next steps for 2017 high academic D3

BGL posted:

Thanks for all the excellent insights...reading this board has been very helpful as I navigate this process with my 2017 1B/3B.  After attending a PTW showcase and HF Sacramento in late June, my son received lots of positive comments in his discussions with coaches at the camps.  He has followed up with emails expressing his interest and has sent along links to his video, etc.  Very little response has come back other than some back and forth on where he is playing for the rest of the summer.  

His team will be playing in one more late July tournament but otherwise we have not scheduled any more camps.  I'm wondering if this is a mistake.  Is it necessary to fly across the country (we are in the SF Bay Area) to hit another HF camp in August so the same group of target schools can see him again?  I know the coaches are very busy, but should we assume the overall interest level isn't high if we haven't heard from them yet?  Any help on what to do from here would be very helpful.  He has the grades and test scores and is confident in his ability to contribute at the D3 level.

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

My son (2016) did one showcase, the week of July 4 last year, that included a dozen or so coaches with whom he'd had prior contact and for which he had at least some interest in the schools. From that, he had definitive interest from 3 or 4 where he had a high level of interest in the school, and probably 5 or 6 that were second-tier, for him, for one reason or another. He ended up visiting 3 of the schools where there was mutual interest in July or September, while maintaining contact (roughly weekly?) over the July to September timespan. He ended up committing to applying ED to his #1 choice at the end of September during a visit, and was accepted sometime in December.

Based on our experience, I think I'd be gauging real interest based on how interested the coaches appear to be to have your son visit campus, especially once school starts back up. Also, I'd be having him ask, more or less outright, what the level of interest the coaches has is, if it's not clear. In my son's case, though we were always a little cautious about assuming anything, it was clear that 3 of the coaches were very seriously interested throughout, and 3 or 4 others were happy to have him as part of their recruiting class, even if he wasn't necessarily one of their primary targets.

How long did it take after the initial showcase for coaches to communicate their interest?  

Thank you for asking this question - we are further behind than you are BGL - we have had positive feedback but nothing other than that.  Looking forward to reading the responses to your question.

He had already had some basic interest prior to the showcase from several of the coaches, he had emailed basically every coach where he had some level of interest in the program/school (including plenty who weren't there) and he put together some video for those who had expressed interest based on his grades and info.  He probably e-mailed 30+ coaches and filled out around 60 recruiting forms on team websites prior to attending.

At the end of the showcase, there was direct interest from one school that was a ways down his list (they wanted to arrange a tour during the trip we were on where we were also touring other schools). Two of his top three schools (including the one he ended up going to) also expressed real interest, and knew that we were planning on figuring out a visit to their campuses on a later trip. He also had several other coaches reach out over the next couple weeks with what I'd characterize as offer-level interest and a couple more where it was more follow-level. Everyone who appeared to be serious wanted to have him visit campus during the fall season, which he ultimately only did at three schools (a fourth would have been a possibility, had he not decided on one of the others before we got to that point).

FWIW, my son is a RHP, and I do think the basic pitching metrics are easier to show in a way that makes it simple for a coach to decide on a guy on the spot. I can't speak with nearly as much authority on recruiting position players, and my son's teammates who I know about their recruiting stories were also pitchers. I did do a ton of research on DIII high academics, so if there's any other info I can give you on specific ones, athletic or academic, I'd be happy to do so via PM.

In my Opinion: Gotta go really hard the next few months on an uncommitted  2017. HF east coast . YES. Especially if he's an academic guy. Also, needs to be ON CAMPUS at school camps on his list.

California kids show well on the east coast and mid-west.  PM me if you'd like

-R

BLG, it can take a while. We were also at HF Sac, and had some strong expressions of interest at the camp and in the following week. But my son also got a really strong inquiry from a top ten US News LAC just last week. I'm guessing he was down their list a ways and they reached out once their preferred options passed.

if money is no object going to another HF back east could not hurt.  But if I was in your situation I would go to the Senior Fall Classic in AZ instead, and try out for the all academic game. I've heard that a lot of kids get recruited at that event.

JCG brings up another excellent point w/ AZ fall classic academic game. Sign up portal is open NOW.

But once again, if the goal is college baseball at the D3 academic level. You have to cast a WIDE net. Get in front of as many schools as possible NOW. Your son only gets 1 shot at this and he has to put himself in a position to be seen. Just my opinion

If some of the interest is from NESCAC's  there is a showcase held in Lynn MA most of them attend. I don't know he name. I don't know if it has occurred this year yet. A friend who is a D3 coach told me about it when I asked where he finds all his out of state talent. Head First LI would also be a good decision if it isn't sold out.

BGL,

Without a doubt your son has a list of schools he's most interested in, and schools he's heard from.  I'd focus my time and money on those schools.  Most east coast D3s have a Fall camp at their school or nearby.  RJM has noted one of them for you.  He's recently attended HF in Sacremento so lots of schools already had a chance to see him.  I don't see any reason to do another HF camp, but rather something more focused such as a prospect camp to a school he is most interested in and a school he's in contact with. 

JMO and good luck!

PS...He should be reaching out and following up with many of these HF schools already.

For what it's worth my take on the academic D3s is that they begin making "offers" in earnest in the Fall after the fringe D1 players have either been moved off the market (through D1 offers) or have decided to focus on D3 opportunities.  There is a weeding out process and the D3 schools seem to watch and wait with the occasional strong interest expressed to a few players (as you will read here with some players who had strong D3 interest over the summer before Sr year).  

My 2016's D3 school (centennial conference) needed 13 recruits to fill spots left by graduating players.  Only one of those 13 players had listed himself as "committed" on PG over the summer.  He was on there really early.  The rest of them were brought in for overnight visits in September and a recruiting camp in September and slowly the list on PG of commits for that school increased over the fall.  My 2016 chose to wait and not list himself as committed until he received word of admission in December.  

As far as how long it took after HF - it seems like some people heard right away but in 2016's case he spoke to one coach onsite right after his first game pitching and then received offers for visits in September 2 weeks after HF on LI (late Aug).  The interest came rolling in over a one week period almost like all the coaches got back to campus, sorted out their lists for a week and then started outreach the following week.  He also received another round of invites in September right before his visit to the school he'll attend.  

Edit to add - if you've already attended HF and had some contact from coaches who saw him there I would look at attending the fall recruiting camps at those schools (after attempting to verify interest with those coaches) rather than attending HF again.  I spoke to schools at HF who told me their major recruiting efforts take place at HF and at their own fall camp and 2016's school told us how many players they were looking forward to seeing in person at their camp (we were there for visit that weekend but did not have to attend the camp).   

Thanks for all the feedback, it's very helpful.  Great reminder on the AZ Senior Fall Classic academic game as his team will be attending.  Isn't that a bit late though for generating interest (Oct 12-16)?  I think we will focus our time and travel budget toward playing on campus at his top choices where there is mutual interest shown over the next few months.  He has and will continue to follow-up with coaches but what advice would you give where the coach has yet to respond?  Leave it alone for a few weeks and then make a phone call?  Is this process even later for position players, especially corner infielders?  Thanks again

BGL posted:

He has and will continue to follow-up with coaches but what advice would you give where the coach has yet to respond?  Leave it alone for a few weeks and then make a phone call?  Is this process even later for position players, especially corner infielders?  Thanks again

My son got at least some level of email response from most of the schools where he was interested in going, but there was one big southeast DIII where he never got a response from anyone to any of the initial email contacts he sent out, including video. School was probably an athletic stretch for him and wasn't really the top of his personal list, so he pretty much wrote them off on on the no responses.  He did much the same with a number of schools that would likely have been better fits academically/athletically where those was no response to the initial contacts he made.

At this stage of the game, I'd probably be weeding out schools that don't fit for any number of reasons, and lack of interest on their side would be one of the factors. If there's a dream school you haven't heard back from, it might be worth a call, but make sure you get their frank assessment.  No point in stringing things along where it's not going to happen.

I would second the Ariz Fall Classic academic game. It is certainly not even close to being late for DIII's in October. My son did not start getting serious DIII interest until he did not sign an NLI in November. Granted this was 5 years ago, and he was not focused on DIII's at the time, but I think the same timeline still applies to the highly competitive DIII's. I agree with your approach to being in direct contact with programs and not leaving it to chance. 

BGL posted:

Thanks for all the feedback, it's very helpful.  Great reminder on the AZ Senior Fall Classic academic game as his team will be attending.  Isn't that a bit late though for generating interest (Oct 12-16)?  I think we will focus our time and travel budget toward playing on campus at his top choices where there is mutual interest shown over the next few months.  He has and will continue to follow-up with coaches but what advice would you give where the coach has yet to respond?  Leave it alone for a few weeks and then make a phone call?  Is this process even later for position players, especially corner infielders?  Thanks again

I wouldn't say that Oct 12-16 is late provided he's hitting some targeted school camps in Sept prior to that.  If he's going to attend a D3 academic and assuming he finds a great fit the goal would be to obtain a D3 commitment - which is basically the coach agreeing to move the application through admissions and "guarantee" a spring roster spot in exchange for player applying ED1.  The dates for ED1 are usually around Nov 15th so a camp date of Oct 12th leaves you one month to visit schools and get that commitment from a coach.  Not a ton of time to visit, have coach pre-screen with admissions, get a sense of cost (any merit aid, etc) but not impossible.  

I would add one caution about relying on the AZ Fall Classic Academic Game.  It is not automatic, as the player has to apply, and then the organizers decide who to invite to the tryout that morning.  I presume it is based on the academics and some other considerations about ability (but not sure how they do that based on a one-page form).  Then based on the tryout in the morning, they select the kids to play in the actual game that night.

It sounds like a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of coaches from academic schools, and certainly will be for the kids selected to play in the game.  But I did hear one story last year of a kid who went to the morning tryout, did not get selected, and a couple of the schools following him lost interest.  So it can be a two-edge sword, especially since there will be a lot of talent competing for that opportunity.

BGL posted:

I know the coaches are very busy, but should we assume the overall interest level isn't high if we haven't heard from them yet? 

To answer this question directly, the answer is probably "yes". My experience seems to be similar to MKbaseballdad's. There are a lot of rising seniors out there who think they can play D1. When August rolls around and they don't have any D1 offers, many will quickly shift their focus to D3. So unless a D3 coach thinks you're a sure thing (or he's just filling a huge roster), he's not going to show too much interest in July. Their focus in August/September is on the guys who thought they would play D1, but are now interested in D3. Once that shakes out, and the school still has needs, they start looking at the next tier guys. To me, it sounds like your son is in that group.

I'm sure there are many other scenarios, but this has been my experience. Best of luck with the final stage of the process.

re AZ Fall Classic/Academic. It was worth the drive for us even tho...it seemed the eyes were already on selected (pre-selected?) players from the get-go. I may be wrong on that 'pre-selected' part. I think son felt 'invited' as in, we need players to play with/against the real talent and he had the grades tho' not necessarily the chops for the high-level teams. The grades got him 'invited' to try out for the Academic Team. Worth it b/c: any chance your player has to play against/with real talent is a good thing. It ups their game. Of course, that is how I view the whole travel ball enterprise. As everyone who knows anything on this site says: school first, game second. Why?After you have done all this research and traveling and stressing and questioning: There are no guarantees your son will be playing that first Spring at college! Ah...lessons in life...

Interesting perspective on the AZ Academic Game.  My son will be trying for it this year as a Senior, so I can share my thoughts later.  At least on the sign-up page, they make clear that the game is only for kids who have not yet committed to a school yet.  So there may be some of the more elite players who have already committed to schools like Stanford and Vandy who cannot play.  But it does sound like the quality of play is really high, so making it to the invite is one thing, and then getting selected will be even more daunting.  It does appear that there are a lot of coaches and schools who attend the game, and from all divisions, so it is something worth trying to go for, especially since the player is already there to compete with his travel team over the weekend.

Is there anything on the East Coast similar to what is held in AZ??

Backstop22 posted:

Interesting perspective on the AZ Academic Game.  My son will be trying for it this year as a Senior, so I can share my thoughts later.  At least on the sign-up page, they make clear that the game is only for kids who have not yet committed to a school yet.  So there may be some of the more elite players who have already committed to schools like Stanford and Vandy who cannot play.  But it does sound like the quality of play is really high, so making it to the invite is one thing, and then getting selected will be even more daunting.  It does appear that there are a lot of coaches and schools who attend the game, and from all divisions, so it is something worth trying to go for, especially since the player is already there to compete with his travel team over the weekend.

My son got a tryout last year for the Jr. AZ academic game and was not selected.  However, many coaches watched the tryouts themselves and that started some recruiting conversations.  This may have been mentioned above but the reason the academic game is highly valued, beyond the obvious, is that the game is played when NO other stuff is happening at the Classic.  There's great attendance.  I will say, though, that last year's senior classic had fewer of the high academic schools present that my son was interested in than the jr. classic.  We're applying for this year's academic game, too, but we're not stressing about it as much as we did a year ago.