" covered coming out of HS, especially academically. It certainly gives you more options.

What part of Ohio? You might start looking at the rosters of some 4 year schools and look to see where the Juco players are coming from. Many times there is a coaching relationship between the JUCO and the 4 year school. You might contact Sinclair CC or some of those in Illinois and Indiana such as Warsaw, Wabash and then look at others schools in the league as well.

Thank you everyone for all the good advice. I think I need to digest all this and come back with more questions later. I know this is a long shot for him, but it's keeping him on the right track. We'll sit down and make a battle plan from here. Thank you very much.

OHMom2010, look for a PM (private message).

quote:

Anywhere you go, you will have to prove yourself for a spot and compete in the classroom as well as on the field. The classroom IS the most important thing to consider.

One of the biggest reasons Junior college players with talent can not go to D1 schools is becasue of their grades.Many D1 look for Junor college players, but way to many have made themselves inelgible due to grades and not having the correct classes to transfer.

So are you saying that when they start in junior college they need to pay close attention to the classes that they take?

I am absolutely saying to pay attention to what classes they take. They need to see an academic counselor every semester.They have specific classes they need to take to transfer to a four year school.If you know what school they want to go to it is easier, otherwise they have general guidelines to what to take.
Example:English Comp and critical thinking
Math class
Science Physical and Biological one with a lab
History
Humanities and the arts etc etc.

I know one mom of a 4-2-4 JUCO player who caught several mistakes made by her son's jr. college academic adviser. Thankfully, the mom was a former high school counselor and was pretty up on required credits, etc. If she hadn't detected the mistakes, her son would not have graduated on time and been able to move back to a D1 program.

I know of another JUCO player who was accepted by a number of 4-year schools, but denied by a specific one because he had not taken certain classes.

It's imperative to stay on top of academic requirements when desiring to transfer to another school.

While I encourage my son to go visit his academic advisor and review his plans with him, we also sit down together each semester and make sure that he is taking the right classes be reviewing the school catalogs of both his JC and several potential transfer schools - both public and private.

Another tool that is really helpful for students here in California is a website called Assist

http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html

Yes that is a good site as well.Here in Ca. you can get the IGETCE(SP CK) anyway it has listings of all classes for UC and State schools.We just visited a private school in Ca. and all my sons classes transferred.

quote:

Originally posted by fanofgame:
I am absolutely saying to pay attention to what classes they take. They need to see an academic counselor every semester.They have specific classes they need to take to transfer to a four year school.If you know what school they want to go to it is easier, otherwise they have general guidelines to what to take.
Example:English Comp and critical thinking
Math class
Science Physical and Biological one with a lab
History
Humanities and the arts etc etc.

In addition to fanofgames very sound advise, check to see which JUCO's (in your immediate area) have "matriculation agreements" with which 4 yr schools...in other words, here in N. Texas, DCCCD (Dallas County Community College District) has "agreements" with U.T. Dallas, North Texas Univ., SMU, UT Arlington, etc...depending on the specific degree track your son chooses, whether he is getting Assoc. in Arts or Assoc. in Sciences, Teaching with emphasis in_____(whatever), Computer Sci./Tech, etc.
**Make note of the Humanities & Government, if he takes it in HS or at local JUCO, then goes out of state for 4 yr. school. They may not transfer, esp. Gov. (son took Govt (Texas)in HS & got 3 credit hrs., but it was not accepted @ Tulane, different State!!So, he had to take Louisiana Govt...a waste of 3 hours!!)

Also, many State Schools will waive the "out of State" tuition rates (non-resident), if you go to a neighboring State college. In Texas, kids can go to Okla, Louisiana, New Mexico & Arkansas schools for same $$$'s as in State tuition, & visa versa.

Perhaps the same kinds of waivers in Ohio to Tenn, Kty, Indiana, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Infield08:
I know one mom of a 4-2-4 JUCO player who caught several mistakes made by her son's jr. college academic adviser. ........

Please note "mistakes" are not limited to JC advisors. D1 coaches and advisors make mistakes all the time with respect to tranferability etc. a 4-2-4 situation can be very complicated and will scare some schools off.

Whether your son is a 4-2-4 or 2-4, it can be very difficult to "plan" your JC classes w/o really knowing where your son is headed academcially and/or career wise. At the very least I would suggest making sure your son meets the general transfer requirments of your state university system as suggested by previous posters. I would also suggest making sure that classes like "music appreciation" are not taken at the jc level and I would be suspisous of any online class.

Very good advice. But sorry, I am wondering what a 4-2-4 is? 2-4 makes sense to me.

quote:

Originally posted by OHMom2010:
Very good advice. But sorry, I am wondering what a 4-2-4 is? 2-4 makes sense to me.

4 year school transfer to 2 year (JUCO)school transfer to 4 year school.