Need advice when to showcase

Has he made any contacts yet with schools (or at least filled out some recruiting questionnaires?)You mentioned he has something to show. Then you probably want to pick the showcases which has the biggest number of schools where son is "vetting." Probably good to go earlier to get base line measurables, Incidentally if your son is a 3B as you mention, to prepare for showcase, make sure he takes grounders at SS before going as a number of places line up all 2B, SS & 3B at SS position. 

No he hasn't made any contacts yet or reached out to any schools for that matter.The show case is probably the easy part!. It is mostly for the measurables. I hadn't really thought of schools being there. I was hoping the measurables earlier would make a school search easier. Even making a list of schools HE would like to goto is daunting. Outside of cost and him being a 3.0 student I don't have a lot to make a good list with. I didn't go to college . So I don't have any knowledge to give him on how to select a school. Even going to look at schools , I might as well be shopping for an airplane. I know he's not going to be an engineer or a doctor. My advice to him is to study something he can get a job with  and be able to do it anywhere. This could turn into the longest paragraph in history if I keep going.He does take grounders at short too.

Your paragraph could have been longer and the experiences in this forum could be justifiable long winded as well.  Happy to help.

Can you give some info about your son:  How big is your son?  Is he only a 3rd baseman? How's his bat? Was he a starter or one of the best players on his club team and high school team?  Does he stand a chance at playing Varsity as a sophomore?  How competitive is his club team, local, regional, nationally competitive? 

 

Right now for a 2018 it's really key to be so focused on strength, speed and continued skill development to prepare for HS season.  The HS season will serve as a primer for the summer club season.

 

If your son is only a position player and if he has been working hard in the gym and with skill work, a Jan PG showcase could serve him well.  Both from experience and getting bench marked.

 

But if he's playing another sport and challenged for time in the gym and to work on skill work, showing up for a Jan PG showcase might not serve him well.  You've got to be prepared and feeling confident.  In this case he might be better served to attend a PG showcase event in May or in August/Sept. Your son's HS schedule might not accommodate him missing a weekend in May for a PG showcase.  Depends on his role on the team, schedule, and coach.

 

 

Hi Gov

My son turned 15 in June . He is 6'1" 220 pounds. I'm not sure he's going to grow much more. He's bigger than I am though. Was the starting 3rd baseman and batted forth as a 14 year old . The team was very competitive and he did well on it. He has played third,first,second,and SS through the years depending on what the teams needed him to do. Primarily a corner infielder now though. He really likes to make the plays at third if he has a choice.

 Been playing travel baseball for 5 years. We did a lot tournaments in the Midwest.Also played in Georgia and Florida a handful of times.I would say his team now is a Nationally competitive team. He will play the corners for this team and I would guess bat fourth.

 This is the first year I have really let him workout. He has been doing a good job at it and some results are starting to show. His body composition is changing and he is getting stronger.The trainers have been working on his speed too . I just drop off pick up for that though so I can't say if he is faster. Not sure how long of a process getting to top physical shape takes. He still has work to do though

  I'm really weighing the extra cost of traveling to Florida compared to something in August (probably 1000$). I have an idea of his measurables . Probably 7.5 60 this is my best guess never clocked him. His PG profile said his velo was78 and he said his HS coach gunned him at 84 in the field this spring. Which sounds about right to me . He throws a lot harder in the field. His exit velocity on trackman was 93.4 . I went from his biggest weakness to his top strength . Hopefully he can find some gains in his game from the strength and speed and agility classes. I would like to have something to show schools who haven't seen him play though. That is why I am going to take him to PG showcase.I'm pretty sure his HS coach wouldn't want him to miss any time. I ideally spring would be the best time to showcase but HS baseball takes up the spring. His travel team will be playing in the bigger tournaments around here and in PG WWBA and PG world series. I would like to have his showcase profile to help decide what schools may be interested in what he has to offer and to link it to those schools with his travel schedule. I think he's pretty good but, I'm his dad and I don't have any idea where he falls in the 2018 class. If it would be a big help in his recruiting this summer I would hate to miss that opportunity for a 1000 bucks. Would he better in August than December I would think so . That is why I am thinking this around in circles. Any advice would be appreciated.

My .02 cents. I know from speaking with my son that he is never in "game" shape during the winter months. He's too busy working on things for the spring. It's not that he wouldn't rate well in the showcase portion, it's that he wouldn't be ready for the live at bats at that time of the year. It's a mental thing with him. If your son is the same, you might want to hold off until the late spring or summer.

One more thing... the showcase is not the be all end all. Many players have committed without attending a showcase. Just something to keep in mind.

My .02, if this is correct you had better try to get that down before you showcase. That or the rest of his numbers better be through the roof because my experience is that collages put a lot of weight on ones speed. Except for P/C maybe more than anything else. So you don't want that number sitting out there on the web.

 

Showcases are tricky in a way. If the kid has a good day they are an asset, If he has a bad day those numbers/vids/comments are online for all to see and will stay there.

 

Camps can be money and time well spent. Lots of coaches will tell you they recuit heavily out of their camps. Just be realistic. Given what you've posted I'm not sure I'd be visiting Vanderbilt or LSU. Look at kids comparable to your son and see where they are getting interest from.

 

The PG tournaments are also a great way to get noticed. There can be more scouts watching a game than parents at times.

Honestly, I'd do a mock showcase of your own and get a ton of LEGITIMATE measurables on video. 

 

-Time his 60 yard dash (on a marked football field with the stopwatch in view the whole time)

-Measure bat exit velocity with Stalker Radar Gun (in shot at all time)

-Measure throwing velocity with Stalker Radar Gun (in shot at all time)

-Measure Zepp/DiamondKinetics data using a sensor with video (optional)

-Show his true height with cleats on with a tape measure in the shot

-Show true playing weight with uniform on with picture of scale

-10-20s of actions around the bag, show off footwork and arm actions

 

By taking all this data you can compare how good he truly is with his competition. And furthermore by having all this OBJECTIVE data, you can send a short < 2 minute video with his grades/GPA and team schedule to college coaches who will appreciate real, verifiable results. 

 

I get videos sent to me from college coaches that I'm good friends with who laugh. 15 minute long videos of guys fielding baseballs at shortstop hit right at them at 65 MPH, hitting tanks in batting practice soft toss rounds, running unverified "7.0" 60 yard dashes, all with music blaring over the videos. Ridiculous. Be objective and if he stands out in the metrics, college coaches WILL take notice. Especially when you tell them he'll be showcasing at the Perfect Game [insert showcase here] event.

 

Rule #1: Make a scout or recruiter's job VERY EASY. You do that, you will go far in this game.

To cover the college side of the conversation...the biggest questions about colleges are:

 

1. In state, or out of state.  If out of state find out if your state has a reciprocal agreement with any neighboring states that you can still get in-state tuition prices, if cost is a factor. a.k.a does he want to be able to come home and do laundry once a month?

 

2. Urban/rural?  I would say 90% of colleges are either in the Urban setting, such as Atlanta, or NYC...think skyscrapers and taking trains and buses to get places.  Or they are rural, as in when College is in session the town is booming but when the college is on a break there are very few townies left to populate the town. If your son hasn't been to a big city, and I mean BIG city, you may want to tour one of those campuses and see how he feels about his classes being across the city from each other.  Or perhaps he likes the more classic college set up of all the buildings being grouped together with a student union being in the middle. Kids usually have strong negative reactions to one or the other.

 

3. Specialized major?  Does he want to do something very specific like forensic archaeology, or marine biology? That would require a specific type of school, as opposed to the Elementary Education major or Criminal Justice degree that are offered by about 90%+ colleges nationwide.

 

If he can answer those 3 huge questions that will eliminate a huge chunk of schools. I took my son to NYC last summer just to see the sites and walk around, he had a strong reaction that he did NOT want to be in the city for any length of time, so that answered question #2!

 

I would second what Kyle Boddy says about the DIY showcase.  Spending big money to get the 60 time and infield velocity alone is probably not worth it.  To Ripken's comments, go showcase if there are schools of interest that can see him perform first hand.  If you were stuck in the middle of nowhere and did not play numerous tournaments, then maybe a showcase might be necessary, but given your description of the program he is in, than game performance - especially in bracket rounds at larger tournaments - is going to get seen.  Again, tournament exposure increases significantly if you have reached out to target schools previously with schedule.  I would also try to get some face time with the coaches/owner of the program you are with and get their opinion on where he might fit - cannot believe some coaches that put together a nationally competitive team don't have some good insight into that piece of the puzzle.

Kyle -- this is good stuff. Very useful. With respect to the bolded item, is that how you normally see height measured? I've measured my son in bare feet, without even socks, and then I see other kids who appear to be the same height as my son (5'11") listed at 6'1" . . . the cleats would explain the difference, I guess.

hueysdad,

 

There's a recruiting timeline on this site that was extremely useful to my family (2012 D1 SS/RHP and 2016 D3 SS/RHP).  And you've received some sound advice here already.

 

In my opinion regarding pre-season for a 2018 (sophomore), they should primarily be focused on academic and athletic development if they want to play in high school and then in college.  That means strength, speed, and agility training.  It means enhancing ones academic profile (i.e., test scores/prep and GPA).  And continued baseball skills development. 

 

There are exceptions.  Some 2018's are super studs and being seen at a showcase is very meaningful now.

 

The primary reason to do college showcases, in my opinion, is to be seen by the colleges on a player's vetted list.  It was helpful for my boys to do a camp or showcase earlier, e.g., as sophomores, to understand the process.  We did that off the radar and on the cheap.  Yes, you can get measurables.  And as others have pointed out, you could do that yourself at much lower cost than traveling to a camp or showcase.

 

PG runs tremendous tournaments and showcases IMO.  My 2016 never did one.  My 2012 was a national class player and it benefitted him greatly to be seen at a PG event and to receive an experienced, third party evaluation that was highly valued by scouts and college coaches.

 

When to showcase?  It depends on the player.  In my experience, the vast majority of players are not national class talents.  For those players who aren't national talents and who want to play in college, they still need to be seen by colleges on their vetted lists.  The timing of that, again in my experience, is best beginning the Summer before their Junior year or in the Fall of their Junior year.  Many wait until the Summer before their Senior year and that can work fine too.

 

A player needs to be fishing in the right pond.  My 2016 could get into Arizona State.  He could never play there.  He can't get into Harvard, but the baseball coaches really liked him.  Finding the intersection (the vetted list of schools) where a player could be admitted and where they could play, and then getting in front of those schools...that process we learned here on hsbaseballweb and it works.  

Thank you everyone for your responses . It really is a big help. I heard it here a lot of times but I didn't get it . Time flies when their in HS. He's half way through his sophomore year. I can hear that clock ticking in my head. We better start getting his ducks in a row for college.That is why the showcase ting came up. It seemed like the easiest thing to do. I can and probably will put together . Atleast I know not to make it 15 minutes long with music blasting in the background. Thank you Kyle those tips can help me and anyone looking ay this. It make sense that you lose a lot of value of a showcase if you do it before you a list of schools . We're from Michigan and he would really like to get away from snow in the winter,.which makes it more difficult and expensive. I would like to keep his student as close as zero as possible. I think he understands now that if he wants pay out of state tuition he better get good grades. He text me today that he's getting all a's. So if nothing else baseball is the carrot I can use to get him through HS and into college. It's sorry to say but when I was his age I don't think I even knew what college was. Now I get to earn a living breaking my back. Hopefully I can help him improve his quality of life. One day if he wants to train for a triathlon after work he can. We just need to buckle down and figure out what schools would be a good fit for him and take it from there. After that the hard part for me will be done. Well hopefully this makes sense. I am a terrible writer and it take way more time and effort than it should. I can tell there are a lot of intelligent and helpful people here Your help is going to make a difference in my son's life.. I just want to thank you all again.

 

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This is really great advice. There was just a PG showcase in our neck of the woods back in September. We decided not to spend the money for our 2018 at this time. Instead, we took his numbers from a regional showcase he did over the summer (~$150 to get most of the measurables) and then supplemented with our radar readings and zepp data and compared his results to the top 2018 kids from the PG showcase. All the PG data is available online, so I was able to create a spreadsheet with all the data from that showcase and then add my son's info. We could quickly see where he needed to improve to be more competitive (i.e. he is working really hard on that 60 start to improve his time) and where he is equal to or better than others. It's not perfect, but it gave us something to work with so that when/if we do spend the money on a PG showcase, he can be best prepared. I think it's also wise to get some practice in before going to the big showcases. The first time my son ever truly ran a timed 60 was at the regional showcase. He didn't know what he was doing and it showed in his time. Now he has a better understanding of the process and what to expect.

Good luck!

Yeah, pretty much. Most scouts and recruiters accept "height in cleats" as the true height since everyone fudges it. I'm not saying to lie, but a true height in cleats is very acceptable for listing on the back of a baseball card and recruiting form.

Kyle, if a boy's metrics are from an event like the Stanford Camp or Headfirst and are listed as such in a short (90 secs or less) video is that adequate?